Written Assembly Questions tabled on 18 September 2015 for answer on 25 September 2015
R - Signifies the Member has declared an interest.
W - Signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.
(Self identifying Question no. shown in brackets)
Written Questions must be tabled at least five working days before they are to be answered. In practice, Ministers aim to answer within seven/eight days but are not bound to do so. Answers are published in the language in which they are provided, with a translation into English of responses provided in Welsh.
To ask the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister explain what part the Welsh Government has played in seeking to secure and protect the investment of over £1.6 million in the Rhondda Life regeneration project? (WAQ69189)
Answer received on 30 September 2015
The Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty (Lesley Griffiths): £1.4 million of Welsh Government funding enabled the construction of the Glynrhedyn Community Centre in Ferndale. Welsh Government officials have continued to work with the Chair and Directors of Rhondda Life Limited on matters relating to the development and the ongoing challenges encountered in the delivery of the centre.
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): What is the Welsh Government doing to investigate claims made by Rhondda Life that over £1.6 million of public funds have been lost through the actions of government officials? (WAQ69190)
Answer received on 30 September 2015
Lesley Griffiths: Grant funding was awarded to Rhondda Life Limited by Welsh Government to deliver a new community centre in Ferndale. Unfortunately the company ran into financial difficulties and the business and all its assets were taken into administration.
The claims made by Rhondda Life Limited are currently being considered by Welsh Government.
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): What is the Welsh Government doing to support Rhondda Life to retain community ownership of the 'Glynrhedyn' building, which was built at a cost of £1.4 million from public funds? (WAQ69191)
Answer received on 30 September 2015
Lesley Griffiths: The assets of Rhondda Life Limited, including the Glynrhedyn Centre were taken under the control of the administrator acting on behalf of the Greene King Brewery in 2012. The Welsh Government continues to closely monitor the ongoing influence of this on the Glynrhedyn.
To ask the Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of the level of support the Welsh Government gives to each individual local authority to maintain bus services, giving figures for each of the last 4 years? (WAQ69193)
Answer received on 25 September 2015
The Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport (Edwina Hart): The breakdown for 2012/13 is given below. From April 2013, payments were made to lead local authorities for distribution to other authorities within their respective areas. A total of £25 million each financial year was awarded to those lead authorities in 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16.
| Blaenau Gwent | 168,045 |
| Bridgend | 426,322 |
| Caerphilly | 456,193 |
| Cardiff | 690,209 |
| Carmarthenshire | 826,941 |
| Ceredigion | 699,166 |
| City of Swansea | 887,330 |
| Conwy | 361,429 |
| Denbighshire | 356,910 |
| Gwynedd | 561,142 |
| Flintshire | 804,494 |
| Merthyr Tydfil | 164,070 |
| Monmouth | 371,314 |
| Neath P.T. | 485,858 |
| Newport | 361,423 |
| Pembrokeshire | 483,681 |
| Powys | 670,015 |
| RCT | 648,494 |
| Torfaen | 568,919 |
| Vale of Glamorgan | 406,071 |
| Wrexham | 416,459 |
| Ynys Mon | 325,503 |
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister provide the total number of new jobs created by each of the Welsh Government's enterprise zones? (WAQ69194)
Answer received on 25 September 2015
Edwina Hart: Jobs creation figures for the Enterprise Zones are in the public domain, and can be found under the "Business Environment" tab on each Enterprise Zone's individual website, accessible at the following link:
http://business.wales.gov.uk/enterprisezones/zones
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister provide a list of benefits available to eligible businesses occupying in the Cardiff enterprise zone? (WAQ69195)
Answer received on 25 September 2015
Edwina Hart: Businesses in all our Enterprise Zones, including Central Cardiff, benefit from a comprehensive package of support. This includes prioritised public sector investment in areas such as connectivity, property and skills; marketing and promotion of sector, general business and supply-chain growth; and business rates support.
To ask the Minister for Finance and Government Business
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): With reference to WAQ66751, will the Minister disclose total spending for each of the last three financial years on advertising? (WAQ69192)
Answer received on 25 September 2015
The Minister for Finance and Government Business (Jane Hutt): The total spent on advertising for each of the last three financial years was:
Year Spend (£)
| 2012/13 | 3,845,277 |
| 2013/14 | 3,877,454 |
| 2014/15 | 5,177,660 |
It is important to note that Welsh Government advertising covers a broad range of activities, principally public information such as changes to the organ donation system and countering domestic violence, and the promotion of Wales as a destination for tourism and business.
To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): How many pieces of written correspondence (including letters and emails) has the Minister or his department received from members of the public about the Welsh Government's management of the Welsh NHS; giving figures for each of the last 3 financial years? (WAQ69196)
Answer received on 30 September 2015
The Minister for Health and Social Services (Mark Drakeford): The Welsh Government does not hold information in the form requested.
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): What proportion of physiotherapy graduates are not currently employed in the physiotherapy sector, and will the Minister provide a breakdown for students who graduated in each year from 2010 to 2014? (WAQ69197)
Answer received on 30 September 2015
Mark Drakeford:
Four hundred and 16 physiotherapy students, funded through the NHS non-medical education and training budget, graduated between 2010 and 2014:
2009-10 - 77
2010-11 - 80
2011-12 - 88
2012-13 - 87
2013-14 - 84
The Welsh Government does not hold information about the career choices made by these individuals after graduation.
Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Further to WAQ67086, will the Minister provide the number of postponed operations in 2014/15 broken down by individual health board? (WAQ69198)
Answer received on 30 September 2015
Mark Drakeford:
Data is now collected on the number of postponed admitted procedures not postponed operations. This means that if a patient goes into hospital to have a procedure carried out, whether in a theatre setting or an outpatient setting, if it is postponed, it is recorded.
The numbers of postponed procedures fell again in 2014/15.
The table shows the number of postponed admitted procedures by health board during 2014-15, broken down by reason for postponement.
Reasons for postponement can be broken down into three categories:
Patient postponements – the procedure is postponed at the patient's request or the patient does not turn up for the procedure. This category accounts for between a third and two-thirds of all postponements in each health board;
Hospital clinical postponements – the procedure is postponed for clinical reasons, such as the patient being unwell or the procedure is no longer necessary;
Hospital non-clinical postponements – the procedure was postponed for non-clinical reasons, such as the lack of a ward bed or the list was over-running.
Between April 2014 and March 2015 there were some 330,000 elective admissions to Welsh hospitals.