Written Assembly Questions tabled on 21 January 2015 for answer on 28 January 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 provide an update on the progress of Business Improvement Districts, including any targets and planned future BIDs in Wales? (WAQ68264)
Answer received on 28 January 2015
The
Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty (Lesley Griffiths): Progress has been extremely positive in Wales. We congratulate Newport on becoming the third established BID in Wales following a successful ballot last December. We anticipate all other areas currently developing proposals to reach the ballot stage during 2015, which could, potentially, lead to as many as 14 BIDs by the end of the year.
To ask the Minister for Education and Skills
Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): Will the Minister make a statement on the impact of Hwb+ in increasing the use of digital technology in Welsh schools? (WAQ68270)
Answer received on 28 January 2015
The Minister for Education and Skills (Huw Lewis): Hwb+ is a fully-bilingual learning platform which has the capability to provide an individual and customisable solution for every school in Wales.Hwb+ offers the following functionality for each school in Wales:
a public-facing website;
virtual classroom tools;
announcements and events;
blogs, wikis and forums;
a personalised user interface; and
access to Office 365 (which includes Outlook e-mail, video conferencing via Lync, an e-Portfolio and streaming of core Office apps including Word, Excel and PowerPoint).
The Hwb+ platform was rolled out to schools over the academic year 2013 /2014. The current position of deployment as of January 2015 is that over 98 per cent of schools in Wales have been setup with their own Hwb+ site (1,399 primary and special schools, 216 secondary schools), over 530,000 individual Hwb+ user login accounts have been provisioned and over 95 per cent of schools in Wales have attended training on their own Hwb+ site (2,609 teachers in total).
Feedback from stakeholders who have attended the training sessions and started to use the platform has been has been overwhelmingly positive. Of the 373 delegates who have attended training during this academic year (between 3 November 2014 and 23 January 2015) and submitted an evaluation, 86% rated the training as very good, with 14% rating it good.
Through the Welsh Government's team of Digital Leaders, we have developed a full support and training approach which not only provides numerous opportunities for stakeholders to book onto local training sessions, but also to receive in-school support as required. This is supporting Welsh schools in increasing the use of digital technology.
Take up of the Hwb+ learning platform by schools in Wales is steadily increasing. On 26 November 2014, I announced my commitment to the Hwb+ project until August 2018. This announcement has provided assurance to schools which will support the adoption of the platform.
In addition, I have also announced the development of a centrally-funded Hwb+ Centres of Excellence Programme. The main focus of these centres will be to provide other school, local authority and regional education consortia staff with the opportunity to see how the adoption of the Hwb+ learning platform has made a positive difference to teaching and learning within a school setting. This programme will also support Welsh schools' further adoption of digital technology.
The Welsh Government is currently in the process of commissioning a full independent evaluation of the Learning in Digital Wales Programme. The aim of the evaluation is to independently review the implementation of the programme along with establishing the extent to which the different programme components have met their objectives. This is in addition to identifying any emerging impacts that the programme is having on classroom practice for both teachers and learners.
The Learning in Digital Wales Programme evaluation report will be published in December 2015.
To ask the Minister for the Economy, Science and Transport
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Following the completion of principal photography on the first film to benefit from the Media Investment Budget, will the Minister confirm if any other projects have benefited, or are set to benefit in 2014/15 and 2015/16? (WAQ68268)
Answer received on 28 January 2015
Edwina Hart: There are a number of film and TV projects in the pipeline for the Media Investment Budget. These projects are subject to commercial confidentiality, and details cannot be released at this stage.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister confirm how many jobs have so far been created following Pinewood's announcement to locate in Wales? (WAQ68267)
Answer received on 28 January 2015
Edwina Hart: Production has not yet begun at Pinewood.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister confirm which external auditor has been appointed to oversee allocation of the Media Investment Budget? (WAQ68266)
Answer received on 28 January 2015
Edwina Hart: No external auditor has been appointed as all our investments are subject to internal audit processes. The Wales Audit Office also have a role in scrutinising investments.
Suzy Davies (South Wales West): Will the Minister detail the Key Performance Indicators that have been devised to help Welsh Government assess the success of the new Pinewood studios and the Media Investment Budget? (WAQ68265)
Answer received on 28 January 2015
The Minister for Economy, Science and Transport (Edwina Hart): The main performance indicators are, production expenditure in Wales, jobs created and safeguarded, number of trainee positions for each production and indirect benefits, such as increased capacity in the supply chain and tourism impacts
Eluned Parrott (South Wales Central): Further to the written statement on 5 December 2014 regarding the creation of a company to provide advice and expertise to drive forward projects including the Metro and the next Wales & Borders Franchise, will the Minister confirm what the company is formally called, when it will be established, and who will lead it? (WAQ68272)
Answer received on 28 January 2015
The Minister for Economy, Science and Transport (Edwina Hart): I will be making a further announcement in due course.
To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services
Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on waiting times to see a Clinical Psychologist? (WAQ68271)
Answer received on 28 January 2015
The Minister for Health and Social Servies (Mark Drakeford): Access and availability of therapies is decided at a local level with health boards planning and delivering services for their populations according to their assessment of local need. I expect all patients to be seen within an appropriate timescale as determined by clinical need.
Since November 2013, Welsh Government has awarded an additional £850,000 to health boards to increase provision of talking treatments. This funding supports the delivery of psychological therapies for people of all ages, building on the work that has already been undertaken in training existing health boards staff to improve their skills and competencies in delivering evidenced-based psychological therapies and taking into account guidelines issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on psychological therapy.
Funding has also been made available to support the development of an all-Wales training strategy and workforce development plan for the delivery of psychological therapies following the NHS cross-sector review of staff competencies and gap analysis.
Whilst we do not currently collect information on the specific waiting times for different types of psychological therapy, in the Powys area, the Local Primary Mental Health Support Services, developed as a result of the Mental Health Measure, has meant that more than 82% of people are seen for assessment within 28 days and more than 84% of those assessed as being in need of a therapeutic intervention, which will include psychological therapy, are seen within 56 days.
To ask the Minister for Public Services
Janet Finch-Saunders (Aberconwy): Will the Minister make a statement to detail his current position on freezing council tax in Wales? (WAQ68269)
Answer received on 28 January 2015
The Minister for Public Services (Leighton Andrews): The setting of budgets and Council Tax levels are key decisions for Local Authorities and ones for which they are accountable to their electorates. Many Welsh Councils already hold public consultations and engage with residents throughout the budget-setting process. We channel the available funding into the main Local Government Settlement so Councils have the flexibility to allocate their funding according to local priorities.
Unlike England, we do not require Local Authorities in Wales to conduct costly referenda. Average council tax bills in Wales for 2014-15 are £190 lower than in England. Evidence suggests that each year more Authorities in England are rejecting the offer of council tax freeze grant in favour of being able to set their own budgets. In 2014-15, around 43% of English Authorities rejected the council tax freeze grant, choosing instead to increase Council Tax and maintain services.