Answers issued to Members on 30 October 2008

[R] signifies that the Member has declared an interest.
[W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.

Contents

Questions to the Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport

Questions to the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government

Questions to the Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport

Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on service enhancements to the Severn Tunnel Junction? (WAQ52643)

The Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport (Ieuan Wyn Jones): All Arriva Trains Wales services through Severn Tunnel Junction, which are the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government under the Wales and Borders franchise, stop at Severn Tunnel Station. The majority of services through Severn Tunnel Junction are operated by First Great Western and not all of them stop there. These, and services under other franchises, are the responsibility of the Department for Transport. The Welsh Assembly Government has made strong representations to the Department for Transport and the train operating companies that their services should provide more stops at this station.

Network Rail’s draft consultative Wales Route Utilisation Strategy concludes that it is feasible for First Great Western services to stop there.

Network Rail’s current Newport Area Signalling Renewal project involves improvements at Severn Tunnel Junction, including bringing a disused platform face back into work. There is an allied project to improve passenger facilities, which I support.

Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on the availability of rolling stock in Wales and any plans to switch rolling stock onto different lines? (WAQ52644)

The Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport (Ieuan Wyn Jones): Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) has 125 diesel multiple units available for operations. This includes additional units funded by the Welsh Assembly Government to meet demand. An additional train, comprising locomotives and coaches, will be brought into use for the fast north-south service commencing in December 2008.

My officials continue to work with ATW to assess demand and passenger growth and the future need for additional rolling stock.

There is some seasonality in demand, particularly between urban and tourism areas, and some of the additional carriages funded by the Welsh Assembly Government to relieve peak Valleys overcrowding are redeployed to busy tourist routes in summer.

Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire): Will the Minister make a statement on the review of public conveniences on trunk roads? (WAQ52659)

The Deputy First Minister: A review of the facilities on each trunk road route is taking place. The Welsh Assembly Government has contributed towards the provision of certain key facilities in Mid Wales as an interim measure.

Questions to the Minister for Social Justice and Local Government

Eleanor Burnham (North Wales): Will the Minister make a statement on the provision of public toilets? (WAQ52663)

The Minister for Social Justice and Local Government (Brian Gibbons): The Assembly Government will provide each local authority with a grant of up to £17,500 to reimburse any payments of up to £500 per business that they make to allow free public access to their toilets. This is sufficient to funding to provide public access to at least 35 facilities per local authority.

Local authorities are responsible for the provision of public toilets, but this will provide an incentive for local authorities and businesses to work together to provide facilities where they are needed. A condition of the grant is that local authorities must be satisfied that facilities provided by grant recipients meet acceptable standards of safety, hygiene, accessibility for disabled people and provision for both sexes.

David Melding (South Wales Central): How many statutory bodies in Wales are fulfilling their requirement to publish Disability Equality Schemes in an accessible format as required by the Disability Equality Duty 2006, and will the Minister make a statement? (WAQ52657)

Brian Gibbons: The Disability Discrimination (Public Authorities) (Statutory Duties) Regulations 2005 introduced a duty on all Secretaries of State and the Welsh and Scottish Ministers to publish a report every three years about the implementation of the disability equality duty. This report is due to be published on the 1st December 2008, and I intend to make full written statement at this time.

The disability equality duty is intended to improve the life chances of disabled people by placing a legal duty on all public sector organisations to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people. The information associated with this report means that we have gathered information from across the public sector, identifying progress, gaps and issues, and will share the information widely to help make progress in tackling inequalities.

In order to collect the relevant information, a survey was developed by the Office of the Chief Social Research Officer in collaboration with the Equality and Human Rights Division. The questions reflected the general and specific duties set out in the Disability Equality Duty. The aim was to gather evidence to assess the extent to which public authorities have interpreted and acted upon these requirements.

110 public authorities were invited to participate in the voluntary survey which gained 86 responses. The overall response rate was 78%. Of those who responded all have produced a Disability Equality Scheme, with 81% having also produced an annual report on the implementation of their Disability Equality Scheme and action plans.