Written Assembly Questions tabled on 24 October 2013 for answer on 31 October 2013

R - Signifies the Member has declared an interest.
W - Signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.

(Self identifying Question no. shown in brackets)

To ask the First Minister

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): Will the First Minister share the report of the Royal College of Paediatric and Child Health on neonatal care in North Wales and makes this publicly available? (WAQ65755)

Darren Millar (Clwyd West): Will the First Minister make a statement on the future of neonatal services in North Wales? (WAQ65756)

To ask the Minister for Economy, Science and Transport

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): What advice from the Information Commissioner's Office does the Minister consider when non-disclosing information for commercially sensitive reasons, given that the failure to disclose directly contradicts case law from the Information Commissioners Office? (WAQ65762)

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Will the Minister disclose any guidance she has requested or received from the Information Commissioner's Office regarding giving consideration to the disclosure of information? (WAQ65763)

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): On how many occasions in the last 12 months has the Minister failed to provide an answer to a) written questions and b) oral questions, due to claiming non-disclosure under commercially sensitive reasons? (WAQ65764)

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): What factors does the Minister take into account when choosing not to disclose information for commercially sensitive reasons? (WAQ65765)

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Welsh Government be undertaking an impact assessment of changes to support for bus operators from a system based on fuel consumption, to one based on mileage? (WAQ65776)

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister provide a breakdown of Welsh Government spending on advertising the T9 Airport Shuttle Bus, including total spending to date? (WAQ65777)

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): What guidance has the Welsh Government issued to the operator of the T9 airport shuttle service in relation to regular passengers? (WAQ65778)

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Does the Minister plan to undertake an impact assessment of the loss of rural bus routes in the Vale of Glamorgan? (WAQ65779)

Eluned Parrott (South Wales Central): Will the Minister provide the names of the members who are part of the implementation group referred to in her statement on 22/10/13 (South East Wales Integrated Transport System) including: a) the dates that members were invited and accepted her invitation; and b) the details of any pay/remuneration/expenses which can/will be paid? (WAQ65782)

To ask the Minister for Education and Skills

Eluned Parrott (South Wales Central): What are the entry requirements for Jobs Growth Wales, are any people refused entry on grounds other than age and if so what are they? (WAQ65783)

Answer received on 4 November 2013

Ken Skates:The eligibility criteria for a Jobs Growth Wales participant is outlined below:

• A young person must not be of compulsory school age 
  
• A young person must not be in full time school, higher education or college
  
• A young person must be ordinarily a resident in Wales 
  
• A young person must not be under a contract of employment of over 16 hours per week  
  
• A young person must be aged 16 – 24 at the point of commencing the Jobs Growth Wales job opportunity
  
• A young person must not be an ineligible overseas national 
  
• A young person must not be in custody or remand
  
• A young person must not be in receipt of an Assembly Learning Grant or Education Maintenance Allowance
  
• A young person must not have been referred to or participating in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Work Programme or Work Choice Programme
  
• A young person must not be undertaking any other Welsh Government work based learning programme at point of commencing a Jobs Growth Wales job
  
• A young person must not be currently employed in a Jobs Growth Wales job opportunity 

A young person must comply with all of the above criteria to be eligible for a Jobs Growth Wales job opportunity.

 

To ask the Minister for Finance

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister disclose total expenditure on the recent refurbishment of the 2nd and 5th floors of Ty Hywel on fixtures and fittings, e.g carpets? (WAQ65767)

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister disclose total expenditure on the recent refurbishment of the 2nd and 5th floors of Ty Hywel on any new IT equipment? (WAQ65768)

 

Andrew RT Davies (South Wales Central): Will the Minister disclose total expenditure on the recent refurbishment of the 2nd and 5th floors of Ty Hywel on new office furniture, including separate figures for chairs, desks, and other tables? (WAQ65769)

Answer received on 5 November 2013

The Minister for Finance and Government Business (Jane Hutt): Total expenditure on new office furniture was £616,010 (excluding VAT). This figure includes the cost of desks, chairs, tables, soft seating and storage. Separate figures for the items requested are provided in the table below:
              

The Minister for Finance and Government Business (Jane Hutt): Total expenditure on 88 new televisions was £ 46,598 (excluding fees and VAT). Welsh Government’s office accommodation at Ty Hywel has been refurbished for the first time in 14 years, bringing it up to standard, and including remedial work to repair damage caused by water ingress. This work was overdue, and necessary to improve both the functionality and performance of the offices, and deal with additional requirements. This Government is achieving substantial savings from its estate overall. As a result of implementing our Location Strategy for 2010-15, we have significantly reduced the number of offices we operate from and are on course to deliver savings of £18m over the period. We expect additional annual savings of approximately £5m from 2015.

 

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Following the 'No Turning Back' report by Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) in 2010 which laid out a number of recommendations, which you endorsed in 2011, will the Minister provide an update on the implementation of a fully collaborative construction procurement strategy? (WAQ65773)

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Following the recent research "Improving the Visibility of Forward Work Programmes" produced via the Construction procurement Strategy Steering Group (CPSSG), is the Minister committed to producing an annual all-Wales LA capital programme? (WAQ65774)

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Following the 'No Turning Back' report by Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) in 2010 which laid out a number of recommendations, which you endorsed in 2011, when does the Minister intend to implement these recommendations? (WAQ65775)

To ask the Minister for Health and Social Services

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): How many published NICE clinical guidelines have not been fully implemented across all Local Health Boards in Wales? (WAQ37754)
Answer received on 5 November 2013
Mark Drakeford: I will write to you and a copy of the letter will be put on the internet.

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Will the Minister state, in the last 12 months, a) how many NICE clinical guidelines have been discussed with the view of implementation, b) which NICE guidelines were these, and c) the dates of discussion? (WAQ65758)
Answer received on 5 November 2013
Mark Drakeford: NICE disseminate their guidelines directly to the NHS in Wales. The implementation of NICE clinical guidelines is the responsibility of Local Health Boards and Trusts. I expect Local Health Boards and Trusts to take full account of NICE Clinical Guidelines when planning and commissioning services, as they are developed based on the best available evidence. 

 

Julie Morgan (Cardiff North): Will the Minister list the number of Serious Case Reviews in each local authority in Wales over the last 10 years with a breakdown of the years in which the incidents took place? (WAQ65771)

Julie Morgan (Cardiff North): Will the Minister provide figures for the number of children who died in Wales whilst in the care of or under supervision of a local authority over the last 10 years? (WAQ65772)

Paul Davies (Preseli Pembrokeshire): Will the Minister outline how many operations are estimated to be postponed due to winter pressures this year? (WAQ65780)

Answer received on 4 November 2013

Mark Drakeford: As I explained during Plenary on 23 October, it clearly not possible to provide a meaningful estimate od the sort sought, as winter pressures arising from adverse weather conditions are inherently unpredictable. Health Boards across Wales are responsible for the care of their resident populations and are expected to manage and review their own situations accordingly.

Paul Davies (Preseli Pembrokeshire): For each of the past five years, will the Minister provide the number of cancelled orthopaedic operations during the winter months in the Hywel Dda health board region? (WAQ65781)

Answer received on 4 November 2013

Mark Drakeford: The attached table shows the number of orthopaedic operations postponed in the Hywel Dda region in each of the last five years. The data covers the months of November – March (winter). The total number of cancellations has shown a decrease over the years.

Nov-March	2008/9	2009/10	2010/11*	2011/12*	2012/13*
Total Cancelled	645	843	520	376	299

 

Note * Due to data software issues data for Pembrokeshire is not available from 2010, this is being worked through as software is updated across the Health Board.

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): What cost-benefit analysis was undertaken in the production and distribution of the handbook "Clear and Easy: A handbook for making written information easy to read and understand for people with learning disabilities"? (WAQ65766)

To ask the Minister for Local Government and Government Business

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Will the Minister provide the data and details of the rural proofing analysis undertaken in deciding the Welsh Government local authority financial settlements? (WAQ65760)

Answer received on 4 November 2013

Lesley Griffiths: Local Authority settlements are determined using a funding formula designed to reflect needs across Wales. The formula utilises a wealth of different information on the demographic, physical, economic and social characteristics of each Local Authority. The additional need to spend on service provision in rural Authorities is accounted for by incorporating measures of population dispersion and sparsity into the formula where appropriate.

To ask the Minister for Natural Resources and Food

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): Will the Minister put into the public domain, the monthly number of herd breakdowns due to bovine TB within the Intensive Action Area (IAA) and a 50 mile radius of the IAA, since the initiation of the badger vaccination programme? (WAQ65759)

 

Antoinette Sandbach (North Wales): What proportion of the Natural Resources and Food portfolio budget has been allocated to preventative spending measures? (WAQ65761)

Answer received on 5 November 2013

Alun Davies: The investments we are making to manage our natural resources now and in the longer term could all be defined as preventative spending measures. There are many examples within my portfolio where our investments are preventative in nature, not just in terms of preventing unnecessary future investments, but also preventative in terms of legislation or risk of infraction.