Meeting Venue:
Y Siambr - Y Senedd
Meeting date:
Wednesday, 7 June 2023
Meeting time: 13.30
------
This meeting will be held in a hybrid format, with some Members in the Senedd Chamber and others joining by video-conference.
1 Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
(45 mins)
The Presiding Officer will call party spokespeople to ask questions without notice to the Minister after Question 2.
2 Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language
(45 mins)
The Presiding Officer will call party spokespeople to ask questions without notice to the Minister after Question 2.
3 Topical Questions
(0 mins)
No Topical Questions were accepted
4 90 Second Statements
(5 mins)
5 Debate on the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee report - The Welsh Government’s EV charging infrastructure strategy and action plan
(60 mins)
NDM8281 Heledd Fychan (South Wales Central)
To propose that the Senedd:
Notes the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee report: ‘The Welsh Government’s EV charging infrastructure strategy and action plan’, laid on 28 March 2023.
The response of the Welsh Government to the report was laid in the Table Office on 31 May 2023.
6 Welsh Conservatives Debate - Accounting practices at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board
(30 mins)
NDM8282 Darren Millar (Clwyd West)
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Believes that the Ernst & Young forensic report of accounting issues at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board should be published in full and be in the public domain.
2. Calls upon Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to publish the Ernst & Young report.
3. Requests, given the findings in the Ernst & Young report, that a wider and independent review be undertaken to provide assurances that:
a) the practices identified at the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board are not happening in other NHS organisations in Wales; and
b) financial years prior to those reviewed by Ernst & Young were not affected by similar practices.
The following amendment was tabled:
Amendment 1 Lesley Griffiths (Wrexham)
Delete all and replace with:
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Recognises the significant interest in the Ernst & Young forensic report of accounting issues at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and notes calls for it to be published.
2. Notes that Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board is progressing the management of the issues raised in the Ernst & Young report in line with existing procedures and policies and is seeking legal advice re its publication.
3. Notes the role of Audit Wales in providing assurance on the management of public money and the WG intention to undertake a lessons learnt exercise and disseminate its findings across NHS organisations.
7 Welsh Conservatives Debate - Blue carbon habitats
(30 mins)
NDM8283 Darren Millar (Clwyd West)
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Recognises Welsh seas contain seagrass, saltmarsh, and seaweed blue carbon habitats, encompassing more than 99km² of the Welsh marine protected areas network.
2. Notes that carbon is already stored away in Welsh marine sediments.
3. Regrets that up to 92 per cent of the UK’s seagrass has disappeared in the last century, as highlighted in the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee’s Report on the Welsh Government’s marine policies.
4. Acknowledges that the carbon-storing capabilities of the ocean is critical in meeting the target of becoming net-zero by 2050.
5. Calls on the Welsh Government to:
a) create a national blue carbon recovery plan for Wales, designed to maintain and enhance our invaluable marine blue carbon habitats;
b) build on the success of Project Seagrass, a collaboration between Sky Ocean Rescue, WWF and Swansea University which aims to restore 20,000m² of seagrass, by planting over 750,000 seeds in Dale Bay in Pembrokeshire; and
c) develop a Welsh national marine development plan which clearly shows where blue carbon projects can take place.
The following amendment was tabled:
Amendment 1 Lesley Griffiths (Wrexham)
Delete all after point 3 and replace with:
Believes that emerging opportunities for expanding Wales's carbon sink, such blue carbon, should be pursued to accelerate our net zero pathway rather than to delay action.
Calls on the UK Government to devolve the Crown Estate so that more decisions affecting blue carbon are made in Wales.
Calls on the Welsh Government to:
a) deliver national blue carbon recovery by funding the maintenance and enhancement of Wales's seagrass, saltmarsh and other nature- and carbon-rich coastal habitats;
b) build on the success of all projects across Wales delivering marine habitat restoration, including Project Seagrass’s successful work in Dale and the recently funded Ocean Rescue Seagrass project led by North Wales Wildlife Trust, targeting restoration off the Llyn Peninsula; and
c) deliver a spatial approach to marine planning which ensures that blue carbon projects are located to achieve maximum nature benefit whilst enabling other important marine activities including fishing, shipping and energy.
8 Plaid Cymru Debate - Full devolution of water resources
(60 mins)
NDM8279 Sian Gwenllian (Arfon)
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Believes that:
a) Wales should have full control over its water resources, including the ability to regulate the transfer of water beyond its borders;
b) further devolution of powers over water would also enable Welsh Ministers to more effectively address the problem of sewage discharges into Wales's rivers and seas; and
c) the privatisation of water is a failed model that has led to soaring bills and a disastrous deterioration in the quality of Wales's water.
2. Calls on the Welsh Government to:
a) formally request the enactment of section 48(1) of the Wales Act 2017, which would fully align the Senedd’s legislative competence over water with the geographic boundary of Wales;
b) formally request further powers over the licensing of sewage undertakers in Wales; and
c) introduce legislation within the current Senedd term to place the drainage and wastewater management plans of water companies in Wales on a statutory footing.
The following amendments were tabled:
Amendment 1 Darren Millar (Clwyd West)
Delete all and replace with:
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Notes that responsibility for pollution management is devolved to Wales.
2. Regrets that in 2022, 25 per cent of recorded hours of sewage discharges in England and Wales were into Welsh waterways.
3. Calls upon the Welsh Government to:
a) update the action plan to address sewage discharges into Welsh rivers, lakes and seas;
b) publish the Welsh Government’s taskforce report on storm overflows; and
c) implement statutory targets for water companies to improve storm overflows.
If amendment 1 is agreed, amendment 2 will be de-selected.
Amendment 2 Lesley Griffiths (Wrexham)
Add as new sub-points at the end of point 2:
use its powers to require all strategic water infrastructure investment affecting Wales, including any transfers, to benefit Wales's communities and natural environment.
work with partners to secure the future of Welsh water resources by addressing all major pressures on them, namely from wastewater, urban runoff, misconnections, diffuse rural pollution, physical modifications, abandoned mines and invasive species.
provide additional funding to Nutrient Management Boards to accelerate their work in safeguarding water resources.
provide additional funding for capital grants for farmers to make infrastructure improvements that protect water resources.
increase the use of citizen science data in expanding our understanding of the pressures on water resources.
develop whole catchment consenting and strategic improvement approaches to national water resource management.
9 Voting Time
10 Short Debate
(30 mins)
NDM8278 Buffy Williams (Rhondda)
Support for women in Wales who suffer with premenstrual dysphoric disorder
The Senedd will sit again in Plenary at 13.30, Tuesday, 13 June 2023