Meeting Venue:
Committee Room 1 - Senedd
Meeting date: Tuesday, 11 June 2019
Meeting time: 09. - 10.00
This meeting can
be viewed
on Senedd TV at:
http://senedd.tv/en/5476
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Category |
Names |
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Assembly Members: |
Janet Finch-Saunders AM (Chair) Mike Hedges AM Neil McEvoy AM Leanne Wood AM |
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Witnesses: |
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Committee Staff: |
Graeme Francis (Clerk) Ross Davies (Deputy Clerk) Kathryn Thomas (Deputy Clerk) Samiwel Davies (Legal Adviser) |
Mike Hedges declared the following relevant interest under Standing Order 17.24A:
His daughter is involved with a number of choirs.
The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to:
· await the publication of the Welsh Government’s feasibility study into options for delivery of music services and a National Plan for Music Education; and
· write to the Wels Local Government Association and the Music Education Council to seek their views on the issues raised by the petition and the current provision of music education and music education services.
The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to include the issues raised by the petition in an evidence session with the Minister for Housing and Local Government on a range of planning-related petitions, scheduled for the Committee’s meeting on 25 June.
The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to await the views of the petitioner on the response provided by the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism before considering any further action on the petition.
The Committee considered further information from the Welsh Government and brief comments from the petitioner, and agreed to await the publication of information arising from the school condition survey and new Asbestos Management in Schools Guidance, and to offer the petitioner an opportunity to respond in more detail , before considering whether it wishes to take any further action on the petition.
The Committee considered correspondence from the WJEC and agreed to close the petition in light of the removal of the specific exercise referred to in the petition, the scrutiny of the Welsh Baccalaureate very recently carried out by the Children, Young People and Education Committee, and the Minister’s commitment to publish updated guidance on the Baccalaureate and its delivery.
The Committee considered further correspondence from the petitioner and agreed to close the petition in light of the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee’s inquiry into the Teaching of Welsh History and Culture, and to provide the petitioner with further information about how he can to contribute to this.
The Committee considered further correspondence from the Welsh Government and the petitioner and agreed to:
· await the publication of revised anti-bullying guidance and toolkit later in the year and to share with the petitioner for comment;
· seek the views of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, charities and school representatives on the sufficiency of current policy and regulation in relation to school bullying; and
· explore further how the Committee can engage with the Welsh Youth Parliament on this issue.
The Committee considered further correspondence from the Welsh Government, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the petitioner and agreed to write to Vertex Pharmaceuticals to urge them to make a submission of evidence to the All-Wales Medicines Strategy Group for appraisal as a priority.
The Committee considered further correspondence from the Welsh Government and the petitioner and agreed to seek further information about opportunities for play and access to play areas and sports facilities for children and young people from the Research Service, and to write to the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and the Welsh Local Government Association to seek their views on the petition.
The Committee considered further correspondence on the petition and agreed to await the publication of the draft Clean Air Plan for Wales later in 2019 before considering further action on the petition.
The Committee considered further correspondence from the Welsh Government and agreed to seek the views of the petitioners on the information in the Minister’s statement of 6 March, before considering further action on the petition.
The Committee considered further correspondence from the Welsh Government and the petitioner and agreed to:
· write to the UK National Screening Committee to raise the petitioners’ suggestion that recent evidence is more favourable in relation to the potential benefits of a screening programme for Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) syndrome, and ask whether and when the Committee intends to revisit its consideration of this issue; and
· write to the British Heart Foundation and the British Cardiovascular Society to seek their views on the issues raised by the petition, and the potential for population screening for undiagnosed heart conditions.
In light of the information received by the Committee, including the recent review into the prevention and investigation of wildlife crime and the Minister’s rejection of the proposal made in the petition, the Committee concluded that there appears to be little further that it could achieve at this time. The Committee therefore agreed to close the petition.
The Committee considered correspondence from the Chair of the Standards of Conduct Committee and agreed to await further views from the petitioners on the information provided before considering whether to take further action on the petition.
The Committee agreed to await further views from the petitioner on the information provided by the Welsh Government, before considering whether to take further action on the petition.
The Committee considered the petition alongside P-05-850 Protect the Gwent Levels and stop the proposed M4 motorway. In light of the decision announced by the First Minister on 4 June, and the comprehensive scrutiny given to this issue by the Public Inquiry, the Committee concluded that there was no further action that it could realistically take and agreed to close the petition.
The Committee considered the petition alongside P-05-838 Support the M4 Relief Road Black Route. In light of the decision announced by the First Minister on 4 June, the comprehensive scrutiny given to this issue by the Public Inquiry and the success of the petition, the Committee concluded that there was no further action that it could realistically take and agreed to close the petition.
The Committee considered further correspondence from the Welsh Government and the petitioner. Members noted the correspondence and agreed to raise relevant issues during its evidence session with the Minister for Housing and Local Government on a number of planning-related petitions at its meeting on 25 June.
The Committee considered further correspondence from the petitioner and a third party and agreed to write the Minister for Housing and Local Government to ask for an update on the review or fire safety requirements and details of the consideration given to requiring third party certification for the installation of fire suppression systems.
The motion was agreed.
The Committee agreed to write to seek the views of a range of organisations on the case for, and possible implications of, introducing an appeals mechanism in relation to school closure proposals, including: