Y Pwyllgor Plant a Phobl Ifanc

Children and Young People Committee

 

 

 

 

 

                                           10 February 2012

Dear Colleague

 

On 4 October 2011 the National Assembly for Wales’ Petitions Committee received a petition from the cancer charity Tenovus saying that:

“We call upon the National Assembly to urge the Welsh Government to provide free sunscreen for all children under the age of 11 in Wales.”

This petition was referred to the Children and Young People Committee for consideration.  As a result, the Committee has decided to hold a short inquiry into school sun protection policy, which will look not only at the availability and use of sunscreen, but also at other sun protection issues such as the provision of shade in schools and the wearing of suitable clothing whilst outdoors.

To inform the Committee’s inquiry, we would welcome your written comments on sun protection for children and young people at school or in childcare, and specifically on the following:

  1. Whether current sun protection policies and guidelines for schools are effective in providing sufficient sun protection for children, and if not, where improvements are required.
  2. Whether there is sufficient awareness of the current sun protection policies and guidelines, and, if not, how best to raise awareness;
  3. Whether there are any barriers to the use of sun protection in schools, including sunscreen, suitable clothing, hats or shade, by children and young people, for example in terms of cost or the application of sunscreen by teachers or childminders, and if so, how these could be addressed.

Invitation to contribute to the inquiry

The Committee welcomes responses from both individuals and organisations.  If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, please provide a brief description of the role of your organisation.

The Committee welcomes contributions in English or Welsh, and we ask organisations with Welsh Language policies/schemes to provide bilingual submissions, in line with their public information policies.

If you wish to submit evidence, please send an electronic copy of your submission to CYPCommittee@wales.gov.uk.

Alternatively, you can write to:

Committee Clerk
Children and Young People Committee
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay
CF99 1NA

I would be grateful if you could ensure that your submission arrives by Friday 9 March 2012.  It may not be possible to take into account responses received after this date.

Disclosure of Information

It is normal practice for the National Assembly to publish evidence provided to a Committee.  Consequently your response may appear in a report or in supplementary evidence to a report.  The National Assembly will not publish information which it considers to be personal data.

In the event of a request for information submitted under UK legislation, it may be necessary to disclose the information that you provide.  This may include information which has previously been removed by the National Assembly for publication purposes.

If you are providing any information, other than personal data, which you feel is not suitable for public disclosure, it is up to you to stipulate which parts should not be published and to provide a reasoned argument to support this.  The National Assembly will take this into account when publishing information or responding to requests for information.

Yours faithfully

 

Christine Chapman AM

Chair