Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were received from Bethan Jenkins AM. There were no substitutes.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time alongside correspondence from the Minister for Education and Skills and further comments from the petitioner and agreed to:

• await responses in respect of P-04-576 ‘Allow Children in Wales to Have a Family Holiday During Term Time’; and
• Consider both petitions together in future.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time alongside correspondence from the Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport and further comments from the petitioner and others. The Committee agreed to seek the Deputy Minister’s views on the further comments from the petitioner and others.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time alongside correspondence from the Minister for Health and Social Services and further comments from the petitioner and agreed to seek the Minister’s views on the petitioner’s further comments.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time alongside correspondence from the Minister for Education and Skills and agreed to:

• ask the petitioner whether they are satisfied with the announcement made by the Minister to re-establish the Financial Contingency Fund for the current financial year; and
• move to close the petition.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to close the petition in light of the Petitioners thanking the Committee for its involvement in this matter and that they are taking forward future discussions direct with the First Minister. 

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to close the petition. 

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to close the petition in light of the funding being agreed to build a new bridge at the earliest opportunity, which essentially meets the objective of the original petition.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

·         close the petition as it is now clear that this matter is an operational decision of the local authority concerned; and

·         while taking no further specific action on this petition, bear it in mind when considering other petitions on ‘sub regional’ bus services that the Committee is currently doing work on.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed:

• in order to facilitate further work on the proposals set out in the petitioners’ letter, write to the Minister asking for clarification as to who the petitioners should now work with to develop their proposals; and
• to ask the Minister if her officials could contact the petitioners to provide support and guidance.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed:

• to carry out a piece of work on the petition;
• that it was content with the approach to this work outlined in a paper from the Research Service;
• make the Assembly’s Environment and Sustainability Committee aware of the petition and the work it had agreed to do. 

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

• pass the petitioner’s further comments to the Minister for information; and
• keep a watching brief on the petition until the review of the regulations has concluded. 

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to close the petition in light of the Minister making his position on the planning issues clear.  The Committee also noted that a number of other issues raised by the petitioners are the responsibility of the UK Government.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to ask Professor Fox, via the petitioner, if he is able to supply evidence of shootings since 2009, as requested by Welsh Government officials.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to close the petition. 

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to await the outcome of the Environment and Sustainability Committee’s consideration of its Forward Work Programme on 10 December.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

·         close the petition as the Planning (Wales) Bill was introduced into the Assembly on 6 October and is currently receiving Stage 1 scrutiny from the Environment and Sustainability Committee; and

·         In closing the petition, ask the E&S Committee to take the petition into account in reporting to the Assembly on the general principles of the Bill.

See agreed action under 3.14.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to draw the petitioners’ further comments to the attention of the UHB and ask them to inform the Committee of progress in 3 months time on progress on service development and delivery following publication of the report of the Mid Wales Healthcare Study.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to

• Await further comments from the petitioner; and 
• Seek the Minister’s response to the fact that all of the LHBs that have responded so far appear to support an all Wales Gastroenterology plan, which the Minister does not appear to support.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

·         seek further comments from the petitioner; and

·         Consider the petition in future alongside P-04-466 (NW Health Services) P-04-479 (Tywyn Memorial Hospital), which raise many of the same issues.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to write to the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee to ask that the petition is taken into account in the work the PAC is undertaking on health board governance in NHS Wales.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

·         seek further comments from the petitioner; and

·         forward the correspondence received from the Welsh Blood Service to the Minister asking that he responds to the Committee’s original letter.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

·         seek further comments from the Ministers on the petitioners comments, in particular whether the Welsh Government will consider collecting data around male engagement and provide further information about why the Children and Adolescent Welfare Assessment Checklist (CAWAC) cannot be shared more widely; and

·         move to close to the petition.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to seek further comments from the petitioner.

·         Jayne Dulson, Director NDCS Cymru

·         Elin Wyn, Policy Adviser NDCS Cymru

·         Danyiaal Munir, Student Cardiff & Vale College

·         Peter Rogers, Director Sustainable Acoustics Ltd

The following witnesses answered questions from the Committee:

• Jayne Dulson, Director NDCS;
• Elin Wyn, Policy Advisor NDCS;
• Danyiaal Munir, Student Cardiff and Vale College; and
• Peter Rogers, Director Sustainable Acoustics Ltd