Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Senedd. View directions

Contact: Graeme Francis 

Media

Senedd.TV: View the webcast

Transcript: Transcript for 15/05/2018 - Petitions Committee - Fifth Senedd

Items
Expected timing No. Item

1.

Introduction, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  There were no apologies.

2.

New Petitions

2.1

P-05-812 We call for the Welsh Government to encourage trusts to implement the NICE guidelines for Borderline Personality Disorder or justify why they do not do so

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to:

 

  • write back to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services to ask for a response to the suggestion that a number of health boards in Wales are not following NICE guidelines for the treatment of borderline personality disorder, and that people with this diagnosis can experience exclusion from current psychological therapy services; and
  • consider writing to Local Health Boards in future, depending on the response received.

 

2.2

P-05-813 Ban the USE of LARSEN TRAPS (Multi Corvid Traps)

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to write to stakeholders including RSPCA Cymru, RSPB Cymru – Wales, the Countryside Alliance and the National Gamekeepers Organisation, to seek their views on the issues raised by the petition.

2.3

P-05-814 All New Builds In Wales To Have Solar Panels

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to:

 

  • await the views of the petitioner on the response from the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs; and
  • ask the Cabinet Secretary for additional detail on the timescales for the review of Part L (Conservation of fuel and power) of the Building Regulations.

 

 

3.

Updates to previous petitions

3.1

P-04-688 TATA Steel Port Talbot Power Plant

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport and agreed to close the petition in light of the ongoing discussions between the Welsh Government and Tata Steel, the funding announced for improvements to the power plant, and the likelihood that there is little further concrete action that the Petitions Committee can take.  

3.2

P-05-701 Road Safety Improvements Along the A487 Trunk Road between Cardigan and Aberystwyth, to Include Passing Places

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport, together with further comments from the petitioner, and agreed to close the petition in light of the active consideration being given to improvements on the A487 in Ceredigion and the increased profile of the issue achieved through the petition.

 

3.3

P-05-716 Free Train Transport for school pupils with Arriva Trains Wales

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered correspondence from the petitioner and agreed to:

  • close the petition on the basis that the safety arrangements were identified through an assessment of the risk to pupils on the platform at Treorchy station, and because offering free travel is a commercial decision for the operator of the rail franchise; and
  • write to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport to ask if the Welsh Government will take the issues raised by the petition into account as part of the new rail franchise.

 

3.4

P-05-721 Penegoes Speed Limit Petition

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered this petition together with P-05-767 A487 Trunk Road Through Tre-Taliesin and P-05-792 Petition to extend the 40mph speed limit in Blaenporth and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport to ask for:

  • further details about the progress of the Speed Limit Review to date, the principles underpinning it and the assessment criteria used; and
  • practical examples of places that have been reviewed during 2018 so far, and what the outcome has been in each case.

 

3.5

P-05-767 A487 Trunk Road Through Tre-Taliesin

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered this petition together with P-05-721 Penegoes Speed Limit Petition and P-05-792 Petition to extend the 40mph speed limit in Blaenporth and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport to ask for:

 

  • further details about the progress of the Speed Limit Review to date, the principles underpinning it and the assessment criteria used; and
  • practical examples of places that have been reviewed during 2018 so far, and what the outcome has been in each case.

 

3.6

P-05-792 Petition to extend the 40mph speed limit in Blaenporth

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered this petition together with P-05-721 Penegoes Speed Limit Petition and P-05-767 A487 Trunk Road Through Tre-Taliesin: Urgent Need for Effective Speed-Calming Measures and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport to ask for:

 

  • further details about the progress of the Speed Limit Review to date, the principles underpinning it and the assessment criteria used; and
  • practical examples of places that have been reviewed during 2018 so far, and what the outcome has been in each case.

 

3.7

P-05-770 Reopen Crumlin Railway Station

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport together with further comments from the petitioner and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport to ask for details of how Crumlin scored in the Phase 1 assessment of potential new railway stations.

 

3.8

P-05-750 For single use items: introduce a Deposit Return System for drink containers and make fast food containers and utensils compostable

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered this petition together with P-05-803 Our natural world is being poisoned by single use plastics...it's time to introduce a tax! and agreed to write to;

  • The Minister for Environment to ask for:
    •  further details about the discussions she intends to hold with other governments within the UK on the possibility of a UK-wide Deposit Return System and plastics tax;
    • her views on the other point raised in the petition about legislating to ensure that all single-use food and drink containers and utensils are fully compostable; and
  • The Cabinet Secretary for Finance to seek an update on the development of a potential tax on single-use plastics.

 

3.9

P-05-803 Our natural world is being poisoned by single use plastics...it's time to introduce a tax!

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered this petition together with P-05-803 Our natural world is being poisoned by single use plastics...it's time to introduce a tax! and agreed to write to;

  • The Minister for Environment to ask for:
    •  further details about the discussions she intends to hold with other governments within the UK on the possibility of a UK-wide Deposit Return System and plastics tax;
    • her views on the other point raised in the petition about legislating to ensure that all single-use food and drink containers and utensils are fully compostable; and
  • The Cabinet Secretary for Finance to seek an update on the development of a potential tax on single-use plastics.

 

 

3.10

P-05-796 Calling on the Welsh Government to Ban The Use of Wild Animals in Circuses in Wales

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

At the request of the petitioner, the Committee agreed to defer the item for consideration at future meeting.  

3.11

P-05-801 Save the trees and ground in Roath Mill and Roath Brook Gardens before it's too late

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered correspondence from Natural Resources Wales and agreed to write to:

 

  • NRW to share the proposals made by the petitioners and ask for an update on current discussions, and to seek their about the environmental implications of raising or lowering the depth of Roath Park lake to control flood risk; and
  • to Cardiff Council to seek a response to the Committee’s previous correspondence.

 

3.12

P-05-768 A call for the return of 24 hour Consultant led Obstetrics, Paediatrics and SCBU to Withybush DGH

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered correspondence from Hywel Dda Community Health Council along with further comments from the petitioner. The Committee agreed to close the petition on the basis that the service changes referred to were made in 2014 and there appears to be little realistic prospect of these being reversed, particularly in light of recent proposals for further reconfiguration of health services in west Wales and the information provided by the Community Health Council.

 

3.13

P-05-797 Ensure access to the cystic fibrosis medicine, Orkambi, as a matter of urgency

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, along with further comments from the petitioner, and agreed to schedule evidence sessions with the Cabinet Secretary and Vertex for a future meeting. 

 

3.14

P-05-789 Review support for asylum seekers accessing further education

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered correspondence from the Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning, along with further comments from the petitioner, and agreed to await the outcome of the current consultation and subsequent decisions made by the Minister before determining any further action on the petition.

 

3.15

P-04-526 Please make Senedd TV accessible to deaf people

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee agreed to:

 

·         close the petition because it is not possible to identify how to take the petition forward in the absence of contact with the petitioner; and in doing so

·         Table a question to the Assembly Commission in the name of the Chair of the Petitions Committee on the issues raised by the petition. 

 

 

3.16

P-04-683 Trees in Towns

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee agreed to close the petition because it is not possible to identify how to take the petition forward in the absence of contact with the petitioner, and in light of the work currently being undertaken by the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee on the same subject as the petition.  

 

3.17

P-05-776 To recognize the three hundredth anniversary of Williams Pantycelyn

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee agreed to close the petition because it is not possible to identify how to take the petition forward in the absence of contact with the petitioner, and given some of the work already undertaken to commemorate the life of William Williams. 

In doing so, the Committee agreed to thank the petitioner for bringing the petition forward and for his work on this subject.

 

3.18

P-05-783 Ensuring Equality of Curriculum for Welsh Medium Schools e.g. GCSE Psychology

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the petition and agreed to write to:

  • Qualifications Wales to seek an update on the current position, request information about how many GCSE and A-level subjects are not able to be studied through the medium of Welsh, and ask what support is available to examination boards to encourage them to provide exam papers and supporting materials; and
  • the Cabinet Secretary for Education to ask what support the Welsh Government provides, or would expect Qualifications Wales to provide, to assist examination boards based outside of Wales to provide exam papers and supporting materials through the medium of Welsh.

 

(10:00)

4.

Evidence session - P-05-799 Change the National Curriculum and teach Welsh history, from a Welsh perspective, in our Primary, Secondary and Sixth form Schools

Elfed Wyn Jones, Petitioner

 

Dr Elin Jones

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee heard evidence from the Petitioner and Dr Elin Jones.

7.

Motion under Standing Order 17.42 to resolve to exclude the public from the meeting for the remainder of today's business:

Minutes:

The motion was agreed.

5.

Discussion of Previous Evidence Session

Minutes:

The Committee considered the evidence and agreed to invite the Cabinet Secretary for Education to provide oral evidence to the Committee at a meeting during the Summer term.

 

6.

Consideration of Summary - P-04-628 To improve access to Education and services in British Sign Language

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the summary of the evidence and agreed to produce a report on the petition.