National Assembly for Wales

I refer you to my reply within WQ85163 where I have set out each property sale for the financial year. The total number of land and property sales is 33 generating a receipt of £10,448,671.00

The accounts for 2021/22 are in production and will be published later in the year in the normal manner once they have been audited.

In accordance with good estate management practice the property holding departments regularly review their holdings, including an examination of what might be surplus. Our policy is to offer our surplus assets to the public sector in the first instance, and then to offer to the wider market. There is no set target for the number of disposals and receipts from any transactions are determined primarily by market conditions at the time of sale.

I have set out a table below identifying the relevant transactions.

* The transfer of this land reflects significant site preparation and remediation work required

** This transaction was for the sale of a long leasehold on a small area of land for a substation

The Food Poverty Roundtable which took place on 11 May 2022 was specifically organised to discuss the ongoing urgency of the cost of living crisis and the impact of rising prices and energy costs on levels of food poverty. It was an opportunity to hear from myself, the Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd and the Director of Education and Welsh Language.

There were 72 people in attendance and they included representatives from the Trussell Trust, Citizens Advice Cymru, Bevan Foundation, Oxfam, Waterloo Foundation, Women’s institute, Fareshare, Children in Wales, Child Poverty Action Group, Public Health Wales, Health Boards, Wales Local Government Association, Valleys Regional Park, local authority poverty champions, schools, third sector organisations and food poverty projects that support low income households to access emergency food provision and maximise their incomes, with the aim of addressing food poverty in the longer term.

Attendees were asked to consider how resources should be directed to more effectively help people to access the support they need and maximise their incomes which will reduce and prevent the need for emergency food provision. These suggestions will be fed back at the next Cost of Living Summit which will take place before the summer recess.

During the Roundtable, MRANWT committed to meeting with supermarkets and larger food retailers to discuss how they can play a part in addressing the cost of living crisis.

A written statement detailing the findings and recommendations following the roundtable will be published on 26 May.

The Section 6 duty in the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 to maintain and enhance ecosystems applies to public authorities. However, developments applying for regulatory consents from public authorities must take account of the Welsh National Marine Plan. Marine Plan Policy ENV_01: Resilient Marine Ecosystems, relates to the protection and enhancement of ecosystems.

As part of its application for any necessary regulatory consents, Nova Innovation, the developer behind the Ynys Enlli tidal stream development, will be required to demonstrate how its project is in accordance with Marine Plan policies

Our commitment to develop offshore renewable energy does take into consideration the impacts upon special areas of conservation in Wales. All developments will be subject to the Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) process where interaction with a designated site is involved.

Under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (and offshore equivalent) Competent Authorities (decision-makers) must assess the potential significant effects of proposed plans and projects on all Marine Protected Areas prior to granting consents. Where adverse effects on site integrity cannot be ruled out, the Competent Authority must set out compensatory measures to mitigate any impact to protected features or species.  

As part of its application for the necessary regulatory consents, Nova Innovation, the developer behind the proposed Ynys Enlli tidal energy project, will be required to demonstrate how its project adheres to Marine Plan Policy Env_02: Marine Protected Areas. Should Nova Innovation apply for consents, any application and supporting information will be made publicly available.

We remain absolutely committed to ensuring that the changes we are making do not negatively impact any children in Wales who would have received additional support as a result of their eligibility status. There are no current plans to replace the Pupil Development Grant stream of funding after the next academic year.

I gave an oral statement in March concerning our direction for supporting disadvantaged learners and the proposed action plan. Tackling the impact of poverty on attainment, is at the heart of our national mission in education, and only by pursuing that relentlessly can we succeed in our aim to achieve high standards and aspirations for all.

To support our national mission to tackle the impact of poverty on educational attainment we will be publishing an action plan in the autumn. Year on year we have extended the PDG to reflect the increase in eFSM learners, with funding for 2022-23 now at over £130m.

In regard to Free School Meals the December Written Statement acknowledged that in offering every primary aged learner a school meal for free it was possible that we would no longer be able to use Free School Meal eligibility as a proxy indicator for disadvantage for children in this age group.

We know that this indicator has, for many years, informed both local and national policy and the way in which funding is allocated. It has also been used as a way of passporting entitlements to learners – for example, those learners eligible for a free school meal currently are also eligible for PDG Access, and their eligibility status informs the level of funding their school receives via the PDG.

The Statement set out we therefore needed to work closely with partners, and right across government, to consider the impact of any potential changes to the way in which we record those eligible for free school meals, and any associated data sets. Our aim is to minimise turbulence to both funding allocations, entitlements to learners and families, and ways of working going forward

Work is well underway with local authorities to co-construct a staged approach to the implementation of Universal Primary Free School Meals. As well as matching the capacity of schools to effectively deliver the extended provision, the pace of the roll-out needs to ensure pupils are provided with a high-quality food offer and that the nutritional value of the food is maintained.

To support local authorities, revenue funding of up to £200m has been set aside for local authorities to deliver the commitment, with £40m to be provided in 2022-23, £70m in 2023-24 and £90m in 2024-25. In addition, £25m of capital funding has initially been made available for local authorities to invest in school kitchen and dining infrastructure as part of the plans.

During the roll-out all local authorities and governing bodies of maintained schools must continue to comply with the Healthy Eating in Schools (Nutritional Standards and Requirements) (Wales) Regulations 2013. The Regulations set out the type of food and drink which may be provided during the school day. They are accompanied by the Healthy eating in maintained schools statutory guidance.

In addition, we have made a commitment to undertake a review of the Regulations to incorporate the latest scientific research and recommendations concerning nutritional standards. Engagement and consultation with local authorities will be an important element of this review and we look forward to working with them to ensure that the food offered to children at schools is of the best quality and nutritional value possible. We will provide more detailed information about the staging and timing of this review in due course.

This work is being carried out in collaboration with Siân Gwenllian MS, the Plaid Cymru lead designated member, as part of the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

The Welsh Government is committed to supporting children and young people with hearing impairment as part of its additional learning needs reforms.

Data collected via the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC) shows that in April 2021 there were 2,652 pupils in Wales recorded as having a hearing impairment.  We do not directly collect data on specialist in-school support.

Of those learners recorded as having a hearing impairment, 709 were at School Action; 1,384 were at School Action Plus and 559 had a Statement of SEN.

Under the special educational needs (SEN) system a pupil with SEN may receive support at School Action, School Action Plus or via a Statement of SEN.

Under School Action a class teacher provides interventions that are additional to or different from those provided as part of the school’s usual differentiated curriculum offer and strategies.  Under School Action Plus pupils with SEN are provided with advice or support from outside specialists. Some pupils with more complex needs have their needs and support set out in a Statement of SEN and the local authority is responsible for providing that support, which may include specialist support.

The table below shows the number of pupils with a hearing impairment at maintained schools in Wales, by local authority and SEN status, at April 2021:

* = The data has been suppressed for disclosure reasons

Source: Pupil Level Annual Schools Census, April 2021

As the roll-out of the Additional Learning Needs Act 2018 continues I recognise that schools and local authorities need additional funding for staff resource to move children from the SEN system to the ALN system. Therefore, in January I announced an additional £8 million to be allocated to schools, nurseries, local authorities and Pupil Referral Units and in this financial year I have made a further £6.6m available to continue to support moving children on to the ALN system. Our terms for this funding specify that it should be used by local authorities to increase capacity to move children from the SEN to ALN system, develop practitioner knowledge on ALN and collaborate with partners across Wales to develop a national implementation network for successful adoption of the new ALN system.

Local authorities receive funding for special educational needs (SEN) and additional learning needs (ALN) provision from the Welsh Government via the Revenue Support Grant (RSG). The RSG is not ring fenced as the Welsh Government considers local authorities are best placed to judge local needs and circumstances and to fund SEN/ALN provision accordingly. Once the RSG is distributed, individual authorities are responsible for setting budgets for their mainstream and special schools and the local provision that they support.

Each LA must have a schools budget forum where they can engage with schools on financial matters and schools can contribute to this process and influence decisions. As part of their role in ensuring that needs are matched by appropriate provision, all LAs should work with their mainstream and special schools to ensure their school funding arrangements are effective in supporting and raising the achievement of all children with SEN/ALN.

The new ALN system focuses on improving planning to meet the needs of children and young people with ALN and is intended to ensure better access to appropriate provision. It also aims to increase early identification of needs and early intervention, with a view to preventing long term issues and costly interventions.

Over the last four years, the Welsh Government invested £20m of extra funding for the ALN Transformation programme, which supported the skills development of the education workforce to help build capacity within the system and ensure learners’ needs can be met in a range of education settings.

Our budget for 2022-23 includes £21 million to support children and young people with ALN and successfully deliver upon the ambitions of ALN reforms.  Total funding of £9.155m is being made available across Wales for ALN Learner Provision, which is an increase from £7.1 in previous years.

In our National Plan for Music Education, the ‘First Experiences’ programme will ensure that every child and young person in primary schools and settings has an equal opportunity to play, sing, take part in and create music. Through the programme, our children and young people will have opportunities to play a wide range of instruments and styles of music. Schools and settings can use these opportunities to support their delivery of the Expressive Arts Area in the Curriculum for Wales, by providing an inspirational starting point for the enjoyment of music. The programme will be offered to all primary schools and settings over the period of the Senedd and build upon their existing music provision. The lead body of the National Music Service will work with local authority music services to implement the programme and delivery will be for a minimum of six weeks.

Substantive response

NHS Wales organisations actively manage their workforce when vacancies arise. There are now more doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals working in the NHS in Wales than ever before.

Officials continue to work with Knowledge and Analytical Services, Health Education and Improvement Wales, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership and health boards to improve data, intelligence and analytics across a range of workforce metrics. NHS Wales vacancy data for the directly employed workforce will be routinely collected and published in the coming months.

The commissioning of stem cell therapies is the responsibility of the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee, acting on behalf of health boards in Wales.

The commissioning policy for access to stem cell therapies is set out at:

https://whssc.nhs.wales/commissioning/whssc-policies/all-policy-documents/haematopoietic-stem-cell-transplantation-policy-position-statement-pp142-january-2020/

https://whssc.nhs.wales/commissioning/whssc-policies/all-policy-documents/haematopoietic-stem-cell-transplantation-for-adults-service-specification-cp79-january-2020/

I expect eligible patients to be treated in accordance with these commissioning policies.

Vaccination remains the most effective defence against COVID-19.  Evusheld is a neutralising monoclonal antibody authorised for use for the pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 in adults who are unlikely to mount an adequate immune response to COVID-19 vaccination or for whom COVID-19 vaccination is not recommended.

There remain important questions regarding the efficacy of Evusheld against Omicron variants. Understanding whether Evusheld is effective against the predominant variants in the UK is essential before any next steps are considered.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has been undertaking testing to inform decisions about UK wide procurement of Evusheld. The UKHSA’s findings will be considered by the COVID Therapeutics Clinical Review Panel who will then provide advice to the four UK Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) on the place of Evusheld in the management of COVID-19. Evusheld will be made available in Wales in accordance with any clinical policy agreed by the for UK CMOs.