Meeting Venue:
Committee Room 1 - Senedd
Meeting date: Tuesday, 12 February 2019
Meeting time: 09.00 - 10.45
This meeting can
be viewed
on Senedd TV at:
http://senedd.tv/en/5287
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|
Category |
Names |
|
Assembly Members: |
David J Rowlands AM (Chair) Janet Finch-Saunders AM Mike Hedges AM Neil McEvoy AM Leanne Wood AM |
|
Witnesses: |
Deryk Cundy, SOSPPAN John Prosser, SOSPPAN Louvain Roberts, SOSPPAN |
|
Committee Staff: |
Graeme Francis (Clerk) Ross Davies (Deputy Clerk) Kathryn Thomas (Deputy Clerk) Sam Davies (Legal Adviser) |
The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. There were no apologies.
The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to write to the Minister for Education to:
· provide the further comments received from the petitioner;
· ask her to provide an assessment of the sufficiency of current legal duties in relation to preventing and tackling bullying in school; and
· ask for a timeline for when a report on the outcome of the public consultation on anti-bullying guidance will be available.
The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to:
· await the views of the petitioners on the response provided by the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip before considering whether to take further action on the petition; and
The Committee agreed to await a response from the petitioner to the latest information provided by the Deputy Minister before considering further action.
The Committee considered the petition alongside P-04-505 Eating Disorder Unit in Wales and agreed to continue to keep a watching brief until the Welsh Government formally responds to the independent review carried out by Dr Jacinta Tan.
The Committee considered the petition alongside P-04-408 Child and Adolescent Eating Disorder Service and agreed to continue to keep a watching brief until the Welsh Government formally responds to the independent review carried out by Dr Jacinta Tan.
The Committee considered correspondence from Hywel Dda University Health Board and agreed to offer people who have previously contacted the Committee on this matter an opportunity to provide their views, and write to Hywel Dda Community Health Council to seek their reflections on the plans outlined by the Health Board and the future of health services for Pembrokeshire.
The Committee agreed to await a further update from the Minister for Health and Social Services in relation to the review of the scheme benefits and discretionary payment framework before considering the petition further, and to write again at Easter if this has not been received.
The Committee noted the information provided by the Minister for Health and Social Services and the petitioner, and agreed to consider the petition again following the Plenary debate scheduled for 6 March 2019.
The Committee agreed to write to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs to ask:
· whether she considers that the divergence between licensing and the regulatory regime in Wales and England poses risks to animal welfare in Wales, particularly in relation to the exotic pet trade; and
· whether she intends to consider the merits of adopting some or all of the various policy changes made in England by the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
The Committee considered correspondence from Natural Resources Wales and agreed to:
· seek the views of the campaign group on the latest developments before considering whether it can take any further action on the petition; and
· write to NRW to ask them to provide indicative timescales for undertaking the reassessment.
The Committee agreed to close the petition on the basis that there is little further action that it could take at this stage, in light of the fact that the Welsh Government’s Final Budget for 2019/20 was agreed by the Assembly on 15 January 2019 and having been scrutinised by the Finance Committee and other subject committees.
In light of recent developments which demonstrate that the proposal to build a new prison in Baglan is not going ahead, the Committee agreed to close the petition and congratulate the petitioners on the success of their campaign.
The motion was agreed.
The Committee agreed to publish an interim report of the evidence received as soon as possible and to invite the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services to give evidence to the Committee at the earliest opportunity.
The Committee agreed to publish the draft report.
The Committee heard evidence from Deryk Cundy, John Prosser and Louvain Roberts from SOSPPAN.
The Committee discussed the evidence received and agreed to write to Hywel Dda University Health Board and Hywel Dda Community Health Council to seek a response to some of the issues raised.