Written Questions Answered Between 8 and 15 June 2006
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Written Questions answered between 8 and 15 June 2006 Written Questions answered between 8 and 15 June 2006 [R] signifies that the Member has declared an interest. [W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh. Contents Questions to the Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport Questions to the Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks Questions to the Minister for Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills Questions to the Minister for Environment, Planning and Countryside Questions to the Finance Minister Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services Questions to the Minister for Social Justice and Regeneration Questions to the Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport Laura Anne Jones: Will the Minister make a statement on how the Welsh Assembly Government is promoting croquet in Wales? (WAQ47149) The Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport (Alun Pugh): The Assembly Government does not fund croquet. Croquet in Wales has received six community chest awards via our Sports Council for Wales totalling almost £4,000. Kirsty Williams: Will the Minister make a statement on his priorities to review the map of festivals and designate some for significantly greater investment as outlined in ‘A Culture Strategy for Wales’? (WAQ47157) Alun Pugh: Wales’s tradition of festivals, such as the National Eisteddfod, Llangollen International Written Questions answered between 8 and 15 June 2006 Music Eisteddfod, Brecon Jazz, Faenol and the Hay Literary Festival, has been enhanced in recent years to include a growing number of local festivals that are gaining status, such as the Big Cheese in Caerphilly and the Green Man Festival in Brecon. Support is also given through the Arts Council of Wales and the National Lottery for a larger number of more local festivals. The Welsh Assembly Government is currently reviewing its culture strategy, which will include consideration of the best approach to promoting and supporting key festivals and the benefits they can deliver, while attaining value for money. Leighton Andrews: What digitisation projects have been undertaken by county local record offices? (WAQ47176) Alun Pugh: County record offices have received grants from various sources, such as the Welsh Assembly Government through CyMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales and the Heritage Lottery Fund, to undertake digitisation projects. Since CyMAL’s establishment on 1 April 2004, we have awarded grants to twelve digitisation projects, including a grant to Glamorgan record office to create an educational CD-ROM on both the Tonypandy riots and the Penrhyn quarry strike and a grant to Denbighshire record office to create an electronic heritage-trail for Ruthin. Lottery-funded projects include the digitisation of Cardiff building regulation plans by Glamorgan record office and Archives Network Wales, a website that enables users to search and access electronic descriptions of archival collections held in Wales. Leighton Andrews: Who owns the intellectual property rights of materials held in county local record offices? (WAQ47177) Alun Pugh: There are four main types of intellectual property rights: patents, trademarks, designs and copyright. The one that is relevant to the holdings of Welsh county record offices is copyright. A county record office will hold material that comes under three different categories: material owned by the CRO, for which the CRO also owns the copyright; material owned by the CRO, for which someone else owns the copyright; material owned by someone else, which is held on loan by the CRO. The copyright for such material can be owned by the owner of the material or by someone else. Written Questions answered between 8 and 15 June 2006 Questions to the Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks Nick Bourne: What consultations did the Minister have with ministerial colleagues before making appointments to the new advisory group on economic and transport policies? (WAQ47158) The Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks (Andrew Davies): One of the key messages that emerged from the dozens of meetings that I held with the business community in the run-up to the Assembly sponsored public bodies merger was the need for the Assembly Government to have access to independent expert advice on the development and delivery of our policies. This finding was reported back to Cabinet colleagues as part of the ASPB merger process. The First Minister and I were delighted that the process produced people of such a high calibre to help guide our work. Nick Bourne: What consultations did the Minister have with trade unions in Wales before making appointments to the new advisory group on economic and transport policies? (WAQ47159) Andrew Davies: One of the key messages that emerged from the dozens of meetings I held with the business community in the run up to the ASPB merger, including many with the trade unions, was the need for the Assembly Government to have access to independent expert advice on the development and delivery of our policies. The First Minister and I were delighted that the process produced people of such a high calibre to help guide our work. Nick Bourne: What consultations did the Minister have with business organisations in Wales before making appointments to the new advisory group on economic and transport policies? (WAQ47160) Andrew Davies: One of the key messages that emerged from the dozens of meetings I held with the business community in the run up to the ASPB merger was the need for the Assembly Government to have access to independent expert advice on the development and delivery of our policies. The First Minister and I were delighted that the process produced people of such a high calibre to help guide our work. Written Questions answered between 8 and 15 June 2006 Lisa Francis: What is the projected total cost to the Welsh Assembly Government of reopening the Ebbw Vale line? (WAQ47161) Andrew Davies: The Welsh Assembly Government budget allocation for re-opening the Ebbw Valley railway passenger line is £21.1 million. European Objective 1 funding of £7.5 million has also been allocated to the scheme. Lisa Francis: What was the total cost to the Welsh Assembly Government of reopening the Vale of Glamorgan line? (WAQ47162) Andrew Davies: The cost to the Welsh Assembly Government of re-opening the Vale of Glamorgan line to passengers is expected to be around £17 million. To date, over £16 million has been made available. The works are now complete and final accounts will be settled later this year. Nick Bourne: Will the Minister make a statement on what is being done to address the shortage of rolling stock on the Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth railway line? (WAQ47165) Andrew Davies: I have received a number of proposals for additional rolling stock from Arriva Trains Wales to meet future demand. I have asked for more detail on the proposals and am currently waiting for the business case. Denise Idris-Jones: What action is the Welsh Assembly Government taking to ensure job security for call centre workers in Wales? (WAQ47166) Andrew Davies: The Welsh Assembly Government supports financially the Welsh contact centre forum to promote the competitiveness of contact-centre operations in Wales and to provide strategic intelligence on the issues facing the sector to the Welsh Assembly Government. Leighton Andrews: Will the Minister list all Safe Routes to School grants in the Rhondda since 2003? (WAQ47168) Written Questions answered between 8 and 15 June 2006 Andrew Davies: Since financial year 2002-03 Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council has received £1,013,000 to implement Safe Routes to School schemes. The successful schemes are set out in the table below: Year Funding Successful Schemes 2002-03 0.110 million Caegarw Primary 2003-04 0.139 million Comin Infant and Juniors 0.096 million Hirwaun Primary 2004-05 0.070 million Penrhiwceiber Primary and Pengeulan Primary 0.095 million Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Ynyswen Penrenglyn Primary and Treherbert Primary 2005-06 0.085 million Coedylan Comprehensive 0.010 million Bodringallt Primary 0.045 million Miskin Primary 0.040 million Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdare 0.085 million St John the Baptist Church in Wales High School 2006-07 0.067 million Cwmdare Primary 0.071 million Maerdy Junior 0.100 million Tonypandy Primary Leighton Andrews: Will the Minister list all Objective 1 grants in the Rhondda since 2003? (WAQ47169) Andrew Davies: The Welsh European Funding Office website http://www.wefo.wales.gov.uk/default. asp?action=approvedprojects&ID=86 provides details of all Objective 1 local projects that have been supported by the Rhondda Cynon Taf partnership. All regional projects are also listed on the website. To provide details on the extent to which these projects have benefited the Rhondda area would be extremely time-consuming. Leighton Andrews: What clean coal technology projects are under way in Wales and will the Minister make a statement on the future of coal extraction in Wales? (WAQ47172) Andrew Davies: Uskmouth power station is fitted with flue gas desulphurisation technology and is one of the cleanest coal-fired stations, for its size, in the UK. Aberthaw power station is investing £150 Written Questions answered between 8 and 15 June 2006 million in flue gas desulphurisation, along with new expenditure on biomass co-firing and increased efficiency turbine blades. Clean coal is a pillar of the Assembly Government’s energy policy. Wales has hundreds of years of reserves of coal, which is also abundant globally, and the technology now exists to use it with far fewer emissions than in the past. One of the key priorities of the Wales energy route-map is to make Wales an attractive location for these newer clean-coal technologies. Wales produces around one and a half million tonnes of coal a year. Almost all of it is used within Wales, mostly for power generation or domestic heating.