12 October 2016
Flooding
14:14
Mike Hedges
15. Will
the Minister make a statement on the actions being taken to stop rivers
flooding? OAQ(5)0038(ERA)
14:14
Lesley
Griffiths
In my 28
June statement, I set out this Government’s approach and priorities for flood
and coastal risk management. We are investing £55 million this year on reducing
risk and maintaining our existing assets. This includes major work in St Asaph,
Boverton, Risca, Newport and Talybont in Gwynedd.
14:14
Mike Hedges
First of
all, Minister, can I highlight the success of the floodplain in Ynysforgan,
which is not only in my constituency but is also half a mile away from where I
live? It’s an area that used to be under an awful lot of flooding over a period
of time, but that has now stopped because the floodplain has worked so
successfully. Are there plans to bring the floodplains on to other rivers, so
they can have the benefit that we’ve got in Ynysforgan?
14:15
Lesley
Griffiths
I thank Mike Hedges.
It’s always really good to receive positive feedback on how our flood schemes
are performing, and I think the £7 million Swansea scheme is an example of how
flood investment can bring multiple benefits, and, certainly, having looked at
it, it brings benefits for biodiversity, for instance, and amenity
improvements.
Ministerial Statement on Discrimination against
Deaf People
Mike HedgesCan I declare an interest firstly as
president of Swansea hard of hearing group, and I also have a sister who is
profoundly deaf? It’s very easy to discriminate in employment: you just need to
make answering the phone identified as part of the job and immediately somebody
who’s deaf is unable to apply. The one thing that would make a huge difference
would be parity of esteem for first-language sign language with English and
first-language Welsh, so that people who are deaf have the same opportunities.
Will the Cabinet Secretary investigate this?
14:40
Carl
Sargeant
Thank you
for raising that issue with me, Mike.
This Government formally recognised British Sign Language as a language in its
own right in January 2004. Since then, we have supported training to increase
the number of qualified interpreters in Wales and ensured that legislation,
policies and programmes across this Welsh Government recognise the importance
of accessible communication to everyone. He is right to raise that issue in the
Chamber today.
Flying
Start
14:41
Mike Hedges6. Will the Minister make a statement on
Flying Start? OAQ(5)0040(ERA)
14:41
Carl
Sargeant
The
Flying Start programme continues to be a priority for this Government, giving
children living in some of our most disadvantaged communities the best possible
start in life.
14:41
Mike Hedges
Can I
thank the Cabinet Secretary for that response? Flying Start has made a huge
improvement to life opportunities for many of my constituents. It means that
children are starting school at or close to their chronological age. Whilst I
believe it should be based on communities, not the vagaries of the Office for
National Statistics-created super-output areas, will the Minister reiterate his
support for Flying Start?
14:42
Carl
Sargeant
Indeed, I
will. Flying Start remains a priority in 2015-16. The programme supported over
38,000 children and their families and exceeded our target of 36,000, which
we’d allocated. It is a great programme with great staff and great outcomes;
long may it continue.
Debate on Autism
18:03
Rebecca
Evans Well, this is where we’re heading, Mike,
over the course of the speech.
So,
indeed this Act does put a special focus on autism. It puts a joint duty on
health boards and local authorities to undertake the population needs
assessment and to report on this by March of 2017. Autism and learning
disabilities are identified as core themes of that work, and the assessment
must identify the range and level of preventative services required to meet the
needs of people with autism and learning disabilities in those areas. Staying
with legislation, we’re also delivering an ambitious additional learning needs
transformation programme. The forthcoming additional learning needs and
education tribunal Bill, which forms part of this wider programme, is expected
to be introduced into the Assembly before Christmas and will take into account
the needs of children and young people on the autism spectrum. The programme
will address key issues that have been raised with us by parents, such as the
need for learners and their parents to be at the centre of decisions and at the
centre of the support and planning process, and the importance of skilled and
confident professionals with greater multi-agency collaboration. But we’re not
waiting for the legislation to reach the statute book to begin this
transformation process. It’s already well under way and it is having an impact
on the ground.
In terms
of our policy levers, we were the first country to publish an autism strategy
in 2008 and we’ve recently consulted on the draft refreshed action plan, which
addresses the priorities for action that have been identified by stakeholders.
These priorities include raising awareness, improving access to diagnosis,
addressing unmet needs and a renewed focus on supportive education and
employment. There were 76 responses to the consultation on the action plan, and
the feedback that we’ve received indicates that there is widespread support for
our approach. I’ll be publishing that refreshed action plan in November and
this will be accompanied by a delivery plan to monitor implementation and to
measure the progress that we’re making.
We’re
already taking important practical steps to deliver on our commitments to
improve the lives of people with autism. In April of this year, we commenced
the roll-out of the new national integrated autism service, and this service
marks a turning point in the way that care and support is delivered to people
with autism. This too must be given the chance to bed in and have an impact.
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