Agenda and minutes

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The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Bethan Jenkins.

Lindsay Whittle substituted for Bethan Jenkins in accordance with Standing Order 17.48.

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

·         Write to the Minister for Health and Social Services seeking his views on the petitioner’s detailed questions and in particular, why immediate steps are not being taken to introduce screening, given that the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKCTOCS) has shown that an annual blood test may help reduce the number of women dying from ovarian cancer by around 20%; and

·         Recommend to the incoming Committee that they consider undertaking a short piece of work on the issue.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to close it.  In doing so, they took into account that the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 has only recently been passed by the Assembly and has yet to be fully implemented.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and:

·         welcomed the response from the Minister for Economy, Science and Transport; and

·         agreed to await the petitioner’s response before considering the petition further.

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

·         to close the petition, given the strong argument that it should not have been accepted as admissible when submitted as it appears that the Assembly does not have the power to implement the petition; and

·         when writing to the petitioner to include a link to the transcript of the plenary debate on the issue which took place on 10 December 2014.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to write to:

·         The Welsh Language Commissioner and the First Minister to seek their views on the petitioners’ comments;

·         The Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee who have recently taken oral evidence from the Commissioner on this point, to ask them to take into account the petitioners’ comments in following up that evidence session and the timescale for completion of their work on the issue.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to await the promised update from the Minister and consider that when received, alongside any further comments from the petitioner.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

·         Write to the Minister for Natural Resources and Emyr Roberts, Chief Executive of Natural Resource Wales to seek their views on the apparent difference of approach in England and Wales;

·         Await the response from the ABI; and

·         Request a note from the Research Service setting out the differences in the approach taken in England and Wales.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to:

• Await the views of the petitioner;
• Write to the Minister for Natural Resources asking him to update the Committee on the work that he commissioned from Keep Wales Tidy (KWT) on polystyrene litter and its effect on the environment and on all types of coastal littering in Wales, to identify priority areas for improvement; and
• Share the information received from Oxford City Council with both the lead petitioner, Rob Curtis and Gill Bell, Wales Programme Manager, Marine Conservation Society.

The Committee considered correspondence on the petition and agreed to await the petitioner’s comments on the Minister’s letter before considering the petition again.

Item 5

The Committee agreed the motion.

The Committee agreed in principle that petitions would be left open for consideration by the incoming Committee in the 5^th Assembly.

The Committee also agreed to consider a list of inactive petitions for possible closure at a future meeting.