Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Initial Committee Work Programme for autumn term 2016

This paper sets out the initial Committee Work Programme for the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee for the autumn term 2016. The Committee intends to put time aside early in the autumn term to discuss strategic planning and will publish a more detailed Forward Work Programme then.

General scrutiny session with the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport, and Minister for Social Services and Public Health

The Cabinet Secretary and Minister will be invited to attend Committee at the start of the autumn term to outline their vision and priorities for the next 18 months or so, and to follow up any legacy issues. This session could potentially identify areas for further, more detailed Committee scrutiny.

Sustainable NHS for the future - stakeholder engagement on the NHS workforce

Sustainability of the workforce has been identified as the key challenge facing the NHS in the coming years. The Committee intends to undertake an early piece of work to gather the views of professional bodies and healthcare professionals (including students and frontline workers) on recruitment and retention, and the actions they believe are needed to ensure the right workforce is in place. This will help to ensure the Committee engages with the range of people who are affected by this work.

The Committee intends to use the summer recess to call for the views of stakeholders and the public on the topic of the NHS workforce. The Committee will use these responses to help to inform the terms of reference of a future inquiry.

Winter pressures 2016/17

Building on work done by the Fourth Assembly Health and Social Care Committee, a short, focused piece of work early in the autumn term will seek assurance that the NHS is equipped to deal with pressures on unscheduled care services during the coming winter. This will be a one-day ‘spotlight’ inquiry on winter preparedness.   

Hospital services reconfiguration

The Fourth Assembly saw major consultations on reconfiguring hospital services across Wales. Change is already happening in some areas, for example, involving maternity and neonatal services and emergency care. During the autumn term, the Committee will hold a one-day inquiry to seek an update on progress, including lessons to be learned from the process so far.

Budget scrutiny

Scrutiny of the Welsh Government’s budget will remain a routine part of the Committee’s work programme. Scrutiny sessions with relevant Cabinet Secretaries will be arranged to meet the proposed timetable for the Welsh Government’s forthcoming budget.

Legislation

The First Minister made a statement in plenary on Tuesday 28 June outlining the Welsh Government’s Legislative Programme for the first year of the Fifth Assembly. The programme includes a commitment to re-introduce the Public Health Bill, without the restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed public spaces.

The First Minister’s statement does not include a specific timetable for introduction of the individual Bills. Subject to the Business Committee agreeing to refer specific Bills to the Committee, it will need to be flexible when planning the forward work programme in order to be able to respond to the demands of legislative scrutiny.

LCM for the UK Policing and Crime Bill

The Committee will consider an LCM for the UK Policing and Crime Bill, which has a reporting deadline of 22 September 2016.