Agenda and minutes

The Llywydd welcomed Members to the meeting. No apologies were received.

The Llywydd informed Business Managers that she has written to the three Members who are not members of political groups, in order to explain their rights under Standing Order 11.3 regarding participation in proceedings of the Business Committee.

The Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed for publication

Tuesday 

The Trefnydd informed Business Managers of the following change:

• Stage 3 of the Welsh Language Education (Wales) Bill (180 240 mins) 

• Voting Time will take place before Stage 3 proceedings.
• Plenary is unlikely to run past 8.50pm.

The Llywydd also informed Business Managers that a 30-minute break will be taken between Voting Time and the start of Stage 3 proceedings. The Llywydd indicated that she would allow a further 10-minute break during the Stage 3 should it be requested by the Members leading on those proceedings.

Wednesday

Paul Davies requested that the new Chair of Health and Social Care Committee be nominated as a member of the Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister. Therefore, the Llywydd informed Business Managers of the following changes:

• Motion to elect a Member to a committee (5 mins)
• Voting Time will take place before the Short Debate.  
• Plenary is unlikely to run past 7.15pm.

The Trefnydd informed Business Managers of the following changes to the Three Week Timetable of Government Business:

Tuesday 13 May 2025

·         Statement by the First Minister: The Wales Resilience Framework and Delivery Plan (45 mins)

·         Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care: Update on Maternity and Neonatal Services at Swansea Bay University Health Board (45 mins)

·         Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care: 2025-26 Delivery Actions for Better Health and Care (45 mins) – postponed until 3 June

Tuesday 20 May 2025

·         Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: 21^st Century Schools and Colleges (45 mins)

·         Statement by the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership: Priorities for Culture (45 mins)

·         Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care: 2025/26 Waiting Times and Priorities (45 mins) – postponed until 3 June

·         Legislative Consent Motion: The Product Regulation and Metrology Bill (15 mins)

The following items were agreed to be scheduled on the Three Week Timetable of Senedd Business:

Wednesday 4 June 2025 –

·         Debate on petition P-06-1476: 1000 metre mandatory buffer zone for all new and existing quarries (30 mins)

·         Debate on the Equality and Social Justice Committee report: Anything’s Achievable with the Right Support: Tackling the Disability Employment Gap (60 mins)

·         Time allocated to the Welsh Conservatives (60 mins)

·         Short Debate: John Griffiths MS (Newport East) (30 mins)

Business Committee considered the motions and agreed to schedule the following motion on 14 May 2025:

Luke Fletcher 

NNDM8812 

To propose that the Senedd: 

1. Notes: 

a) that firefighting exposes individuals to carcinogenic effluents, including benzene and toluene, which significantly increases mortality rates among firefighters relative to the general population; 

b) the work of the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer and their classification of cancer among firefighters as a Group 1 occupational hazard; 

c) that countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia have officially recognised the link between exposure to toxic effluents and increased incidences of cancers; and 

d) the Fire Brigades Union’s ‘DECON’ campaign and its vital efforts to help firefighters reduce harmful exposure to contaminants. 

2. Recognises the findings of scientific research led by Professor Anna Stec at the Centre for Fire and Hazards Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, commissioned by the Fire Brigades Union, which reveals that surveyed firefighters aged 35 to 39 faced an age-specific cancer rate up to 323 per cent higher than that of the general population of the same age group. 

3. Calls on the Welsh Government to: 

a) collaborate with the Fire Brigades Union, fire and rescue services, and leading specialists in fire toxicology to mitigate the effects of carcinogenic effluents on firefighters in Wales; 

b) establish a preventative health programme to monitor and record exposures for all firefighters in Wales, including annual cancer screening as a minimum standard; and 

c) align Wales with international best practices in safeguarding firefighter health. 

Business Committee agreed the request for members of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee to be absent from Plenary business on 7 May to undertake committee business in Slovenia.

Business Committee agreed a request to schedule a Plenary debate on P-06-1494 Welsh Government to protect funding in education from WG and Local Authority cuts.

Business Committee noted recommendations made by the Standards of Conduct Committee in its recent reports on Recall and Deliberate Deception, in the context of its procedural work programme for the time remaining in the current Senedd term.

Business Committee agreed to await legislative proposals introduced by the Welsh Government and further detailed proposals from the Standards of Conduct Committee in relation to recommendations 8 & 9 in its report on Deliberate Deception.

Wales COVID-19 Inquiry Special Purpose Committee: Chairing Arrangements

The Llywydd raised the matter of the chairing arrangements for the Wales COVID-19 Inquiry Special Purpose Committee with Business Managers. Business Committee agreed to return to the matter at the following meeting.