Siambr · Iain McIntosh
Written questions
65 written questions on record from the Seventh Senedd on, newest first. Page 2 of 2.
WQ98728 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister confirm how many miles of road in Wales are subject to the default 20mph speed limit?
Answered by Deputy Minister for Transport
Following the change to 20mph for the default speed limit on restricted roads in Wales on 17 September 2023, there were around 13,000 km (8,078 miles) of roads subject to a 20mph speed limit in Wales. However, we are still receiving minor updates from some highway authorities.
WQ98727 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister confirm the total annual cost of special advisers, communications staff and external media consultants employed by the Welsh Government?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Finance
The costs of special advisers are set out in Written Statements to the Senedd, the most recent of which can be found here.
The Welsh Government communications operation comprises the Central Communications Division which delivers functions on behalf of the whole organisation, and specific departmental communications teams:
No media consultants were employed by the Welsh Government in the last financial year.
WQ98726 · Tabled · Answered
What assessment has the Cabinet Minister made of the impact of major wind energy developments on private rural water supplies?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy
The potential impact of major wind energy developments on private rural water supplies is an important consideration within the planning and environmental assessment process. Proposals for large‑scale wind developments are subject to rigorous scrutiny, including Environmental Impact Assessments where required, which specifically assess risks to hydrology and groundwater, including potential effects on private water supplies where these are identified. These assessments consider factors such as changes to surface water drainage, potential sedimentation, pollution risks during construction, and any disruption to peatlands or aquifers that may feed private supplies.
Where risks are identified, developers are required to put forward appropriate mitigation measures to protect water quality and continuity of supply. This can include buffer zones around water sources, careful management of construction activities, drainage control systems, and ongoing monitoring arrangements. Local planning authorities, alongside Natural Resources Wales and other statutory consultees, play a key role in reviewing these assessments to ensure that identified private water supplies are safeguarded.
WQ98724 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister confirm how many sewage discharges into Welsh rivers were recorded during the 2025-26 financial year?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability
Information on sewage discharges into Welsh rivers is collected and published by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), in its role as environmental regulator, and by water companies as part of their monitoring and reporting requirements. The relevant sources are set out below:
NRW Storm overflow spill data annual reports
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water storm overflow data
Hafren Dyfrdwy storm overflow data
Data for the 2025–26 reporting period is not yet available, as Natural Resources Wales publishes this information annually following the receipt and assessment of water company returns. The next update is expected later in 2026.
The Welsh Government will work closely with NRW, Ofwat and the water companies to strengthen monitoring, transparency and accountability, and to drive improvements in water quality across Wales.
WQ98723 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister confirm how much agricultural land is currently earmarked for proposed wind energy and/or solar energy developments?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy
There is not currently a single, consolidated figure for the total acreage of agricultural land in Wales that deemed suitable for proposed wind energy and solar developments. Such proposals are brought forward primarily through the planning system on a case by case basis, often by private developers, and are recorded across multiple local planning authorities rather than within a single national dataset.
WQ98721 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister confirm what assessment has been made of the impact of large scale wind turbine developments on MOD low flying training operations in mid Wales?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy
The assessment of any impact of large-scale wind turbine developments on low flying training operations is a matter for the Ministry of Defence and the UK Government more generally.
The Welsh Government are members of the UK Government led Aviation and Defence Management Board in its role to support the coordination of renewable energy with aviation and defence interests.
WQ98717 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister confirm what assessment has been made of the impact of bank closures on elderly and digitally excluded residents in rural Wales?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy
Substantive response
WQ98716 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister confirm how many communities in Wales no longer have either a bank branch or Post Office facility?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy
Substantive response
WQ98715 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister confirm how many pupils in Wales currently attend primary schools with fewer than a) 50, b) 75 and c) 100 pupils respectively?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
This latest available data for January 2025 is published at the link below:
Pupils in maintained schools by school, local authority, sector, type, school governance and school language, 2024/25 | StatsWales
WQ98714 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister confirm whether Welsh Government guidance requires areas leased to third parties to be excluded when calculating official school capacity figures?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
The Measuring the capacity of schools in Wales guidance sets out that local authorities should measure all usable spaces on a school site, both teaching and non-teaching, with non-school or support facilities to be excluded from the capacity measurement.
WQ98711 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Senedd Commission reintroduce GB News to television screens across the Senedd estate, recognising that it is now one of the UK’s leading television news channels with a substantial audience across Wales and the wider United Kingdom?
Answered by Senedd Commission
Llywydd on behalf of the Senedd Commission:
A wide range of television channels and radio systems, including GB News, can be accessed internally using the Senedd IT network on laptops and other Senedd Commission issued devices.
The Commission has a policy that the primary purpose of the internal TV system on the Senedd estate is to provide broadcast feeds for the Siambr and Committee rooms.
Under this policy, the Senedd Commission’s Triple Play system includes only those channels which have public service obligations as set out in the Communications Act 2003: BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C. Commissioners agreed one addition to this provision, which was to include Sky News as an additional channel to ensure a plurality of news programmes.
All our policies are subject to occasional review, and we could consider whether to do so at the appropriate time.
WQ98672 · Tabled · Answered
What measures will the Welsh Government introduce to prevent any further bank or post office closures in Wales, particularly in rural communities and town centres, and ensure residents and businesses continue to have access to essential face-to-face banking and postal services?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy
Substantive response
WQ98671 · Tabled · Answered
How many people in Wales during the 2025-26 financial year received taxpayer-funded care or support packages costing more than a) £1,000, b) £2,000, c) £5,000 and d) £10,000 per day respectively?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Health and Care
Substantive response
WQ98670 · Tabled · Answered
Does the Welsh Government consider it appropriate for news and media outlets operating in Wales to receive public funding, directly or indirectly, and what measures will it introduce to ensure that any such funding arrangements are reviewed and, where appropriate, discontinued in future?
Answered by Trefnydd, Chief Whip and Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport
A thriving, sustainable, inclusive, effective and impartial Welsh media industry is essential in ensuring that Welsh citizens are fully informed of the issues that matter to them; whether these be in their local communities, across the United Kingdom or the world.
Details on our plans as a new government for the sector will be announced in due course.
WQ98597 · Tabled · Answered
Will the Cabinet Minister commission an independent investigation into Powys County Council’s closure of the Cradoc campus of Ysgol Golwg Pen y Fan, including the Council’s refusals to independently verify school capacity figures despite using three different pupil capacity figures to justify their position that the school was undersubscribed?
Answered by Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
The Welsh Government does not propose to commission an independent investigation into Powys County Council’s closure of the Cradoc campus of Ysgol Golwg Pen Y Fan.
The responsibility for the planning of school places rests with local authorities. Local authorities have to keep under review the extent to which their existing pattern of school provision meets current and forecast demand for school places and the requirements of delivering the modern curriculum.
Local authorities must ensure there are sufficient schools providing primary and secondary education for their area. Schools are regarded as sufficient if they are sufficient in number, character and equipment to provide for all pupils the opportunity of appropriate education.
In accordance with the School Organisation Code, Powys County Council has published its decision notice on 20 May 2026.
Official verbatim record: each question and answer as the Record prints it. Answers are signed with a job title, as published.