Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We're committed to building on Wales’s recent success in hosting major international events. To that end, we're working closely with partners in Wales, the UK and internationally to identify and pursue new opportunities for attracting major sporting and cultural events to all parts of Wales.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Welsh Government engages internationally across the breadth of Government, in education, health, business, environment, trade and investment, tourism and marketing to name a few. Part of my new role will be to focus this engagement by creating a new strategy which will articulate our international agenda.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The Welsh Language Commissioner provides Working Welsh—Iaith Gwaith resources to help bodies advertise when Welsh services are available, and produces guidance documents. The National Centre for Learning Welsh provides tailored courses for bodies to improve their Welsh language provisions, and the mentrau iaith assist bodies to promote and mainstream the Welsh language.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Governments’ decisions on where to locate consulates are a decision for them, but we are very keen to encourage other nations to follow the lead of Ireland and to establish consulates here in Wales. We will, of course. continue to work closely with embassies and high commissions irrespective of whether they have a consulate in Wales.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: In 2018-19, the Welsh Government provide £4.2 million via the grant scheme to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language to core delivery partners. We will be reviewing the scheme in 2019-20.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Wales has a long history of close relationships with Catalonia and we want this to continue. However, this particular matter is one for Spain and the Spanish courts to resolve.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: International priorities will be shaped through a new international strategy. We are at the start of that process, the focus will be on economic benefit and influence for Wales.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Mark Drakeford.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I think it's also worth stressing that it's not just the responsibility of the Welsh Government to upskill and to uptrain the workforce. Employers also need to put their hands in their pockets because it's the employers who will ultimately benefit from improved productivity. We need to see the employers step up in terms of preparing and training and really investing in their own workers. We...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I don't want to rehearse the points I made yesterday, so I would suggest that people read the statement if you want to know more about how we will fund FE colleges in future.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Our FE sector is, I think, one that we should be proud of. The Skills Show in Birmingham, managed by WorldSkills UK, took place last week, and I'm pleased to announce that indicative figures show that team Wales have brought home a total of 51 medals, including 14 gold, 20 silver, 12 bronze and six highly commended. This is an increase on the previous year. I'm also delighted to say that we...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, and thank you to the Member who opened the debate and to everyone who has contributed too. May I make it clear that, like so many of you, I am disappointed that our public services, including FE, have been under substantial pressure over the past few years? I have to highlight, of course, that it's the austerity agenda of the UK Government that's entirely responsible for...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, in relation to Welsh language teachers, where I'm slightly more familiar with where the issues are, I think in relation to primary schoolteachers, we're probably on course and we have enough teachers. We do have an issue, as do people across the whole of the planet, in recruiting teachers to secondary education. We are putting very practical measures in place to ensure that we can...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. Well, I'm extremely pleased to see this new school being opened. I was one of the people who campaigned for a school in this area of the city, and I was at the ceremony where they cut the first sod for the new building. I'm also very happy that there is a nursery unit that will be attached to the school and I do now hope that there will be an endeavour—and I know that...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Neil. I'm very pleased that you asked that in Welsh, and thank you for your efforts in that regard. I do think that there is a connection that's made very often between Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government, and there is continuous monitoring of what the council have promised to do in their Welsh in education strategic plan, and, in that, we hope that they will ensure...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, Mohammad, I'm delighted to say that we're ahead of target in terms of the apprenticeship delivery, and I'm fairly confident that I can say that we are going to bust that target of 100,000 apprenticeships. There's more money that we think will be coming in that area. This is something we're absolutely committed to as a Welsh Government. We're very proud of our record on this. So, I'm...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I think that my colleague is leading on this, but what I can say is that I think there are other sources that we could bid for to ensure that we get more of that funding into Wales. But I also think that it’s important for us to emphasise that it isn't only the Government’s responsibility to fund research and development. The private sector also must put their hands in their...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, of course it's difficult to provide assurances on anything at the moment, but we can hopefully rely on the assurance given by the Treasury that, whatever happens, even if there is a 'no deal', that we will have a guarantee that that funding will continue until 2020. If there's a transition deal, then officials are seeking to ensure that any money remaining within that ESF pot as a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Within the skills portfolio, we are leading on nine European social fund projects, with £340 million approved to December 2023. Around 105,000 participants have been supported to date, and we expect to support a further 125,000 to underpin a number of 'Prosperity for All' commitments and to deliver those key ministerial priorities.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I think that a huge amount of work has already been done internally, within the Government, as regards promoting the Welsh language and I would like to see the commissioner doing more of that work, and we’re in discussions to see whether, as a result of the fact that we won’t be seeing the imposition of more standards at present, there’s a possibility of seeing the current commissioner...
