Leanne Wood: ...measures to save the steel industry, fair voting or student finance, for example. I would have liked for us to have been able to secure commitment on a steel innovation centre, a Bangor medical school, a vet school in Aberystwyth and a green skills construction college in the Valleys. Again, the time constraints didn’t allow for detailed proposals on those projects to be considered. As...
Siân Gwenllian: ...are very serious in north Wales, and the need for doctors in hospitals and in rural surgeries is very great. Would you, therefore, be willing to move forward to create a business plan for a medical school for north Wales, in Bangor? My predecessor, Alun Ffred Jones, has started this work, using the expertise available in Bangor in order to move on with this scheme, and I would like you to...
Carwyn Jones: ...ground there may be between the parties so we can remove the situation where we have 22 local authorities, one of which collapsed entirely, and six of which were in special measures at one point in education. It’s not a sustainable model. There’s not a huge amount of disagreement over that, but, of course, it’s a question of whether an agreement can be reached on a cross-party basis...
Carwyn Jones: ...for the island, and also to Wales as a whole. That board has a number of work streams that they’re considering at present, considering things such as skills, business development, marketing, education and also economic benefits. So, that work has already begun in order to ensure that the island itself can get the optimum benefit out of this development.
Kirsty Williams: ...all, can I thank the Member for such an early opportunity to answer questions here in this Chamber? The decision to cut support for part-time postgraduate study in Wales is a matter for the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales. The Welsh Government has no power to direct the funding council as to how to allocate the funds made available for higher education.
Leanne Wood: ...and the EU referendum? And, finally, can we please have some clarity as to who takes responsibility for the question of student finance? You’ve got three Ministers in your Cabinet with a role in education—one for skills, one for lifelong learning, and another for education. Three separate portfolios. Which Minister will take the final decision on the future of student finance here in...
Carwyn Jones: ..., which I know, as my friend, David Rees, will remind me, is in the Aberavon constituency, it is a significant investment in the future of Swansea bay—a hugely important campus and a sign that education and skills provision is taken very seriously in that part of Wales, as indeed it is across the entire nation.
Andrew RT Davies: .... The cost of that was some £42 million, or the estimation was £42 million. In your own manifesto, you said that the Labour Government, if elected, would be making available £100 million for education over the lifetime of the Assembly. Will this £42 million be additional money that will have to be found to be put into the education budget, or is it part of your overall commitment of...
Mr Simon Thomas: ...I’d like to raise arises from, I think, the question, that, to be fair, the Leader of the Conservative party asked regarding the Government’s present policy of reducing class sizes for nursery school pupils. I looked very carefully at this when I was responsible for education policy for Plaid Cymru, and I wasn’t convinced by the evidence. But I’d love to see the evidence that the...
Andrew RT Davies: ...where previous Labour Ministers have talked at length about how they would not want teachers’ pay. In fact, Leighton Andrews, formerly of this parish, argued vehemently against the former education spokesperson, Nerys Evans, in the 2011 election as to why there should be no devolution of teachers’ pay to this institution, because it is a step towards regional pay, it is, then. I’d be...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I commend the First Minister on his statement. In particular I endorse warmly his remarks about Roger Maggs, the chairman of Excalibur and a school friend of mine from many, many years ago at Amman Valley. And I endorse all that Adam Price—another distinguished product of my old school—said in his response to your statement also about the pension fund at Tata. You mentioned, a moment...
Ken Skates: ...Welsh Football Trust, and I’d like to put on record my thanks to them for doing a sterling job, not just in promoting the game but in engaging many young people who might otherwise disengage from education. And, in doing so, they keep them in education and make sure that they get a good schooling. Now, going forward, the Welsh Football Trust plan to use qualification for Euro 2016 as a...
Rhianon Passmore: Will the First Minister provide an update on the progress of the 21st century schools programme in Islwyn?
Andrew RT Davies: ...Liberal Democrats, you indicated that your Government would be making available an additional £42 million to meet that commitment over and above the Labour manifesto commitment of £100 million to education. You also then went on to say that if you had the responsibility over the Severn bridge tolls, you would abolish Severn bridge tolls, and that in itself could crystallise in a...
Carwyn Jones: No, we don’t. Higher education operates not on a little-Britain model but on a world model. It’s important that there’s access to as much finance as possible and access to as much academic brain power as possible. We also see of course, for example, in Swansea University, where the new campus has been built partially with the help of European money. Cutting ourselves off from the main...
Carwyn Jones: ...Mlaen’, with a focus on increasing people’s use of the language. We also want to improve planning and develop the infrastructure through technology and standards and increasing Welsh language education also.
Jane Hutt: ...terms of tackling discrimination and barriers to the equality of LGBT people in Wales. Of course, as I’ve said, it is about us working closely together. Also, I think it’s about activities in schools, as well as workplaces, the community working along with our public services in tackling hate crime.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: .... So, what are the statistics there? Given that we need to continue to inform people on the importance of organ donation, what is the Government’s intention as regards continuing with the work of educating people in this area, following this legislative change? In the case of those who hadn’t stated one way or another what their preference was, in how many cases was a decision made to...
Julie James: ...over the next five years. Apprenticeships in Wales are delivered on a flexible basis with people starting throughout the year, but by far the largest recruitment drive takes place in line with the school year. Therefore, changes will need to take place with immediate effect, so that an all-age approach can be applied to our apprenticeship contracts for delivery during the school year,...
Mark Isherwood: ...cuts to funding for specialist intervention services supporting families through their relationship breakdown will impact on other services, generating far higher costs, for example, for health, education and social services; or the 9 per cent cut to local county voluntary charities, which Flintshire Local Voluntary Council said in a letter to me would devastate their ability to support...
