Llyr Gruffydd: May I also refer to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in Wales? There are 39 recommendations contained here, and the First Minister would do well to consider the report and to reflect on the recommendations as an agenda to tackle the issue of child and adolescent health in Wales. Among the recommendations on one key area in this context, of course, is the additional risk to a...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and may I declare an interest as one of the honorary presidents of CWVYS? May I thank you for your statement, Minister? Part of me expected a little more meat on the bones today, I have to be honest. I had expected a perhaps clearer response in terms of the direction of travel and the national strategy for youth work. The only decision that we’ve heard...
Llyr Gruffydd: [Continues.]—is, if you want to raise the bar in terms of quality, then the resources and the funding must be available to enable that to happen. The resources must be distributed fairly geographically and between the various sectors. The statistics that the committee has seen in terms of the decline in investment and the decline in staffing levels do suggest that the risk is that you will...
Llyr Gruffydd: [Continues.]—that you’ve said is part of your vision. Thank you.
Llyr Gruffydd: 5. What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary held with Severn Trent regarding water services in Wales? OAQ(5)0125(ERA)[W]
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for that response, because previously, of course, the Cabinet Secretary refused to respond, perhaps because she was concerned that she would be involved with some future decision on the future of the water industry. You referred to jobs—can I ask you what assurances she’s received in her negotiations that the level of jobs that were once in Dee Valley Water will be maintained in...
Llyr Gruffydd: Of course, quality is as important as quantity, and we know that falling behind early, particularly in cognitive development, can have long-lasting effects for children, particularly in later childhood, and indeed in later life. I’ve pressed you previously about the early years childcare and play workforce plan, and you indicated it would be available in the spring. Well, here we are, and I...
Llyr Gruffydd: Will you take an intervention?
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you for your comments. I’m enjoying your contribution greatly, but do you therefore not regret that you actually supported very modest targets in terms of changing regulations under the last Government, whereas others of us were arguing to strengthen those regulations?
Llyr Gruffydd: My contribution to today’s debate will focus primarily on the need for greater skills planning and training in Wales within the construction sector if we want to achieve the optimum benefit for the people of Wales in terms of job creation, utilisation of the local supply chain and investment in skills, so that we can meet the demands of our incoming infrastructure projects. The importance...
Llyr Gruffydd: Diolch, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, pupils across Wales, of course, over the last week or so have been sitting their national literacy and numeracy tests, and evidence shows us that high-stakes standardised tests narrow the curriculum and have a negative impact on creativity in the classroom, and, subsequently, that risks children being taught to the test and the objective becomes not about...
Llyr Gruffydd: Yes, and if you are pursuing tests then, clearly, as I said in response to your announcement, anything that helps to reduce the workload of teachers—for example, through online testing—would be welcome, as long as we guard against a ‘computer says yes or computer says no’ culture emerging. In relation to workload pressures on the workforce, you will also be aware that the Education...
Llyr Gruffydd: In your own words, you’re looking at a number of issues, but in the meantime you’re hurtling full pelt towards the curriculum reforms that many of us have warned are storing up problems, because the capacity isn’t within the system as it stands for the teachers to absorb the huge reforms that are ahead. And I called previously on you to step back from introducing the curriculum...
Llyr Gruffydd: What is the Welsh Government’s assessment of the effect of possible redundancies at Aberystwyth University? TAQ(5)0130(EDU)[W]
Llyr Gruffydd: Well, thank you for that response. The university, of course, has referred to the competition for students, with a reduction of 8 per cent in the applications to study in Wales, and with Brexit and other factors influencing the situation that they find themselves in. But the important point for me here is that we don’t have a single case here, but we’ve heard over the past few weeks, the...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement and echo her thanks to the shadow board for their work too? You make reference in your statement that over the next five years you’re committed to developing a national approach for career-long professional development. I know you’ve made reference to this in the past, and this will be good news for those who have been providing...
Llyr Gruffydd: 7. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on support for small businesses in Wales? OAQ(5)0171(EI)[W]
Llyr Gruffydd: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on mental health services in North Wales?
Llyr Gruffydd: Wrexham council spends some £200 million per annum on procuring goods and services through public procurement. Less than a quarter of that, as is far too common across Wales, is with companies within the county, and around half is issued to companies in England. That’s a loss of some £100 million per annum to the Welsh economy. Now, there are potatoes for school dinners coming from...
Llyr Gruffydd: You’re entirely right, of course, to say that we shouldn’t mislead ourselves in thinking that the situation has been resolved, because I had quite a shocking meeting with professionals in the sector in north Wales a week or two ago, and they mentioned that it was a lack of capacity, a shortage of beds and a shortage of staff that was one of the central problems, which creates a vicious...
