Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. One way to reduce teacher workload, apart from reducing the amount of paperwork they're required to do, which I didn't hear you mention, would be to reduce class sizes. This is something that I feel quite strongly about. That would be to the benefit of both teachers and pupils and go a long way to delivering the world-class education that I know...
Michelle Brown: I would be very interested, Cabinet Secretary. Thank you for that answer. Moving on, local authorities are under increasing pressure from Welsh Government to set aside land for housing, and new housing is being built across Wales in anticipation of a rising population. Welsh Government's keen to develop Wales and attract people in. I have no problem with that. What I want to ask, though, is:...
Michelle Brown: First of all, I'd like to pay tribute to the women and families with lived experience of perinatal mental health challenges who gave the committee the benefit of their hard-won experience during the inquiry. I was horrified by the stories from women and families, who I cannot help feeling have in some cases been grossly let down—but not by the health professionals who are striving to help...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, leader of the house. One hundred years ago today, the right that so many women had fought and sacrificed so much for became law; women finally got the right to vote after so many years of struggle. That women won the right to vote is testament to the hard work and sacrifice of the suffragettes and their allies, both inside and outside Parliament. When those 8.5...
Michelle Brown: I'd like to thank the Member for the Cynon Valley for bringing this debate, which I'm delighted to be able to speak very briefly in support of. Many disabled children are missing out on the opportunity to socialise and mix with children who are not disabled. Mumsnet, the UK's biggest website for parents, and the charity Scope are calling on local authorities to do more to make local...
Michelle Brown: What work has the First Minister done since the referendum with international Governments outside the EU to encourage investment into Wales?
Michelle Brown: I agree with the concern expressed by the motion that some developers have not been building roads to an adoptable standard, leaving the costs of bringing the road up to standard firmly on the doorstep of the homebuyer or, alternatively, saddling homebuyers with ongoing maintenance costs. I'm therefore very pleased to be able to speak in support of the motion. Others, including particularly...
Michelle Brown: Thank you very much for your statement, leader of the house. I certainly welcome the work being done to encourage girls to enter non-traditional professions, to study STEM subjects and to tackle gender inequality and stereotyping. I note the STEM Cymru 2 scheme and would like to ask: out of the 3,000 young women who have engaged with the scheme, how many of those have gone on to a career in...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and good afternoon, Cabinet Secretary. The report into the future of the sex and relationships education curriculum in Wales says that, at the moment, the success of SRE too often rests on the interests and enthusiasm of individual teachers or school leaders with SRE/personal and social education responsibilities. In this area, knowledge itself isn't an...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. In the same report, it says that, even before school, children receive messages about gender, sexuality and relationships from a wide variety of sources, for example advertising, books, social media, television and family members, et cetera. I'd say that a majority of these are either under the control of parents or can be under the control of...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. Parents, particularly of preschool children, are understandably going to be concerned about what the content of the SRE curriculum is going to be. There are going to be parents who, for religious reasons and various other reasons, may find the content of the curriculum unpalatable. So, I suppose my final question has two parts to it really. How...
Michelle Brown: Firstly, I would like to thank all of those people who signed the petition and submitted the petition on behalf of animals that have no way themselves of ending the suffering that profiteering circus owners impose on them. I would urge the Welsh Government to take action in light of the petition and the 74 per cent of the Welsh public who want a full ban on wild animals being used in...
Michelle Brown: Can we just be clear, does section 12 give you the ability to ban wild animals in circuses or not?
Michelle Brown: Teaching is a very important profession that's worthy of a huge amount of continued professional development, and yet the committee found that there is very little opportunity or take-up of continued training, and a number of speakers today have covered the reasons for that. That has to be a concern that, effectively, it could be possible for someone to enter into the profession aged 23 and...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Presiding Officer. While Plaid's motion is well meaning and the kind of thing that should be supported, I must point out that it's a bit rich of them to be criticising Labour failures over the last decade when, until the end of last year, Plaid were openly propping them up by their compact and before that by the 'One Wales' coalition agreement. However, Plaid have highlighted a...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, Minister. I'd just like to pick up on a couple of points from the employability plan itself. First, I welcome the creation of the employment advice gateway. I think that getting advice and support from someone with expertise in drawing out the skills and experience of a work seeker, and who has the knowledge to guide a work seeker through the myriad courses and...
Michelle Brown: What consideration has the Cabinet Secretary given to the extent to which the planning system can be used to ensure that commercial developments come to fruition and deliver on the promises of work and economic benefits made before planning permission was given?
Michelle Brown: Thank you. The First Minister has already answered.
Michelle Brown: Thank you, and thank you for your statement, Minister. I'd also like to thank the Minister for the courtesy that he's shown in meeting with me in advance of this statement. His communication of the broad principles in favour of the childcare funding Bill were very clear and comprehensive and I understand the reasoning behind using HMRC and it does appear to me to be quite sensible. HMRC are...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. I welcome your announcement of the increase in the early years PDG. Acting earlier in a child's life to mitigate social and other disadvantages the child is subject to makes sense, and obviously the earlier you act, the better it is for the child, and the more likely you are to head off the consequences of that disadvantage. I also welcome your...
