Jeremy Miles: Well, I agree entirely with the Member in terms of his priorities. We've talked a lot about education, but I'd just make two points about that—firstly, how important the immersion scheme is in terms of ensuring that anyone who moves to Wales and wants access to Welsh-language education succeeds in doing that. We have a fund now, from now until the end of the Senedd term, of around £6.6...
Jeremy Miles: I thank Mabon ap Gwynfor for those questions. I think he's right to say that there are elements in terms of moving, in terms of out-migration, in terms of demographics, in terms of opportunities, and the commission is certainly going to tackle those sorts of issues—part of the work that they are currently doing is socioeconomic analysis. They have called for evidence and that is coming in,...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you very much for that. In terms of lifelong learning, that's truly very important, and what we want to do is to understand how all of the ways of learning Welsh do sit on the continuum—that is, GCSE and A-level qualifications, but also adult education. We need to reflect that pathway, and that's an important way of encouraging people to continue with their learning or to start...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Llywydd, and it's my pleasure to be here today to update Members on our progress regarding Welsh in education planning. Since my last statement, I’m pleased to say that all 10-year Welsh in education strategic plans by local authorities have been approved and published and are operational. Not only that, I've received 22 action plans, setting out in detail how local authorities...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I agree that the Member does repeat this. It's a lazy narrative, and there's no evidence supporting what he said today about the performance of local authorities. We have new WESPs since September only, and there's not one sentence of evidence suggesting that local authorities are falling behind on their obligations. My experience of discussing this with leaders is very encouraging....
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for welcoming the statement. I agree with several points that she made in her question. In terms of the investment in immersion, we do have ambitious plans in that regard. We have a budget of just under £7 million for the period between now and the end of this Senedd term to invest in late immersion. What's great—. I gave an example in my statement of a new school in the...
Jeremy Miles: Alongside our targeted communications campaign to encourage take-up, we continue to work closely with Local Authorities on plans to maximise take up and roll-out the offer as quickly as feasibly possible.
Jeremy Miles: I’ve been meeting with each local authority individually to discuss progress against their WESP, and workforce challenges is a subject which is often raised. It’s up to schools to decide the language requirements of staff in line with their job specification. This includes teaching staff and support staff.
Jeremy Miles: Attendance rates are currently 89.3% on average. My priority is to ensure all children and young people have the opportunity to reach their potential. Maintaining good attendance and engagement with children and their families is key to this.
Jeremy Miles: The Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme will see more than £175 million invested across Preseli Pembrokeshire, which will continue to be delivered at pace over the next 12 months.
Jeremy Miles: Developing Welsh-medium education and improving the language outcomes of all our pupils as well as understanding better what lies behind the further decline in Welsh-speaking communities is a priority. Language use is at the heart of this. We will undertake further analysis when further data are available.
Jeremy Miles: Thank you for those important questions. I met with the education director and the council leader of Carmarthenshire last week to discuss their strategic plan, and the message of the county council was clear, in that they see themselves that there is a need for action to be taken in a purposeful and deliberate way without delay. We have full faith that they will do so. The cabinet is...
Jeremy Miles: I thank Sam Kurtz for those questions. The contribution made by the YFC to youth work in our rural areas is priceless. I'm very pleased about the financial contribution of almost £125,000 that we provide to the Wales federation and the county federations to ensure that their important work can continue. The enthusiasm and commitment of young people in the world of agriculture and wider rural...
Jeremy Miles: For the first time ever, we have a unified system for supporting learners from nought to 25 with additional learning needs. We are making a new investment in the coming days of £2.1 million to further education colleges to support the roll-out of this system for young people.
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that question. He has, as he said, corresponded with me in relation to particular issues on behalf of constituents. While I’m sure that the response wasn’t what he was hoping for, at least I hope that it was a clear explanation of the decision that was taken, and the impact of the appeal process, if that’s the reference that he’s making in his question. The ALN...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I don't think that it's acceptable that that happens, of course, and I'm sorry to hear the example that the Member brings to the Chamber today. One of my priorities, in terms of the reforms within the education system, is to ensure that we have expertise in this field in the Welsh language. We are commissioning resources to support that at the moment, but we haven't reached where we...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I recognise that we need to do everything we can to support in the system support staff, who deliver a very, very important service to our young people and are indispensable in our schools. The Member's question does not recognise the work that I've done since becoming Minister in relation to this matter. She will recall, because I made a statement in this Chamber last year, that I've...
Jeremy Miles: If the Member wants to know what a demoralised teaching profession that doesn't feel valued by its Government looks like, she just needs to look over the border at what's happening in England, which is cataclysmic in terms of retention and recruitment generally. So, that is what a Conservative education policy looks like. We can see it happening before our very eyes. What we have in...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I'm not sure if the Member listened to the two previous answers that I've given, but I've outlined in great detail what we are doing. The question of retention and recruitment is a challenge in all parts of the world. What we are doing in Wales is specific to our needs in Wales. I've outlined a list of issues to her that she clearly has disregarded in her third question. What we are...
Jeremy Miles: Well, as the Member said, in 2022-23, we increased the core grant of the National Eisteddfod to ensure that it had the resources to stage future Eisteddfodau in a time of financial uncertainty. We are to allocate additional funding to the Eisteddfod in 2023-24 in the draft budget, in order to strengthen their community engagement structures, which are so important to their work as a...
