Jeremy Miles: Well, I absolutely share the ambition of anybody who wants to see students from Wales being able to take full advantage of the sorts of international opportunities that were available to them under Erasmus and would be even more widely available under its replacement scheme. I think it's a very important part of our culture and a very important part of our international stance, if I may say....
Jeremy Miles: Losing traffic through the Holyhead to Dublin route to ports in Northern Ireland and to longer but more direct routes from Ireland to the continent of Europe is a cause of concern. This is a result of the trade and co-operation agreement, and we are pressing the UK and Irish Governments to try and minimise the problems faced by hauliers.
Jeremy Miles: We have been working jointly with stakeholders to develop a five-point plan that is focused on taking specific steps to address some of the problems that hauliers have been describing to us. We hope to be in a position to publish that plan jointly before the end of the month, so I hope that progress will be made as a result of that. As your question describes, many of the specific steps are...
Jeremy Miles: In addition to regular discussions on immigration and Erasmus+ matters at Cabinet sub-committee, I have recently written to the Minister for immigration specifically highlighting the impact of the new rules on vocational learners from the EU undertaking work placements in the UK as part of the Erasmus+ programme.
Jeremy Miles: I thank Vikki Howells for raising this really important question. We share a desire to make sure that these work placements can happen in a way that is very streamlined and supports their delivery. ColegauCymru are correct that the nature of the trade and co-operation agreement means that education and training providers are dealing, obviously, with new visa and immigration arrangements and...
Jeremy Miles: The implications are clear: this is an attempt to take things back to decades ago, when Westminster supposedly knew best. Bypassing the elected institutions of Wales is not just an insult to the people of Wales, it will clearly result in worse outcomes for Wales as well.
Jeremy Miles: I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for that supplementary question. Through the shared prosperity fund, it is certainly the case that the UK Government seeks to be delivering in devolved areas with no input from the Welsh Government on its plans, and without any stakeholder engagement or public consultation. And in practice, that would mean that the UK Government is taking decisions on devolved...
Jeremy Miles: The Welsh Government is currently working closely with police forces, the UK Government, other devolved administrations and stakeholders to explore how best to address the serious issue of dog attacks on livestock and prevent its devastating effects.
Jeremy Miles: Well, the Member knows that my function is to ensure that the Welsh Government works within its constitutional powers, but also to ensure that we can work to the furthest boundaries of our devolved powers, and that we seek all possible opportunities to ensure that the devolution settlement is reformed in a way that benefits the people of Wales. The Minister for environment has recently...
Jeremy Miles: Welsh Government are exploring options to protect leaseholders from bearing the full brunt of costs to remediate building safety issues. It's imperative, of course, that we ensure that all options are properly scoped, risk assessed and that their consequences are fully understood before funding models are announced.
Jeremy Miles: Well, we certainly expect for Wales to receive its fair share of funding, as a result of the spending commitments recently announced in England, and that will, of course enable us to prepare a response to leaseholders who are in this position. The White Paper that the Minister has published is open for consultation until 12 April, and I'll take this opportunity to encourage people to respond...
Jeremy Miles: Awareness of the rule of law is integral to our work as a Government and to our efforts to make Welsh law more accessible. A number of initiatives are under way that will be brought together in a formal programme, in accordance with the legislation passed in this Senedd, at the start of the next Senedd term.
Jeremy Miles: I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for that supplementary, and I was delighted, in the interests of discussing questions about the rule of law with young people, to have participated recently with some students from the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol in their law and criminology conference, to discuss this very sort of issue. And in the way that she was implying in her question, much of that discussion...
Jeremy Miles: We take rural crime very seriously, which is why we established the Wales wildlife and rural crime group. Whilst policing, of course, is sadly not a devolved matter, we will continue to work with the UK Government and the Welsh police forces to ensure that public safety needs are met right across Wales.
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for raising this matter again. She has, of course, as she mentioned in the question, raised it before with me, and it's obviously a very, very important matter both in her constituency and right across Wales. I think there is very good evidence of joint working between the relevant agencies in Wales, which I do think—and I know she would acknowledge this—has been...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. As Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, my most urgent priority is clear, namely ensuring that every child and young person progresses to their full potential, in spite of the pandemic. Every decision I make as Minister will be guided by the needs of learners and their well-being, with a focus on narrowing educational inequalities and ensuring...
Jeremy Miles: I am in no doubt our new curriculum has the potential to transform learning, but only if we support our teachers to make it a success. We must recover and reform, and I'm determined that the emphasis on well-being and flexibility shown over the last year is built upon and closely aligned with the introduction of our new curriculum. Our education system has shown remarkable resilience and...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you for your words of congratulation, and for the tone in which you made your observations. I certainly will want to work constructively with all of the parties in this Chamber to deliver for our children and young people, right across Wales. I think if we focus on learner well-being and progression, supporting the well-being of the profession, in the way that the Member referenced at...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you very much to Siân Gwenllian for her questions and thank you for the offer to collaborate. I am certainly eager myself to collaborate and I intend to send out an invitation to party spokespeople on education and the Welsh language to meet regularly so that we can develop a pattern of open communication about the challenges that we all certainly want to work on in order to solve...
Jeremy Miles: I thank Rhianon Passmore for that and for her continuing championing of the needs and interests of young people right across Wales, as well as her own constituency of Islwyn. I join with her in congratulating the educational workforce in the school that she mentioned and across Islwyn, indeed, across Wales, for the extraordinary efforts that they have shown over the course of the last 12 to...
