Jeremy Miles: ...economic strategy generally. So, I wish him well in that, and I commend him, actually, for seeking input from the people of Wales on their economic priorities for the future. I know that there is a school of thought that prefers economic strategy with declamatory statements of certainty, but I think we are not in that territory in the world at the moment. And I know, from conversations...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. The YMCA in Neath saw 27,000 visits last year, as part of a network of YMCAs across Wales, which together supply supported accommodation, training, education and fitness and well-being as well as a range of other services. Many have operated on the basis of clusters for collaboration purposes. Does he welcome that and what further support can the...
Jeremy Miles: ...that arts centres play, not just as places of entertainment, important though that is, but as community hubs, helping to tackle isolation, offering a broader offering for schoolchildren in terms of education and general well-being? Would he join me in hoping that local authorities across Wales will look at all those considerations when they’re considering funding and support for the future?
Jeremy Miles: ...bodies, then there’s also a leap forward needed in terms of increasing demand for the services that we are discussing today. To endorse Sian Gwenllian’s words in mentioning how important the education workforce is, it’s vital to deliver the objectives in the Welsh language strategy, and workforce planning in that regard specifically is also vital. And that’s why the Welsh language...
Jeremy Miles: .... Now, there are reasons why working-age veterans face particular challenges. Often, those who join the armed forces at a young age do so as an alternative career path to further or higher education or civilian employment. Some will choose that because they don’t feel they have, perhaps, an aptitude for conventional learning, and up to 50 per cent of army recruits have literacy and...
Jeremy Miles: ...s nothing there. No alternative, no ideas, nothing; just a hole where a competing vision should be. So, I commend the Welsh Government on this budget. More money for health and care, more money for education, the best local government settlement in years, money for childcare, money for apprenticeships. Making good on our commitments. Would I have liked to have seen more for some areas and...
Jeremy Miles: The leader of the house will have seen concerns in the press on the weekend that, when it comes to calculating the apprenticeship levy, local authority schools are being treated less favourably than English academies. The payroll of a local authority school may attract the levy, when the payroll of a similar-sized academy in England might not. Will the Government bring forward a statement,...
Jeremy Miles: ...to stand on the side of people who are doing their bit but are finding it hard. So, if, like a young parent in my constituency, you were able to send your children to Food and Fun in Melin Junior School this summer, giving you a little bit more time to go to work, taking some pressure off your care budget, giving them two meals a day and playing and reading with their fellow pupils, the...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Minister for that answer. Before I was elected I was a lawyer and when I was a schoolchild I didn’t know any lawyers. No parents of friends or family friends were lawyers but somehow it happened. But in today’s changing economy people may not even know what sorts of jobs are available as they’re going through school, and in regions such as my own we hope to see significant...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Minister for that question and commend him on his work on the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill, which I know we all hope will lead to improved outcomes and experiences for children with autism on the school journey. I know he shares my sense of priority about making sure that the physical environment in schools is also appropriate for children with...
Jeremy Miles: Just before Christmas, I convened a meeting in my constituency in Neath of players in the local economy. I had the further education college there. In fact, they hosted the event and it was hosted very beautifully and very effectively buy them, so I thank them for that. We also had universities, businesses in the local economy and unions to come together to discuss what we wanted from a...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I think it’s vital that in schools and colleges students and pupils have a very clear understanding of what the options are for them, what the progression opportunities within those career choices are and what course options and so on they should take to get them there. And I think there’s a place for much more integration between the world of work, the local economy and schools and...
Jeremy Miles: ...of tackling the challenges will not get any easier. Would he agree that a clear and comprehensive picture of all public spending—local, Welsh and UK-wide Government, covering health, benefits, education and so on—at a local authority level or, dare I say it, a postcode level, would be a valuable objective towards which we should all be striving? And if he does agree, are there any...
Jeremy Miles: ...to catch the same amount of fish that it did in 1889. So, even huge leaps forward in technology are not able to keep up with the extent of overfishing. The leading-edge research role of the higher education sector in Wales is crucial to the kind of innovation integral to the future of our blue economy. Most of our universities are, of course, located near the coast, and much of our...
Jeremy Miles: ...of automation led to a reduction down to a five-day working week. Will there come a time when a three- or four-day working week becomes the norm, or perhaps longer periods spent in statutory education, delaying the start of working life? All of which we should reflect upon. But for many, of course, involuntary early retirement or reluctant part-time work already means this, and their...
Jeremy Miles: .... [Interruption.] Another feature of the campaign was an increase in turnout, and yet one in three people did not vote. Compulsory voting is no substitute for political engagement or political education, but as well as being a right that people have fought for and died for, it can also be seen as a civic obligation that we owe one to another. As the Welsh Government and the National...
Jeremy Miles: 1. What steps are being taken by the Cabinet Secretary to implement the recommendations of the Welsh Co-operative and Mutuals Commission relating to ‘Education for Co-operation’? OAQ(5)0132(EDU)
Jeremy Miles: ...for that reply. In its update to its report, the commission recognised there were ongoing discussions between the Welsh Government and the Co-operative College, in relation to co-operative education in schools, and described a model that was preserving the maintained status of schools also encouraged the spread of co-operative ethos and principles within the curriculum and in the life of...
Jeremy Miles: ...This kind of cultural exchange and export is at the heart of what must become a global network of Welsh soft power. Whilst our hard power is limited, our enormous artistic, sporting, cultural, and educational assets, world-class in many instances—opera, instrumental, and theatre to name just a few— can, if properly deployed, create significant soft power, which can build bridges to all...
Jeremy Miles: ...speakers, and that it does that with milestones and details so that we can see clearly the journey ahead of us on reaching this ambitious aim. Simon, and others, have mentioned the importance of education, and I am going to go onto that, but, first of all, I’d like to discuss the question that Sian Gwenllian emphasised, namely this idea of economic prosperity and that prosperity of the...
