Michelle Brown: In itself, this report and the acceptance of its recommendations by Welsh Government are all well and good, and it's right that there's a high level of analysis and scrutiny as we head towards Brexit. If there'd been as much scrutiny of the transition that was taking place leading up towards a united states of Europe, the UK would have made the sensible decision to leave a long, long time...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. A betrayal lies at the heart of the situation WASPI women find themselves in. Throughout their working lives, they were promised that, in return for their taxes and national insurance, they would receive a pension and that they would receive it from the age of 60. Women have built lives around the expectation that the UK Government would be as good as its...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and good afternoon, Cabinet Secretary. In 2016, there were two reports about school closures. One said that, in the previous 10 years, there'd been 157 school closures across Wales—three out of five of those closures being rural schools. The other said that there were a further 50 schools earmarked for closure. At the same time, local authorities are trying...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that answer. My question wasn't really specifically about rural schools. I possibly fogged the issue a little bit by mentioning rural schools. My question was actually about local schools, as in schools that children can walk to every day. Children who travel to school by car are exposed to an increase in pollution of 40 per cent for that journey,...
Michelle Brown: Well, do you not—? You've just given me a lecture about walking to school and safe routes to school, but you didn't actually answer the question, because I wasn't talking about children who can walk or travel in some way under their own steam, taking exercise to school. I was talking about children who have to be put into vehicular transport to be taken to school. Don't you think it's a...
Michelle Brown: Firstly, I must say that I support Plaid's motion and I agree with them that the grant should be reinstated. However, I do think the grant in some ways treats a symptom rather than the cause. I agree with the chairman of the National Union of Teachers Wales, Neil Foden, when he described a school uniform as eliminating differences between pupils and said undermining it creates divisions. I...
Michelle Brown: What assessment did the Cabinet Secretary make of how the proposed red route through Flintshire will integrate with the wider transport network prior to deciding on the preferred route?
Michelle Brown: Thank you to Rhun for bringing this motion, because it's certainly a very interesting motion. I'd like to say a few brief comments about it, and I'm broadly in support of the motion. Just as builders had to wire their new buildings for electricity and modern offices have to be wired for computers et cetera, it makes sense, as technology and society progresses, that planning guidance be...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary. Recent Estyn reports have noted that, in terms of quality leadership in schools, there has been a lack of succession planning, a limited number of well-tailored professional development opportunities for senior and middle-level leaders and teachers and that school leadership is not being considered an...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement today. I'm sure everyone in this Chamber will agree that relationships and sexuality can be complicated and are very rarely straightforward. For young people, they can be confusing and, in some cases, difficult to understand. In your statement, you are right to allude to the damage done by section 28, and, thankfully, it's now confined to...
Michelle Brown: As has been pointed out by others in this Chamber, children develop at different rates. It's not possible to say that simply because most are ready, all are ready. It is also impractical to say that, because a child is age X, they're ready to be taught Y. Parents know their child better than the Cabinet Secretary, her panel of experts and the schools. As the Cabinet Secretary has pointed out,...
Michelle Brown: It's not for you to decide what values are to be taught. It's for parents.
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, as you have overall responsibility for the education system in Wales, it's ultimately your responsibility to ensure that public funds are applied properly to the benefit of children and young people in Wales. How do you monitor how educational budgets are being used by local authorities, schools and consortia?
Michelle Brown: Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. You'll perhaps be aware that the BBC reported today that approximately £4 million is being taken out of school budgets to pay for local authorities' apprenticeship levies to the UK Government. They're also reporting that while some councils are paying this levy out of the overall budget, 13 of them are paying it out of the school budgets. Amongst...
Michelle Brown: Cabinet Secretary, I'm very glad to hear that you're having conversations with Westminster about the impact of the apprentcieship levy. The additional learning needs Bill has introduced a presumption in favour of pupils with ALN being placed in mainstream schools. This is a move I wholeheartedly applaud. I grew up in an era when people with additional learning needs and disability were...
Michelle Brown: I'd like first to thank all the people and organisations who gave evidence to the committee as part of our inquiry, and also to the committee clerks who do such a sterling job of supporting the committee's work. In the opening of its response, the Government says: 'We want children from all backgrounds to have the best start in life.' We do all want that, but the question is whether Flying...
Michelle Brown: Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary, and for the progress update that you've just given to us. There doesn't seem to have been a great deal of progress. I see that the waiting list for planned care has reduced by 45 per cent in a relatively short space of time, and that's a really good headline figure. But let's put it into context, shall we? The reduction that the Cabinet...
Michelle Brown: Residents have been campaigning for the speed limit along Fron Park Road in Holywell to be reduced to 30 mph for some time now. They've been campaigning for it for the sake of the safety of residents and pedestrians and road users. The road's a residential road, with parking along it adjacent to schools and in a number of side roads. It's a daft situation, to be honest: the speed limit...
Michelle Brown: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to move this motion on behalf of UKIP. Many students in Wales are being sold a pup. It may be unpleasant to say it, but it's a fact, and there is plenty of independent research to prove it. Sixth-form students are fed out-of-date figures about the higher earnings achieved by graduates to entice them onto the degree courses. Accurate figures...
Michelle Brown: Labour, in their amendment, are trying to turn this into an argument about access to university courses. That's a total red herring. This is not about inclusivity, diversity or access. This is about what happens to those who undertake degree courses. It's about making sure that we're actually treating these undergraduates and graduates fairly, and not misleading them by giving them false...
