Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Our work in Wales and apprenticeship programmes, you will be aware I'm sure, are trying to reshape the skills landscape in order, as Mohammad Asghar set out, to change the fact that we need to meet the challenges of the new economy. Members will be aware that it is one of our flagship programmes in the Welsh Government. We've got a target of 100,000 high-quality new apprenticeships, and...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Mark, yes.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: There's a whole host of reasons why we are not going to follow the English example. A 40 per cent drop is one of the reasons, but also we're absolutely focused on quality so I'm not going to take any lessons from England on this. I think that one of the biggest challenges facing us in Wales today is in-work poverty, and the fact is that 40 per cent of the people who use food banks in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Yes, if you'd like.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, we've got a whole suite of measures where we are promoting, trying to get women into these areas. This is not an easy task—this is not easy. If anyone's got any good ideas, then let us know, because it is a very, very difficult task. What we have introduced is these 'have a go' days. Sometimes, these are specifically targeted at women to try and make sure that they have a go at...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: every careers officer is trained in equality. So, we are doing our best to ensure that people are aware, when they are giving young people an idea of what’s available—that they are aware that they have to try and attract women to those apprenticeships.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: On disability, I think it's fair to say that the participation of disabled people in apprenticeships needs an improvement, and I'm glad that Mark Isherwood has drawn attention to the work we're doing with Remploy. We've also facilitated workshops between apprenticeship providers and regional Remploy offices, and we've ensured that there's a dedicated equality and diversity champion who is...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Absolutely.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Just a few words on the Welsh language: may I say that it is possible to take any apprenticeship through the medium of Welsh where there is demand? I want to make it clear that apprentices can study in the language of their choice, but the fact is that very few people choose to undertake their apprenticeship solely through the medium of Welsh. There are quite a few now who are doing it...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Can I just make a couple of points on—?
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, just to thank—. I just want to thank the committee for their interest in this, because it is a really important area for us and I'd like to ask you to keep us on our toes in this regard. Diolch yn fawr.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Mohammad Asghar. You will be aware that we are intensely aware of the need to upskill our workforce in areas where employers are telling us that there is a shortage, and that's why we've got this structure called the regional skills partnership, which has been set up to ask those employers to feed into those structures, to say, 'What are the skills that you are looking for as...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I think you're absolutely right; we need to do a lot more to make sure that people understand that apprenticeships are a real route to quality employment. We have a whole series of initiatives that are helping us to try and engage people, in particular in some of the STEM subjects that you talked about earlier, to make sure that they are responding to what the economy needs. So, we have a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. You're absolutely right; it really is time for us to rethink that phrase 'the white heat of technology' and to adapt it to a new age. You're right; if we thought that was going quickly, I think the next phase is going to be even quicker. So, you're absolutely right; we need to have a much more flexible response to the changes that are going to be taking place. So, already, the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I start by apologising that I have lost my voice? So, I will do my level best to put forward this statement and to give you the update on the steps that we are taking with regard to the Welsh language. As you will be aware, the Welsh Government’s emphasis has been on making standards that create statutory rights for people in Wales to insist on some...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Let me be clear: we will not stop enforcing the standards. Bodies must fulfil their statutory duties, but in my view it is always better to use a carrot rather than a stick wherever possible. That's a terrible translation, I know. If somebody can find a better idiom in Welsh, that would help me a great deal. In the field of language, enforcement is unlikely to be effective at bringing about...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Suzy. I’m glad that we agree that the current system is costly, that it’s overly bureaucratic and that it takes a great deal of time. But I also accept the fact that a great deal of work has already been done on the new plans—the standards that people expected to come in future. We won’t be stopping that work in its entirety, but we’ll be spending this next...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Siân. I was at the Urdd Eisteddfod last week as well, and you’re quite right: there were many children there who had a great deal of confidence. But what concerns me is not the children who are were at the Eisteddfod last week, but the hundreds of thousands who go to Welsh schools who weren’t at the Eisteddfod: those who don’t have the confidence. They’re the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Neil. I think I'd like to make it clear that this shift of emphasis is so important if we are to reach that target. So, what we've done hitherto is to focus attention on the rights of Welsh speakers, and that's fine—that's good, and it's come a long way. We've really changed the environment, particularly in local government and in some universities. I understand it's...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Mike. Your Welsh is improving by the minute. I'm very pleased that you've emphasised the importance of using the language. That's what you see in communities such as Caernarfon, of course, and it would be great to see more communities like Caernarfon. The way to ensure this, of course, is to increase the number of Welsh speakers, and the easiest way to do that, of...
