Lynne Neagle: Thank you Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to contribute to this Stage 1 debate to outline the Children, Young People and Education Committee’s main conclusions and recommendations in relation to the childcare funding Bill. You will see from our report that seven of our eight members support the general principles of this Bill. As you've heard, Llyr Gruffydd did not support the Bill...
Lynne Neagle: It is fair to say that a number of us shared some of Llyr’s concerns about the childcare offer as it’s currently shaped. I’ll expand on some of those areas a little later. However, on balance, we didn’t feel that these concerns warranted the committee recommending the Bill should fall at this stage. We came to this conclusion based on our belief that the Bill is necessary to enable...
Lynne Neagle: Cabinet Secretary, I was really pleased to see the announcement that you're going to be consulting on statutory guidance, because, as you know, the existing policy document is actually very good and places a lot of emphasis on generic uniform. But most schools, I would contend, are not actually following that guidance as they should be, and I'm sure you'll have seen the coverage earlier this...
Lynne Neagle: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the provision of microprocessor knees in Wales?
Lynne Neagle: Type 1 diabetes is the most common chronic condition in children and young people. As we know, if left undiagnosed, it can be fatal. I commend the Petitions Committee for their work on this petition, and I welcome Welsh Government's response in accepting the majority of the committee's recommendations. One of the concerns raised by the Baldwin family and Diabetes UK Cymru was that there...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm grateful for the opportunity to open this individual Member debate on pregnancy and baby loss. Sadly, pregnancy loss and the death of a baby are not rare events. One in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, and, across the UK, 15 babies die every day either before, during or shortly after birth, meaning thousands of parents go through the tragedy of...
Lynne Neagle: Llywydd, in politics, there is often an easy path and a hard path. If the easy path was always the right way to go, then the job we do here would be simple. In fact, we'd hardly be needed at all. But the reality is that, more often than not, the hard path is also the right way. In an age where a lie can be retweeted 30,000 times before truth has booted up her laptop, that is more true than...
Lynne Neagle: 6. Will the First Minister provide an update on the impact of universal credit in Torfaen? OAQ52752
Lynne Neagle: First Minister, Torfaen has had more than a year now of the full service roll-out of universal credit. In that year, we have seen people waiting six to eight weeks for payment, an increase in debt and rent arrears, more and more people needing to use food banks and a universal credit helpline where people are literally waiting hours to speak to a member of staff. I believe the local record...
Lynne Neagle: Diolch, Llywydd. I’m very pleased to open this debate on the Children, Young People and Education Committee’s inquiry on targeted funding to improve educational outcomes and our report, 'On the money?', which we published in June. The aim of our inquiry was to focus on whether Welsh Government's work on using a targeted approach to support disadvantaged pupils to reach their full...
Lynne Neagle: The Welsh Government has also committed to closely monitoring the impact of the PDG and ensuring value for money, which we welcome. Estyn told the committee that two thirds of schools were using the grant effectively. Both Estyn and the Cabinet Secretary indicated that this was to be expected as it reflects the proportion of schools with good or better leadership. However, the committee...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I begin by thanking everyone who's contributed to a constructive debate this afternoon on a very important subject? I haven't had any advice via the messaging about how long I've got, DPO, so I think—
Lynne Neagle: Okay. Right, thank you. [Interruption.] Okay. If I start, then, with Suzy Davies, who highlighted some of the shortcomings of the PDG, which were picked up in our report, but which we really hope our recommendations and the positive response by the Welsh Government will help to address—things such as the new guidance that we've called for. I know that the Minister is developing a toolkit...
Lynne Neagle: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for your statement? I very much welcome it and the additional funding. As you've highlighted, this was an area of great concern for the committee and I, for one, am really pleased that the Government has been able to respond so positively. As you've highlighted, it is about the new curriculum, but it is also about investing in our workforce, who are our...
Lynne Neagle: Will the First Minister provide an update on discussions with the UK Government regarding Brexit?
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm very pleased to be able to make this statement today, on behalf of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, to recognise the importance of the UN Universal Children's Day. The United Nations Universal Children's Day was established in 1954 and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children...
Lynne Neagle: As part of our scrutiny of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill, we held a series of workshops with young people and held a conference for those working directly with children with ALN to help feed in views on how the Bill affected them. This engagement formed a vital part of our scrutiny and provided a clear insight into the needs of those children and how the...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Janet Finch-Saunders, for those remarks and for the kind words, which are much appreciated. A number of the issues that you raised were in relation to the children's commissioner's report. As you know, the children's commissioner will be before us on Thursday, and we'll have the opportunity to directly question plus follow up those issues then, and they are all very important...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you, Julie, for those remarks, and thank you for the ongoing very positive contribution that you make to the committee. I did give a few examples in the statement of where I think that we have been able to secure some change. You referred to 'Mind over matter', and, as you know, the committee was very disappointed with the Welsh Government's response to 'Mind over matter'. But the task...
Lynne Neagle: Thank you to Siân Gwenllian for her comments. I'm very pleased to have her as a member of the committee as well. I completely agree with you on the children's rights issue. It has been a constant theme in the Assembly—that we are concerned that, despite this wonderful start back in 2011, there has been a dilution of that commitment in recent years for what seem like very worthy reasons,...
