Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Joyce. We want teaching, as I said to Caroline earlier, to be a first-choice profession so that we can attract the very best to Welsh schools. In addition to our incentives, we are working with the sector to actively promote teaching, to recruit the very best and brightest individuals into the profession.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Joyce. We are currently working with the sector to promote the profession, as I said, and our incentive scheme for priority subjects that is available to eligible students now. My recent announcement regarding amendments to the scheme, such as including computer science as a top priority, will be available to eligible students from September 2018. We are also working...
Kirsty Williams: Diolch yn fawr, Simon. The reforms that we are implementing in response to the Diamond review will create a sustainable and progressive higher education funding settlement for Wales that supports students when they need it the most, and enables our universities to compete domestically and, as we've just heard, internationally also.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Simon. Can I put on record how fantastically I think the new vice-chancellor at Aberystwyth, Elizabeth Treasure, is doing? We've seen some really impressive student satisfaction results from the university and the example of that partnership working with London to establish partial veterinary education in Aberystwyth is very welcome indeed. I've yet to have discussions with the...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. May I start also, like Darren Millar, by taking a brief moment to thank all of those involved in getting the Bill to this point? In particular, I'd like to thank the previous Minister. I know delivery of the Bill and the transformation programme was a priority for him. I would also like to thank the Assembly committee involved in scrutinising the Bill,...
Kirsty Williams: Turning to the advice element of the duty, the Bill is already clear that it must be impartial. Section 6, together with section 7, requires the local authority, in making arrangements to provide information and advice, to have regard to the importance of children, their parents, and young people being provided with the information and support necessary to enable them to have full...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Presiding Officer. There has never been any dispute about our collective support for the principles of both conventions. The commitment to advancing the rights of children, young people and those with a disability is a priority I know that we all share. The Bill is drafted with children’s rights at its very core. The legal duties it contains already safeguard and promote the...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I assure Members that I've listened very carefully to what has been said in previous committee discussions on this subject, and indeed comments here today? There is no doubt that we all agree that the rights of children and disabled persons, as set out in the UN conventions, are fundamentally important. I would remind Members that the rights of children and...
Kirsty Williams: Well, of course they are, and I understand that. And if they're carrying out their duties under the terms of this, then they will have those rights front and centre. I am prepared, in listening to the concerns that were expressed during the debate and in the committee, to look at those organisations that have that strategic overview of services that are being developed. Therefore, I do feel...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, as you rightly say, this group of amendments all fall within the category of minor and consequential. Amendments 27 and 32 essentially tidy up the Bill in light of the Stage 2 amendments. Amendment 27 removes section 5(6), which is no longer needed since the Assembly procedure for the code was changed at Stage 2 from draft negative to affirmative. Amendment 32 simply...
Kirsty Williams: Yes.
Kirsty Williams: Move.
Kirsty Williams: I move.
Kirsty Williams: Move.
Kirsty Williams: Move.
Kirsty Williams: I move.
Kirsty Williams: Move.
Kirsty Williams: I move.
Kirsty Williams: I move.
Kirsty Williams: I move.
