Jeremy Miles: Online safety is a complex societal issue. Tackling it requires a multi-agency approach. Our national digital resilience action plan outlines the commitments we are undertaking across Government, along with expert partners, to enhance the protection for children and young people online. A collaborative approach is essential to make real progress and, therefore, partnership working is at the...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I'd like to thank the Member for moving this important short debate. As a Government, we are eager to spread the benefits of the internet and encourage the safe use of technology.
Jeremy Miles: Children and young people are highly engaged internet users at increasingly younger ages, as we've heard in the debate this evening. It's no surprise that Ofcom's latest 'Children and parents: media use and attitudes report 2022' found that 99 per cent of children went online last year. Growing up in this digital age, children do not differentiate their online and offline lives in the same...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that important question. The data that we use is the foundation for policies in terms of financial incentives and the Member has already mentioned those. The comparison between what’s available in Wales and England isn’t appropriate, but there is support in Wales for subjects where there are shortages. In addition to that, there are additional incentives for those...
Jeremy Miles: I certainly will. They play an integral role in making sure that young people are able to access early years and nursery through the medium of Welsh. That is fantastic in terms of ensuring that Welsh language provision is available, but also supporting parents in making that choice for their children and also sometimes encouraging parents themselves to learn Welsh. We know that is one of the...
Jeremy Miles: We are progressing with our 10-year Welsh in education workforce plan, which includes developing and implementing a marketing strategy in partnership with the Education Workforce Council and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol to encourage more Welsh speakers to choose teaching as a career.
Jeremy Miles: Can I take the opportunity to correct the record that it was 230,000 children? That's what I intended to say in my answer. I just want to echo what the Member has just said. I am disappointed for this family and others, I shouldn't wonder, in the community who can't access Welsh-medium swimming lessons. We've prepared standards that place duties on local authorities to provide education...
Jeremy Miles: We provide over £5 million to partners such as the Urdd, the young farmers and the mentrau for activities through the medium of Welsh. Last week, 230 children joined in the Urdd jamboree to celebrate the Wales team in the world cup, and I'll be continuing to emphasise the use of the Welsh language in all of my work.
Jeremy Miles: I thank Peter Fox for raising this and for the way in which he's raised it. It's a very profound challenge, isn't it, and a challenge that many of us who are—considerably, in my case, at least—beyond school years find it hard to understand the scale of, really. But it is a very significant issue, and as Peter Fox was saying, the evidence given to the CYPE committee is very vivid in the...
Jeremy Miles: Keeping safe online is critical to our children's physical and mental health. That's why digital competence is a mandatory cross-curricular skill and the health and well-being area has a focus on developing safe behaviour online. It's also a clear focus of the relationships and sexuality education code.
Jeremy Miles: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues about education, training and development and their portfolios.
Jeremy Miles: That's a really important question—thank you to Altaf Hussain for raising it. There's a huge amount of work under way to ensure that social care workers across the sector in Wales can receive the training that they need to do their jobs well, and that that is promoted to people as a career path. Social Care Wales, as the regulator, the body with responsibility for workforce development,...
Jeremy Miles: Well, the report to which the Member refers was published following the statement that I made in the Senedd, I think, from memory—but somebody may correct me—back in March, and the speech that I then made to the Bevan Foundation in June, I believe, which sets out a full programme of interventions from early years to life-long learning to address some of the challenges that were confirmed...
Jeremy Miles: 'Beacon of hope' is exactly the right phrase in John Griffiths's question. I'm aware of the work that Maindee primary do. I've met some of the staff, and I would be delighted to visit the school to see at first hand the fantastic work that I know they do. The kind of work that the school does is exactly the sort of work that we want to see more and more schools in Wales supported to do. We...
Jeremy Miles: Curriculum for Wales provides a rich and broad curriculum for every child, ensuring that every child develops the knowledge, skills and experiences that will enable them to progress to their full potential, regardless of their background. It treats every child as an individual, with different strengths and needs.
Jeremy Miles: As I was saying to Adam Price earlier—in response to Adam Price—although we've not been able to increase the value of it, we have been able to maximise the current offer. So, we've expanded the eligible cohort to include some of those most vulnerable young people in Wales, including some who are impacted by Brexit, family members of those with protected immigration status, for example,...
Jeremy Miles: Well, as the Member knows, and acknowledges, we do everything we can to ensure that the resources available are provided to help those who need them most in our education system. In terms of the commitment to maintain the EMA, that's part of our programme for government. And I'm proud that we have continued with that, as Scotland and Northern Ireland have done, but that's not the case in...
Jeremy Miles: There is a range of additional support measures provided to post-16 learners in receipt of education maintenance allowance. These are measures provided by the Welsh Government through their college or school. These include free or subsidised travel, free meals, free period products, and access to hardship funding where available.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I thank the Member for raising that point. In terms of the broader point, the point that she makes in this context, as was the case with the previous question, is quite proper in terms of how important transport is to accessing education. But because of geographical distribution, it's particularly pertinent in relation to Welsh-medium education, as her question suggests. There is an...
Jeremy Miles: Well, as the Member will know, we had an opportunity in last week's autumn statement to see budgets for public services, across the UK, responding to the challenge of inflation that has affected Wales and the whole of the UK generally. But that is not what we saw. We saw some increase in what we can expect, but it's nowhere near meeting the challenges that schools, and public services more...
