Jeremy Miles: The rise in inflation is having a significant impact on all public services and will affect school budgets. We know that school reserves are currently in a higher position, and we support local authorities in working with schools to manage their budgets in light of the current circumstances.
Jeremy Miles: Well, as a former young ornithologist myself, I pay close attention to what the RSPB tells us in terms of the connection of young people with nature. I'm sure that most of us will recognise, from our own experience, just how important and enjoyable that is at a young age. There are two principal programmes that we fund and continue to support in the space of environmental education in...
Jeremy Miles: Learning on the environment is mandatory in the Curriculum for Wales. The statements of what matters for the humanities and the science and technology areas of learning and experience include explicit references to the environment, to ensure that learners engage with the importance of nature and biodiversity.
Jeremy Miles: Well, the Member will know that it's the Government's hope as well that we can do more in the area of free school meals, but the extension that the Member refers to in his question is one where we would need to make the kinds of cuts in other parts of our budget that the Member invites me to specify that schools should make in theirs. So, the challenge is very, very significant. As well as...
Jeremy Miles: Ensuring the school estate is fit for purpose is vital to creating a positive learning environment. This is why, since 2014, we have invested £1.22 billion through the whole of the Sustainable Communities for Learning programme, against a total programme spend with our stakeholders of £2.2 billion.
Jeremy Miles: Well, student support rates are in fact increased each year in line with our policy, and I'll be making statements about that in the coming weeks. We already have in Wales the most progressive student support system of any part of the UK, and I'm very proud of that, and we remain committed to that, which includes, as you will know, a mix of grant and additional support. For any student...
Jeremy Miles: Our priority continues to be ensuring that higher education students have access to support that enables them to meet their day-to-day living costs. Our student support system provides support equivalent to the national living wage, with the highest levels of grant being targeted to those students most in need.
Jeremy Miles: I thank Joyce Watson for that supplementary question. She's right to say, of course, that the costs of school uniform are a considerable concern for many families. I wrote to schools over the summer recess, towards the end of the recess, to say to them that we will be looking again, as she says, at the guidance that's been in place for three years, effectively, at this point, but the scale of...
Jeremy Miles: Well, that is a longer term solution to the challenge that the Member correctly describes as being imminent for schools, and I hope, as I'm sure he will, that when the statement is made on Friday, the Prime Minister will be clear in terms of the commitment that she's making to businesses and to individuals about the support for energy costs, which is certainly necessary in order for public...
Jeremy Miles: It's already happening in some schools in Wales. Schools support families in all sorts of different ways to ensure that they can access support more broadly. One of the considerations mentioned by the First Minister yesterday was the need to ensure that any contact between families and any public body allows people to understand the range of support available to them. One of the things, and...
Jeremy Miles: The cost-of-living crisis is having, and will continue to have, significant impact on all public services, including our schools. The First Minister has already made clear in the Senedd yesterday that only the UK Government has the financial firepower to tackle the crippling effects of rising energy costs and other costs.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I will take up the invitation to repeat my congratulations to young people in Wales, who have been through a very, very difficult period. I think, in some ways, this last year was the most disruptive in terms of the experience in the classroom, and so returning to an exam series in that context, I think, was a particularly challenging task. But I think the results have demonstrated the...
Jeremy Miles: Qualifications Wales have sought to deliver grade outcomes for approved A-levels and GCSEs that are broadly midway between summer 2019 and summer 2021, at a national level. And the results that were achieved by learners demonstrate their resilience, and I congratulate them all on their achievements.
Jeremy Miles: I think that's part of the answer. Actually, I strongly believe that the new curriculum that we're introducing in Wales, which has at its heart, really, a curriculum tailored to the needs of individual learners and putting each learner in the best possible position to fulfil their own potential, will be a huge step forward for us. We will all speak to schools in our constituencies and...
Jeremy Miles: Well, there are a number of important questions posed by the Member. The report does recognise that socioeconomic background in Wales is different to that, generally speaking, in England—that poverty levels are higher in Wales for reasons that are partly historical. The powers in terms of taxation and expenditure aren't in our hands to tackle those core elements. We use our resources to...
Jeremy Miles: My oral statement on 22 March set out my intention to tackle the impact of poverty on attainment, and I have put in place a range of measures to realise this ambition.
Jeremy Miles: Well, that's the risk, as the Member set out. That's why it is so important that the debate happens in a factual and measured manner, because there are a number of challenges facing teachers at the moment. We have introduced a new curriculum and we need to ensure that they do get the support that they need in order to do that in a way that can be successful in this area and in all other...
Jeremy Miles: The Member makes an important point in the last question. We are working with our partners generally to ensure that accurate information is available and that guidance is available to tackle this. It's very important—and it is a shame that the Conservative spokesperson isn't here to listen to this—it's very important that the public debate in this policy area is undertaken in a...
Jeremy Miles: General assertions by the Member doesn't create a new reality on the ground. She asserts that there is confusion; she asserts many things in her contribution today. Let's just look at the evidence in reality here. The Member is aware that the code already requires schools to engage with parents in relation to the content of the RSE curriculum, and schools are doing that. It's absolutely core...
Jeremy Miles: The generic nature of the Member's allegations, the lack of specificity, the broad-brush approach that she's taking to this question are incredibly unhelpful. The curriculum has been taught for a matter of days, actually, in schools, so I would be interested in hearing from her either in the Chamber or separately of the specifics to which she is referring. I think it's incumbent on all of us...
