Paul Davies: ...and the Welsh Government have worked together on legislation to strengthen the Welsh Government's powers on matters like quarantining and mass gatherings, and, as you're already aware, some schools in Wales and across the UK have closed their doors to students at risk of coronavirus. Of course, schools are a particular problem in terms of stopping the spread of the virus, and so it's...
Paul Davies: Will the Minister provide an update on widening political engagement in schools?
Paul Davies: ...health issues are either being admitted to psychiatric facilities without their child, or being sent to units that are miles and miles away. The Chair of the Assembly's Children, Young People and Education Committee has rightly said that the situation needs to change urgently, and so it's unfair for the Welsh Government to say that it's prioritising mental health support when actions...
Paul Davies: Deputy Minister, earlier this week, I met with pupils from St Aidan's Church in Wales School in Wiston just outside Haverfordwest in my constituency, which has set up a petition to ban single-use plastic milk bottles in schools across Wales. I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's great to see children and young people engaging with our petitions process and taking action on some of our...
Paul Davies: ..., and so they're very much at the heart of upskilling the nation and providing lifelong learning opportunities. Of course, it's especially important to recognise the vital contribution that further education and vocational skills make to learners, but they also make a very important contribution to the Welsh economy too. A recent study, conducted by the economic modelling company, Emsi,...
Paul Davies: Minister, I'm sure you will join with me in congratulating Ysgol y Preseli in my constituency. As you know, it's a Welsh-medium secondary school graded second in Wales, according to The Sunday Times school guide this year, for its excellent performance. It's important that other schools learn from Welsh-medium schools such as Ysgol y Preseli in terms of promoting the use of the Welsh language...
Paul Davies: ...might think things have improved under your party's stewardship, but the people of Wales certainly don't think so. In fact, the outcomes point to nothing but failures when you look at our NHS, our education system and our economy. First Minister, under your party, accident and emergency waiting times are the worst on record, the Welsh NHS has been the only part of the UK to see its budget...
Paul Davies: ...improvements, but you are quite clearly failing our children and young people because we should have seen much better improvement over the last few years. Now, of course, the 'Fit for the Future Education in Wales' report, which, clearly, you want to dismiss, has called for GCSEs to be scrapped, and as we're all aware, Qualifications Wales is launching a consultation on the future of GCSEs...
Paul Davies: ...the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average in all PISA measures. It's quite clear, First Minister, that you and your Government are failing to significantly improve Wales's education system. Now, I know and accept that the Welsh Government has announced a series of reforms, and only last month, Professor Calvin Jones of Cardiff Business School and Sophie Howe, the...
Paul Davies: Minister, Estyn's 'Healthy and happy' report, published in June, highlighted that only a minority of schools keep useful records about bullying, with schools often only recording what they regard as serious. However, by not recording carefully any allegation of bullying by pupils, schools are unable to effectively evaluate their policies, and are actually at risk of being unable to build up a...
Paul Davies: ...pound. We have the highest commercial property tax in the UK on properties over £1 million. Wales's tourism sector will be stifled by the potential introduction of a tourism tax. Our independent schools will lose charitable rate relief where they're registered as charities, and only last month, new hypothecated and broad-based Welsh tax specifically directed at enabling the curriculum...
Paul Davies: ...better placed to identify and draw up a list of the war memorials in their respective areas. Of course, I accept that, in some cases, memorials may be on private land, or, for example, located at a school or church, and, as such, the responsibility for maintaining those memorials would lie with them. And even today, I received correspondence regarding the vulnerability of unofficial war...
Paul Davies: ...some of the findings in the commission's report. Chapter 10 of the report considers knowledge, skills and innovation, and calls for an action plan to be created to support and promote public legal education, particularly for children and young people, and that's something that I very much welcome. Now, today's statement rightly recognises that as the Welsh Government considers the...
Paul Davies: Minister, in this forthcoming financial year, all of the secondary schools in Pembrokeshire are projecting deficit budgets, and the Pembrokeshire association of secondary headteachers has made it clear that this will result in reducing the number of teaching staff, reducing the breadth of the curriculum offered, and a need to increase the number of pupils in classes to enable fewer teachers...
Paul Davies: 2. Will the Minister make a statement on secondary school budgets in Pembrokeshire? OAQ54562
Paul Davies: ...be enormous. In my own constituency, there was a very strong performance at Ysgol y Preseli at A* to A grades, which I'm proud to say is significantly above the national average. However, not all schools in Pembrokeshire delivered improvements, and whilst I understand that improvements have been made at several schools across the county in achieving A* to C grades, Pembrokeshire County...
Paul Davies: ...to ensure that there is a holistic approach to veterans affairs. Now, this new office will work to co-ordinate and drive UK Government policy on veterans' welfare, mental and physical health, education and employment. For many years, the Welsh Conservatives have been calling for the introduction of an armed forces and veterans commissioner, who would be accountable to this Assembly and who...
Paul Davies: ...is considering introducing a service pupil premium here in Wales, and if not, can you tell us what additional specific support the Welsh Government can actually offer to service children in Welsh schools?
Paul Davies: 9. Will the Minister make a statement on what the Welsh Government is doing to support service children in schools? OAQ54365
Paul Davies: I remind the First Minister that he is responsible for health policy here in Wales. And this is not just about hospitals, this particular policy, but it's also about our schools too. A paper published by the Nuffield Foundation and UCL Institute of Education showed that a quarter of teachers work more than 60 hours per week in the UK. We know that your Government has made it clear that it has...
