Jeremy Miles: It is vital that education equips young people to understand and respect their own and each other’s histories and cultures. We are not only adding learning about the diversity of communities into the curriculum, we are also investing in professional learning to support practitioners and working to diversify the workforce.
Jeremy Miles: Supply teachers employed directly by schools or local authorities are covered by the same statutory provisions as permanent teachers. Staff employed by agencies are not covered by these provisions. However, in Wales, most supply teacher agencies have voluntarily agreed to abide by conditions set out in the National Procurement Service framework agreement.
Jeremy Miles: My priority is for every child to have the very best start in life. Early education plays a critical role in that and access to the highest quality, learner-centred nursery provision is essential to provide the foundation all children need to succeed.
Jeremy Miles: We offer grants to various organisations in the area to promote the Welsh language, for example the mentrau iaith. We are also working closely with local authorities on their new Welsh in education strategic plans to ensure that there is every opportunity for children in the area to receive Welsh-medium education.
Jeremy Miles: We are developing a 10-year plan that will set out how we aim to increase the number of Welsh and Welsh-medium teachers and develop the language skills of practitioners. The 10-year period will coincide with the 10-year planning cycle for the new Welsh in education strategic plans.
Jeremy Miles: I thank Hefin David for that really important question. The basic thesis underpinning the Bill is that it effectively will lead to more transparency in this way. And I think we're inspired a little bit by the experience in New Zealand of this when they established their equivalent commission, and it operates on a similar basis in the sense of Government setting the overall strategy and then...
Jeremy Miles: I think the Member makes an important point. I think there is a difference in approach in higher education and further education for reasons that I know that she will understand. And I think that illuminates a larger point that, whereas we want a single sector, there are a diversity of players within that sector, and I think that balance is the right balance to strike. I refer to the point...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for her questions and for the welcome that she’s given to the Bill, and the questions that deal with very important areas, many of them having been raised, as she mentioned, by stakeholders during the process—the extended process of consulting since the draft Bill was introduced. In terms of the learner voice, I think that there is new emphasis in the Bill on that in...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I thank the Member for her questions and the constructive tone with which she engages with the range of issues, and I think the range of questions that she asks demonstrates the breadth of the Bill and the scale both of the challenge and the opportunity, I think, which we are seeking to make sure our sectors are best placed to engage with. On the important question of timing, I...
Jeremy Miles: The Bill places duties on the commission to: promote lifelong learning; to promote equality of opportunity; continuous improvement in tertiary education and research; to encourage participation in tertiary education; to contribute to a sustainable and innovative economy; to promote collaboration and coherence in tertiary education and research; to promote tertiary education through the medium...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Llywydd. I am pleased to introduce the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill for the Senedd’s consideration. I do so on behalf of this Government and on behalf of the many contributors who have helped shape its development during extensive consultation and engagement. The Bill establishes a new commission for tertiary education and research and dissolves the Higher...
Jeremy Miles: I thank Joyce Watson for her welcome for the statement overall, and I think it shows her long-term commitment to this agenda as well. I do share the importance of the point that she makes about enabling the development of our future schools to really maximise the opportunity for parents and learners to use other routes to school that are environmentally friendly, and I'm encouraged by the...
Jeremy Miles: I'm not sure I understand the last question, but, on the broader point the Member was making, I know that she has written to me recently in relation to this. She will also know that, because of the fact that the school to which she's referring is a school in my constituency, a few yards from my office, I know that she understands that, for ministerial code reasons, I can't answer that...
Jeremy Miles: Yes, there is, and I think that this presents an opportunity, not solely from the point of view of the contribution the building itself makes to our larger targets, but there's also a very important opportunity for us to grasp here to use the development itself as a teaching tool, if you like. My visit yesterday to Llancarfan primary was a very, very good example of this. Unfortunately,...
Jeremy Miles: I thank Siân Gwenllian for those questions. In terms of the question on new builds or the older estate, there is a difference, of course, in the approach to those things. To be clear, the policy I'm talking about today also includes broad-ranging renewal work in a broad range of schools, so it isn't restricted in that way, but the general point that the Member makes is a fair one. In terms...
Jeremy Miles: I think the Member asked four questions, broadly speaking—two of which were answered in the statement, and two of which weren’t. So, just to confirm, as I made clear in the statement, there is a clear recognition of the additional costs of a net-zero carbon specification, and I recognise the figures that she indicated in her question. Just in the way that we’ve covered those costs as...
Jeremy Miles: To build on this, I am announcing today that, from 1 January 2022, all new-build, major refurbishment and extension projects requesting funding support through the programme will be required to demonstrate delivery of net-zero carbon in operation, plus a 20 per cent reduction on the amount of embodied carbon—that is, the carbon emitted through construction materials and the construction...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Through our flagship twenty-first century schools and colleges programme, the Welsh Government has provided almost £1 billion in capital investment to support the delivery of 180 projects to improve schools and colleges, or to build new ones. This achievement reflects our strong collaborative partnership with local authorities, the Welsh Local Government...
Jeremy Miles: Yes, certainly.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I was going to make a comment on Siân Gwenllian's contribution, and I think she discussed a range of things that need to be done in order to support the workforce—to attract the workforce in the first instance, and to support them in the longer term. It's true that we need to do a range of different things. I've referred to some of those in my speech already, but Siân Gwenllian and...
