John Griffiths: ...rates and poorer quality of life. Lung diseases are responsible for more than 700,000 hospital admissions and over 6 million in-patient bed days in the UK each year. There is reduced access to education and exercise programmes that help individuals better self-manage their condition and maintain a good quality of life, as well as poor uptake of the influenza vaccine and stop-smoking...
John Griffiths: I would very much agree with that. I think there’s a lot in our education system today that is about empathy and empathising, isn’t there? And a lot about diversity, understanding diversity, and respecting it. And I’m sure Kirsty Williams is very committed to making sure the new curriculum builds on that. I was very interested in what the Deputy Minister said about community cohesion...
John Griffiths: ...many matters that we have to deal with, and many of them are based in the economy, the quality of jobs that people have, the opportunities that they have, and, in turn, much of that comes from the educational experience and education system. I’m now chair of the cross-party group on race in the Assembly. We haven’t yet met, but we will be meeting soon. Race Council Cymru provide the...
John Griffiths: .... I wonder if you're familiar with a recent proposal for a national technology institute, which came from Newport economic network. It's really about looking at how we provide this sort of applied education for world-class technical, digital and entrepreneurial skills, really in responding to the fourth industrial revolution. It does have a good deal of work behind it, Minister, and it is...
John Griffiths: 8. What further steps will the Welsh Government take to ensure that the education system provides the skills required to support the Welsh economy? OAQ53761
John Griffiths: ...world in Wales, the social class he or she is born into will affect every aspect of their life, whether it's life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, the standards and qualifications experience of education that she or he receives, their job, lifetime earnings, standards of living, quality of life. Far too often, those born into lower income groups are disadvantaged in all of those terms...
John Griffiths: ...stronger appreciation of the value of the landscape, and to inspire people to learn about and participate in its heritage. It involves the reintroduction of apple orchards, connecting with local schools, collaborations with Newport City Council to combat fly-tipping, and the popularity of cafes and eateries at Goldcliff and the RSPB wetlands centre. There is now a fresh opportunity for...
John Griffiths: .... We've heard of the great benefits that would arise were that to happen, Dirprwy Lywydd, and that's what makes it so frustrating that we don't see the delivery that should be in place. The school run, for example, was mentioned by Jenny and others. The congestion that arises at school run time, the pollution that that brings, the economic impact from that congestion, the deleterious...
John Griffiths: Minister, taxation powers offer the opportunity to introduce change to the tax system to help create a fairer and more equal Wales. At the moment, private schools sustain an institutionalised unfairness and inequality, working against social mobility by entrenching educational inequality that feeds through to careers and life chances, with ex-private school pupils disproportionately featuring...
John Griffiths: Minister, would you agree with me that we should recognise and celebrate excellent standards of education in Wales, such as those provided by St Julian's Primary School in my constituency, which had an Estyn inspection in October of last year that assessed them as having excellence right across the board? It's a just-under 700 pupil primary school. It's a pioneer school in terms of digital...
John Griffiths: First Minister, the early years are vital to education and life chances throughout life, so may I commend you and Welsh Government on building the Flying Start programme, which I believe is valuable and effective? But, as ever, there is more to be done, and I think the postcode eligibility criteria for Flying Start calls into question whether more can be done to roll out this programme to...
John Griffiths: ...Chair of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, and as we've already heard, it was very pleasing for three committees—my committee; Lynne Neagle's Children, Young People and Education Committee; and Llyr's Finance Committee—to meet jointly and concurrently to look at the Welsh Government's approach to single, integrated impact assessments. It was a valuable...
John Griffiths: ...in Wales and of devolution. We know that many people who are in our prisons shouldn't be there; they have mental health issues, they have drug and alcohol problems, they have very low educational attainment and very low skills. All those problems have to be dealt with, and will only be dealt with in Wales if there's effective joining up with devolved services. Again, it was good to hear...
John Griffiths: ...It was originally built to transport steel workers across the river Usk to their place of work and it holds very many memories for local people. I remember being on the transporter bridge going to school games, in primary school, standing on one leg when it bumped at the end, to see whether you could remain on one leg, walking over the top, and, of course, the history of the miners'...
John Griffiths: ...a role to play in challenging these stereotypes that hold back both women and men, but the best approach is to stop these ideas becoming the norm in the first place, and the best tool for that is education. So, I am pleased that recommendation 22, calling for gender roles and parenting to be included in the new sex and relationships education, is accepted. ...
John Griffiths: ...their transport people, to understand what needs to be achieved and take the necessary action to ensure that it is achieved. I also agree with others, Dirprwy Lywydd, in terms of the importance of school and work, because it was always about purposeful travel. There isn't, at the moment, a Welsh Government-funded workplaces programme to drive some of the necessary change in terms of the...
John Griffiths: ...) Act, passed in 2013. It places a legal duty on local authorities in Wales to audit existing routes for walking and cycling and then plan and deliver a comprehensive network of routes to work, school and local facilities. Twenty miles per hour limits will facilitate this. Over the past few generations, unfortunately, there has been a dramatic reduction in the freedom given to children to...
John Griffiths: ...actually cuts across the protected characteristics, for example, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. There are particular issues, for example, with white working-class Welsh children in schools and a lack of social mobility. I just wonder what focus Welsh Government has on those particular problems, and that social class aspect to inequality.
John Griffiths: Cabinet Secretary, I do understand that it's incredibly difficult to allocate funding in this age of austerity and all the pressures that involves. Nonetheless, I do believe that education should have a bigger share of the Welsh Government's budget than is currently the case. I believe that would be very much in line with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, because greater...
John Griffiths: 5. What level of priority is given to the education portfolio in deciding Welsh Government spending commitments? OAQ52531
