Llyr Gruffydd: ...Wales growth deal. But the point that I wanted to make was: if we’re serious about the economic prosperity of north Wales, then Brexit wouldn’t happen at all. And we have seen, through a London School of Economics report very recently, the impact that many different scenarios will have. But bearing in mind, of course, the reliance of the north Wales economy on manufacturing, on...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...of this committee and, of course, that it meets the needs of Wales. Wales has also benefited greatly from other EU programmes such as Horizon 2020, especially in the higher and further education sectors, as well as the European Investment Bank. We recommended that the Welsh Government urges the UK Government to maintain a relationship with the EIB to ensure that Wales remains able to...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...change. I would like to align myself to the comments made by the Chair and David Melding about this tendency to accept in principle. It was clearly a feature in the Children, Young People and Education Committee's report, 'Mind over matter'. In that instance, of course, the Ministers and Cabinet Secretaries were sent back to look at some of that again. And you're right to refer to a letter...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Minister, teachers in schools are to receive a pay rise of 3.5 per cent, or up to 3.5 per cent, but we will have a situation then where teachers teaching sixth-form pupils in schools will receive a pay rise, whilst those teaching sixth-form students in further education colleges won’t receive a corresponding pay rise. Now, I’m not going to ask you to...
Llyr Gruffydd: There are twin celebrations going on in Denbigh this week, with the Clwyd Welsh language centre celebrating 30 years of providing Welsh-medium education for adults. It’s also 10 years since the opening of the unique Wireless in Wales museum, which is also located in the same building in Denbigh town centre. The main driver for the establishment of the two bodies was the late David Jones,...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...own standards but also where there is an assessment framework in place that is robust and underpins that. You said in a statement last September that you would publish the new framework for the education system as a whole during the autumn of this year. Clearly, today, now, you have confirmed that you will do that next year. You've touched on this in a previous response, but I would like...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Tomorrow is World School Milk Day, and I very much hope that Assembly Members will enjoy the pint of milk that I will deliver to your doorstep, in your offices, tomorrow morning, in order to highlight and to remind you of the healthy properties of milk for our children, and the importance of the dairy sector for the rural economy. This programme, of...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...Wales because the rest of the UK has seen an increase of 2 per cent in the undergraduates coming from the EU while Wales has seen a reduction of 10 per cent. Now, the suggestion made by your own education Secretary, of course, is that the way that student support in Wales has changed now means that, in looking at that support, EU students may find, or have the perception at least, that...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...there may be caveats and health warnings, it is a comparison that people will make. So, maybe the question we should be asking is: if comparing is difficult, what is the Welsh Government doing to educate pupils, parents and the wider public about how we do that? So, whilst making annual comparisons is admittedly increasingly difficult, I think there is one thing that is plain to see, and...
Llyr Gruffydd: ..., some of the teaching unions as well. Now, we've heard it said a number of times that Flying Start is there for the poorest areas to support them, and the Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee has already reminded us that the majority of poor children in Wales live outside of the Flying Start areas. That's a huge cohort of young people—or children, I should...
Llyr Gruffydd: The local authorities that I've spoken to are worried that this is all very last minute, and clearly that underlines the fact that it was a bit of a rearguard action to the scrapping of the school uniforms grant. So, I too welcome this u-turn from the Government. Local authorities have told me that you published your written statement outlining the proposals for the new scheme, but there was...
Llyr Gruffydd: I was very pleased that Plaid Cymru was able to achieve an additional investment of £30 million capital funding, as part of our agreement on the supplementary budget, to expand Welsh-medium education. By now, I have received confirmation that all local authorities in Wales have put in a bid for a proportion of that money. In fact, the total of applications is over £100 million. So, I would...
Llyr Gruffydd: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement on the impact of Brexit on further and higher education? OAQ52519
Llyr Gruffydd: ...that warned that the next public health crisis in the UK would be child malnutrition—child malnutrition in a twenty-first century western economy. Now, this, in turn, of course, impacts on educational attainment, with teachers doing their best to work with children who are hungry, who are tired, and who are suffering some of the other physical impacts of poverty. One teacher in a...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...the committee has recommended, then the services at the top of the spectrum will become entirely unsustainable because we won't be able to cope with the numbers that will require those services. Schools, of course, can't shoulder this burden alone, and that is why we want to see a whole-systems approach, where children, young people, schools, social care, health and the voluntary sector...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...domestically and internationally by not holding specific impact assessments in relation to the rights of children, to ensure, for example, that we won't see decisions such as the abolition of the school uniform grant, as we saw recently, without there having been a thorough assessment?
Llyr Gruffydd: ...Government in this area, and your predecessor—. And I’m sure you would wish to commend one of the recommendations that has been made, namely that we need to simplify the process of categorising schools in terms of language, which is something you referred to in the context of your visit to Carmarthenshire last week. Now, I also read an article by Laura McAllister in the Western Mail...
Llyr Gruffydd: ...support the council. Maybe you can actually make that clear in answer to my next question, if you wish to do so. At another extreme, in terms of your ambition in Wales to see growth in Welsh-medium education, many of us were shocked to see that Flintshire County Council last week had considered a possible option—and I’m pleased to say that they didn’t proceed with that...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you, Llywydd. I’m sure the Minister will be aware that Carmarthenshire County Council has launched its strategic plan for Welsh in education this week, which is an ambitious plan and one that has been approved by the Welsh Government and it’s put the county on the road to increasing the number of Welsh speakers significantly. Of course, it will provide an opportunity for every pupil...
Llyr Gruffydd: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the Welsh Government's school admissions policy?
