Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Llywydd. It's my pleasure to introduce this short debate this afternoon on the topic of early language development, and I have agreed for Mark Isherwood to have some of my time so that he can make a contribution to the debate. In the debate, I want to highlight how early language development is crucially important to the development of children in the early years, and in...
Llyr Gruffydd: How many of us here remember the Llwybro-Routes project some years ago, which tracked young people and promoted opportunities for them to return to Wales? You would register with the scheme, and, if you had specific qualifications and had moved away, if there were opportunities that demanded those qualifications in the area where you were brought up, you would be informed of that and there...
Llyr Gruffydd: I think it's important to make the point that it's not only young graduates that need to be considered as those who have the vital skills to contribute to the Welsh economy, of course. Over two thirds of young people don't go to university, and we as a party have mooted the youth basic income, of course, which would be based on four key pillars: a guaranteed job in the first place,...
Llyr Gruffydd: Plaid Cymru, of course, believes that Welsh students should be able to study in the world's best universities and have every opportunity to live and work abroad. We also recognise that we need to tackle the problem that Wales, at the moment, is suffering a net loss of graduates, while simultaneously we do have skills gaps in crucial sectors such as medicine and the other STEM subjects. We...
Llyr Gruffydd: I will start by focusing on this point on the barriers that exist in terms of the education workforce taking advantage of CPD opportunities. We know, and we have heard time and time again in the evidence that the committee took, that we need to create the time and we need to create the space within the teacher timetable to train and to share experiences and to look more objectively at their...
Llyr Gruffydd: Of course, one of the problems that makes the situation worse is your Government’s failure to recruit sufficient numbers to teacher training courses for some of these STEM subjects. The recent Estyn report shows that only three quarters of the target for maths and chemistry has been achieved in terms of attracting people to register for teacher training, with two thirds in physics and...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I thank the committee Chair for her statement? In listening to the statement, I think it’s become clear that there are three tasks among the many other tasks that we need to deliver here that we should be mainly focused on. First of all, we do need to create a better understanding within this institution of the institution’s expectations in terms of behaviour among Members and staff,...
Llyr Gruffydd: Clearly, there's an economic aspect to this action, but I believe there's a moral issue at stake here as well, because all of this is happening to a backdrop of vice-chancellors, of course, enjoying astronomical salaries that put the salaries of the First Minister and even the Prime Minister at Westminster in the shade. Indeed, it was recently revealed that around £8 million was paid in...
Llyr Gruffydd: I'm glad to hear that you've made representations to the UK Government. Clearly, UCU has said that their colleagues in many other European countries in post-1992 universities, schools, FE colleges, the NHS and Government all have their pensions underwritten and guaranteed by the state of course, and they're asking why UK pre-1992 universities should have a pension scheme with no Government...
Llyr Gruffydd: Diolch, Llywydd. Plaid Cymru opposes University UK's proposed pension reforms and we support the University and College Union lecturers' strikes. Do you support the UCU action against pension cuts?
Llyr Gruffydd: On the other hand, she’s also recognised there are less positive elements, and one of the most disappointing elements for me is—. Clearly, half of secondary schools and 70 per cent of primary schools are judged to be 'good' or 'excellent', but that, of course, means that half of the schools—as she recognised and acknowledged—are only 'adequate' or 'unsatisfactory'. And in that...
Llyr Gruffydd: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I move the amendment in the name of Plaid Cymru? And may I thank Her Majesty’s chief inspector for education and training in Wales—to give him his full title—for the annual report, which certainly makes a great contribution to our understanding of the situation? It is something that we place great importance on and appreciate very much....
Llyr Gruffydd: People with disabilities who are in receipt of this grant tell me that their greatest concern is losing that element of independence that the grant provides them on a personal level. They appreciate the independence more than anything else. So, what assurance can you give that they will continue to enjoy the same independence when that grant is brought to an end by your Government?
Llyr Gruffydd: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement on support for claimants of the Welsh independent living grant following its cessation? OAQ51831
Llyr Gruffydd: It's a broader point that I'll conclude with about the ministerial code and its relationship, or actually its non-relationship, with the code of conduct for Assembly Members and the role of the standards commissioner. It's been said before: many of us feel it isn't right that the First Minister is judge, jury and executioner when it comes to the ministerial code. My fear on this is that there...
Llyr Gruffydd: I rise to support this motion. I think there's an important principle at stake here. The findings of this inquiry are a matter of public interest and are important, as we've heard. As a result, in my view, it should be made public, with the caveats that have already been mentioned on the need to redact names and so on and so forth. Now, it has been uncomfortable to have to go back and look at...
Llyr Gruffydd: There's a danger that we forget that the PDG isn't just about getting the lowest attaining children from deprived backgrounds up to a certain level—it's about meeting all of those individuals' needs, some of whom, of course, are more able and talented. I think Estyn has said that very few schools are actually using the PDG to target more able and talented pupils. Indeed, the national pupil...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement? Certainly, more needs to be done to tackle this agenda. Perhaps I won’t be quite as negative as the Conservative spokesperson, but I do agree with some of the points that he has made—one of them being the fact that we’ve had report after report that’s highlighted weaknesses in this area, and we have, at last, reached a point where...
Llyr Gruffydd: Further to the comments made previously about the industrial action by the University and College Union regarding the universities' superannuation scheme, which, as we've heard, will leave lecturers' pensions to the whims of the stock market, but according to First Actuarial as well will leave the average lecturer with £200,000 less in pension income, can I say that Plaid Cymru supports the...
Llyr Gruffydd: May I also welcome the fact that the agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Government on the budget secured these additional resources for Mudiad Meithrin? But I would disagree to a certain extent with the point that Suzy Davies made, because the evidence shows that if you do go to Welsh-medium preschool education, then you’re far more likely to go on to Welsh-medium education than if you...
