David Lloyd: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on school absence policy in Wales?
David Lloyd: ...through the medium of Welsh and even how the Welsh language is taught. Every six months or so, without fail, we have an article from one of the British newspapers alleging that Welsh-medium education prevents children from achieving their potential, that learning a dying language is a disadvantage for any child or adult who wants a quality job, and that it’s better to learn a foreign...
David Lloyd: ...that the ARCH project and the Swansea bay city deal look to develop Swansea and south-west Wales as a regional centre of excellence in health, building on the success of the postgraduate medical school. Now, current discussions around a major trauma centre for south Wales will potentially undermine all that. Reports last week suggested that Cardiff is set to be recommended as south Wales's...
David Lloyd: ...that response, Minister. Following the sweeping success of the Urdd Eisteddfod in Bridgend last month, many are asking why Bridgend council aren’t doing more to promote and develop Welsh-medium education in the county. There are only four Welsh-medium primaries in the county, which is very low as compared to other authorities. Do you agree that the current situation in Bridgend is...
David Lloyd: 5. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the promotion of Welsh-medium education in South Wales West? OAQ(5)0133(EDU)
David Lloyd: ...not, of course, the only area in which Wales has led the way historically. Industry is another. The industrial revolution was developed here in Wales—the start of a journey to a brighter future. Education is another one, with Wales leading the way through the innovative work of Griffith Jones of Llanddowror in the early eighteenth century, educating children in the day and adults in the...
David Lloyd: ...knowledge that people will take them, and not be swayed by having to pay over £8 per item for them, as in England. I am proud of the innovations in health here in Wales. Our two excellent medical schools are at the forefront of world-class research and treatments, involving patients from both inside Wales and beyond. Exciting immunotherapy for mesothelioma, as we heard in the cross-party...
David Lloyd: Thank you for that response. It’s true to say that many people are concerned about the teaching of Welsh history in our schools. Following on from critical reports in the area, we need to mention Aneirin and Taliesin, Gwenllian in 1136, ‘Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf’, Owain Glyndŵr, Bishop William Morgan, Williams Pantycelyn, the Merthyr rising, the Rebecca riots, the treachery of the blue...
David Lloyd: 9. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the teaching of history in Welsh schools? OAQ(5)0116(EDU)
David Lloyd: ...that. So, obesity is the most timely and pressing challenge facing us at the moment. So, it’s appropriate that our first public health Bill now gets to grips with this significant challenge. Yes, education has a part to play—healthy eating and so on. Keeping fit also has a part to play, as I’ve mentioned before—10,000 steps every day. But, of course, legislating as well also has a...
David Lloyd: ...that are necessary to do this. Above all, we must ensure that we look to protect workers and ensure that they have the best chance to make the most of these developments. We must ensure that the education system develops a workforce with the necessary skills to work with new machinery. We must also ensure that lifelong learning opportunities are available to support those who are in roles...
David Lloyd: ...into prison, out of prison, and back into prison. One of the fundamentals of stopping that reoffending issue is actually the back-up locally of the health service, social care, housing provision, education, substance misuse, drug and alcohol services—all of those are devolved to Wales, devolved to this National Assembly for Wales. Remarkably, still, policing and criminal justice are not....
David Lloyd: ...t go on all afternoon, so I’m going to stop listing names now. But it’s enough to note that there are very exciting developments happening now in medicine in our universities and in our medical schools. Our medical schools—we have two now, one in Cardiff and one in Swansea—are producing bright junior doctors. Of course, they could produce more. At the moment, less than 20 per cent...
David Lloyd: ...the legislation, in our view, as we’ve already heard, and I will focus my comments on just a few of those, because of time restrictions. We welcome the proposed restrictions on smoking in school grounds, hospital grounds and public playgrounds. We believe that this will play an important part in protecting people from the harm of second-hand smoke, as well as providing fewer...
David Lloyd: Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. Can I commend Suzy Davies for her initiative, and I wholeheartedly support the intention of getting cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the school curriculum and to be more widely acknowledged and trained for the general population. Also, we need defibrillators everywhere and people confident and not afraid to use them. Because that’s what I find, as a general...
David Lloyd: .... A whole host of wonderful poetry exists within his Welsh hymns, such as, Iesu, Iesu, ‘rwyt ti’n ddigon, / ‘Rwyt ti’n llawer mwy na’r byd’. We will have all learnt that in Sunday school. And another: Pererin wyf mewn anial dir,/ Yn crwydro yma a thraw’. And the wonderful, when you are concerned about something or feeling a little depressed: Mi dafla’ ‘maich oddi ar fy...
David Lloyd: Following on the same theme, really, what discussions have you specifically had with the City and County of Swansea to try and ensure that the current education planning requirements are not unreasonably delayed or vague as a result of these delays in the local development plan?
David Lloyd: ...Future’. Because—and just ending now—talking to many people, especially our young people, they feel betrayed. Their futures as Europeans, gone, unless we can guarantee European free travel, education and study for our young people. All because of austerity, anger and alternative facts, and no plan. That £350 million on the side of a bus is the same as the weapons of mass...
David Lloyd: ...through the century. That’s an increase of somewhere in the region of 400,000 Welsh speakers across Wales, or an average increase of 18,000 for each of our current counties. Of course, the education sector and its Welsh in education strategic plans are crucially important to this, and, in light of that, do you believe that enhancing the capacity of Welsh-medium primary schools by some 20...
David Lloyd: ..., it’s possible to tax sugar and sugary drinks, and there’s also room for taxation to realise a minimum alcohol price as well. All of these matters do contribute to obesity. Yes, there’s an education agenda, of course, naturally, but there is room to legislate to push this educational agenda forward. Of course, the majority of these issues are outwith our powers at the Assembly, and...
