Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that question. We need to provide Welsh-medium schools as well as English-medium schools. There is demand in both areas. And the challenge for us and our aspiration as a Government is to ensure that one doesn't happen at the expense of the other. And that's the point I was making earlier, in linking investments in the broader infrastructure with appropriate and swift...
Jeremy Miles: I thank Jenny Rathbone for those questions. I did highlight South Point Primary School because it's the first net-zero school in Wales, in the constituency of my Government colleague, Jane Hutt. I think it's probably fair to say—and I hope that they wouldn't mind me putting it in this way—it must be amongst the most visited schools, to look at what they've done there, and I thank them for...
Jeremy Miles: ...are, but at the end of the day they are the ones that propose the schemes for us and we collaborate with them on the funding of those. But the priority always in this scheme is prioritising those schools that do need most refurbishment or might be, perhaps, in the least attractive condition. So, that's the background to all of this. This has all been done to create a more flexible system...
Jeremy Miles: ...more complex picture than, perhaps, that one source of data, very important though it is. So, the task for us is to look at the data in its entirety, but there are more children in Welsh-medium schools than seem to have been declared as speaking Welsh in the census in a particular year group—to the point that he was making about the expansion of Welsh-medium schools. I think that's an...
Jeremy Miles: ...a platform to embed the Welsh language as well as other policies, such as active travel, biodiversity, ICT, community and curriculum, delivering and maximising the value from investments across our education estate and, in doing so, has provided a sustainability model for others to follow. As one of the first nations to declare a climate emergency and intention to be a low-carbon nation, I...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Last year saw the introduction of a new name for our flagship education infrastructure investment programme, namely the sustainable communities for learning programme. In doing so, we are making a clear statement about our commitments for the environment and future generations. To date, the programme has provided over £1.5 billion-worth of capital investment to...
Jeremy Miles: ...authority to do that, and we provide some funding support in order for that to happen as well. I agree with what the Member says—it's really important that we create the environment around a school that facilitates active travel as well as setting the regulatory expectation. Setting the framework is one thing, but finding ways in which to make a difference on the ground is really what...
Jeremy Miles: ...thank you for it. I think the distance threshold, as the Member was referring to in his question, is important. It's a key issue, but that's one of a number of considerations in the area of home-to-school transport. That now accounts for a quarter of all local authority direct spending on education, and it's going up. So, it's a significant call on public funds, and we must make sure those...
Jeremy Miles: We want to enable more children to walk, scoot and cycle to school. We are supporting this through incorporating active travel into the appraisal of new schools and colleges funded through the sustainable communities for learning programme and by funding walking and cycling improvements through our active travel fund and the Safe Routes in Communities grant each year.
Jeremy Miles: ..., which offers primary teachers the opportunity to learn a new language, be that French, German, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and how then to teach that in the classroom. I visited my old primary school at the end of last term and heard the young people in one of the primary classes learning Spanish. I thought that was exactly the kind of thing that we need to see more of. We'll be...
Jeremy Miles: ..., and I announced the publication of our revised strategy towards the end of last year. That outlines how we and our 'Global Futures' partners will continue to support international languages in schools for a further three years.
Jeremy Miles: .... That collaboration within Government and much more broadly than that is a really important part of our future in terms of skills provision in Wales. I think that collaboration between further education, higher education and big sector players like Airbus is a really exciting set of developments on the horizon, where you have technical, vocational, academic, applied research, and that...
Jeremy Miles: The economy and education departments work very closely together to ensure that skills needs are met, with a key role for regional skills partnerships. Personal learning accounts is one example in my area, with targeted interventions in areas such as net zero and heavy goods vehicle driving already delivering successful outcomes.
Jeremy Miles: ..., by the way. It's really important that we start that work in primary, whether it's the funding that we provide to Techniquest and Explore, for example, which encourages engagement from primary school kids, in particular, but also the funding we provide for things like the Engineering Education Scheme Wales, to Technocamps, which provide coding in schools right across Wales, the further...
Jeremy Miles: I've been clear with every council—I'm not going to single out any one particular council—I've been clear with every council that I expect the ambitions that they have outlined in their Welsh in education strategic plans to be fulfilled, and that is obviously also the intention of the councils themselves. I have also said that we will have regard to the extent to which the WESP...
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that question. In terms of the closure of the specific school that the Member mentions, that decision was taken earlier last year. The decision has been delayde in terms of it taking effect this year, in order to consider whether it's possible to put an alternative proposal in place in order to establish a Welsh-medium school in the area. That review, as I understand...
Jeremy Miles: .... Last August, I launched a commission to safeguard the future of Welsh-speaking communities. I also approved all 22 local authority WESPs, which set out how local authorities intend to improve education through the medium of Welsh over the next 10 years.
Jeremy Miles: ...hear their concerns directly in terms of cost-of-living pressures. In FE and in HE, the Government has a range of things that we're doing to support students. In terms of FE, we continue with the education maintenance allowance. We're ensuring that there is a means to expand the reach of EMA, to ensure that people can apply in-year if their circumstances change, and can ask for backdating...
Jeremy Miles: ..., of course, as the Member said—there is a piece of work happening already with a small group of local authorities to understand, for example, in the context of the language skills of the local education workforce, what that looks like in terms of the local footprint, and how we can standardise that data nationally, so that we have a broader picture. That's just one example. So, there is...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I have an opportunity to visit primary schools throughout Wales, as the Member described, and I have to say that I also feel that schools have got a lot smaller since I was a pupil, so I possibly share that concern with him. What I'm committed to doing is ensuring that I insist that progress is made against what's contained in the WESP. They will have a partner in the Welsh Government...
