Vaughan Gething: ..., but the future is not certain. We have made a deliberate choice to be faithful to the scientific evidence and public health advice that we receive, which is why we have a different approach to school opening in Wales. It is directly in line with the evidence and advice we've had. They've made a different policy choice in England, as they're entitled to do. So, they're storing up to have,...
Vaughan Gething: ...focus on every single nuanced area of practice, and that's why we've had to review some of these as we have gone on—the same points about the intimate care provision that some members of staff in education provide for special educational needs children in particular. So, that should be a consistent picture across Wales, and that's gone out into the system today, and thank you to Dr...
Vaughan Gething: ...available to everyone working, studying and volunteering for NHS Wales. There is also a range of resources available to support all those working in the health and social care field on the Health Education and Improvement Wales website. In finishing, Deputy Presiding Officer, I want to recommit the Welsh Government to ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality end-of-life care and...
Vaughan Gething: ...a four-nation basis, and why we need to have proper and constructive relationships with the Government of the Republic of Ireland as well. On Rhun ap Iorwerth's broader points, in terms of remote education provision, I think that the Senedd has just had an opportunity to question and have some answers to questions with the education Minister, and broader questions about the provision of...
Vaughan Gething: ...with staff and representatives, and to be made available to staff. This will complement existing occupational health and safety laws. These amendment regulations also require the proprietors of all schools and further education institutions not to permit learners to attend the premises from 20 January. However, the regulations permit that in certain circumstances pupils can remain...
Vaughan Gething: ...through the pandemic. Turning to a number of points in the motion, we of course recognise the impact of the virus on the continuity and quality of learning. We've always been clear that supporting education is a key priority for this Government. We have made and continue to make significant investment in connectivity, technology and learning resources, as well as additional staff, to help...
Vaughan Gething: We're working through that with colleagues not just here in education—and the education Minister and I have a very constructive and good working relationship in sharing information and decision making—but also, of course, with staff within local government and within the school sector to identify relevant staff, to make sure they're identified for the vaccination process. We'll need to...
Vaughan Gething: ...sample from south Wales sent through. We have a good understanding in north Wales. As I'm sure the Member will have seen in the technical advisory group report that was published alongside our schools choices, we have provided a map of where the new variant has already seeded and is understood in Wales. The map in north Wales is more comprehensive than the one in the south, but the overall...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the questions. To be fair, I think the question about the phase 2 roll-out was confused at the start, and in terms of the phase 2 roll-out and the question about school staff, of course I'm sympathetic to a range of occupational groups who are working as key workers to keep all of us safe. In particular whilst we're staying at home, we're relying on groups of people to maintain...
Vaughan Gething: ...harm and mortality. But I understand entirely the case that is made around unpaid carers. It is entirely possible we'll see some revised advice, because that's exactly what happened with special school staff who provide intimate care: we looked again. And they're analogous, essentially, to social care staff who provide intimate care as well. So, they will be prioritised within this first...
Vaughan Gething: ...set out the approach locally and to give people some of that reassurance that the health service hasn't forgotten them. When it comes to training vaccinators, we've worked with people in Health Education and Improvement Wales and across the service to make sure we make it as easy as possible. I've seen some of the concerns in every nation of the UK, including, of course, in England,...
Vaughan Gething: I think it's a fair question. What I've done is I've asked our technical advisory group to look again at the current evidence, not just on the new variant, but the evidence of COVID and education, and my understanding has been that teachers are not high-risk professionals. Other education staff are not high-risk professions, and that's good news. And it's credit to those teachers, and other...
Vaughan Gething: ...brick walls on our behalf for another three months. We all need to be part of doing the right thing. That includes the Government, but it includes the public as well. On the new variant and the school return, I have commissioned some further work from the technical advice group to understand not just the impact on transmission and children, but to understand what it means for how safe the...
Vaughan Gething: ...of real concern, and we do want to see those followed up, as I say, for the safety of staff and the public. We'll also be talking to the police as well. I think we're a long way past taking an education approach to these matters. We're nearly 10 months deep into this crisis, and if people don't understand the need to do the right thing now, then I have to say that I don't take the rather...
Vaughan Gething: ..., that priority list is there to indicate where the greatest benefit can be given, and by that I mean where the greatest number of lives can be saved. It's a good thing that people working in our schools should be aware that they're not a high-risk profession when it comes to COVID. Their occupation does not place them at greater risk than other professions, whereas, actually, our staff...
Vaughan Gething: ...are not carried away with a silly-season story that actually, on examination by the health board, wasn't shown to be a plea for people to provide their own basic items that they should need. On education's return, we still expect to return as planned, with a phased return to schools, together with the serial testing that we will be introducing. There will be further conversations between...
Vaughan Gething: ...families across Wales. We continue to strive to provide the best possible start for children in Wales. We are working actively with health boards, local authorities, third sector partners, education providers, and within the Welsh Government, to try to redesign our early years system so that it's joined up and, of course, that the interests of children are at its core. This is within a...
Vaughan Gething: ...we still need to do something about that to make sure that we're not seeing, if you like, the inverse care law taking place in front of us. But also I'm really keen to learn from the testing around schools, because the three secondary schools in Merthyr have been really positive about wanting their students and their staff to get tested, so we'll get more of a whole-population segment with...
Vaughan Gething: ...needs of local authorities. The greater the need, the higher the funding. It covers all the services provided by local authorities, with specific ring-fenced funding for some areas, such as free school meals and adult social care. And we've recognised there has been an impact on authorities' ability to raise income. That's why we've been working with local government to assess that impact...
Vaughan Gething: ...in mink. As a precautionary measure, we took the most restrictive approach within the UK—isolation requirements for people who came back from Denmark before the ban. Moving away from travel to education, all schools, colleges and universities have reopened. We've provided schools with further guidance and support on blended and online learning provision for classes or groups required to...
