Janet Finch-Saunders: Many carers are unable to access appropriate breaks from their caring responsibilities in order for themselves to live healthy and fulfilling lives and to reach their own potential in terms of education and employment. What urgent steps are you taking to ensure that all carers receive the adequate breaks they require and that the full cost of replacement of respite care in order for them to...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. The reason I've asked you this question is I've been dealing with a number of cases within my own constituency where school pupils are being denied transport directly from their home, despite the stress caused by sometimes quite a lot of walks along forest trails and quite isolated areas. According to section 3 of the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008, local authorities must take...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 5. What legal advice has the Counsel General provided to the Minister for Education in relation to steps the Welsh Government could take to improve the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008? OAQ53699
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...very good settlement figures. This was highlighted by Flintshire County Council's #BackTheAsk campaign, urging the Welsh Government to alleviate their financial crisis. Now, let's go on to education funding, because Suzy Davies is quite correct to raise the issue that there's some disguise going on there. When funding goes through to local government and then is not passed to our...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...as local government Cabinet Secretary tried addressing it: the fact that people who work for local authorities cannot stand to become county councillors. So, we have constituents who are teachers, school cooks, swimming instructors—there are many, many roles now within a local authority that preclude them from actually standing for our local authority. And to do so would mean them...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...a Bill that will remove physical punishment as a reasonable defence and prohibit smacking as an acceptable mode of punishment. Firstly, as evidenced by my own role on the Children, Young People and Education Committee, I want to make it clear right here and now that I too believe that I'm an advocate also for standing up for our children's rights and those who are particularly vulnerable....
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. According to the Welsh Government, Welsh-medium immersion education is the principal method for ensuring that children can develop their Welsh language skills and for the creation of new Welsh speakers. Now, I agree with the importance placed on Welsh-medium education, however, we are seeing the number of Welsh-medium schools fall from 434 in 2013 to 389 in 2018. Moreover, despite...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...authorities just cannot manage their social care budgets. We now know, as of a protest in north Wales this weekend, and through speaking with unions and people, teachers and leaders within our educational area, that we have an educational funding crisis within our local authorities. Now, you must be aware that local authorities such as Conwy County Borough Council have already striven to...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 1. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Education on the role of schools in achieving the target of one million Welsh speakers by 2050? OAQ53496
Janet Finch-Saunders: Llywydd, the Minister appears to be in denial. I hope this Minister responding isn't. What steps are you taking to address the funding cash crisis that we have in our educational system in Wales, and will there be any consideration of an emergency pot of money that will see schools in Aberconwy be able to continue to function?
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. As a member of the Welsh Government Cabinet, then, you'll be fully aware that it's widely acknowledged that there is a classroom cash shortage and funding crisis in our educational system across Wales. For example, in Conwy the education budget is to be cut by 3.6 per cent as a result of such a poor Welsh Government settlement on funding. Now, this is leading to more serious money...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on educational funding? OAQ53499
Janet Finch-Saunders: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Now, this debate actually today, Minister, is indeed very timely. Many of our schools now are having to take drastic decisions. I don't think she's listening, but there we go. This is particularly true in Conwy County Borough Council, where this year alone schools are on a real terms cut of over 7.6 per cent, equating to over £400,000 at some secondary schools. Now, I...
Janet Finch-Saunders: What steps is the First Minister taking to improve school performance across Wales?
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...to information and services in BSL. Following the Welsh Government's recognition of BSL as an official language in 2004, it is fair to say that progress has been poor. Whilst there are some pioneer schools, as part of the area of learning and experience for languages, literacy and communication, there's a lot of vagueness about where these schools are and how other children in schools can...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, that's very encouraging. Thank you, Deputy Minister. I believe that our grant would go a long way in helping to ensure that young carers can continue in education. This is key, but there is more still that we can do. Indeed, it is a frightening fact that YoungMinds suggest that 68 per cent of young carers have been bullied at some point because of tackling their home...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ..., and the vital role that these young champions play in supporting their sick and disabled family members. One major point of concern is the fact that some young carers are unable to continue in education or apprenticeships, because of a fear of losing their carers' allowance. Will you therefore endorse, support and ensure that we bring about a policy that we want to introduce, and that is...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Minister, as you will be aware, twenty-first century technology, such as superfast broadband, is of increasing importance to our primary schools, with more bilingual digital tools and resources now available online. One major example where IT is of significant importance, of course, is the new e-sgol pilot project. As you will be aware, this has seen the use of video technology to connect...
Janet Finch-Saunders: .... Now, we are still waiting for a decision on this site, and I would just ask the Cabinet Secretary to have some empathy with those who are very concerned about this site. We don't have the school places, we haven't got the capacity for our health service. There are numerous reasons why this planning application shouldn't go ahead. It should not have been dragged out so long, and I just...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...because we firmly believe that we want our children across Wales to be able to access this offer and, more importantly, we want to see our parents being able to get back into work, to get back into education and to get back into training. So, we have done our best to scrutinise this, and I'd like to obviously thank my colleague Suzy Davies for her work on this also. Diolch yn fawr.
