Peter Fox: ...investment over the 10 years, albeit that it's a huge amount of money, and I know that many Members in here would have liked to have seen that money spent in many other areas, such as health and education, and we might not have found ourselves in the poor situation we're currently in, but that's where we are. Unfortunately, Minister, examples of lost opportunities under the Government just...
Cefin Campbell: ...that they may no longer be able to operate these vital services, which allow people to attend hospital or GP appointments, to go shopping and interact with the wider world, or even travel to school. A lack of public transport, in rural areas in particular, is damaging to social cohesion and the ability to access public services, so the importance of these services in rural communities in...
Jane Hutt: ...particularly the first few weeks of Ukrainians arriving in Wales. We call this the welcome phase. It does obviously mean that we can then work with local authorities in terms of getting access to schools, translation services, health services, and English for speakers of other languages, and then to support arrivals into longer term accommodation. Yes, as I said, the £150 million, we...
Jeremy Miles: That's an important question. Of course, the main purpose of this is to ensure that the way that we educate learners is as broad as possible, so that people have enhanced opportunities to access diverse courses, and there'll be different demands in different areas in terms of courses in our colleges. But it's also an opportunity—as I mentioned in response to Sioned Williams—it's also an...
Lee Waters: ...I listened with interest to what Adam Price said in the Chamber earlier, but, collectively, your party and my party have made financial choices. We've prioritised issues. We've prioritised free school meals. We've prioritised cost-of-living measures. We've prioritised, us as a Government, a pay rise for public sector workers. Those are the right things to do. But you can't spend the same...
Lesley Griffiths: I don't think the way that you set that out is correct—we've already extended BTEC eligibility, for instance—but I know the Minister for Education and Welsh Language is continuing to have discussions with Qualifications Wales and will provide a statement in due course.
Lesley Griffiths: ...why individuals took up care and support roles within social care, and, of course, we've run several high-profile campaigns to promote the sector. Both Welsh Government apprenticeship and further education officials have regular discussions with colleges as well as with our independent training providers to make sure that courses—and that's for all sectors, and that obviously includes...
Lesley Griffiths: ...provided with suitable alternative travel arrangements. Your last point is very important: there need to be alternative travel arrangements to ensure—the example you gave was children getting to school. Those alternatives have been publicised and, as a Government, we're working with Bus Users Cymru to hold further passenger consultation events in the area over the next few weeks. So, I...
Adam Price: ...in bus services ranging from two thirds to mass deregistration of all routes. That would mean people across Wales suddenly unable to go to work, to shop, to go to hospital, to go to college and school. As the chief executive of Neath Port Talbot Council, Karen Jones, has said, it is perverse that Welsh Government are striving to deliver sustainable travel, with the public encouraged to...
Lesley Griffiths: Yes, I would absolutely agree with you. We know that no child should go hungry, and local authorities and schools should work in partnership with families who are experiencing difficulties with payment of school meals to try and find a solution to ensure that no child goes without a meal at lunch time. There should be a system in place where parents are reminded in a timely fashion if the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: ...and organisations that are research-active have a stronger ability to attract the best staff and retain them. And that's why, last year, Health and Care Research Wales, Social Care Wales and Health Education and Improvement Wales initiated a joint review of research career and training pathways, which set out recommendations in the 'Making research careers work: a review of career pathways...
Samuel Kurtz: ...Talbot County Borough Council, the Port of Milford Haven, Tata Steel, RWE, the University of South Wales or Pembrokeshire College. These are trust ports, private ports, local authorities and higher education colleges, coming together, seeing the benefits that this free-port bid can bring, and that's something that I think is incredibly positive. But the point I'm trying to make, Dirprwy...
Jayne Bryant: ...team, our researchers and outreach team who've really supported us as a committee. There really is clearly a shared ambition here to ensure that children and young people are able to attend school and engage in school activity as much as possible. The impact absence from school has on young people can't be underestimated. We've heard today as well not only does is effect educational...
Joel James: ...pathway into work and the benefits that they bring to both individuals and employers. I would particularly like to highlight the work of ColegauCymru, which co-ordinates the network of 13 further education colleges to deliver high-quality apprenticeship programmes in a wide range of vocational areas, from junior to foundation level and higher apprenticeships. Wales's colleges have strong...
Jeremy Miles: ...about their rights and the services that they are entitled to. And in relation to supporting the workforce to understand the needs of pupils with additional learning needs, in both initial teacher education and now continuing professional learning for teachers in practice, obviously meeting those needs is a priority, and supporting learners with ALN is part of a student teacher's core...
James Evans: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Powys County Council are looking at making education cost savings of over £1.7 million. Proposals for schools from the council include turning off laptops and ceasing photocopying. I'm not exactly sure how much of £1.7 million will be saved from stopping photocopying in schools, but this seems an inadequate way of treating our teachers and our children,...
Jeremy Miles: ...include—this is the capital grant—improving external lighting in sports areas, providing storage for equipment for extra-curricular activities, outside shelters, security measures to segregate school and community-use areas, and then modifications to changing rooms, to toilets, and so on, to facilitate community use. In relation to how that money has flowed through the system,...
Jeremy Miles: ...to ensure a very, very widespread level of access to computers, laptops, tablets and other devices, and the broadband connectivity that supports that. The challenge now is to make sure that, in our schools, the full functionality that that offers is able to be taken advantage of, and we are working with our profession to ensure that that is the case.
Natasha Asghar: Minister, you've read a lot of reports; I've read a fair number of reports now on education, having had many questions with you over the past few years. Now, statistically, we all know that children growing up in poverty and disadvantaged areas are less likely to do well at school. Research from the Education Policy Institute into the impact of educational inequalities reveals that, sadly,...
Jeremy Miles: ...in his question as well. There is a balance to be struck, isn't there, as you're changing an entire system between central direction and the kind of flexibility and devolution, if you like, to schools of the ability to design and implement a curriculum that works for their communities and their learners. And, in a sense, there's an inherent tension there. I'm clear that it's a curriculum...
