Alun Davies: I’m sure the Member will join everybody in welcoming the fact that we now have achieved the connectivity that he referred to in his question. I think he asked a question on it some months ago, and we’ve achieved our ambitions on that now. The Cabinet Secretary was talking about how we move one step further and invest even further resources to ensure that schools do have access to the...
Alun Davies: I very much agree with what the Member for Delyn has said. Cornist Park community primary school has made great progress since being named as a digital pioneer school, and was also, of course, the winner of the Welsh Government’s national digital learning awards in the e-safety category in 2016. This, of course, has now been turned into a case study for others to understand and to share...
Alun Davies: Through the Learning in Digital Wales programme, the Welsh Government provides a range of centrally funded digital technologies for primary schools. We provide digital tools and resources through Hwb and are significantly investing in broadband connectivity. However, schools have delegated control to select the most appropriate digital technologies available for their learners.
Alun Davies: Yes. We do clearly welcome the improvement, but also we feel impatient that we want to move further and faster. The conversations that I’ve had with the Cabinet Secretary for Education are focused on how we ensure that that attainment gap is closed, and how we ensure that all children, irrespective of their backgrounds, have the appropriate support to enable them to do that. Junior...
Alun Davies: The junior apprenticeship programme, run in collaboration with Cardiff and Vale College, does study key routes such as construction, automotive, and prepares learners to progress directly on to full apprenticeship programmes once completed at the age of 16.
Alun Davies: Can I say I absolutely agree with the points made by the Member in his question? It’s important that all learners have access to a curriculum that best suits their individual learning pathways and meets their wide range of interests and abilities, and that there is parity of esteem between those choices. Members will be pleased to hear that, in this academic year, all schools and FE...
Alun Davies: The Welsh Government places great value in vocational qualifications being made available for 14 to 16-year-olds. Through the Learning and Skills (Wales) Measure 2009, all learners are offered at least three vocational qualifications at key stage 4 in local curriculum offers.
Alun Davies: I think extending out the question was a better thing to do, actually, Hefin. [Laughter.] In terms of individual youth centres, the Member would not expect me to give any commitments for the funding of organisations that I’m unable to give. But let me say this: we have a changing landscape, as the Member points out, and I enjoyed the visit when I joined him in SYDIC last summer and saw the...
Alun Davies: Yes, I do repeat the commitments I made in front of committee, and I will be more than happy to attend committee again, at its request, in order to continue this conversation and to outline further how we’d expect and anticipate this area of policy to develop over the next period. I’m very anxious—. I recognise the point made by Julie Morgan about youth work rather than youth support...
Alun Davies: As the Member will appreciate, I don’t have anything to add to my earlier answer to Mike Hedges in terms of the conversations that have taken place and the statements that have been made by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, so I won’t add to that. But let me say this: myself and the Cabinet Secretary talk on a regular basis about this and other matters. We meet on a...
Alun Davies: You know, ‘diwedd y gân yw’r geiniog’. Funding is clearly important. The Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children has made statements on the future of Communities First, and I’ve nothing to add to that. In terms of ‘mentrau iaith’, they will be a key part of the overall Welsh language strategy, which is seeking to increase the opportunities to use Welsh, particularly in...
Alun Davies: The Member describes some of the issues facing youth work and youth work services in terms of the overall situation of local government funding and local government resources. That is well understood and the Government doesn’t recoil or disagree with the conclusions of the committee on this. We understand that local authorities are in very difficult situations, facing some very difficult...
Alun Davies: I think Members across the whole Chamber would want to congratulate and thank Lynne for the way in which she’s not just led the inquiry into youth work, but the way she has not stopped leading it after the committee published its report. Certainly, as a Minister, it’s challenging, shall we say, to sit next to a committee Chair who has such a strong commitment to these matters in this...
Alun Davies: I’m very grateful to the Conservative spokesperson’s broad welcome for the appointment of Margaret Jervis and the approach that is being taken. I can certainly confirm that she will be looking not just to political parties, but stakeholders across the face of the country and across different parts of the community. So, I would certainly expect and anticipate her to welcome contributions...
Alun Davies: Deputy Presiding Officer, I think that Llyr has got to the heart of the debate in his questions and in his contribution, which was very important. ‘Who drives youth work?’ was the question that you asked, of course, and that’s the question that I’m trying to answer at the core of this statement: who drives youth work? It’s important that youth work isn’t driven directly from here,...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. High-quality youth work has a crucial role to play in supporting many young people to achieve their full potential. Youth workers are educators, whether this takes place in a community youth club, on the streets, or supporting formal education in schools. Youth work practice provides young people with access to a diverse range of learning opportunities...
Alun Davies: Going forward, I would expect the board to advise on the appropriate implementation and monitoring of ‘Extending Entitlement’ to ensure young people in Wales are receiving the services they’re entitled to receive. Part of the board’s role will be to provide assurance that processes and practices for commissioning youth support services are fair, transparent and equitable. This will...
Alun Davies: Thank you, Llywydd. Thank you for safeguarding my right to speak—[Interruption.] Thank you for safeguarding my right to speak in our national Parliament. May I say this? I also agree with some speakers this afternoon who have said that I wouldn’t have wanted a motion discussing one school in one community in one part of Wales. I would prefer to have a debate on how we provide education to...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I’m pleased that I can agree with at least the final sentence of Dai’s contribution. [Interruption.] But may I say this? But may I say this in responding on behalf of the Government? When we discuss the Welsh language in this Chamber, we usually hear the kinds of speeches that we heard from Darren Millar and Simon Thomas, and I think they’re the kind of...
Alun Davies: Move.
