Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Just to be clear, the employment advice gateway is targeted at unemployed, economically inactive people and NEETs, but Careers Wales is available for all, and it's the same organisation. So, the advice, and the possibility of going to Careers Wales for advice exists and is available for individuals currently. I think what's really important is that we really look at in-work poverty. That's...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: On targets, I am very well aware that what we've got here are headline targets and I'll be working with officials to make sure that we get much more focused targets and that we break them down, so that we're not just kind of crashing into it 10 years from now. We do need to make sure that we have steps of progress. I think it is worth noting that, actually, we can't deliver all of this by...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. First of all, I’m pleased that you acknowledge that it’s ambitious, but I do think that we should be ambitious. We should be clear about where we want to reach. We’re not going to do this overnight, but what was really important to me was that we were entirely clear where we wanted to reach and that we put steps in place in order to reach that point. So, how are we...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Mohammad. I think some of the targets have been set out in the document, so you can be assured of the direction of travel there. I will be looking at producing more granularity; I think it's important that we look at the regional impact, and what it looks like regionally, so we will be really monitoring this in a very coherent way, but we'll be doing it systematically over a long...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: This plan provides the long-term vision and national framework that Wales needs to support people into work today, while preparing for the radical changes of the future. I look forward to working in partnership with organisations across Wales to deliver the actions outlined in this plan.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Our goal is to provide opportunities to create resilient individuals who have the skills, enthusiasm, drive and creativity to fulfil their potential, irrespective of ability, background, gender or ethnicity. This plan is a longer term view of how we can deliver this vision, and we'll be taking action in four key areas. First, we'll provide individualised support for those who need it. We'll...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Building on the economic action plan, we are identifying and promoting career progression and development opportunities within the foundational economy sectors. As part of our goal of reaching 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050, we are encouraging employers to recognise the skills and contribution of Welsh-speaking workers. Acknowledging Welsh as a skill is something that we have to underline.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Our vision is to make Wales a full-employment, high-tech, high-wage economy. We want more people joining or returning to the world of work. We want a more inclusive workforce, with greater numbers of disabled people in work, and a decrease in the gender pay gap, as well as the disability, and black, Asian, minority ethnic pay gaps. We need to prepare people for a changing world of work,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am pleased to launch my employability plan today, and I start by thanking my fellow Members for their contributions to the development of this plan, because it is a cross-governmental scheme. It is one of the prime responsibilities of Government to educate, train and prepare people for the world of work. A larger, more inclusive workforce is good for our...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: But the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol is doing a great deal of work in this area already. So, a great deal of work is already being done. So, we can't discount the other things that are happening. We are dealing just with the standards today, and in my opening remarks, I did say that we must look at these standards in a far broader context. But, I do now hope that we can make progress in this...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Yes.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: What I hope will happen now is that the commissioner will speak to these services and see what is ideal in those areas, and to push them in those areas where we can push people further. In terms of primary care, of course, care provided directly by health boards will be captured under the standards, but that's an issue of practicalities in terms of how we actually require independent primary...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, and thank you, first of all, to the committee for the report. I am highly aware that you didn't have a great deal of time to look at this, but we have complied with the 21 days that is usually in place. However, I do accept that perhaps we can look at expanding that, if that's created a problem on this occasion. But that's the way it's always been done. But as a point of...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. It’s a great pleasure to open this discussion on the Welsh Language Standards (No. 7) Regulations 2018. The regulations allow the Welsh Language Commissioner to place standards on health boards, health trusts, community health councils and the Board of Community Health Councils in Wales. These are organisations that provide crucial services to the public and are among the leading...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I'm very pleased with that question because I do think that we need to recognise the Welsh language as a skill as well as other things. The more that we ask different organisations to adhere to the standards, then the more we will be needing to recruit people with the skills necessary to implement those plans. So, there is an awareness that that is something that we need to emphasise. We are...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: to use the Welsh language in a way that will help them to understand that it's an important part of the skills that they have.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, there are a great many exciting things taking place in this area currently. We do hold days where we encourage young people to have a go—they’re called 'Have a go' days. Thousands of children have been attending these events, where they have access to see what type of options are out there for careers in the future. Health is a part of that, and we must also emphasise that we do...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Careers Wales is an impartial careers service that gives guidance to young people and adults, as well as facilitating links between education and employers. The service is currently being revised in an exciting way, and there will be an even greater focus on working with young people and stakeholders and on developing digital services.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, 'Successful Futures' doesn't specifically mention post-16 learners, but I do take the point that, actually, it is important that there is a relationship and people understand the continuity that is necessary between school and further education. So, what we've asked is we've asked Colegau Cymru to come up with a set of recommendations in terms of what FE can do in terms of developing...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Professor Donaldson's review, 'Successful Futures', had radical and wide-ranging implications for the education system in Wales. We've been working with a range of stakeholders to develop the plan and overall timeline. The focus is on the essential and employability skills young people need in their future lives.
