Janet Finch-Saunders: Yes, okay, thank you. We want a long-term solution. You’re the one who has the levers to do this; please, can we have a training school in Bangor?
Janet Finch-Saunders: [Continues.]—grave concern for our Welsh educational standards, and underachievement in many other aspects of Welsh Government delivery. The proposals laid out in this piece of proposed legislation seek to rob the Welsh taxpaying public of protection from undemocratic strike action. They seek to undermine the values of transparency, accountability and openness in the public sector, and this...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you. As part of your twenty-first century schools programme, and on the promise of an amalgamation with Ysgol Dolgarrog, two rural schools in the Conwy valley in my constituency—Tal-y-bont and Ysgol Trefriw—have been closed for a year now. Yes, they were closed with the support of the Welsh Labour Government and Conwy County Borough Council at that time. The new school site at...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on Welsh Government support for rural schools? OAQ(5)0158(EDU)
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...those provisions in Wales at the earliest opportunity—as if that is the main priority for this Welsh Government when you consider the health of our health service, the poor standards in our education—which is where we are now. The UK Government has continued to argue that trade union law is non-devolved, and so it is highly likely that a third piece of Welsh legislation is going to end...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...can prevent people from getting to work and earning their own living and prevent businesses from managing their workforces effectively. For instance, strikes in important public services such as education will mean some parents of school-age children will need to look after their children rather than go to work because some schools would simply not be able to fulfil their duty of care to...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...to cover strike action. I’ve already discussed the significant impact on daily life to many members of the public that strikes can cause: having to take a day off work to look after children if a school is closed, for example. Further to amendment 3, clearly, we do only want to see strikes occurring as a result of clear democratic decisions and we want to tackle the disproportionate...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...voice is democratically heard in industrial disputes. Too often, we see strikes go ahead on very low turnout, or with the support of a small proportion of the workforce. In 2014 thousands of schools were closed following a ballot that achieved a turnout of 27 per cent. In relation to political elections, voting to take part in strike action and voting in a general election or Assembly...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...-needed public services. The UK Government’s department for business, energy, innovation and skills data has found that the combined days lost in the sectors of public administration, defence, education, health and social work have accounted for the vast majority of days lost every year since 2008. These sectors remain at the forefront of our security, our well-being and our development,...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. There are, however, around 3,000 deaf children going through our education system here in Wales unable to access learning through a British Sign Language interpreter. For many deaf children, this is an important, and often the only, means of communication during this important development phase. Deaf Ex-mainstreamers research has shown how BSL should now be...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...in England, council tax payers here have a right to ask why their services have been cut, meals on wheels services discontinued, one in five public conveniences closed, a 23 per cent reduction in school crossing patrols, bin collections reduced to once monthly, fly-tipping incidents up by 14 per cent, and 142 schools closed since 2007. What plans do you have in place, moving forward with...
Janet Finch-Saunders: School closures. Since 2006, we’ve seen 157 school closures under a Welsh Labour Government—60 per cent of these rural. Plaid Cymru-led Ceredigion has seen 20 rural school closures; eight in Gwynedd and six in Conwy. And under the independents in Powys, 18. Many of these overlooking the consultation process returns, just going ahead mobhanded. As a final point, our amendment calls for the...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...53 million waste management scheme in Wrexham will cost the taxpayers £450 million, a £28 million lifelong learning centre in Rhondda Cynon Taf will cost over £112 million and the £40 million school project in Conwy will cost my taxpayers over £175 million, a cost that will be reluctantly inherited by the new administration from the previous Plaid and Labour-run council. As we enter a...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...in Aberconwy have seen a 230 per cent increase in their council tax bills; their local health board put in special measures, and remaining there for 22 months today; and the closure of our rural schools, against the wishes of a number of parents and governors. The Welsh Labour Government is simply failing my constituency, and it is certainly failing the people of Wales. Thank you.
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...and management practices.’ Whilst it does not form part of the statutory guidance made under the Act, it was noted by Welsh Women’s Aid, quote: we are yet to see a clear plan as to how and when schools and other education establishments will be implementing this guidance, and there is little current evidence of this being implemented consistently across Welsh schools and other...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. The White Paper also proposes to build upon existing regional arrangements where they are in place. However, Estyn has criticised some educational consortia over governance and performance. For example, in June 2016, they criticised the north Wales education consortium for poor working standards, that the rate of improvement in many pupil outcomes had been the...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...be rightly proud that Wales has been a Fairtrade Nation since 2008, and it's the first ever. Eighty-two per cent of local authorities and 93 per cent of universities have fair trade status, 150 schools, and a further 50 per cent are registered on the fair trade schools scheme. The Welsh Government has fair-trade status, but concerns have been raised with me about some ambiguity as to how...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...purpose of taking evidence in committees I thought was to better inform Welsh Government as to how concerns raised by our professionals—those actually carrying out health and social care—and to educate on what is needed. That is the whole purpose of why we’re here and why it’s called scrutiny. I would urge the Welsh Government to accept the recommendations made, all of them, and to...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...the clinical lead for primary care? What uptake has the refreshed employment offer and incentives for GPs coming to work in Wales had? We want to know. And finally, how are you working with medical schools in Wales to increase exposure to general practice during medical training? Cabinet Secretary, the crisis in GP provision is real; denial is not an option.
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...a teacher or a public service manager on high salaries—£40,000 or £50,000—strikes, many parents on much lower salaries are then affected. They’re the ones unable to send their children to school; they’re the ones unable to actually attend their own work; they’re the ones themselves losing pay. Is this not about affecting our—. Isn’t this just affecting our middle-class...
