Julie Morgan: ..., and I think it's very important that we do remember that, and also for mentioning what his headteacher said, because I think you'll all have noted that in the report there was praise given to the school, and the fact that the school made great efforts to keep in contact with him during COVID—visiting his home and sending work for him to do, and sending a teddy bear, one of the teddy...
Julie Morgan: ...it to reach. The childcare offer is offered to everybody who fulfills the criteria of working the number of hours. So, there hasn't been any special provision for the NHS, but the extension to education and training that is now happening does mean that student healthcare workers will be able to access it, which they weren't able to do before. So, I think that is bound to help the problem...
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Heledd, for your warm welcome for these steps forward. I was interested to hear about the experience of people who were in education and weren't able to access the childcare offer, because I've had the same experience in my own constituency work, and I think it will make a significant difference to people who need to access that. I'm also very pleased that Heledd...
Julie Morgan: Diolch, and thank you very much for the opportunity to update Members about the childcare offer for Wales, including the expansion to parents in education and training. Affordable, available and accessible childcare helps parents to work, supporting our drive to increase economic growth, tackle poverty and reduce inequalities. That's why we are committed to funding childcare for more families...
Julie Morgan: ..., we want to reach all two-year-olds. That is ambitious, I know, and the workforce is one of the areas that we are working on most strongly. I just want to reassure the Member that Welsh-medium education and care must be seen as an integral part of the whole thing, that, whatever we do, we must see it as part of that, as integral, not an add-on. And we want to use this opportunity to...
Julie Morgan: ...life. The early years are vitally important in a child's life, providing formative opportunities and setting the course for longer term learning and development. Investment in early years care and education, as set out in our vision for an integrated early childhood education and care system, is key to children's happiness and well-being and sets children on the path to achieve their full...
Julie Morgan: ...provision in all parts of their areas, and especially those with high numbers of low-income families. But as well as the Summer of Fun, as you've referred to, we fund two other programmes over the school summer holidays, and schools are able to engage with them. You've mentioned our fit and fun programme, and that is instead of the school holiday enrichment programme, the SHEP. So, that is...
Julie Morgan: ...then to develop the provision that they wish in those areas. Of course, there is guidance given by the Welsh Government that we want that to target areas where there is, for example, a lot of free school meals provision and we want to make a particular effort to reach the different groups that Gareth Davies has mentioned, and that is in what we're telling the local authorities to do this...
Julie Morgan: ...supporting providers to offer food at their activities, helping with some of the serious issues we face around holiday hunger and rising food bills for families. Alongside the continuation of free-school-meal provision over the summer, the funding available via the Fit and Fun scheme run by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language and our separate Playworks schemes, this should...
Julie Morgan: ...conditions, such as Tourette's syndrome and also ADHD. We have a dedicated policy team, working across health and social care, linking closely with departments across Welsh Government, such as education. Our national autism team is expanding its remit and its expertise to provide advice across neurodevelopmental conditions. Members will be aware, and I know it's been mentioned several...
Julie Morgan: ...cause problems and it does cause delays, so the action plan does want the development of improved and integrated children's and young person's learning disability services across early learning, schools, health and social care, and also including transition to adult services. We have set aside £175,000 of the £3 million I mentioned to undertake detailed mapping of services to identify...
Julie Morgan: ...fund in the Welsh Government. Certainly, nurses are a very important part of the way of progressing, and I think I already mentioned what the Paul Ridd fund was doing in a wider way in terms of educating people in the health system in order to ensure that people do get the best help they can. I think the pandemic has had a huge effect on everybody, and, I do believe, a disproportionate...
Julie Morgan: ...another £350,000 in. Obviously, that will be carefully monitored because the health checks is one of the really important things that we want to do. You mentioned the Paul Ridd Foundation, the education, and the first stage has been done. I'd like to really pay tribute to the Paul Ridd Foundation and to his family who have campaigned relentlessly so that there will be a better...
Julie Morgan: ...exercise. The plan prioritises the key areas, actions and outcomes we want to achieve. It sets out the actions we will take to improve access to public services, including health, social care, education, employment, housing and transport. The priority areas include: reducing health inequalities and avoidable deaths; reducing the need for hospitalisation in specialist units through improved...
Julie Morgan: ...our approach, from a focus on autism to seeking improvements across neurodevelopmental conditions, so we now have a dedicated policy team working across health and social care, linking closely with education colleagues. Our national autism team is also expanding its remit and expertise to provide advice across neurodevelopmental conditions, and we want to make sure that the progress that...
Julie Morgan: ...and is committed to making Wales a wonderful place in which to grow up. And in Wales we have excellent childcare provision across the early years and a long-established and well-regarded early education offer for three and four-year-olds. And our approach to early childhood education and care is building on these foundations, and at its core is the aim that all children will have a...
Julie Morgan: ...live or the circumstances you're born into should not determine your future. We need to have high aspirations for all children and families in Wales, and we know that access to high-quality early education and care is invaluable for children, and particularly for those from more disadvantaged communities. And ensuring that every child has access to high-quality support and the early...
Julie Morgan: ...pandemic, a phenomenal response from stakeholders has enabled us to achieve a huge amount since the first meeting of our strategic implementation group in May 2019. The Children, Young People and Education Committee were clear during scrutiny that, to ensure the Act benefits children and their families, we should make sure everyone is aware the law has changed and support parents to adopt...
Julie Morgan: ...effective implementation of the Act and ensuring public, professionals and parents would be prepared for when the law changed. We've worked with many partners across key sectors, including health, education, local authorities, social services, police, the Crown Prosecution Service, youth justice, the third sector and community leaders, and I'm grateful for their determination to work...
Julie Morgan: ...very hard for children, and we know that children have suffered from the isolation of having long periods of not being in touch with their friends, and that we've had to make efforts to reintroduce school, almost, to them. And so it's been a very difficult time, so I absolutely acknowledge everything that she says. This has been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis, again, which the...
