Mark Drakeford: ...definition of antisemitism. We don’t intend to pursue this through the funding route to which Darren Millar referred, but this is how we intend to take that conversation further forward: higher education institutions in Wales have an obligation to carry out their functions in full recognition of their obligations under their public sector equality duty. We are to carry out a review of...
Mark Drakeford: ...statement here on the floor of the Senedd practical action that is being taken to increase the provision of NHS dentistry for children, including the pilot that the Minister set out in secondary schools—a pilot being carried out in north Wales in the first instance, and we hope, if it is successful, to be able to do more of that elsewhere. In Powys, to which Jane Dodds referred directly,...
Mark Drakeford: ..., it is derisory; it is absolutely derisory. The Chancellor said that this was a budget for growth. How could he have concluded that all the capital needs of Wales—the need to modernise our school system, to invest in equipment in the health service, to provide for the digital services on which the future economy of Wales relies—were to be provided for from £1 million? It is £1...
Mark Drakeford: ...forward to his support then. Many people say, in the heat of the moment, things. I've been reading what was being said between the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Education when they competed with one another to criticise teachers during the COVID outbreak. I think those things are better put on one side. I've set out the position of the Government, and...
Mark Drakeford: ...is going to be very great indeed. As I explained, we are doing a number of things under the co-operation agreement in order to assist families and to assist in classrooms too, and the Minister for education has been in discussion with the education unions over recent weeks to discuss with them what we can do together to help people working with children—both teachers and others—in...
Mark Drakeford: ...Fychan. Llywydd, we are working with our partners, including local authorities, the third sector and those with lived experience to support vulnerable households. Direct help with the cost of the school day, universal free school meals in primary schools and measures to tackle holiday hunger are amongst the practical steps being taken across Wales.
Mark Drakeford: ...the rest of his question, because the information I have is that, in the information that local authorities are required to notify to Welsh Ministers and their governing bodies as a result of the School Funding (Wales) Regulations 2010, for Bridgend, the proposed school budget shows an increase of 4 per cent. I wouldn't, if I was the Member, enter for the mathematics element of the next...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that question, Llywydd. Democratically elected local authorities are primarily responsible for ensuring the quality of school education in their localities. The Welsh Government supports those efforts through, for example, the implementation of the new Curriculum for Wales.
Mark Drakeford: ...services in Wales, and one of the things that she would have reported to the Senedd was ideas for dealing with dental services in rural areas, and the possibility of mobile dentistry in secondary schools. So, the Member has slightly anticipated what the Minister would have said, amongst other things that she will have to say when the statement comes forward. It's to be rescheduled for two...
Mark Drakeford: ...use, the use of such pesticides by local authorities and others. That's the area that I am keen that we focus on. I don't believe there is a case for using that sort of chemical, for example, on a school playing field, but we don't yet have a rulebook in Wales that prevents that from happening. There's a great deal of good work that goes on to reduce the use of pesticides in that way;...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I thank Sam Rowlands for that and absolutely agree with the point he's making, and not just higher education, but further education as well, and north Wales is particularly blessed, I think, in the quality of further education that is provided to young people in those regions. We know that the experience of the pandemic means that even young people who have attended higher...
Mark Drakeford: We are in the second year of the three-year planned implementation of our additional learning needs and education tribunal Act. From 2023, annual support for that implementation will be £25.5 million to support system improvement.
Mark Drakeford: ...steps that we can take to help, particularly in the area of child poverty. In the meantime, of course, there are a number of important things that are already in place. Free meals in our schools—that will be of great assistance to children wherever they live in Wales. And certainly within the Member's region, following the launch of the policy back in September of last year, there are...
Mark Drakeford: Tackling child poverty is a key priority for the Welsh Government. We fund a range of programmes which support better outcomes, such as financial help with the cost of the school day, our childcare offer and initiatives helping young people across Wales reach their potential including our Young Person’s Guarantee.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Siân Gwenllian, Llywydd. I do agree that it is good to see everything that we've done together to establish a medical school in Bangor coming to fruition in a successful manner. And, of course, as the local Member, Siân Gwenllian has ambition about drawing on the success in the context of the medical school to do more for the future. I have seen the responses that Eluned Morgan has...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Siân Gwenllian, Llywydd. Intake numbers have been agreed and funding approved for 140 students per year, once the school reaches optimum capacity. A letter of assurance was sent to General Medical Council colleagues in November to allow Bangor University to continue their forward momentum through the accreditation process.
Mark Drakeford: ...the director general of the museum is a woman. Her two deputies were both women. And we want to do anything we can to encourage that sort of development. So, we will invite a group of young women educators involved in the museum service in Qatar to come to Wales in the summer of next year, and then we will have an exchange in return of young women from Wales visiting the museum service in...
Mark Drakeford: ...latest releases from the census, it shows that household deprivation has fallen significantly in Wales over that decade. The census analyses deprivation against four areas. It looks at employment, education, health and disability, and housing. In 2011, 61 per cent of all Welsh households experienced at least one of those four dimensions of deprivation. By 2021, that had fallen to 54 per...
Mark Drakeford: ...Wales had an opportunity to vote in an election when all those things that Member read out were in a manifesto that was put in front of them. So, I think that having 45,000 more people offered free school meals in Wales would be a priority for people in Wales. I think the expansion of high-quality childcare to 2-year-olds will be a priority for people in Wales. I think the actions we have...
Mark Drakeford: .... By working together, we have made real progress on a range of joint commitments that have a direct impact on people's ability to manage during this cost-of-living crisis. These include free school meals, the expansion of free childcare, and measures that help people to live in their local communities.
