I want to write to Sioned Williams
Sioned Williams: ...West have below-national-average levels of car ownership. Buying and running a car is simply unaffordable and so, the bus is the only choice—the only way many people of all ages can access work, education, healthcare, shops, leisure and social activities. So, if you live in these areas and do not own a car, the way you can get around is already limited. And the number of complaints I...
Sioned Williams: ..., Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you for your statement, Minister. In your statement, you make a great deal of reference to the central role of reforms in the post-16 sector to the national vision for education, and we in Plaid Cymru were pleased that the steps to establish the commission for tertiary education and research was part of our co-operation agreement with the Government. I asked you...
Sioned Williams: ...a body that adheres to the ambitious vision that is at the heart of the legislation. Given that the appointments announced to the leadership of the commission have veered, perhaps, towards higher education, it is crucial that those who will be leading this new body do understand the needs of further education and the communities that all of the providers captured under the commission will...
Sioned Williams: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Following the passing of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act last year, the process of establishing the commission for tertiary education and research has already commenced. The names of the chair and vice chair were published before Christmas, and the process of advertising for other board members is now ongoing. However, there is no white...
Sioned Williams: 5. What is the Welsh Government doing to promote social partnership in the higher education sector in South Wales West? OQ59263
Sioned Williams: ...which then puts at risk the ability of Welsh universities to compete for the research and innovation funding available to them, and the figures demonstrate this clearly. QR funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales for 2022-23 is £81.7 million, as compared to £1.789 billion allocated by Reserach England for QR funding in the same year. For universities to be able to...
Sioned Williams: ...d like to support the points made by Jane Dodds on the investment in the DAF and also echo the comments made by Llyr Gruffydd and Heledd Fychan on the importance of the investment in universal free school meals and expansion of free childcare as a result of the co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru. Jenny Rathbone's point on the importance of ensuring that the money that is being spent...
Sioned Williams: ...in almost all areas, including for all age groups and for those between three and 15 years of age in all counties in my region. And the battle, as we have heard today, for access to Welsh-medium education has been long and frustrating in the area that I now represent, as in many areas of Wales. And it's a battle that I have lived through personally, not only for my own children in the...
Sioned Williams: ...do exactly what the COVID crisis did. I've heard so many witnesses to inquiries held by both of the committees of which I'm a member—equalities and social justice and children, young people and education—repeat this, or words to that effect, when referring to the undeniable evidence that not only will the impact of this crisis again be deeper in the most deprived areas of Wales, which,...
Sioned Williams: ...I just want to make the point that it’s not just rural bus services, but services in counties like Neath Port Talbot, and she’s particularly concerned about the impact on young people attending school or college. Student transport to Neath Port Talbot College is via the local bus network, and the routes operate on a commercial basis. She thinks that this route will be made unviable,...
Sioned Williams: ...to the role of the new curriculum in that regard. But concerns have been expressed that specialist teachers who are not experts in this particular subject are teaching it as a subject in our schools, and we know that the Government's recruitment targets in the education workforce aren't being met, and this is particularly true of Welsh-medium practitioners. So, I’d like to know what the...
Sioned Williams: .... This budget does not contain a plan to prevent these impacts. It's also disappointing to see the lack of investment in our most disadvantaged young people who wish to continue with their education. Our amendment would ensure that the education maintenance allowance, for example, could provide an appropriate level of support. And although the maintenance grant has seen an increase,...
Sioned Williams: ...LGBTQ+ people are increasing, and hate crimes against transgender people specifically are skyrocketing. Last year, Estyn found homophobic bullying was the most common kind of bullying in secondary schools. So, we agree with Stonewall Cymru that there is much work to do. In Plaid Cymru, we often refer to our country as a community of communities, and I'm glad to see how this plan...
Sioned Williams: ...in Pontardawe that was established with the support of the Bwrw Mlaen capital investment grant, and it's a good example of what's possible in terms of ensuring informal support for Welsh-medium education for children and adults and community use of the language, and does that crucial work of increasing people's confidence outside the classroom. The centre, through its bookshop, generates...
Sioned Williams: ...provides a means of acting on national priorities such as promoting the Welsh language. You know that an outline business case from Neath Port Talbot Council to open a huge new English-medium school in Pontardawe under the twenty-first century schools programme, as it was at that time, was approved by the Welsh Government, and that the consultation that followed led to a successful...
Sioned Williams: ...the devolved disabled student allowance are currently held in specialist assessment centres in Wales, who understand the needs of university students in Wales, and the devolved landscape of higher education in Wales. These experts are in assessment centres that are located in the disability services of universities in Wales, and they're experienced staff who understand the Welsh disability...
Sioned Williams: ...They administer a range of social protection schemes, many of which were referenced in the progress report, that allow cash transfer to Welsh citizens, including, as Luke Fletcher spoke about, the educational maintenance allowance, the pupil deprivation grant. It's why we on these benches, and anti-poverty campaigners, want to see a coherent and streamlined Welsh benefits system. Rhun...
Sioned Williams: ...sad because they couldn’t provide for their children.’ She then says: ‘Fast forward to 2022 and we’re hearing similar heart-breaking stories of children as young as seven being upset at school and telling their teacher that they heard their mum crying because there is only a tin of beans in the cupboard. We’re hearing from another mum left with just £50 to feed a family of four...
Sioned Williams: ...of Welsh. Who is responsible for doing that analysis, planning and monitoring? In terms of physics specifically, for the whole of Wales, only 43 per cent of those who teach the subject in secondary schools received training in that subject. So, can the Minister confirm the number of physics teachers trained in physics who are working in Welsh-medium schools? The incentive to teach physics...
Sioned Williams: 8. Will the Minister provide an update on any progress in attracting people to train as teachers to teach in Welsh-medium secondary schools? OQ58757
