Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:59 pm on 19 October 2016.
Can I thank Mark Isherwood for his contribution to this statement and his questions? We will, indeed, as a committee, look at the legacy report of the previous committee, which we’ve already done, but we’ll certainly look at that in respect of the matters that the Member mentions. With regard to the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, we have, just today actually, been engaged in scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary and, indeed, the national adviser, and many of our questions focused on healthy relationships and how we get the school educational offer right. We’ve also written to Kirsty Williams and have had a response in that regard, which we will follow up. Much of it, of course, revolves around Donaldson and the curriculum review, and the place of healthy relationship education within that, and whether or not it’s on a statutory basis and consistent across Wales in terms of quality and availability. So, I’m sure those are matters that will feature in our committee’s report. We also touched on the importance of having internationally recognised definitions, and I know that’s something that the Cabinet Secretary is considering very carefully in terms of the national strategy and general policy.
Can I also say that, in terms of previous inquiries around poverty, indeed there is some unfinished business, I think particularly with regard to the committee’s identification of welfare benefits and in-work poverty as areas that could fruitfully be the subject of future work? So, obviously, the committee, in taking forward further inquiries and further work on poverty, will look at that unfinished business, as it were, as well as the work it generally wants to do around poverty, and I’m sure it will be guided by the previous work of the committee.
With regard to numbers, whether it’s the Syrian refugees and the UK Government’s most recent scheme, or, indeed, the situation at Calais, the committee, I think, will be very keen to get as accurate a picture as possible of those figures, and that will be part of the committee’s work.
Finally, when we considered this inquiry in committee this morning, we did consider the event on 7 December of the Welsh Refugee Council, and I think we’re clear that that will be a useful opportunity for the committee to engage with those present around this piece of work.