9. Will the Minister make a statement about the resilience of social enterprise-delivered childcare services? OAQ(5)0073(CC)

I thank the Member for Neath for his question. Welsh Government recognises the valuable role social enterprise-delivered childcare services make to the provision of childcare in Wales. We provide support to enhance their resilience through guidance to local authorities, funding through our children and families delivery grant and by providing business advice and support through Business Wales.

I thank him for that statement. Tomorrow, as he knows, is Social Enterprise Day. Many childcare settings are delivered via social enterprise, as he’ll know from his familiarity with settings in my constituency. Ensuring the resilience of the sector is vital, and that includes both front-line skills, of course, but also, importantly, skills to do with running the organisations themselves. As part of the initiatives into childcare ahead, will he look at the prevalence in the sector of the skills and experience to deliver those functions as well—management, accountancy and even marketing—and look at how we can spread best practice that does exist in parts of the sector?

Indeed, the Member is right. This isn’t just a childcare offer—there is a whole raft of skills required behind that, in terms of business acumen, opportunities and training. I’ve started discussions with the education Cabinet Secretary, the skills Minister, the children’s commissioner and a raft of other organisations that are interested in making the best of what we’re trying to deliver here. Social Business Wales, funded through Cwlwm, the childcare consortium, and local authority business support, is something that I’m keen to make sure continues out in the community, supporting the very investments that the Member talks about.