8. Will the Minister make a statement on education for three year olds? OAQ(5)0057(EDU)

All children in Wales are entitled to free foundation phase education from the term following their third birthday. We know the foundation phase works and that’s why I am committed to giving everybody, in our approach to learning, the best possible start in life.

Thank you for that answer. Almost three years ago, the then education Minister wrote to me confirming that local authorities can, and I quote, provide these places—education for three-year-olds—in a nursery school, a nursery class within a primary school, or non-maintained setting, such as a playgroup or a private day nursery. Now, three years on, Swansea council is still only funding education for three-year-olds in local authority settings, so there’s no parental choice there at all. As Welsh Government has now adopted a target of 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050, do you think that Swansea’s position, which does nothing to promote the growth of these places in Mudiad Meithrin settings, is one that you can support?

I’m grateful to the Member for her question and the way she has pursued this matter over a long period of time. I’m also aware of her view of the approach being pursued by Swansea council in these matters. I said in answer to an earlier question from Simon Thomas that I’m looking forward to receiving the Welsh in education strategic plans next month, and I will be looking towards how all local authorities in Wales will be seeking to plan for the growth of Welsh-medium education in their own areas and districts. I will expect that from all authorities equally. And in reviewing those plans, I will be looking at how they will be measuring future need, how we can stimulate future need and how we can develop to grow Welsh-medium education in order to deliver our vision and ambition for a bilingual Wales.

How exactly will the progress in provision contribute to the strategy for 1 million Welsh speakers? That is, do you have a specific target within the education field for three to four-year-olds in terms of how much of a workforce you will need in order to provide bilingual education in the future?

We do have current targets. Targets exist at the moment in terms of the number of children that we have in Welsh-medium education in all age groups. We also know that we haven’t succeeded in attaining those targets. So, during the planning that’s ongoing for the new Welsh language strategy, which will be published next March, workforce planning will be a crucial part of that and a central part of our plans. You will have heard the response from Kirsty Williams to a previous question from Darren Millar about how we can expand Welsh-medium education and training through the medium of Welsh too. These different elements will be a central part of how we draw up the new Welsh language strategy.