Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:30 pm on 14 March 2017.
May I thank the Minister for his statement? It is one I welcome, and it does give me greater confidence that the Welsh Government is taking its responsibilities in terms of the growth of Welsh-medium education seriously, and that the Government understands that business as usual is not sufficient, and that that would not meet the aims identified.
You will know that I and other Members have written to you some weeks ago calling on you to reject the majority of these WESPs, because they lack ambition and they lack detail. Very often, they ignore much of the direction of Government. They tend to be descriptive rather than developmental in terms of the growth of Welsh-medium education. We have heard how the Welsh Language Commissioner is clear that the majority of these plans are inadequate. Estyn, too, has called for an assurance that the targets of the plans reflect the ambitions of the strategy more closely and that all local authorities give more strategic import to achieving the targets in their plans. We also recall the report of the Children, Young People and Education Committee of the previous Assembly in December 2015, which was quite damning of these WESPs and their value. So, the fact that we have got to this point today is something that I would welcome, although the fact that we have had to come to this point is a cause of disappointment.
I am pleased that you do recognise that we need to strengthen these plans significantly, but I would appreciate if you could tell us whether you expect there to be changes to the plans of all local authorities. Or do you feel that some of the plans presented are adequate? This is just so that we can understand what your expectations are, and where you are actually placing the bar.
I would also like to welcome the appointment of Aled Roberts as an appropriate person to undertake this role. But again, I would be grateful for a little clarity. It appears to me that there are two roles here—one making recommendations for specific improvements to the individual WESPs that have been presented; and secondly, making recommendations to the wider regime. In that context, I would want to better understand what exactly the remit will be. What specific scope is there? How broad is that remit that you intend him to fulfil? Clearly, the new strategic plans for Welsh in education will be crucial in terms of setting the future pattern. But, in the context of this specific piece of work that you are asking Aled Roberts to undertake, for example, will you expect recommendations around more robust means of measuring demand—something that I believe is deficient at the moment? Also, will you seek suggestions, perhaps, on specific duties in terms of meeting the identified demand? Further to that, your statement mentions generating demand, and I am sure that you would agree that we need to be far more proactive in promoting the benefits of Welsh-medium education and bilingual education.
Are you also looking to ensure that the Welsh Government’s ambition in terms of the growth of Welsh-medium education is more strongly reflected in the requirements of the twenty-first century schools programme, for example? What about transport policies for schools, which can often influence parental decisions in this area? A question was asked on the timetable earlier. Just so I can better understand this: are you strengthening the current plans and then possibly looking at a new regime, post 2020? Or, is it your intention to look at a more fundamental change sooner than that? As I say, I do welcome the statement, but I do feel that we would all benefit from a little more detail on the work that you are asking Aled Roberts to undertake.