Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. As I outlined in my statement to the Chamber on 25 January, the Children, Young People and Education Committee is engaging with stakeholders on what the main issues that we should be looking at are, and we are designing our work programme accordingly. The report we are debating today is another example of the committee undertaking an inquiry identified in our consultation on stakeholder priorities last summer.

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children have the lowest rates of attainment of any ethnic group in Wales. Just 16 per cent achieved the level 2 threshold inclusive—i.e. five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including maths and English or Welsh—between 2013 and 2015. Statistics published during the committee’s inquiry showed some welcome improvement, to 24 per cent between 2014 and 2016, although the gap with all pupils is still too wide at 35 percentage points. The gap with pupils eligible for free school meals, themselves a disadvantaged group, is 7 percentage points.

Black and minority ethnic learners are less of a homogenous group and the attainment picture varies considerably. Many minority groups outperform their peers, but some groups, such as black Caribbean, black African and mixed race Caribbean, attain lower than the average. These groups of learners were previously supported under two ring-fenced grants paid to local authorities—the Gypsy and Traveller children grant and the minority ethnic achievement grant. These were two of 11 ring-fenced grants that were amalgamated into a new education improvement grant, introduced in financial year 2015-16.

The EIG, as it is known, is administered by the four regional consortia. The Welsh Government’s intention at the time was to be welcomed. It wanted to create greater flexibility and realise administrative savings. However, there is clear concern about whether there is now the same level of support for Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and minority ethnic learners, and particular concerns about how the impact of the funding change is being monitored and evaluated.

A lack of proper monitoring and evaluation was the biggest concern that came up repeatedly through the evidence the committee received. The previous grants were both subject to robust monitoring and accountability systems. These have been lost with the introduction of the EIG. The Cabinet Secretary has placed considerable emphasis on the role of the regional consortia and local authorities themselves in monitoring and evaluating impact. However, the committee saw little evidence that this is happening. In fact, we were disappointed with the evidence offered by the consortia on how they monitor use and impact of the EIG, something the Cabinet Secretary acknowledged herself in oral evidence. I will come back to monitoring and evaluation shortly.

I very much welcome the positive approach the Cabinet Secretary has taken to our inquiry in her response to our 14 recommendations. I am really pleased she accepted all of our recommendations, either in full or in principle, except one, which called for an updated impact assessment on the decision to amalgamate the grants. I am disappointed that this recommendation has been rejected, as there was considerable criticism levelled at the robustness of the original impact assessment.

What concerns me and the committee, Llywydd, is the fact that no clear assessment can be made of whether the move to a single grant has had any positive or negative impact. The total value of the EIG in 2017-18 is around 13 per cent less than the last year of ring-fenced grants in 2014-15. We just don't know exactly how much of the EIG is spent on Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and minority ethnic children because expenditure is no longer tracked or monitored in this way. Our overarching recommendation is, therefore, that the Welsh Government keeps under review the funding model it uses to support these learners and reports back before the end of this Assembly.

In the meantime, the committee has recommended a number of improvements to how the EIG is monitored and evaluated. We believe the Welsh Government should issue more detailed guidance on how the grant can be used to benefit Gypsy, Roma, Traveller and minority ethnic learners beyond that which exists at present, which is not much more than high-level objectives in reference to the ‘Qualified for life’ improvement plan.

We are concerned that there has not been enough progress on producing an outcomes framework, which was intended to inform how the EIG is spent, and we urge the Welsh Government to get a much firmer grip on monitoring and evaluation to ensure that consortia and local authorities know exactly what is expected.

I am pleased that the Cabinet Secretary has committed to putting in place a more robust outcomes framework in 2017-18. I also welcome that the Welsh Government has taken on board our recommendation for Estyn to undertake a thematic review of this subject. However, the committee does have reservations about the Welsh Government’s emphasis on meeting the needs of specific groups of learners through an all-pupil approach to school improvement. As witnesses told us, inclusion doesn't mean treating everyone the same. You have to recognise that people are different and have different needs.

We believe the Welsh Government must fundamentally strengthen its focus and target funding more specifically on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller learners and ethnic groups that have lower-than-average attainment. We have made two recommendations on this, and expect to see more reference to these groups in the updated ‘Qualified for life’ plan and the ‘Rewriting the future’ strategy that is due to be published soon. In closing, Llywydd, I want to emphasise to Members that this is not an issue that can be addressed by a one-size-fits-all approach to educational improvement. Support and interventions must be tailored to the learner if we are to support every child and young person in achieving their full potential. Thank you.