2. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the educational support being provided to children from families in the armed forces in Wales? OAQ(5)0113(EDU)

Thank you, Huw. I am committed to ensuring that all children and young people, including those from armed forces families, are supported to achieve their full potential, regardless of their background or personal circumstances.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. Cabinet Secretary, as a long-time supporter and advocate for members of the armed forces and their families in Wales, you will be well aware of the huge contribution our service personnel make to our communities. Estimates suggest that the armed forces community in Wales numbers anything between 250,000 and 350,000 people, and a proportion of these will of course be family members and dependent children. Now, some schools in Wales are doing great work in this area, along with the work of the Supporting Service Children in Education Cymru project, Welsh Government, the Welsh Local Government Association, and partners such as the Royal British Legion. Indeed, last year, over £650,000 came to Wales via the Ministry of Defence education support fund to support schools with service children in them, though I understand that that funding may well be ending in 2018.

Now, given that there are least 2,500 service children in schools across Wales, could I ask what work the Welsh Government is doing to identify these children via the school census, for example, and, importantly, identify and support any additional needs they may have, for example via direct funding to schools?

Well, Huw, first of all, can I thank you for acknowledging the good work that goes on in many of our schools in Wales to provide the necessary support for children who have family in our armed services? And I also commend the work of a number of groups, including the WLGA and the British Legion, in being able to provide a range of resources and professional learning opportunities for teachers to better support these children. Only recently, I’ve written to a number of schools in Wales, including Llantwit Major School, Prendergast school in Pembrokeshire, and, indeed, three within my own constituency in Brecon, who have been very successful in drawing down additional resources to help them meet the needs of their service personnel children.

I’m very keen, with officials, to better understand the needs of these particular learners, to ascertain whether there is any evidence to suggest that, as a result of belonging to a service family, their attainment is affected in any way. There is data to suggest that is not the case, although there are some issues around progression on to higher education. But I’m very aware that, for children of service personnel, especially those who are deployed in active service, it can be a very anxious and stressful time for them. So, we need to look not just at attainment but at issues around well-being. I will continue to ask my officials to work to identify the evidence as to whether we would need to look at additional funding, and I will be writing to the MOD to urge them to consider not ending their current round of funding and to say that they need to consider the impact of their choices on devolved services, and I would urge them to continue that funding.

Cabinet Secretary, Huw Irranca-Davies has actually covered most bases in his excellent question to you, and you gave a full answer. I think we would all agree that every child deserves the best start in life, but, for some young people, their background and parents’ profession does make that difficult, and that is especially true in the case of the children of our armed forces. You’ve touched on the census data and the measures you’re taking at the moment in schools to try and identify and assist these children. Moving on from that, what assessment have you made, or will you be making, about future growth and future trends in the growth of the number of children of our armed forces in Welsh schools, so that you can make sufficient contingency plans to best support them for the next five years or the rest of the Assembly term?

Thank you, Nick. The programme for government commits to providing support and services in line with the armed forces covenant, and, therefore, children of members of the armed forces will have the same standards and access to education as every other UK citizen in the area in which they live. Data continue to be an issue, both here in Wales and nationally. I’m sure that many Assembly Members will have availed themselves of the opportunity yesterday to speak to members of the British legion, who were here promoting their campaign, with regard to specific questions being included in the next Westminster Government census so that we can get a better understanding of the nature. As always, in Wales, the lack of data continues to be problematical and I continue to explore with my officials how best we can identify the numbers of children involved, where they are and the most efficient way and successful way in which we can support them.