<p>Children from Families in the Armed Forces</p>

Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 1:36 pm on 10 May 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 1:36, 10 May 2017

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?