Thank you, Chair. I’m pleased to contribute to this Stage 1 debate today to outline the main conclusions of the Children, Young People and Education Committee. The committee was unanimous in its agreement of the general principles of the Bill. We believe the Bill will provide a platform for reform of the current SEN system, which is long overdue, a view that was clearly shared by the majority of those who gave us evidence. The evidence received also highlighted that many challenges lie ahead as the Bill is implemented. Simply passing the legislation will not address the deeper underlying problems within the current system.

We therefore recognise the importance of the Welsh Government’s wider ALN transformation programme in meeting those challenges and delivering a system that is robust and which provides the best opportunities for learners with ALN. We look forward to working with the Minister as the transformation programme is taken forward. This has been a lengthy and complex Stage 1 process, but it is vital that we get this Bill right.

We’ve met with and heard from many stakeholders, including children and young people with ALN, and parents and carers of those with ALN. The contribution of all those who have been involved has been invaluable, and I would like to thank everyone who contributed. I would also like to thank the Clerk and research team for their assiduous work on this Bill.

The Bill will be underpinned by a statutory ALN code, and it would not have been possible to effectively scrutinise the Bill without sight of the code. While we thank the Minister for making the draft code available, we do believe it should have been made available at the time the Bill was introduced.

The committee very much supports the general principles of the Bill, although the evidence we received highlighted many concerns about implementation. Nobody should underestimate the scale of this agenda. Over 100,000 pupils in schools have SEN or ALN, which is over one in five of all children. We have therefore made 48 recommendations aimed at strengthening not just the Bill itself, but also the wider proposals for reform of the system. In the time available, I can’t go through each one today, but will concentrate on some of the key issues that emerged.

The definition of ALN is the basis on which the Bill is built. It is vital that the definition is clear on the face of the Bill and that it is clearly understood. In relation to early years, while the definition on the face of the Bill may be appropriate, we believe the code should clarify that learning includes areas such as learning though play and social interaction, which are not explicitly reflected in the Bill at present. We believe the code could also clarify that learning does not refer just to a person’s learning as a whole and includes reference to specific aspects or elements of their learning.

A third concern we had related to how learners’ medical conditions would relate to the definition. The Minister provided assurance that where a medical condition led to ALN it would fall under the definition. However, we believe this must be made clear on the face of the Bill and within the code.

The committee very much welcomes the emphasis in the Bill on placing the interests of the child or young person centre stage and believes that using a model of person-centred planning is the right approach. However, we believe it would be a missed opportunity not to embed Wales’s overarching commitment to children’s rights on the face of the Bill, and we recommend the inclusion of an overarching duty of due regard to the UNCRC.

The role of the ALNCO within each setting will be crucial to ensuring consistency and high standards. We welcome the aspiration that ALNCOs should have a Master’s level qualification, but we are concerned that this could result in the loss of highly skilled and experienced people currently working as SENCOs. We recommend the Minister reconsider his approach and make it clear that, going forward, a Master’s should be desirable not required. The committee is also concerned at the resource implications of the ALNCO role and believes the Minister should review the impact of the new role on resources and capacity within 12 months.

We welcome the Bill’s intention to establish a single age, 0-25 system that identifies and provides for a child’s ALN from birth, but we have a number of concerns about how the needs of those outside statutory school age will be met. I’ve already highlighted our concerns about the definition of ALN in relation to early years, but we also believe that section 57 of the Bill should be amended to require health bodies to raise concerns that a child under compulsory school age has ALN, rather than the discretionary power that exists as drafted. Health bodies have a duty to inform local authorities under the present system, and we see no reason to weaken this provision. Similarly, the Bill provides no clear route for child minders and those working in childcare settings to raise concerns that a child may have ALN, and we believe that the Bill or code should provide a clear mechanism for this.

In terms of post 16, the committee has serious concerns about the adequacy of the existing relationships between local authorities and the FE sector to make the provisions of the Bill work effectively, especially in the challenging transition to further education. The committee also very much agrees with stakeholders that the ALN framework should be extended to include work-based learning. It is often the learners who face the most complex barriers who choose the work-based learning route, and the proposed new system should include such learners.

As the Minister said, the need for more effective multi-agency collaboration, particularly with the NHS, was consistently highlighted by stakeholders as fundamental to the success of these reforms. It is vital that the weaknesses in collaboration within the current system are not imported into the new one. The committee broadly welcomes the intention to establish the strategic designated education clinical lead officer role. There is, however, a lack of detail about the role, especially how they will work with other health professionals, including the new health co-ordinator role. We also find it difficult to understand why the pilots for the DECLOs, begun very recently, were not undertaken at a much earlier stage, as this would have provided an important insight into the nature and operation of the role. We heard widespread concern that the Bill does not provide the tribunal with a remit over the decisions and actions of health bodies or any powers to direct those bodies. The committee believes the tribunal’s remit should be extended to health bodies, but also that its membership must be sufficient so that health professionals’ clinical judgment is factored into the decision it takes.

In terms of the Welsh language, we do believe that specific elements of the Bill do not reflect the ambition and challenge for the Welsh language, and agree with the Welsh Language Commissioner’s call for an eleventh core aim, for the Bill to ensure the delivery of bilingual ALN services.

It is, of course, essential that adequate resources, workforce planning and training arrangements are in place to support implementation of the Bill and the wider transformation programme, and we have made specific recommendations in this regard. Of most concern to the committee is the fact that the costs and savings for the Bill, as set out in the explanatory memorandum, have been so inaccurate. Members will have received an explanation of the revised costs and savings from the Minister. Unfortunately, these revised figures were not provided to the committee until the day after we had reported. It is disappointing that this information was not provided sooner so that it could have been considered by the committee and included within our report. It has, therefore, been impossible for the committee to properly scrutinise the costs and savings for the Bill, and I welcome the decision to postpone the financial resolution until the revised regulatory impact assessment is available for scrutiny.

Finally, Chair, I’d like to thank again those who gave evidence to the committee and who helped with our work. I would also like to thank members of the committee for the productive way we have worked together on this. This Bill has the potential to make a huge difference to the lives of children and families in Wales. It is absolutely crucial that we get it right. Thank you.