Thank you, Rhun. First of all, I welcome the fact that we both recognise that work placements and work experience have a valuable role to play. I hope you will be pleased to note that I have identified some resource, some £2.4 million over the next four years, to support stronger work between schools and employers, and I will make an announcement shortly on how that is to be spent. I understand that schools have faced challenges following the removal of the work experience database and the health and safety checking of employers’ premises, which used to be undertaken by Careers Wales. But it is a source of regret to me that Ynys Môn and Gwynedd have decided to stop this altogether, and that is in stark contrast to some excellent practice that has gone on in other local authorities and in other schools to maintain this provision. And I declare an interest as a mother of a year 10 pupil myself, and my daughter and her cohort will be going on work placements later on in July, which have been carefully handled by the school.

I would commend the approach taken by Carmarthenshire council for instance, who have stepped up to the plate and have done tremendous work in creating a database for work placements, which will enable children in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire and beyond to avail themselves of this opportunity. And what is frustrating to me is that, in a small nation such as ours, good work that is being carried out in some local authorities, such as Carmarthenshire, cannot be spread more easily to other parts of Wales. And I will be asking the regional consortia to redouble their efforts to ensure that where individual local authority schools have been able to overcome these challenges, and implement a system that allows children to take part in these schemes, that we’re able to spread that good practice to other areas of Wales so that all children can participate.