2. What are the Welsh Government's priorities for the allocation of funding under the 21st Century Schools programme during this Assembly term? (OAQ51210)

The programme seeks to target investment at those schools and colleges in the poorest condition, and to deliver sustainable, cost-effective building. And, of course, we are seeking to take forward the programme over the next few years, building on the success of the programme over the last few years.

First Minister, I’m very proud that my constituency of Cynon Valley has benefited to the tune of over £100 million in new and improved educational facilities under the twenty-first century schools programme, which I understand is more than any other constituency in Wales. I know that you attended the official opening, just the other week, of the new £22 million Coleg y Cymoedd campus in Aberdare. Evidence that we took recently in the economy committee from ColegauCymru suggests, however, that the FE sector isn’t as successful as perhaps it could be in tapping into that funding. So, in terms of the important role further education has in providing choice to learners and in boosting skills, how is the Welsh Government engaging with the sector so that it can maximise the benefits of the programme?

Well, it’s right to say that over £120 million has been allocated for FE projects during the band A programme. We’ve seen the results of that. Over £10.6 million of capital funding has been provided to FE institutions to upgrade their IT and skills equipment. Over the next wave of investment—band B—we’re working with FE colleges to develop their investment plans for this next wave so that we can understand where investment should come. And we encourage FE institutions to come forward with investment projects that will benefit them as institutions.

First Minister, the twenty-first century schools programme has probably been one of the most popular Welsh Government policies over recent years, due in no small part to the role played by progressive, forward-looking local authorities like Conservative-led Monmouthshire. Monmouth Comprehensive School is currently being rebuilt and, when complete, will have state-of-the-art facilities, including modern interactive classrooms and IT. It’s not just for pupils; it’s for the whole town. How is the Welsh Government working with local authorities to help develop new schools like this as community hubs and to help target funding at local projects that will tie in with developments like this?

Well, I admire his craft in turning this into a question to congratulate Monmouthshire local education authority. Of course, we welcome the fact that Monmouthshire and other LEAs—all LEAs in Wales—have been able to benefit from the school improvement programme. I’d remind him, of course, that his party in England has no such programme and, in that case, in Monmouthshire, no new school would be built there or indeed anywhere else in Wales. One point four billion pounds is being committed over the five-year period up to 2019. That means funding has been approved for 151 projects in band A of our programme, exceeding our target. Eighty-three of those projects are complete, 45 under construction. That is a significant investment in the future of Welsh young people and Welsh education, which only a Welsh Labour Government could deliver.

What steps is the Government taking to ensure that the funding available within the twenty-first century schools budget is used to enhance Welsh-medium education? Because we know, for example, that there is a higher rate of support for faith schools—it’s 85 per cent, as I understand it, rather than 50 per cent for schools more generally. Would you be prepared to consider a similar method to that, possibly, to ensure that you reach your target in terms of a million Welsh speakers?

The important point is that local authorities are able, for example, to produce the Welsh in education strategic plans in their areas—they haven’t been doing so consistently up to now, I have to say—and to then use those WESPs to target those areas where we should have more new Welsh schools. The tendency over the years is that the new schools have tended to be English schools, and the Welsh schools have then been established in older buildings, and that is not how it should be in the long run. So, this starts with the WESPs, namely the strategic plans, and we must ensure that every WESP in Wales is robust and ensure that it supports us in the building up to a million Welsh speakers by 2050.