Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:43 pm on 14 November 2017.
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome the commissioner's report, and would like to thank her for all her hard work to date and for producing the report. The commissioner says, and I quote:
'My vision is for every child in Wales to have the equal chance to be the best they can be'.
This is a laudable vision—one I hope we all have—but why does it take someone outside Labour's Government to say this before they listen? Labour seem to be increasingly outsourcing their policy making, to the extent that many people—myself included—cannot help but come to the conclusion they're devoid of any good ideas of their own. After 20 years of uninterrupted power, why are these announcements still having to be made? No doubt Labour will say they've always been committed to equality of opportunity for the children of Wales, so why, after two decades of uninterrupted power, have they not achieved it? Perhaps they should farm out more of their policy making, because it is clear they can't do it themselves. They've outsourced children's equality; they outsource their education policy, as we heard from Kirsty Williams recently, saying she would adopt a third party's recommendations on learners being entered into GCSE exams early; and the Government has even taken to outsourcing its own Cabinet positions.
Why did it take a commissioner to point out that some local authorities are providing good provision for care leavers, and some aren't? Why, after 20 years of Labour, is that happening? I doubt it's a new phenomenon, so it must have been ignored, or incompetence at governmental level has failed to solve the inconsistency. Why, after 20 years of Labour, does the commissioner need to highlight that many parents of deaf children are still being left without the ability to communicate with them, due to a lack of provision to learn British Sign Language? Can anyone here imagine the sadness and difficulties caused by not being able to communicate with your own child?
We hear lots of talk from this Government about rightly making efforts to improve provision for people to communicate in the Welsh language, but nothing about helping those with communication difficulties, even when they're children. Why, after 20 years of Labour, does the commissioner feel she has to highlight that, rather than reducing differences, inequalities of access to mental health support for children and young people are being perpetuated? Why, after 20 years of Labour, does the commissioner have to beg the Government not to take travel subsidies away from 16 to 18-year-olds, even though many of those young people are still in education or training, and the legal definition of a child is nought to 18 years old?
There are many other examples from the report that I could cite that show the shortcomings of the entire Government, but limited time to speak prevents me. There are 10 press releases on the first page of news on the Welsh Labour Party website. Not one of them is about what they have done or hope to do for our children, and I wonder whether that's because children can't vote. Call me a sceptic, but a third of the articles on that page are dedicated solely to slagging off other parties.
So, in conclusion, this report proves two things. The first is that the children's commissioner is knowledgeable about the issues facing the children of Wales, aware of many of Labour's failings, and genuinely committed to achieving the best for our youngsters. The second is that, after 20 years of uninterrupted rule, Labour either cannot or will not do what is needed to give our children the best start in life. Leaving it up to someone else to spot the problems and suggest policy is not grown-up government. It is lazy management that shows a lack of passion, a lack of ideas and a total lack of competence. Thank you.