5. Will the First Minister make a statement on the support that is available for children and young people with additional learning needs in Wales? OAQ51687

Local authorities are responsible for providing a suitable education for all children and young people, including those with additional learning needs. By reforming the current system, we want to transform expectations, experiences and outcomes for children and young people with additional learning needs.

First Minister, you would probably have heard that Afasic Cymru, which is the charity that supports parents with children who have speech and language learning difficulties. The charity is closing its Cardiff office tomorrow and will close its north Wales office at the end of March. This is a charity that has very deep roots in south Wales, founded over 40 years ago. We'll continue to have a service from its London headquarters, but I'm very concerned that current policy, which has reduced core funding to key organisations—. I understand the logic behind that, but combined with the temporary nature of lottery funding, we are losing key skills and vital support networks, and these charities are faced with obtaining the equivalent of administrative support from a great many bodies—education authorities and health boards—across Wales. We really do need a strategy to ensure that this expertise is maintained because it's of such great public benefit, particularly when we are reforming an essential aspect of the law.

I'm disappointed to hear the decision to close Afasic Cymru. I do understand that Afasic, a UK-based charity, will still offer advice and support to families in Wales. It is, of course, the responsibility of health boards to ensure they provide adequate access to therapy services, including speech, language and communication therapy, and speech and language therapy is provided to all children and young people who are identified as having a need. We will of course monitor the closure of Afasic Cymru on service users.

I'm pleased to hear that you will be monitoring the situation, because we also know, as the budgets of a number of schools where many of us are governors are shrinking, that means that the only true saving that many schools can make is to reduce the staff numbers, and classroom assistants are very often the first to be cut. In a climate where the Government—. Of course, we welcome the fact that you have legislated in order to strengthen the support for pupils with additional learning needs. Very often, it’s those classroom assistants who are on the front line and who are providing that additional support. So, what assessment have you carried out of the impact that shrinking budgets and the loss of classroom assistants is having on the new Act and, hopefully, its success?

A package of funding—£20 million—has been put in place to support the Act itself and all that is associated with the Act. It includes, for example, developing the workforce, ensuring that people in the workplace have the skills in order to work effectively within the new system, and also, of course, to ensure that things improve for the learners. So, the funding is in place, and we understand how important it is to have an effective workforce.