Thank you for the opportunity just to contribute briefly and to endorse some of the points that have already been made about the schools liaison programme, because it is an important preventative service. It fills a gap, without doubt, in terms of the education provision for children—a gap that wouldn’t be filled unless the police made that provision. They look at online security, the misuse of substance, domestic abuse—there’s even a lesson for five-year-old children where they can start to discuss issues surrounding domestic violence. Without it, there would be a huge gap, and if the proposed cuts do come to pass, then the service will shrink. It will only probably happen in secondary schools. The Government talks about the ACEs and the need to tackle these problems that some children experience—by that time, it’s often too late.

One of the narratives of this Government is that there needs to be more emphasis on the well-being of young people in the education service, and that is reflected in the reform to the curriculum. Another narrative, of course, is that we need further investment in preventative services. Well, this is something that contributes to both of those things: almost 10,000 lessons across Wales last year, and 230,000 children benefiting directly from this provision. And, of course, the cut could mean that we would lose much of that. Now, I know that the children’s commissioner is very eager to see this service remain. I’m also sure that the commissioner for future generations will also have a view on this because this is the exact kind of thing that we should be promoting and defending.

So, just to endorse those messages and to encourage you to do what you can to protect that budget, because we all know that, ultimately, unless we do that, then it will be more expensive, not only for Government, but for wider society too.