Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 7 March 2018.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 1:47, 7 March 2018

Well, Darren, as I've said, all local authorities will have benefited from the contribution of EIG going into RSG. I have recognised that, for some local authorities, changes in the distribution formula have had a negative effect. The reality is, Darren, that those three local authorities are affected because that is where the density of the population is, and therefore it is unsurprising that those authorities would be Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, because that's where we find the majority of those students living. On top of that, as I've said, we will give resources in this financial year to regional consortia across the piece to be able to develop policy and support in this area. It is true to say, for instance, that some of the most successful interventions are actually already run at a consortia level or by an individual local authority for the entire region, but I recognise that for this group of children, there is more to be done. But let me say: it's not fair to roll all children from a minority ethnic background into one particular case. Welsh Chinese children, Welsh Indian children, Welsh Pakistani children, Welsh Bangladeshi children all perform at or above the Welsh average.