Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:16 pm on 5 June 2018.
Thank you very much, Siân. I was at the Urdd Eisteddfod last week as well, and you’re quite right: there were many children there who had a great deal of confidence. But what concerns me is not the children who are were at the Eisteddfod last week, but the hundreds of thousands who go to Welsh schools who weren’t at the Eisteddfod: those who don’t have the confidence. They’re the ones we have to convince, and that’s why I do think that compelling people to do things isn’t going to benefit us ultimately. We have to convince people that this is the right direction and this is why this change of emphasis is vitally important.
I want to make it clear that we’re not rowing back on the standards; we’re not stepping away from them. The current commissioner and the new commissioner will have plenty of work to ensure, implement and enforce the new health standards. There’s a great deal of work related to those. But, the difference is that we will prioritise promotion and encouragement, and I’m not going to excuse myself or the Welsh Government for that. I’m not going to apologise on our behalf for that.
You’ll be aware that the responses that we’ve had to the White Paper have differed. What happened, actually, was that we differentiated between responses that are part of a campaign and responses that come from individuals, and with regard to those responses from individuals, it was clear that the majority were in favour of moving to a system that would prioritise promotion.
But may I be clear? It’s not the Welsh Government that will be responsible for appointing the person who will be responsible within the commission for policing the standards. I want to make it clear, and it's something that I have made very clear to officials: that person who is responsible for policing the standards has to be entirely independent. So, it’s not the Government that will take part in that appointment of the person who is responsible. Thank you.