Thank you, Presiding Officer, for the opportunity to make a brief contribution to this debate. As Members will appreciate, the Children, Young People and Education Committee has taken a very keen interest in funding issues since the time we were established. One of our earliest inquiries was into the decision to amalgamate the funding of the previously ring-fenced grants for minority ethnic learners and Gypsy/Traveller learners into the new education improvement grant and, since the decision was taken in the most recent budget to put that money into the revenue support grant, we have maintained a constant dialogue with the Cabinet Secretary and are continuing to scrutinise the impact of that decision on those groups of learners.

On 4 July, we're going to be debating here the committee's major inquiry into the emotional and mental health of children and young people. The overarching recommendation in that calls for ring-fenced funding to be made available to schools so that they can become hubs of emotional and mental health support for our children and young people, because we recognise that when the system is stretched it will not be possible for our teachers to invest the time and the resource that is needed into that work and also because, as part of the inquiry, it was evident that there is an enormous amount of good practice out there in Wales in terms of supporting young people with their mental health but also that much of that is being funded through things like the pupil deprivation grant. We heard that there were schools that were unable to fulfil that role because they didn't have access to the PDG.

Our most recent inquiry into targeted funding on educational outcomes will be published next week, and the sufficiency of school funding was a very strong theme throughout that inquiry, with lots of evidence being given to the committee that things like the pupil deprivation grant are now being used as a result of pressures on wider school budgets. So, as a result of that, I'm very pleased that the committee has decided that now is the time for us to take a rounder look at school funding. As Llyr and Mark will be aware, we are discussing tomorrow terms of reference for an inquiry—a broad, wide-ranging inquiry—on the sufficiency of school funding in Wales, which I think is very important. I think it's important that that work is undertaken independently of Welsh Government, and I think that our committee will be the right people to do that job.

I do have to take issue with Mark Reckless's contribution. I think it is just a little bit rich for the Welsh Conservatives to come to this Chamber and lecture us on the record of this Government in trying to protect our public services in the face of record-breaking austerity from Westminster. I would suggest, Mark Reckless, that your efforts might be better employed in lecturing those in Westminster who are handing down these ongoing budget cuts to us.