Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:13 pm on 13 June 2018.
Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I've been told I have 90 seconds to close, so apologies for not being able to respond to all the points made, but I will start by thanking everyone who has contributed to this debate.
I do need to respond to the amendments, so I will do that. We will not be supporting the Welsh Government amendment. In true Welsh Government form, it starts with, 'Delete all,' so that's as far as I go, really, when it comes to reading your amendments. But what your amendment does, actually, is list a whole host of additional funds and schemes that you've put in place. Many of them are very positive, don't get me wrong, but I think it rather illustrates the point that we're trying to make here. It underlines the fact that if core budgets were sufficient, then we wouldn't need an extra pot for class sizes, we wouldn't need an extra pot for this, that and the other. So, I feel that the Welsh Government amendment rather makes our point for us.
The Conservative amendment—well, comparing Wales to England is, in this context, I think, caveman economics, because you're not comparing like for like. Let's not forget, it's the Tory austerity agenda that's driving school funding down this cul-de-sac in the first place. For you to come here and try and tell us that the situation is very different in England—well, I'll tell you something: I was reading a few weeks ago that schools in England are now closing early on a Friday to cut costs. So, we won't take any lessons from the Tories on what they're doing in England.
Again, UKIP want to delete the substantive part of our motion, so we won't be supporting them.
The bottom line here, of course, is that the current school funding climate is unsustainable. Budgets are reducing, costs are increasing, and the cuts are cranking up the pressure on an already struggling workforce. So, what do we do? Do we wait until we see the impact of that on the education of our children, or do we act now and properly fund our schools to give the next generation the start in life that they all deserve? I hope you all support the Plaid Cymru motion.