7. Will the Minister make a statement on funding priorities in the education portfolio? OAQ53350

Thank you, Nick. I'm taking forward a number of priorities set out in 'Prosperity for All', primarily under the key theme of 'Ambitious and Learning'. Our 2019-20 budget continues to be committed to the success and well-being of every learner, regardless of their background or their personal circumstances.

Diolch, Weinidog. Could you update us on the next phase of the twenty-first century schools programme? The new Monmouth Comprehensive School in my constituency is pretty much complete and being used and looks fantastic. You've probably had a visit there yourself. As part of the construction of that school, the constructors involved young people with an interest in engineering and construction in the process, and that's been a spin-off of the twenty-first century schools project in my area that wasn't anticipated originally.

Could you let us know when work will begin on developing schemes for other schools in my area, such as King Henry VIII, which is in quite a poor way structurally? And do you also envisage there being similar spin-offs in terms of allowing young people to be educated on the job, so to speak, and then possibly pursue careers in construction or civil engineering that they might not otherwise have done?

Thank you, Nick. I'm glad to hear about the progress of the school that you referred to. It's not an unexpected spin-off—it's a cunning plan. Indeed, in allocating contracts to companies to build our twenty-first century schools programme, there is an expectation, indeed a requirement, that they do engage with the schoolchildren of that school in the process of building that school, and that they also look to expand apprenticeship opportunities for older young people when undertaking that work. So, it's not a happy coincidence—it's planned for.

We are now coming to the end of our first phase of our twenty-first century schools programme band A, and we are already beginning to assess bids from local education authorities around their requirements for band B of the twenty-first century schools programme. And you will be aware that we have made this even more affordable for local authorities by upping the intervention rate. That is, Welsh Government will commit more capital to the band B programme, allowing local authorities to save on revenue costs associated with borrowing and to ensure that local authorities are able to be as ambitious as possible with their plans. It is they that put forward the schools, and I'm sure you'll be discussing with your colleagues in Monmouthshire whether King Henry will be one of those schools coming forward, and I look forward to receiving the recommendations from the independent capital investment board as regards what we will be able to do in Monmouthshire.

Of course, that's not the only programme that Monmouthshire County Council is benefiting from. The Welsh-medium programme is also something that Monmouthshire County Council has been very successful in bidding for and, of course, the Welsh Government covers 100 per cent of the cost of those new builds.

Minister, I've received many representations from my local authority, trade unions, local communities regarding the minority ethnic achievement grant funding from the Welsh Government. I understand that you've kept the figure the same this year as last year and that you've given it out to four of the major cities in Wales to look at how that's distributed. But the demographics are changing across the towns and areas and local authorities, and therefore needs are changing. And what we are seeing in Neath Port Talbot in particular is a diminishing of the service as a consequence of the loss of funding. Will you re-look at the priorities for this grant to ensure that communities that deserve it and that benefit hugely from this grant are able to access it?

Thank you, David. We are able to maintain levels of MEAG investment in the new financial year as in the previous financial year. We will be looking to undertake a piece of work on how to ensure that this money is indeed reaching those communities that need it the most and to look at the opportunities for a more sustainable basis for providing that funding going forward.