3. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:37 pm on 5 March 2019.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 2:37, 5 March 2019

Trefnydd, can I call for two statements from the Welsh Government today, the first on funding for Welsh schools? I listened to the exchange earlier on during First Minister's questions regarding the situation in Conwy. But of course this is a Wales-wide problem, which has been the cause of concern for a number of unions, so much so that they issued a statement just yesterday saying that Welsh schools are at crisis point. I think that what people want to understand is why it is that, under the current fiscal framework, Wales receives £1.20 for every £1 spent on a child in England in a school, whereas, actually, we're spending less than is currently being spent per year on our pupils. People find that very difficult to understand, and I think that we need some clear transparency from the Welsh Government on what is happening in terms of our funding situation. It's quite clear that our pupils here have been falling behind—we had some of the worst GCSE results last year in a decade. Fewer of our children are getting into the best universities across the United Kingdom as well. And, of course, we've got this ambitious reform taking place in our education system at the time when the finances are in a fairly parlous state. So, I do think that we need to understand how the Welsh Government is going to deal with the crisis—and that's the word that has been used to describe it by the education unions—in order that we can get on top of the situation and make sure that our young people are getting the investment that they need.

Can I also call for a statement on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder services for adults here in Wales? You'll be aware that, as a result of the pressure that was brought to bear by my colleague, Paul Davies, with his autism Bill, the Minister for health has taken action to develop an integrated autism service—or certainly that's the Government's ambition. Now, I welcome that there's been a step in that direction. One of the reasons that that integrated service is required is because there are behaviour issues, emotional issues such as anxiety and anger, issues developing social and daily life skills, which are all problems not just for children with autism, but also for adults. Now, exactly the same situation applies to adults with ADHD as it does to children with ADHD, and yet there is no integrated ADHD service proposition in Wales. I do think that this is a gap that we need to address, and I'd be very grateful indeed if we could have a statement from the Minister for Health and Social Services on what he intends to do about it.