2. Statement by the First Minister: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 12:06 pm on 10 June 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 12:06, 10 June 2020

Llywydd, can I endorse the central message that Jayne Bryant passed there, that the services that are there to protect children in these circumstances are there and are open and can be used? They may be operating in different ways to make sure that people are safe, but they are there and they are operating. And if you have concerns, and need those concerns to be raised, please don't think that, because of the pandemic, there aren't ways for you to do it.

The good news is that safeguarding referrals to those services, which were suppressed in the 'stay home' part of the lockdown experience, have recovered steadily in recent weeks, and they're now more or less back to the levels you would have expected in times when COVID-19 wasn't part of our experience. So, I think we can take a bit of heart from that that the public's willingness and ability to report concerns has returned to the levels we would have seen previously.

Reopening schools for all pupils to have a chance to speak to adults outside the home—trusted individuals in their teachers—is another very important part of all of this, and one of the reasons why we were keen to make the decision that we did. We know that, where schools have been open, then vulnerable young people have been more likely to go to that school if that school is their own school than if they're being asked to go to a school with which they are not familiar—a journey they don't know, teachers they haven't met. By reopening all schools, then those vulnerable children will be able to go to a place that they know already, are more likely to feel confident talking to people who are familiar to them, and, if there are concerns that need to be pursued, then the services are there now to make sure that that can happen.