I've not been able to contribute to this report as I normally would, as I've been unable to attend the meetings of the Children, Young People and Education Committee because I've been looking after my children, which is something of an irony. I have a 13-year-old stepdaughter who is currently struggling with schoolwork, and a four-year-old autistic daughter, and a three-year-old very neurotypical daughter who loves being on television, and I don't know where she gets it from. Every time I try and do anything on Zoom, they're in the background, and the Chair will testify to that, because her first comment when we did our first Zoom meeting was that I should feed them more ice pops to get them off my back.

So, it has certainly been a challenge, and I've found with my youngest child the return to childcare has been very welcome and has made life easier, and I've also found with my 13-year-old stepdaughter that she has been able to access schoolwork and is now back in school, and her mother's been hugely supportive of her, and I've stood in awe to see that. The problem has been with my four-year-old autistic daughter, who's five on Saturday. It's been the biggest challenge of my life, and the past 10 weeks have been incredibly difficult. She was diagnosed autistic at the age of three and we've been seeking a statement for her, a statutory assessment for her, since last September, when she was first eligible to apply, and she was turned down on what I believe to be a technicality. I think, by now, if things had been normal she would have had a statement. She hasn't accessed any support or care that she needs whatsoever in the period of lockdown. It's simply been heartbreaking, very difficult, to see the regressive steps that she's taken and her language taking steps backwards.

The reason I say this is not for my own sake, because I have the wherewithal to contact the school and contact local authorities to deal with these issues, but I have had constituents contacting me in exactly the same position. I'd like to read you an extract from an e-mail from someone who has been in touch with me. This parent says, 

'I'm the parent of four children between seven and 16'.

I've edited bits of the e-mail so that you won't be able to identify the person.

'My oldest daughter has ASD and clinically diagnosed anxiety, one child is transgender, has ASD and was a school refuser until this year. My 11-year-old has a diagnoses of global development delay and is due to start at a special school in September. My seven-year-old has a diagnosis of ASD. In addition to this, I'm a carer for my partner, who has three significant health conditions, which affect their ability to function day to day. Two of the children have a statement of special educational needs, and I'm about to start the process of applying for a statement for my youngest daughter.' 

So you can imagine I empathise particularly with that aspect.

'My family has suffered greatly during lockdown. The abrupt withdrawal of the children's routines and the removal of any possibility of support for all of us has had a terrible effect. The children's social services have massively deteriorated and their challenging behaviour has got much worse. This has put huge strain on the relationship between my partner and myself. Initially I attempted to home school, but because of the children's additional needs and my role as a carer for the five disabled members of the family, it soon became clear to them that this was an impossible task. They've received no meaningful education since then.'

I understand and I empathise with that, and this is a condition and a situation that is far worse than the situation I find myself in, but what concerns me is that there are more people in Wales who are not reporting these conditions and we simply don't know about these situations because of that lack of reporting.

I'm a member of the local Sparrows additional learning needs voluntary group, and I know that there are parents there, too, who are in these positions and are struggling, particularly those children without statutory assessments—particularly those children. But also, when we talk about vulnerable children, and the definition of 'vulnerable', what do we mean by 'vulnerable'? Are they vulnerable because of their environment, or are they vulnerable because of the particular needs they have that parents simply aren't able to meet? These are questions that must be answered by the Welsh Government and by local authorities, and must be answered better than they have been answered so far.

What I would say as well is I welcome what we've done in Wales to take children back to school. It is massively welcome, and it's progress in Wales that is way ahead, I think, of the rest of the United Kingdom, and it is making a huge difference. But the concern I have got is, if there is a second wave, if there is a further lockdown, parents must not be—particularly those parents I've mentioned today—put in that position again.