Item 17 is the Children, Young People and Education Committee debate on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on children and young people in Wales. I call on the Chair of the committee to move the motion. Lynne Neagle.

Motion NDM7354 Lynne Neagle

To propose that the Senedd:

Notes the Children, Young People and Education Committee Interim Report, 'Impact of COVID-19 on children and young people', which was laid in the Table Office on 8 July 2020.

Motion moved.

Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. 'Children have suffered collateral damage during the pandemic.' Those were the words of Dr David Tuthill of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health when he gave evidence to the Children, Young People and Education Committee recently.

As a committee, we recognise that children and young people currently appear to be less susceptible to the virus than adults, but there is no doubt that the wider effects of COVID-19 and the measures taken to manage it have impacted their live hugely: the closure of schools and youth clubs; restrictions on play and on young people socialising; the impact of the virus on family members; and frightening death figures.

When Wales entered lockdown, the committee announced our intention to look closely at the impact of COVID-19 and the measures adopted to manage it on children and young people in Wales. We in Wales place a particular emphasis on children's rights and for a very good reason. Children do not vote, children do not have trade unions to speak on their behalf, and children have been largely hidden in this pandemic. On this basis and in light of our belief that managing the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people needs to be a clear priority for the Welsh Government and public bodies, we wanted to make sure that all Members of the Senedd have an opportunity to discuss these issues before the summer recess.

Approaching the next phase of managing the pandemic with children's rights at the forefront of our minds is a key priority for us and one we are committed to pursuing. That's why we have scheduled today's debate. We want to make sure that children are not the hidden victims of this public health crisis.

Turning now to the committee's approach to scrutiny, we realise that things have necessarily moved quickly to manage this pandemic, and we wanted to make sure that our scrutiny was timely and meaningful, so we've engaged in regular correspondence with Welsh Ministers. I would like to place on record our thanks to all those who've taken the time, often in the most difficult of circumstances, to share their experiences with us. All your views will be published and will inform our work going forward. In particular, I would like to thank the children and young people who've given us their questions, which I've been able to put directly to witnesses in committee. It has enabled us, in a small way, to ensure that children and young people's voices are directly heard in our committee.

As Chair, I will focus my contribution on the main themes that we've focused on in recent weeks and I know that other Members will speak in more detail about each. Turning first to education, throughout the pandemic, we've heard regularly from the Minister about her plans for schools. We welcome last week's announcement that, based on scientific advice and subject to a continued decline in community rates of infection, all children will return to school in September.

We know that while some pupils have had excellent support for their learning at home from their school's staff and their parents and carers, for many children and families this has been a really difficult time. These difficulties have ranged from challenges with technology and broadband to parents and carers having to constantly juggle work and home lives. The support children have had in their home learning has been too variable, with some children having high-quality face-to-face remote contact with teachers and live lessons, and other children having none at all.

Most importantly of all, we also know that for some children and young people, this has been a really isolating experience. They've missed their friends, they've missed their families, and they've missed vital milestones like exams, school leavers' celebrations, proms, to name just a few.

We noted our disappointment that the Welsh Government's preferred option of taking an earlier school summer holiday and returning in August could not be agreed with trade unions. We are also very disappointed that, despite the hard work of the Minister, school leaders and staff, the fourth week proposed for schools to check in, catch up and prepare children for the autumn term has not happened in many parts of Wales.

Given the very real possibility of a second wave of coronavirus in the autumn, it is crucial that lessons are learned from the recent challenges agreeing arrangements for the return to school. When schools closed in March, it was an emergency, but it will not be an emergency in the autumn. Children's well-being must be at the centre of decisions relating to schools, and we urge the Welsh Government and the sector to work together to be adaptable, bold and innovative in the face of what remains a global pandemic. Children across Wales must have consistently high-quality contact with their teachers, and opportunities to progress their education must be maximised for all children in Wales. This will also enable schools to play their vital part in the whole-system approach to supporting the mental health and well-being of children and young people that I am so pleased is being rolled out now in Wales.

The visibility of, and support available for, our most vulnerable children has been a major cause of concern for us. Schools are a crucial safety net for many children, and we've been really concerned by the relatively low numbers of vulnerable children who've been attending school hubs, despite the Government's efforts. While we welcomed the range of steps taken and the cross-governmental approach adopted to support vulnerable children, we remain concerned that important and potentially grave issues may have been missed because of children being unseen during this period.

It is also crucial to recognise that many children may actually have become vulnerable during lockdown. For too many children, home is not a refuge. We've also spoken directly with children and young people in care and those in the BAME community to learn about their experiences of COVID, and we believe that, in the next phase of managing the pandemic, more attention is needed on how we support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society, many of whom have been shown to be disproportionately affected by the virus. The committee believes that vulnerable children and those at risk of becoming vulnerable due to the pandemic must be a priority. Children have been largely hidden and voiceless in this pandemic, and it is incumbent upon all of us in this Chamber to be their voice.

I mentioned, in my opening remarks, that children and young people have, mercifully, been less susceptible to the virus than adults. Nevertheless, the impact on their mental health has been a huge concern. It is clear from the evidence we've received that many of the feelings young people have been experiencing, such as anxiety, stress and loneliness, are a natural response to the pandemic. There is a very important balance to be struck between recognising and supporting mental health problems and not medicalising entirely natural responses to a pandemic that is frightening and traumatic for us all. But the importance of children and young people knowing where they can go for help is clear and even more vital when familiar places such as schools and doctors' surgeries are less accessible.

The committee believes this makes the implementation of our 'Mind over matter' recommendations more important and urgent than ever. Welsh Government must urgently address the gaps in services for those children and young people who need support but who don't meet the threshold for child and adolescent mental health services—the so-called missing middle. We call on Welsh Government to continue to prioritise implementation of all our 'Mind over matter' recommendations, and we will return to our follow-up work on that inquiry at the earliest available opportunity.

In many circumstances, particularly in relation to mental health, face-to-face interaction remains a vital component of support. Service design must have children and young people at the very centre and must recognise individual needs. One size does not fit all.

As a committee, we were deeply concerned that while the physical health needs of the population were necessarily a priority in the early stages of the pandemic, we were told services to support children's mental health and well-being were exposed to the risk of deprioritisation. Recognising the very real possibility of a second wave, Welsh Government must set out the clear steps it will take to ensure that children's mental health services are protected and funded sufficiently to avoid the long-term consequences that would follow from a lack of specialist support.

Turning now to further and higher education, evidence presented to us highlighted the deeply worrying financial impact of losses of student fees and other university income, the increased risk of university insolvency and the considerable likelihood of staff redundancies. We've heard concerns that the Welsh Government have not allocated additional funding to providers or the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales for the 2020-21 academic year, and there are currently no publicly stated plans to do so. We have also heard concerns that there are currently no plans for any additional Government financial allocations of support for students who may be experiencing hardship because of the pandemic, and uncertainty also remains about how courses will be delivered and what the blend of online and face-to-face teaching and assessment will be. For further education, blended learning and ensuring that staff get the professional learning they need to deliver this were raised with us as challenges.

In closing, acting Deputy Presiding Officer, closely monitoring developments over the summer will be a priority for the committee. We intend to continue timely and constructive scrutiny of the response to COVID to ensure that children and young people are at the heart of all decisions. We are conscious that the return to school in September will need to be managed carefully and safely, but the committee has been clear in its view that opportunities for children and young people to have face-to-face contact with staff must be maximised for their physical and mental well-being, as well as for their education. The First Minister has been clear throughout this pandemic that there is more than one harm from coronavirus. We agree and we call on the Welsh Government to ensure that mitigating the harm and collateral damage to children from this pandemic is a top priority. Thank you.

Whilst we as a committee have acknowledged that children and young people appear less susceptible to the virus than adults, serious concerns persist. A recent national engagement survey found that nearly 50 per cent of people are very or extremely concerned about children catching COVID-19. The virus has caused considerable concern for children also. Forty-one per cent of children and young people polled by YouGov said they were more lonely than before lockdown, and more than a third said they were more worried, more sad or more stressed. These findings are supported by the Coronavirus and Me survey, which notes that only 37 per cent were not worried. Such data goes to show just how important our work as a committee is, and I've got to pay tribute to our Chair, Lynne Neagle.

Referring to the interim report and the letters it contains, I must note my concern at the amount of time it has taken Ministers to respond—the letter dated 12 May answered on 4 and 8 June, the letter dated 27 May answered 30 June. Frustratingly slow action by the Welsh Government is also clear from the content of those responses. On 4 June, the Minister for Education advised that, almost two months since lockdown, the guide for parents of education-other-than-at-school pupils and pupils with ALN had not been published, and the guidance on risk assessments in relation to special educational needs pupils had not been published. I am extremely worried about the impact of COVID-19 on SEN children. The Welsh Government know that providers are facing significant difficulties in meeting needs, particularly in relation to arranging provision specified in a statement. In fact, I wrote an urgent letter to the Minister for Education about SEN children and school transport, highlighting the possibility that the Welsh Government has a transport policy that discriminates by giving mainstream children priority. Almost a month on, I have received a letter from Lee Waters MS advising that he has asked officials to look into the issue and will respond to me again shortly.

Equally worrying is the response to committee, dated 13 June. Whilst it is noted that the number of vulnerable children attending school is encouraging, the reality is very different. During the week of 15 June, just 6.3 per cent of all vulnerable children attended school. In fact, I believe the Welsh Government is being slow to support our vulnerable children. As of 30 June, we were advised that it would be 6 July when a guide to support practitioners to identify harm, abuse and neglect would be published. The same day would see the launch of the Together We Can Keep People Safe campaign, and that campaign would only run until 16 August. Why has it taken so long to launch this campaign? We knew the serious issues early on. On 27 March, Childline reported unprecedented demand in the number of counselling sessions. The NSPCC reported that calls about children facing potential emotional abuse rose from 529 to 792 in the first month since lockdown, and I even raised the need for a new online campaign encouraging children and young people to self-refer for counselling if they are struggling, in a virtual meeting—I raised that with Julie Morgan MS. Not enough was done quickly to ensure that children knew where to turn for help. In fact, the national survey by Barnardo's found more than half of children and young people are unhappy with the information available to them. We should listen to their voices and act on the recommendations in the 'Mental Health and COVID-19: In Our Own Words' report.

This brings me to the final point I wish to make today—that not enough has been done to protect our children's rights, including the right to education. The Welsh Government must ensure that children's rights impact assessments are carried out, and I maintain that an urgent inquiry should also be established so to consider whether recent decisions have adhered to human rights legislation. We can learn from what has happened since March to provide stronger support for children and young people in the short and long terms, and in particular if there is a second wave of this dreadful virus. Diolch yn fawr.

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. 

Whilst recognising that school closure was a necessary part of controlling the pandemic, there was clear consensus among witnesses to the committee that the impact of not being at school on the well-being of very many children was very significant indeed. Hefin David has just described his own experience and his children’s experience very clearly, and others across Wales will have faced all sorts of challenges. The view of the witnesses to the committee was that priority should be given to ensuring the safest possible face-to-face contact between children and young people in schools. This highlights the importance of that special relationship between a pupil and a teacher and the experience of learning together, and how crucially important that is to education ultimately. Therefore, the announcement on the reopening in September for all children is sure to be welcomed by parents, by children and young people, but also by those witnesses who appeared before our committee when we were discussing these issues. And it will also be welcomed by the children’s commissioner.

But, of course, with a very real possibility of a second wave, it is crucially important that we learn lessons as a result of the challenges recently faced in trying to agree on arrangements for the return of our children to school. We must put the needs of the child or young person at the heart of everything and it’s crucial that we continue to make improvements to remote learning and remote connectivity and deal with the digital divide in case we do need to close all schools again, or to close schools in particular parts of the country at particular times. This too is particularly pertinent in the FE sector, and narrowing the digital divide in that sector has become something that clearly needs to be addressed.

In the committee’s report, 'Mind over matter', the crucial role of schools in terms of mental health and well-being is identified and this is true now more than ever. Before the arrival of the pandemic, the guidance that we had called for and the whole-school approach to dealing with emotional and mental health were being prepared. During our initial inquiry into the impact of COVID we did call for the publication of that guidance for consultation as a matter of priority, in order to ensure that support for the mental and emotional health of our children could be a significant part of their education. I am pleased to see that the guidance has now been published on 8 July and that it is now out to consultation until the end of September, but I do hope that the core principles will be adopted way before then.

It’s clear from the evidence that the committee received that we need to be careful and cautious as to how we weigh up the impact of COVID on the mental health of our children and young people, and to acknowledge that there are certain aspects, such as anxiety, stress and loneliness, that are natural responses to the challenges and risks that have emerged as a result of the pandemic. On the other hand and at the other extreme, Samaritans Cymru did tell the committee that it is too early for data to demonstrate exactly what impact the pandemic has had on suicide levels, and that we do need to very closely monitor those factors that can contribute to the risk of suicide.

As the committee Chair has already mentioned, what has become apparent is that it is very important now in this ensuing period that our children and young people know to whom they can turn for advice and support. That has become apparent because the schools and surgeries haven’t been available to them in the same way so that they can point them in the right direction towards the support that they need.

It’s therefore important that our recommendations—and returning again to the committee’s important report, 'Mind over matter'—it’s important that the recommendations on the gaps in services for children and young people and those who are described as the ‘missing middle’, those children and young people who don’t qualify for CAMHS services but can’t access other support, low-level support either—it’s so important now that those services are put in place and that they are properly funded during this next period as we deal with the pandemic.

I’ve focused on just two aspects of the report, but I would also like to thank everyone who gave evidence and contributed to our work at such a worrying time, and at a time when the picture is changing so exceptionally quickly. And I do think that we all need to monitor and keep a close eye on the impact of the pandemic on our children and young people over the summer holidays, and into the autumn and over these next years, indeed. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Siân. I realise it's very difficult when you're Zooming in to quite know where you are in terms of time. Dawn Bowden. 

Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. For my contribution, I want to highlight some important aspects of the committee's scrutiny on the impact of COVID-19 as it relates specifically to vulnerable children and young people. I know that this Senedd shares a general concern for the future prospects of our children and young people but, as the report highlights, the committee heard specific concerns around safeguarding of children, and the fact that many problems may have become hidden from view.

So, I'd like to thank the partner organisations who provided such evidence to us. It was a sombre reminder that, very sadly, home isn't a safe place for every child. And while safeguarding agencies would have had intelligence about a number of vulnerable children, we have no idea how many more children became at risk during the pandemic, due to circumstances that lockdown created. The NSPCC told us:

'We are concerned that with the lockdown in place, children who are at risk of, or are experiencing abuse and neglect, risk being hidden from services.'

The evidence highlighted, for example, the important role that schools and teachers normally play in the disclosure of safeguarding issues. They are often the trusted adults who've been out of easy reach for so many children during this time.

We therefore scrutinised Ministers and the Deputy Minister on Welsh Government guidance as published on 1 May, and we welcomed the cross-Government approach to the needs of vulnerable children. The guidance includes the flexibility in criteria around vulnerable children, and providing wider access to the school hubs. And those plans were an important part of the effort to support vulnerable children over recent months. But we also heard concerns that vulnerable children were not making use of the hubs. And while the numbers steadily increased, still too many did not attend, and were largely unseen.

The committee is therefore suggesting that further evidence is required in order to understand in more detail what's happened during the period of the stay-at-home guidance. We know that for Welsh Government, social services authorities, safeguarding boards, and the organisations providing support and services, a significant drop in safeguarding referrals is a major concern, as it should be to all of us. And it's also been another huge challenge for our partners in local government, and because there was no easing of children's services legislation, then, quite rightly, the same standards remained in place and had to be responded to.

So, the task of keeping in touch with vulnerable children in a variety of care settings, and of minimising disruption to them, has required innovation and flexibility, and we've seen that through the greater use of digital technology during the crisis. But that can be limited in those home settings that do not have the necessary technology, despite the digital inclusion support that's been made available, and, of course, the inability of some parents, carers, and wider family members to actually provide the educational and emotional support that children need.

The committee also scrutinised provision for children with special educational needs, and we thank Ministers for their response. But the committee is very clear in asking that, if any relaxations occur, they contain a mix of the checks and balances that will be required to ensure SEN pupils receive the necessary support. And that was articulated so well by my colleague Hefin David earlier on.

In the time available, I can only highlight some of the aspects of the scrutiny undertaken by the committee. But we have been clear that the rights of the child, and the needs of vulnerable children and young people in particular, sit at the core of our work. We cannot let this pandemic be a cover for allowing those most vulnerable children and young people in our communities to be put at even greater risk. And I hope the committee's recommendations assist the Welsh Government, and other partners, with the important tasks that we face. This pandemic has been challenging for the most resilient of us, so let us be the voices that protect and look out for the least.

And finally before I call the Minister, Suzy Davies.

Thank you, temporary Deputy Presiding Officer.

Can I thank all our witnesses, and other members of the committee as well? I hope that other Members here agree that this was a very pragmatic way of preparing a report in time for the school holidays, and it gives us the chance also to say thank you again to those families and children who've done their very best to continue with learning at home, and to those teachers and others working in education for helping make that happen.

The vulnerable and those from disadvantaged backgrounds have been at the forefront of our minds, and you've heard about that in the Chamber today. It's worth reinforcing, I think, the point that we don't just have Lynne's 'missing middle' but we have Dawn's 'missing new vulnerable' as well for the Minister to consider, reinforcing again that right to an education being a right for all. And I'm glad that we've spoken about the relevance of face-to-face learning in the debate today.

We know from our inboxes and from witnesses that provision and take-up have been inconsistent and that's why we'd be interested, Minister, to see those reports from consortia that you had back in mid June, not just to see the answers you've had—some of the data that Siân was talking about—but actually what questions you asked.

Staying with children's rights, I think most of the regulations brought in under the Coronavirus Act 2020 have not been subject to impact assessments, as we understand them, and so haven't been subject to children's rights impact assessments. And I'm not just talking about regulations that obviously relate to children and young people. We do understand, of course, that Welsh Government has had to act urgently in many cases, but an understandable lack of prior consultation can't also permit a loss of scrutiny on the effect of those regulations on children and young people, and I look forward to hearing from you with some information about when you might be reporting back on that. We need to know that, because, of course, we need to know whether your actions have been proportionate.

That's particularly true when we think about something that Hefin's already raised—those statutory obligations that benefit children with special or additional learning needs, which have been temporarily downgraded to a 'best endeavours' basis. And you've explained, Minister, in one of your letters to us that you would be monitoring the effect of this, especially for children who are at home rather than in school. So, if you could give us some indication of when this information will be gathered and when we can expect a report on that, I think that would be very helpful too.

Also affected—and again you drew the committee's attention to this in one of your letters in reply: local authorities for now only have to use their best endeavours to provide schools with their individual school budget for the forthcoming financial year. And you know our concerns about school funding, Minister. We understand that some consequential funding has come down from UK Government and into the Welsh Government COVID pot, if I can call it that, and that it's being used to support local authorities and schools to meet the costs of COVID. This is important, I think, because it comes on top, of course, of the costs connected with curriculum reform. Whereas finances for schools before lockdown were starting to look promising, cuts to both your and the local government budgets to feed the Government's COVID pot now place that optimism in danger, so perhaps you could give us some indication of when you might be able to get back to some certainty for schools about their finances in the coming year.

I have the same question as regards further education funding—there's less than seven weeks to go before the new term, and colleges still don't know what they'll be receiving from Welsh Government from funds that have come down as UK consequentials. When will your star chamber decide on this? And, at the same time maybe you could update Members on the awarding of qualifications that require a live demonstration of practical skills. It's about now that students would normally expect results.

And then, finally, just to go back to universities, the effects of COVID-19 on the economy leave very few opportunities for part-time work as students or more permanent work for new graduates. You may have seen the case of Rutendo Dafana in the press today. So, I'd be curious to know whether actually there is some work in development on student support that can be provided through Government and that the position is not as bleak as Lynne suggested.

We know that the financial challenge to universities was made very plain to us—we could be talking of up to £0.5 billion here. Current information suggests that satisfaction rates are positive and that applications from students, whilst still depressed, are perhaps a bit better than we thought. But application numbers are not the same as take-up numbers, and I suspect that this will be a hot topic when we come back in September and something that'll need both our Governments to be ready to discuss in order to support the sector. Diolch.

I call the Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams.

Thank you very much, Mr Melding. I would like to begin by thanking the CYPE committee for bringing the debate forward today. And I would also like to thank all the staff in our education settings, as well as our local authorities and other partners, for helping us to ensure the safety and well-being of our children and young people during the crisis. That has been, and will continue to be, my priority. The decisions that we made, and have continued to make, have not been taken lightly.

Closing schools and the disruption that caused for the education of our children and young people was the most difficult decision that I have ever had to make, but I believe that it was absolutely the right one, given the medical and scientific evidence that we had at the time of the risks of COVID-19 and the transmission of the virus at that point in our communities. But thanks to the efforts of our education settings and local authorities, despite those challenges we were able to move at pace to continue to provide school-based provision for vulnerable young people and the children of key workers, and that was established within a matter of days. 

The number of vulnerable children attending school has been discussed at length during this debate and has increased as lockdown progressed. That is something that is not unique to Wales, and our experience in persuading parents of vulnerable children to send their children into our hubs is one that was mirrored in Northern Ireland, England and Scotland. I have to acknowledge it took until we were able to open up all schools that we saw the numbers increase significantly, and that was one of my main reasons for opening all schools to check in, catch up and prepare at the end of this term.

If I could clarify, for Hefin, we have a very clear definition of what constitutes vulnerability during this crisis—a definition that was expanded and was supported by many of the key stakeholders that gave evidence to the committee, in terms of how we had identified children who were able to get support from hubs.

I acknowledge that for some of our special schools—our special educational needs schools—there have been particular challenges, but I would also like to highlight the very good practice. In many local areas special schools remained open, providing support for those children in familiar settings. It's a pity that Mr Melding is in an acting Presiding Officer role this afternoon, because he has some very good examples of a school, which he has a close connection with, that cares for very vulnerable children that has remained open throughout this pandemic and has supported parents to an excellent extent. 

To help schools with their other functions during this time, we've provided guidance on the continuity of learning with our 'Stay Safe. Stay Learning' document. This comprehensive plan included consideration for the provision, not just of those children who would attend mainstream school, but also children that would otherwise be educated in places other than at school.

We also sought to tackle digital exclusion, provide additional learning resources and guidance for parents to how best to support their children during this time. I'm sure many colleagues will have seen the stories in England and Scotland of the millions that have been spent on laptops that never actually reached learners ahead of the summer holiday. And I'm very pleased that, thanks to the innovative way we invested our funding, and the hard work, again, of schools and local authorities, that was much less of a problem here in Wales, and we were able to quickly mobilise support for digitally excluded learners, ensuring that they were equipped with the kit that they needed to carry on learning.

Of course, we were very fortunate to be working off a strong base with our online learning platform, Hwb, which provides unparalleled access to a wide range of bilingual digital tools and content to support digital education transformation. Logins throughout this period to Hwb have been incredible, as has been the professional engagement with professional learning opportunities provided by our regional school improvement services to ensure that our professionals could get the most out of it also. 

On the issue of vulnerability, again, Wales was the first country in the United Kingdom to guarantee free-school-meal provision during the Easter holiday, during the Whitsun half-term holiday and over the summer holiday. And we made that decision because we knew it was the right one to do, rather than being forced into it by a high-profile campaign.

But I know that transition to home schooling and online learning has not been easy and that, for some learners and their parents and carers, it has presented particular difficulties. On top top of that, as we've known from the children's commissioner survey, many learners have been concerned about missing school, about exams and results, about missing out on those end-of-year activities, saying goodbye to their friends and simply that structure that is so important to them. But mitigating the impact of this pandemic has been the major focus for the Welsh Government.

If I could turn to the issue of mental health, which, quite rightly has been the focus of this afternoon's debate also, in anticipation of increased demands of mental health resources, we have provided additional moneys to support children's mental health, on top of the investment that we made in counselling services and mental health support over the past year. And I am, indeed, very glad that we are now out to consultation on our whole-school approach. That work has been amended to reflect the COVID-19 situation, and I'm looking forward to a good response to the consultation that is out at the moment.

Can I say a little bit, briefly, about our youth services that moved to a new way of working and developed a new innovative practice, again at speed, and have continued to support children the length and breadth of Wales, although doing that in a very different form? And that support has been invaluable.

I remember, acting Presiding Officer, seeing a tweet from a youth worker right at the beginning of this crisis. She had been carrying out a weekly check-in with one of the young people—a primary-aged pupil that she was working with. She asked the young boy whether he was going to be okay, and whether he would have enough to eat and things to do. He replied to her and said, 'You don't need to worry about me—I'm going to be fine. I've been one that's chosen to be in the valuable group, so I'm going to school every day.' And I think that's wonderful that that school was able to identify that young boy as being valuable rather than vulnerable, and ensuring that he continued to have access, not only to the hub, but to his youth worker that was supporting him.

Last week I announced that all pupils will be able to return to school in September, and that is as a result of the hard work and the efforts of the people of Wales. We are now seeing community transition rates coming down, and that effort and hard work and sacrifice has allowed us to make that announcement. But I recognise that this needs to be planned and that schools and pupils will need support. And schools will have flexibility right at the very beginning of the new academic year to priorities certain groups of learners, as many already do. Safeguarding measures, such as hand washing, risk assessments and appropriate restriction measures will, however, have to remain in place, and updated operational and learning guidance was published earlier this week to support that return to school in September.

Also to support schools, we will recruit extra staff and support the recovery phase and continue to raise standards as part of our national mission by making available some £29 million in that effort. This is not a short-term fix, and I'm guaranteeing this money and extra staff and support for the whole of the next academic year. This means we will be able to recruit the equivalent of 600 extra teachers and 300 extra teaching assistants throughout the next school year. Extra support will be focused on those taking public examinations, as well as disadvantaged and vulnerable learners of all ages. Approaches could include extra coaching support, personalised learning programmes and additional time and resources for the examination of pupils.

Very quickly, acting Presiding Officer, we will be working with the childcare sector over the summer, and our aim is to increase the size of contact groups and support their move towards full operations, and I'm working very closely with my colleague the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services to enable that to happen. And additional resources for support for families of vulnerable children has been made for the summer holidays. I recognise that nursery education has its own complexities, and we are developing further guidance to support the sector.

I have been clear throughout this pandemic that our priority must be to deliver maximum learning with minimal disruption for our young people, and I'm also clear that we must never lose our expectations that any of our young people, no matter what their background, can be supported to achieve the very highest standards. And I'm determined that we will not lose that momentum, despite COVID-19, and I know that that ambition is shared by teachers and parents across Wales.

Alongside our new curriculum, which I was very pleased to spend an hour and a half—

We have hit 10 minutes now, so can you perhaps make this your concluding comment? 

Of course. Alongside our new curriculum, we are moving purposely into a new era for education, and I want to thank, once again, and put on record, my support for those teachers, teaching assistants, school support staff and further education and higher education staff that have made all of this possible during this most unprecedented time. Diolch.

Thank you. I call on Lynne Neagle to reply to the debate.

Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. Can I thank all the Members who've contributed to this very important debate? I'll try and respond to as many points as I can.

Thank you, Janet, for your contribution and for your articulation of some of the very significant challenges that children and young people have faced in the pandemic, and you referred to the children's commissioner's survey and other sources of information, which are really helpful to reference. You highlighted the low numbers of children who have been attending the hub. I know that that's something the Welsh Government have also been frustrated about. We know that that was also a product of fear by lots of families, but it's certainly a point well made, as was your point about the need, proactively, for Government to reach out to those children that we didn't know are vulnerable, and that was a point that the committee made from the very beginning. I, too, would have liked to have seen quicker progress on that, and I hope that that is something we can continue to focus on.

Hefin, can I thank you for your very powerful and heartfelt contribution? I recognise that that wouldn't have been an easy speech to make, but our deliberations and consideration of these matters are all the stronger for having you share those contributions with us. And just to assure you that the concerns about ALN provision are something that the committee are continuing to focus on; they'll be picked up in our very next letter, which is due to be issued shortly to the Minister. So, we are very much staying on those issues to try and make sure they're addressed, and, of course, it highlights so powerfully just how important access to school and early years provision is for our children and young people.

Can I thank Siân Gwenllian for her contribution and for her support for the stance that the committee has taken around the importance of children and young people being back in schools? Siân, you are absolutely correct when you say that we are very, very worried about the implications of a second wave for our children and young people, and that is why I think as a committee we are saying to Government that children and young people must be a priority, that they can't be the first thing that we close. We've got to make sure that it is a priority to keep them in education because we've seen what happens when we don't.

Thank you, too, for your contribution on mental health. Like you, I'm delighted that the whole-school approach guidance has been published for consultation and you are absolutely right that schools don't need to wait to start doing this. Lots of our really good primary schools are doing this already, and I hope that more will run with this before this becomes statutory guidance. Thank you, too, for highlighting the importance of keeping a very, very close eye on the impact of this pandemic on the rates of suicide and self-harm in children and young people. I'm so pleased that we've got people like Professor Ann John who are monitoring this constantly, and that she's now a member of the technical advisory group advising Welsh Government.

Dawn Bowden referred to the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable children. You highlighted the drop in safeguarding referrals—it was something like 27 per cent, which is very, very worrying at a time when we know that more children were at home in circumstances that we would probably be very concerned about. That is absolutely going to continue to be a priority for the Government.

Thank you, Suzy, for your comments and for, as usual, your very strong support for the CRIA process going forward. Now that we're out of the emergency stage as a committee, we really want to see the Welsh Government showing us their workings in relation to children's rights. Your points on school funding were very well made; that will continue to be a priority for the committee, and we cannot let this pandemic undermine the strategic investment in our children and young people.

Can I thank the Minister as well for her response today and also for her very constructive engagement with the committee throughout the pandemic and also for meeting me weekly, which has been very, very useful to me as Chair, to have those discussions with you? Thank you today especially for highlighting the really important role of the youth service in Wales, which is something close to the committee's heart.

I can see I'm taxing the patience of the Chair. If I could just close, then, by reiterating my thanks to the witnesses who gave us their time, at a time that was incredibly difficult for them to find time to talk to us, and to reiterate the committee's thanks to all the front-line staff who have worked so hard to try and keep children and young people safe throughout the pandemic, and just to let Members know that we will be continuing our very close scrutiny of the impact of the pandemic on children and young people alongside our scrutiny of the curriculum and assessment Bill, and we will be doing everything we can as a committee to ensure that, for the whole of the Welsh Government, children and young people will be a priority and protected from harm. Thank you.

Thank you very much. The proposal is to note the committee's report. Does any Member object? I don't see any Member objecting and the motion is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.