5. What resources have been allocated in the 2021-22 budget for education in the post-COVID period? OQ56104

In recognition of the impact the pandemic has had on our children and young people, we are boosting the budget for education in 2021-22 by an extra £102 million. This is in addition to the uplift of £176 million for local government, which will support front-line services, including schools.

We will need an ambitious plan for education if we're to support our children in this post-COVID period, particularly those children who have missed out most on their education—many of those from deprived backgrounds. I haven't seen such a plan as of yet, but certainly it won't be possible to pay for the huge amount of additional work required within the local government settlement in the next budget. So, I would like to understand how you and the education Minister are making progress first of all in working out how much funding will be required for a meaningful plan to restore education. And secondly, can you explain what options are available to you in terms of paying for an ambitious plan, which needs to begin this year and continue for the future?

Thank you very much for the question. The education resource and capital budget now stands at £1.9 billion for 2021-22, and that is an increase, as I say, of £102 million, or 5.8 per cent from our revised baseline. So, there's significant additional funding going into the education MEG. But, of course, the position within local authorities is also extremely important in terms of funding for schools. And that's one of the reasons why we've put such great store on giving local government the best possible settlement in the budget—so, an additional £176 million to local authorities to enable them to support schools.

In terms of our immediate response, you'll see £12 million of additional funding to support the catch-up learning in schools to help combat the loss of learning, skills and productivity that there has been as a result of the pandemic. You'll recall a while back we made an announcement that we would provide funding for the recruitment of an additional full-time equivalent of 900 new posts in the education system, and they consist of teachers, teaching assistants and other roles designed to support learners who are facing the greatest challenges. I'm really pleased that local authorities are reporting really good recruitment levels in that context, in terms of delivering that particular project, which is part of our more urgent and immediate response to the challenges that young people and children are facing as a result of the pandemic. But, clearly, as Siân Gwenllian recognises and says, this isn't something that will be solved immediately; this is something that will require sustained investment.