Questions now from the party spokespeople. First of all, Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Rhun ap Iorwerth.  

Thank you very much, Llywydd. Minister, a report was published yesterday that stated that one in four young persons had failed to cope with the challenges of the past 12 months. The reasons for that are quite clear, but if we are to avoid a mental health pandemic, then we must put services in place now to assist these young people. So, what investments in services are you planning? 

I recognise that we must intervene at an early stage, because from my understanding, 80 per cent of mental health problems begin to occur when people are children or young people. Therefore, it makes sense for us to focus any additional funding in that area, and that's exactly what we're doing. We are ensuring that £9.4 million of additional funding is provided directly to assist young people. Some of that will be provided through schools, but there is also additional work being done to ensure that we introduce not only CAMHS in schools—. At the moment, they're pilots, but we hope that once we know what the outcomes of those pilots are, we will then be able to see that rolled out across Wales. So, that is a very practical step that we know works. We want to see that developed across Wales. But, also, there is the national early help and enhanced support framework group, and this is something that we have seen that has worked very well in the Gwent area. I'm very eager to see that programme being rolled out throughout Wales. So, those are the two things we're doing directly to assist young people.  

I do look forward to hearing something on a far greater scale with far more urgency. Over a period of years in reports from Senedd committees and from other stakeholders we've seen a great deal of evidence of where we're not getting things right in Wales in terms of assisting our young people with mental health problems. One of the problems is that people who don't fit the narrow medical model of an urgent problem can't access the support that they need. They're turned away from treatment or their treatments is concluded too soon. You've referred to earlier intervention and that is crucial. But another thing that works—and the evidence demonstrates that, I believe—is when a young person, having had early access to services, can keep that connection, can build that relationship with the counsellor over a longer period of time. So, how are your plans for changing the way in which services are provided and funded going to allow and, indeed, promote that kind of longer term relationship between the young person and those providing support? 

One thing that I have learnt over the past few months is that there are many people who perhaps don't need medical intervention, but they do need a great deal of support, and the best people to provide that support are people within their communities, people they see regularly—their teachers or members of the community. So, the idea with the model that's working particularly well in the Gwent area is that you train people within communities rather than expect specialists to always be available. So, that continuity will be available for those young people so that they can tap into services where necessary, and so that it's not just a one-off event that is then withdrawn. But there's a great deal of training that needs to be done in that area.

And I applaud the work being done in Gwent too. I've been keeping an eye on the provision available there, but that provision needs to be available in all parts of Wales. And I agree entirely with you on the need to ensure availability within communities across Wales, and there's an urgency here. You will have heard me mention one-stop shops, which I and Plaid Cymru have been recommending, which could assist people with mental health problems and other problems that young people face too, as a result of unemployment or poor housing, sexual health, and so on. This is something that could be established across Wales as a matter of urgency, and it strikes me, in light of the problems that have arisen during this pandemic, and its impact on young people, that now is that time to do that. Will you therefore create the kinds of services that we are calling for as a clear sign to that one young person in four that they haven't been forgotten in the past 12 months?

Well, I have been looking at those ideas and I've been looking at what's happening in New Zealand. I think there are lessons to be learnt, but also, we must be careful that those centres don't become places where people don't want to be seen and therefore, stigma is something that we need to be aware of in this area. There are hubs available in some areas across Wales already, and our interest, therefore, is in doing more in terms of health hubs, so that it's broader than simply focusing on mental health. So, we are looking at what's possible, but I think even what Plaid Cymru is suggesting—. It's at a low level in relation to the need, in terms of hubs, in my view. I think I would prefer to see how we can make that provision available in broader community hubs that already exist.

The Conservative spokesperson, Suzy Davies.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. Minister, the number of teachers who speak or are able to work through the medium of Welsh has remained quite stable over a period of years now. Estyn describes applications this year for initial teacher training as an increase, although the Education Workforce Council is a little more guarded on the issue and a little more realistic than that. So, why didn't more of the new cohort make applications to teach Welsh or to teach through the medium of Welsh? And have you reached your target in terms of the number of people being trained through the medium of Welsh?

Well, as you'll be aware, Suzy, we have been trying to do a great deal of work in this area. We do have targets in place, and to be honest, we're having difficulty in delivering those targets when it comes to increasing the number of teachers, particularly in secondary schools. That is why we have provided an additional £5,000 to people who are training to teach through the medium of Welsh, so that we can encourage more of them to take an interest in providing that service. We've provided an additional £150,000 to see whether we can get more children to take an interest in taking A-levels through the medium of Welsh. And also it's possible now for people to train as teachers through distance learning and that, hopefully, will be—. It's a new initiative that is now available, so that those living in, for example, Ceredigion don't have to go away to college but can train to become a teacher remotely. So, we're doing all that we can. I am always asking whether there are additional ideas out there in terms of what we should be doing, and so, if there are ideas out there, then I would be more than happy to listen to those because we are having difficulty in this area.

Thank you for that. I know that it is difficult, but I was wondering whether you'd be interested in degree-level apprenticeships, for example, for teachers who come via different vocational backgrounds rather than through the academic system that we're seeing at the moment. That could be something to be considered.

I'd like to move on now to another issue. Almost immediately after the beginning of lockdown, we heard that the demand for online taster sessions from the National Centre for Learning Welsh had increased. That was very good news. Now, I understand that there are delays in providing data across your policy areas, but perhaps you can confirm that you may have caught up with that. So, can you tell us to what extent that early interest in the courses has remained? What actually works in retaining those learners so that they persevere with learning Welsh?

Thank you very much. We have seen a huge increase in the number of people who did take an interest in learning Welsh, and that didn't just happen through the National Centre for Learning Welsh. You will be aware that Duolingo and Say Something in Welsh and many other services have seen these increases, and these are all things that we welcome, of course. The question, as you said, is whether people will continue to learn as the pandemic comes to an end, and that's the challenge. We don't yet know, but certainly that initial surge in interest has been maintained. But I don't have the latest data to see whether people have persevered through the period, and, of course, I can come back to you with details on that if that would be of assistance.

Yes, thank you for that. I hope you will be able to share any new data that shows any progress on the Cymraeg 2050 target, including any new ideas that we may not have considered in the past and which would work.

I'd now like to look particularly at any progress in Welsh language apprenticeships, and how we can mainstream more Welsh language skills in English-medium apprenticeships. We will be focusing on vocational apprenticeships towards excellence in the Welsh Conservatives manifesto, because we see this as a way of delivering the Cymraeg 2050 targets in terms of creating an inclusive and appropriate space for increasing the use of the Welsh language on a daily basis in the workplace.

I'm sure you will have looked at the Senedd official languages scheme, because there are very good ideas contained within it, But could you tell us how many Welsh language or bilingual apprenticeships we have lost as a result of COVID, and what are you doing to broaden the Welsh-medium apprenticeship sectors beyond Mudiad Meithrin, the Urdd, and so on, whilst also retaining those?

Thank you very much. I think there is scope for us to see what more can be done in order to encourage people to dip their toe into learning Welsh, and that's why I appreciate what some schools are doing, which is that they ask teaching assistants to assist. There are projects in some schools where they ask sixth-formers to return for the following year so that they get a taste for teaching. I hope that will encourage more people to take an interest in undertaking teacher training, and to teach through the medium of Welsh.

Now of course, in terms of apprenticeships, at the moment—and we're still at the early stages in this—through the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, what we have done is to focus on a few specific areas. One is childcare and the other is elder care. Therefore, our provision is focused in those areas at the moment.

In terms of Welsh language apprenticeships, one of the problems we had, of course, was that many of the apprenticeships were with the Urdd, and, of course, the Urdd has suffered a great deal during this pandemic and so it's been very difficult for them, particularly in terms of sports apprenticeships. It's been a tragedy to see that, and we are having regular discussions with the Urdd to see what we can do to assist them, because in the past they could use funding that came from their residential centres to help pay for the core funding for apprenticeships. So, we're still in discussion with the Urdd as to whether we could do more in that area, because they do excellent work.