Therefore, I now ask the Minister for Education to move the motions. Kirsty Williams.

Motion NNDM7684 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5, approves that the draft The Additional Learning Needs Code for Wales 2021 is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 18 March 2021.

Motion NDM7665 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves that the draft The Additional Learning Needs (Wales) Regulations 2021 are made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 12 March 2021.

Motion NNDM7685 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5, approves that the draft The Equality Act 2010 (Capacity of parents and persons over compulsory school age) (Wales) Regulations 2021 is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 18 March 2021.

Motion NDM7662 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves that the draft The Education Tribunal for Wales Regulations 2021 are made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 2 March 2021.

Motions moved.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and apologies. I was going to explain to colleagues about why we needed to suspend the Standing Orders, but I'm grateful for colleagues allowing that to happen so that this debate can now go ahead. I'm very grateful for the work of Mick Antoniw and his committee that have turned around their scrutiny of these Orders just yesterday. I'm grateful to them.

In 2016, Deputy Presiding Officer, this Government introduced ambitious new legislation that paved the way for a pioneering system for supporting children and young people with additional learning needs, namely the Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal (Wales) Bill, which became an Act in 2018. The Act represented the first step in the ALN transformation programme and the first step towards achieving a long-standing commitment and key priority for this Government, to reform the existing special educational needs system in Wales, a system that is over 30 years old and presents significant challenges for learners and their families. Since the consultation on the draft of the ALN code and regulations back in 2019, we've worked with key stakeholders to co-construct and help shape the subordinate legislation to maximise the positive impact it will have on children and young people with ALN, and today I'm very pleased to be able to present Members with the resulting ALN code and regulations.

As colleagues will know, almost a quarter of all children and young people in our schools and colleges will have some form of ALN during their educational life. Our ALN transformation programme aims to ensure that those learners are supported to achieve their full potential, and to ensure that they can have aspirations for their learning, to dream big and with confidence that, whatever route they take in life and their learning, they will be supported to do so. It will also improve the planning and delivery of support for learners with ALN from the ages of zero to 25, creating a person-centred approach and placing their needs, views, wishes and feelings at the very heart of the process. Finally, it will focus on the importance of identifying needs early and putting in place timely and effective interventions that are monitored and adapted to ensure that they deliver the desired outcomes for the individual learner. Having a suitable legislative framework in place to support learners to thrive and reach their full potential whilst recognising and accommodating their needs is essential, and to achieve this, we need to ensure our service providers have clear law and guidance to support them in meeting their duties. This is fundamental for ensuring that providers are able to deliver that timely and effective additional learning provision to those who require it, which we would all wish to see.

The ALN code and regulations presented to you today provide that clear law and guidance and represent another step forward to the delivery of a much-improved and consistent system for meeting the needs of learners with ALN, something that is crucial for increasing the life chances of some of our most vulnerable learners. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you. Can I now call on the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Mick Antoniw?

Thank you again, Dirprwy Lywydd. These regulations do, of course, form an important part of the devolved administrative justice system that we have and that is developing within Wales. We considered these regulations at our meeting yesterday morning, and our reports on all four sets of regulations have been laid to assist with this afternoon’s debate. My comments this afternoon will just focus on the additional learning needs regulations and the education tribunal for Wales regulations.

Our report on the ALN regulations contains just one merits point. The explanatory memorandum to the regulations is a composite document that seeks to cover the suite of regulations and associated code of practice, which were issued concurrently. We noted that the explanatory memorandum covers in detail the consultation outcomes, the justice impact assessment and detailed regulatory impact assessment. However, and bearing in mind the subject matter of the regulations, it was unclear to us whether the detailed equality and human rights impact assessments were also carried out. If relevant impact assessments have been carried out, we said it would be helpful to include reference to them and their findings in the explanatory memorandum to assess the proportionality of the regulations.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

In response to our reporting point, the Welsh Government has confirmed that it did undertake an equality impact assessment as part of the integrated impact assessment for the package of regulations that are before us today. The Welsh Government has also provided details of where the summary of that integrated impact assessment can be found on its web pages, for which we are grateful.

Turning now to the education tribunal regulations, our report on the regulations contains five technical points and one merits point. Dealing with the merits point first, our report notes that these regulations, which come into force on 1 September 2021, contain references to provisions in the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 that have not yet been commenced. The relevant provisions of the 2018 Act will therefore need to be brought into force by 1 September by the Welsh Ministers in order for the relevant provisions of these regulations to operate effectively.

Four of our technical reporting points relate to issues of possible defective drafting. The Welsh Government has looked into our concerns and, in its view, it does not consider that any of the four points we raise do amount to defective provisions in the regulations. Our fifth technical reporting point noted that while regulation 64 is included under the general heading of 'children who lack capacity and case friends', regulation 64 does not appear to be related to this heading. We suggested that regulation 64 relates instead to recommendations of the education tribunal to an NHS body. While we accept that headings in regulations do not have legal effect, we raised this point in the event that there may be confusion for the reader. In response, the Welsh Government has confirmed that it will seek to remedy this matter via a correction slip. Diolch, Llywydd.

Before I go on to the code itself, I wonder if I could just highlight the equality Act regulations being discussed today, because they bring extra protection to young people who challenge their school, via an advocate if necessary, on discrimination grounds. And I raise it because the ALN code has also improved its content as regards mental capacity in the new chapter 31. What's interesting, of course, about the equality Act regulations is that they too capture young people beyond compulsory school age. And I appreciate that the legislation covers young people up to the age of 25 if needed, but COVID has shown us quite how fragile and fragmented the education stage can be for post-16-year-olds without disabilities if we're not careful, and I wonder if the time has come to finally extend the age of compulsory education or training to 18.

I think such a move would also resolve an outstanding issue with the code itself, which is secure, safe and accessible transport provision for young people with ALN who are beyond compulsory school age, but still attend, and perhaps some of the other concerns raised by Natspec and the Third Sector Additional Needs Alliance. You'll know, Minister, there remains some anxiety about the accountability for transition to post-compulsory education, as well as post-education lives, particularly in terms of careers advice, which needs to be more specialist, rather than less. These organisations worry that lack of clarity and accountability could lead to late decision making, poorly planned transitions, the danger of placement breakdowns, and an increase in tribunals and the number of young people not in education, employment or training. I can see that the work has been done on this, but the Children, Young People and Education Committee was quite clear that that work cannot just result in a tokenistic response.

Further, on the code itself, I thank the Minister for taking on board some of the recommendations of CYPE on the draft code—recommendations that we made after a thorough consultation of our own. The material on ALNCOs has improved, but the sector has pointed out that there is still a clarity gap between guidance and how to implement that guidance, and while I completely understand your reluctance to be prescriptive, as every authority is different, it's going to be interesting, at the first review of the roll-out, to see where the inconsistencies are and how children are affected. Inconsistency and lack of resource, both human and financial, will remain the threat to the success of the Act.

Finally, I'm very pleased to see the baking in of the need for educational psychologists in these regulations, Minister. As Bridgend council in my region is considering having to get rid of some of theirs, an early e-mail to their chief executive there would be extremely welcome. So, we will be supporting these motions on the basis that the concerns raised on behalf of children and young people with ALN will not be forgotten, that the code will be tested in practice and data captured rigorously, and that any changes identified will be made swiftly. And it will take a future finance Minister to be willing to commit the money as well, I think. The code still gives authorities wiggle room to make decisions that are finance driven, which was, of course, one of the major complaints about the SEN system. All of us want this Act to work, so that our most vulnerable children and young people, and their families, have futures to look forward to. Diolch.

Stakeholders in this area have raised and continue to raise a number of concerns about this code, including the quality of information and advice, transition and the post-16 situation, qualifications of co-ordinators and the fact that the code isn't a code of practice, the appeals process, and the review timescale. That's a long list of concerns, and the Government need to respond to each and every one of them and to provide greater assurances to key stakeholders. I'm not going to ask you to cover each of the issues that I've listed this afternoon, clearly, or we'd be here for hours, but can you give the Senedd an assurance that these valid concerns are not going to be brushed under the carpet, and can you tell us what arrangements will be put in place in order to mitigate some of these concerns?

At the moment, there are around 100,000, or 21 per cent, of school-age children who are defined as having special educational needs, as was the term in the old system. The Welsh Government expected that the number of school pupils who would receive support under the new system—the additional learning needs system—would be similar to the number currently supported, but I'm hearing from a number of teachers and experts that there is concern that the pandemic has created a situation where there will be far more children who will require additional support, but, because of the new definition, it will be more difficult for them to access that support. What is your response to that, and how will the rest of the system cope with these new challenges in terms of more children possibly requiring support in dealing with additional learning needs as a result of the pandemic?

And to conclude, I will just mention one of the concerns that I raised earlier, namely the fact that the code isn't a code of practice and that it's therefore open to broad interpretation. That could have a detrimental impact on young people who have low-level needs, and high-level needs, and that there is an open door to a postcode lottery in the provision. And although the tribunal provisions are in place to challenge decisions made, parents will need some perseverance in challenging decisions, and, once again, it's the poorest families who will not be able to find their way through a complex system. Thank you.

I think future generations will have a great deal to thank this Minister for. The reforms that she has made in five years will stand the test of time. By laying these regulations and this code today, she will also make sure that no child is left behind, and that is an extraordinary record of a single parliamentary term.

When we introduced the legislation back in 2016, there was clear ambition—clear ambition—to ensure that our education system catered for everybody, whatever their needs, whatever their requirements, and that education was open to all and that all had the same opportunity to fulfil their potential. The legislation laid down the basis of this system, and this code delivers it. I'm very proud to have played my part in taking some of this legislation through. It's worth noting, at this final stage of this process, that the Minister in place today stood and worked hard with me and alongside me in doing so. We had the full support of her office in every step that we took and in every debate and discussion that we had, and it's worth reflecting, as we, I hope, all join together to vote for this code today, that this is putting some learners who have to face and overcome some of the greatest possible difficulties in learning at the centre of what we do and what we achieve. The code has not been invented in Cathays Park but has been created by the conversations up and down Wales with people who deliver education and not simply talk about it, with parents and with learners, talking together, listening together and learning together. I saw and I took part in some of those conversations, and I've also seen how the Minister today has driven this process through with the same determination and the same foresight as we've seen on other matters.

So, I will be very proud to support this code this afternoon, very proud to vote for this legislation, very proud to vote to put learners who have additional learning needs at the centre of our journey, and very proud, also, to put on record my own thanks and gratitude to the Minister for making this happen.

The Minister for Education to reply to the debate—Kirsty Williams.

Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Could I thank colleagues for their comments and acknowledge the work that Alun Davies did on the ALN Bill when he was serving as my deputy in the education department? I'm very grateful for that and I know his own personal commitment to this agenda.

Suzy and Siân Gwenllian raised a number of issues. Can I just try and respond, as briefly as I can, Presiding Officer? I see the hour is late. With regard to transport, the provision for transport falls under a separate law, namely the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008. However, the ALN code provides for a section in the individual development plan standard form in which to record travel arrangements where this may be appropriate. Can I say, that was not something that was in the original code, but was changed as a result of conversations and consultation to address concerns that were raised? And I'm also very keen to assure Members that I do not believe that the reforms will raise the bar for the provision of an IDP. The test to decide who has ALN has not changed, and the person-centred approach that is the central principle of the system is there, and therefore I don't believe that learners with lower levels of ALN will be disadvantaged in any way. And, rest assured, children under the new ALN system who are identified as having ALN will be entitled to an IDP.

With regard to the issue of compulsory school leaving age, Suzy, I would refer you to a piece of work that I commissioned as independent policy research to look at the compulsory age. It was published on the Welsh Government website, I believe, last month. It's an interim review of the evidence out there, across the world, as to whether compulsory school age should be raised. I have to say, I was somewhat surprised by the findings, and of course time has worked against me to be able to push that forward. But I think it certainly is a debate that will need to be picked up in the next term, and hopefully the work that has been done in this term will help inform next steps in that regard.

As Alun Davies said, the whole emphasis in this new legislation is to ensure that all of those who work with our children with ALN have the right skills and can use the system, and this code is an important part of that, in making the Act real for people. Five ALN transformation leads have been in place since 2018, providing advice, support and challenge to local authorities, schools, early years settings and FE institutions as they prepare for the implementation of the reforms. Our ALN transformation leads will also be there monitoring implementation of the new system on the ground and being able to feed back as to whether there are changes that would need to be made.

With your approval today, I think it will mark an important next step in our reform agenda here in Wales, and will have a clear signal to the nation that the Senedd has worked hard, alongside the Government, to secure the best outcomes and opportunities for children and young people with ALN. I would urge Members to show their support this afternoon. Thank you.

The proposal is to agree the motion under item 8. Does any Member object? I can't see any objections, and therefore the motion is agreed, in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

The next item is item 12, the Official Statistics (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2021. I call on the Minister for finance.

Diolch, Llywydd. I am pleased to introduce—

Sorry, can I cut across you? I'm sorry, Minister, I've—. Ah yes, I see what I've done. I've skipped through too quickly. I need to ask about all the motions that were debated during the last debate.

I will go through them one by one. The proposal is to agree the motion under item 9. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes, there is objection, and therefore I will defer voting until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.

The proposal is that the motion under item 10 be agreed. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes, there is again objection, and therefore I'll defer voting on item 10 until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.

So finally, the proposal is to agree the motion under item 11. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes, there is an objection, and therefore we'll defer that item to voting time too.

Voting deferred until voting time.