3. Will the Minister make a statement on COVID-19 safety measures in schools? OQ56807

May I thank Siân Gwenllian for that question, Llywydd? The latest advice on COVID-19 safety measures in schools was published on Friday 27 August. It sets out specific actions to reflect local risk and circumstances. All schools are expected to adopt the approach set out in the advice by 20 September.

On bank holiday Monday, the Minister for education announced a budget of over £3 million for the provision of 1,800 ozone disinfectant machines in our schools, colleges and universities. Two days later, following calls for assurances on the safety of the equipment from Plaid Cymru and others, it became apparent that Ministers had carried out a u-turn on that decision. Can you explain the process that led to that contentious decision to procure and use those machines, and what was behind the decision not to purchase those? Now, would you agree with me that the Government should conduct a review of the process of making these decisions on ozone equipment, and will the Government now provide a focus on ventilation, including providing air-filtration machines used a great deal in other nations?

Well, Llywydd, the origin of the ozone approach to cleanliness comes through work carried out at Swansea University, carried out with an innovation grant from the Welsh Government. The work at Swansea University was focused on the efficiency of using ozone as a cleaning agent in the cleaning of ambulances, and the result of that innovative programme was thought to be successful. It had demonstrated that ozone disinfecting machines had a part to play in making the cleaning of ambulances as effective as it could be and that the learning that had been acquired in that field could be translated to help support schools in their cleaning efforts. That's what the original press release from the Welsh Government referred to. Now, having published that idea, there were, as Siân Gwenllian said, a number of concerns raised as to whether or not the effectiveness of the approach that Swansea University had developed in the ambulance context could simply be translated into school cleaning as well. Because of the concerns raised, we decided that the sensible thing to do was to pause in that programme—no actual machines had been procured at that point—and to get further advice from Swansea University itself, but also from our own technical advisory group, as an independent voice on all of that, to see whether the use of ozone disinfecting machines do present a new technological possibility for cleaning in education settings. There's a rapid review being carried out by the technical advisory cell, therefore, of the technology, of its possibility, because we would not, of course, want to proceed until we were certain that the benefits of doing so had been maximised and any risks mitigated, and that we were able to share that evidence with people who work in the field.

In the meantime, I agree with what Siân Gwenllian said at the end of her question, Llywydd, that of course we need to go on looking for effective ways in making sure that schools are safe. We've invested considerable amounts of money on enhanced cleaning regimes in schools in Wales over the period of the pandemic and through our school social partnership arrangements, we go on working with our partners to make sure that we have the highest possible standards of cleanliness and of safety in schools for teachers, other staff and students alike.

First Minister, just on the back of that, quickly, I'd like to say, moving forward now, we need to make sure that the Government—it's absolutely paramount that they're forthcoming with any risk assessments on any proposals such as the ozone machines.

First Minister, on safety, due to the massive disruptions over the last year, our emphasis needs to be on keeping children in the classroom as much as possible to prevent further disruption to their education. Headteachers have, however, and constituents raised understandable concerns over children advised to still attend schools when they have tested negative on a lateral flow test but a member of their household has tested positive for COVID-19. We obviously need to ensure schools are a safe environment and to help stop the spread, so can you reassure headteachers and families why your Government's advice is as it is on this and whether you're looking to make any changes to Government advice in this regard?

I thank Laura Jones for that point, which I know has been of concern to some parents, and there are some local authorities who have taken a particular view and provided advice to their own schools on it. The advice of the Welsh Government does remain in place, but, as I said in my answer to Siân Gwenllian's question, we meet regularly through the schools partnership forum. Local authorities are represented there, as are the teacher unions, including headteacher unions, and there will be opportunities this month for that issue and any other issues that have emerged as schools return in September to be considered and a shared approach to them developed.

The good news about the forum, Llywydd, is this: that it starts with a shared belief of all participants that our ambition should be to make sure that the education of our young people is disrupted to the least possible extent during this term, given everything that they've had to live through over the last 18 months, and, of course, we work with partners to try and make sure that everything practical is in place to secure that outcome.

I just want to go back to these ozone disinfecting machines, because I completely understand the rationale for using them in ambulances; these are very expensive pieces of capital equipment and are required to be used 24 hours a day, and ambulance operators are highly trained in the use of complex pieces of equipment. But I struggle to understand how we'd be able to translate that technology into a really different context to be operated by school cleaners, who are very important members of the school community but, in the main, they have had little or no training of any sort at all. So, what training do you think would be required to enable ozone disinfecting machines to be operated safely as a method of cleansing classrooms of COVID?

Well, it's an important point that Jenny Rathbone makes, Llywydd. Of course, were the outcome of the TAC review to be that ozone cleaning machines have a part to play in the school context, then they would have to be properly prepared, and that would include the training of staff to make sure they can be used safely and effectively. School cleaning staff already use sophisticated equipment in many of our schools, but they only do so because they've been properly prepared and equipped for that task. I'm quite sure that if, and it is a very open question—if the technical advisory cell do conclude that this new innovative technology can have a more widespread use, then making sure that it is deployed safely and with all the training that will be needed will, I'm sure, be part of the advice that they will give us.