Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:35 pm on 2 November 2021.
I disagree that sustainable communities for learning will cost more in the long term, because there may be a short-term cost, as builders become familiar with all the new ways of building that we've already demonstrated can work in social housing, but, in the longer term, I agree absolutely with the Minister—we cannot afford to do nothing, simply because schools will simply be left with massive energy bills and water bills that they could otherwise be spending on books and learning. So, I absolutely welcome the statement from the Minister.
There's a great deal that we're going to need to do, but there are an awful lot of schools with generous parcels of land attached that have really boring outdoor learning environments, and they can do more about that without massive sums of money, they've just got to give their thought to it. And just think that, instead of having to spend £600 a year on a school bus, you could spend £600—sorry, £400 a year—on buying a bike. The long-term benefits to the individual and to that family are just huge. I do think that special attention needs to be given to the Victorian or Edwardian inner-city schools, because retrofitting is going to be really complicated and, in addition to that, they don't have the capacity to expand, because they're surrounded by other buildings, so creating the learning environment that we need to ensure that all young people realise the challenges and the opportunities of the net-zero Wales is just that much more challenging.
So, I suppose I want to know how you're going to use all this excellent initiative to ensure that new green jobs are not just for those who are the academically less able, but are for everybody, that this is the future if we are really going to make a difference to our society: good design, good buildings, good communities. So, therefore, there's an awful lot of work that needs to be done in schools.