Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 9 February 2022.
Could I identify with the sentiments of the Member for Ogmore and also the Minister's comments this afternoon? Could I also question the Minister on the reports today on the BBC Wales Live programme about homophobic insults and attacks within the education system? Sadly, they're identifying an increase in that via the Estyn reports that are coming from the inspections that have been undertaken. We can talk all we want about action plans, and I'm sure they're put with the best intention in the world, but the reality is, from the real-life experiences, sadly, people who are going into some of our education establishments are experiencing homophobic attacks. Regrettably, the report does indicate that, where the teaching profession are made aware of these, there is a lack of experience, in some instances, of them being able to deal with them in a sensitive manner. Can you confirm that you work collaboratively with the education department to make sure that—you alluded to this earlier—this silo working isn't happening in Government, and where these concerns are raised by Estyn or other organisations, they are dealt with appropriately and the support and help is put before our teachers, so that when they do get presented with such reports, they are dealt with?