5. What action is Welsh Government taking to improve access to Welsh-medium early years provision? OQ57713

Working with partners, including local authorities and Mudiad Meithrin, we are making significant investment in Welsh-medium early years provision via our capital grants, the Sefydlu a Symud programme, and our investment in the workforce. We also fund Welsh-medium places through Flying Start, the childcare offer, and our early education provision.

Thank you, Minister, for that answer. Now, Cynon valley has a number of flourishing meithrins, in Penderyn, Aberdare, Mountain Ash and Abercynon, and it is important that they are sustainable and can access suitably qualified staff. The extra financial support from Welsh Government for meithrins that you announced a little while ago is of course very welcome, and I know you referred to Cam wrth Gam in your statement on St David's Day yesterday, setting out the ambition of the Government to nurture the Welsh language. But can you provide a little more information on how Welsh Government is working to encourage, promote and support people into careers in Welsh-medium childcare?

I thank the Member for that really important supplementary question. The last meeting I had before coming into the Chamber today was in fact with the Deputy Minister for Social Services, who was reviewing the 10-year workforce plan for the sector, and identifying with her what more we can do to encourage young people into Welsh language provision in early years settings more broadly. But there is a broad and varied programme of support in place for the childcare, play-work and early years workforce in relation to learning and improving Welsh, which includes programmes like Camau, which is an online, entry level self-study course, and accessing workplace learning. There are also a number of options open to people considering joining the childcare sector, with apprenticeships and full and part-time courses available both in Welsh and in English. We're aware, obviously, as her question implies, that the number undertaking those courses through the medium of Welsh is lower than we want them to be, and we'll be working to improve this over the course of the Senedd term.

Minister, yesterday the Welsh Government announced funding for 11 capital projects to expand Welsh-medium education, and I am pleased to see £2.5 million being allocated to Ysgol Caer Elen in my constituency to fund an additional 60 Welsh-medium placements for children in the longer term. This funding is to be welcomed and certainly will help to improve access to Welsh-medium education in Pembrokeshire, although it is very important that children can access early years provision through the medium of Welsh in all parts of the county. So, can you provide us with an update on the discussions that you've had with Pembrokeshire County Council on improving access to Welsh-medium education? And can you also tell us what discussions have taken place with Mudiad Meithrin, who also played an important part in introducing families to the Welsh language through the Cylch Ti a Fi and Clwb Cwtsh schemes, for example?

Of course, the authority has introduced the Welsh in education strategic plan for me to approve, and I'm looking at that at the moment. Every authority in Wales has been asked to be ambitious in terms of what they provide in terms of Welsh-medium education through the next decade. For the first time, we can go to a 10-year plan and I think that that will facilitate linguistic planning, including our schools, of course, but also the early years.

We have an investment scheme with Mudiad Meithrin over this Senedd term. We've reached the latest aim of 43. Twelve are being opened in this financial year as part of 60 over this Senedd term. We know that the chance that someone will go forward to Welsh-medium education is much higher if they've been in Welsh-medium early years education, so I do share with the Member that priority.