Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. I want to start by saying that I'm grateful to Plaid for bringing forward this debate today. The cost-of-living crisis is something that we're all majorly concerned about, and it'll no doubt have an impact on learners and schools in the coming months. On top of the 22 years of failure from the Welsh Government to bring children out of poverty, with 200,000 children still being in poverty in Wales, it is important that we have this debate.  

We support today's motion laid before us, and I just would like to ask Plaid Cymru if they will accept and acknowledge our amendment as an addition to the original motion, as we believe that this amendment will make it stronger and reinforces the point that you're trying to make here today. 

Point 1 of this motion notes that the cost-of-living crisis has had a particular effect on schools and children. We of course have had the free breakfast schemes and the free school meals available in our schools—soon to be universal—and, as was raised in the Chamber earlier, we need to not only ensure these meals continue to be nutritious, but that they are actually available to all in all schools, and ensure that children can access the support that they need above and beyond the current free-school-meal identified children.

We all know that a mix of inflation, knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine and the exit from the pandemic is bound to have a drastic effect on our economy. So, many will be affected right now, and there needs to be a focus on supporting the most vulnerable families and children in schools so no-one slips through the net. A more targeted approach, perhaps, is needed, particularly due to the move to universal school meals. 

The current cost-of-living situation in Wales has increased stress and tension around family finances and significant consequences for children and young people, who are facing more mental health challenges as a result. This is only going to exacerbate the mental health crisis Welsh students are already facing, and it was only yesterday that the First Minister admitted that mental health delivery is way behind where it should be. 

The cost-of-living crisis is having a significant impact upon families across Wales and the wider world, like Germany and the USA, so not just the UK, with more and more families facing hardship, being on the edge or living in poverty. In the most recent UK-wide Barnardo's practitioners' survey, published in March 2022, 68 per cent of respondents said that the top issue they were concerned about in schools was the lack of support and resources, and 59 per cent cited mental health and well-being issues.

Point 2 of the motion calls on the Welsh Government to increase efforts to ensure measures to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds in schools are implemented as effectively as possible, so I'm pleased that the Minister for education has announced that the pupil development grant access scheme will be raised for one year by £100 per learner. And this is all well and good, but there needs to be greater awareness of the scheme, as again was raised earlier in this Chamber, and also the problem about it being accessible to all, due to the fact that you have to apply online for it.

It is great to see, finally, that the Welsh Government have now followed the UK Government in giving support to households by announcing measures to counteract the cost-of-living crisis that we all face. However, in the move to universal school meals, we must ensure that the pupil development grant identifying doesn't get lost in transition, and that we have a method just as effective for identifying those in most need.

Although this is a much needed and welcome start, there is still much more that needs to be done, like improving the signposting of the pupil development grant, as pointed out in sub-note 2(c). It is crucial that the Welsh Government work hard to provide further support for schools to include money for trips and activities, as was outlined by a Plaid Member earlier, for all, and to ensure consistent practice across Wales, as sub-point (e) mentions.

Currently, we have an unacceptable situation, where parents have to fork out huge costs for school trips and to go and play sport in other schools, or whatever it might be, and many other things that were mentioned, and it's not a situation that can carry on, because it does highlight those children who don't have a lot of money and then have to say that they can't join in those activities. And it's something that happens now, and I've seen it through my children going to school, and I've seen their friends not being able to do things, and it's not good enough, that situation—it can't carry on. And of course now it's exacerbated by the situation we're now facing.

I, myself, have really struggled as a single mother with my first child, so I'm all too aware that this Government needs to reach those areas that we're not reaching at the moment because of the postcode lottery of a lot of schemes that are available. Also, we need to ensure that as well as free-school-meal children, we are reaching those low-income families with working parents, who are so often overlooked. It seems that we've had initiatives over the last 22 years, yet, as I said at the beginning, 200,000 children are still in poverty, and it seems that we have in fact just put sticking-plaster solutions, rather than really identifying what's going on underneath. Thank you.