Questions now from the party spokespeople. Conservative spokesperson, Laura Anne Jones.

Diolch, Presiding Officer. Minister, I could ask you a myriad of things today, on free school meals, the Queen's jubilee book, exams, as my colleague just outlined, or anything, but I have some really pressing matters I wish you to address. It has come to light during our peer-on-peer sexual harassment review that we're holding currently in the Children, Young People, and Education Committee that there has been no-one commissioned by this Government to collect evidence on the impact that it's had on home-schooled children. This obviously started alarm bells ringing with me, as Wales has seen an uptake in home-schooled children over the past two years. So, one could say that this evidence is actually vital, and leads to further questions on what evidence there is on home-schooled children full stop. So, Professor Renold, who was commissioned by your Government, made it clear that there is no evidence, and, to quote her, she said there absolutely needs to be. So, do you have evidence, Minister, on home-schooled children and how they've been affected, not just by peer-on-peer sexual harassment, but by the pandemic and more generally? And what protections are there in place for these children whilst being home schooled?

The Member asks a very important question about a very serious matter. And she's right, obviously, to identify the fact that it is more challenging to be able to understand the experience of home-schooled children, which is why we are keen to make sure that children are being taught in school with their peers, subject to the safeguarding regime that all schools operate.

She will know that the work that we had in train to bring forward legislation to update the home-schooling laws has been postponed effectively, or paused effectively, due to COVID. But I can say that we are looking to bring forward legislation in this space—hopefully to be bringing forward legislation this summer—which would have the intention that it would be in place by next year, which would strengthen the tools available to local authorities in this area.

Thank you, Minister. As you know, Minister, the Welsh Government announced an independent review of educational leadership last year. The leadership review was completed last autumn, only it hasn't been published. Minister, simply: when will you be releasing this report and why have you been sitting on it for so long?

Well, I have not been sitting on it. The point that the Member makes is very important. We know—and she will recall from my statement last week in relation to ensuring that we have a system that delivers high standards and aspirations for all our learners—that one of the key contributors to that is school leadership and that good leadership in schools is able to make a significant difference. So, this Government absolutely sets that as a priority. The work with the National Academy for Educational Leadership in this space is testament to that. I will be bringing forward further statements in relation to leadership in the summer term.

Minister, it isn't good enough that this report has been sat on and hidden away for so long. We were told during the announcement of the review that the

'Leadership Review will inform future developments and provide clarity on the support we have for school leaders across the system, and the support they will need to enable them to realise the new curriculum.'

We were also told that it would be released late last year, right here in your Government's own press release—this particular report, Minister. Why has it not been released, Minister? Is it because the report is pretty damning about the regional consortia and thus, by association, this Government's leadership of education in Wales? Minister, it's a simple 'yes' or 'no' on this one: will you commit to releasing that particular report immediately?

As I said to the Member in my earlier response, I plan to bring forward a statement in the summer term on leadership and that will lay out our position at that time.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Heledd Fychan.

Thank you, Llywydd. Minister, the most recent annual report on 'Cymraeg 2050', published last month, notes that there are now 19 immersion centres and three secondary centres across 10 counties in Wales, with counties providing late immersion support for learners across a range of ages. Also, last month, Estyn published a thematic report on Welsh immersion education, and this lists the Welsh language immersion centres in Wales and makes clear that there is a lack of immersion centres in 12 local authorities—and even where there are such centres, the overall number of the centres is small.

As the Minister has acknowledged, late immersion provision is vital as we work towards creating a million Welsh speakers, and even though £2.2 million has been announced to support immersion in the Welsh language, and eight local authority areas have created their first late immersion centres, there is still a great need in this regard across Wales. So, what progress has been made, Minister, following this, in terms of increasing the number of immersion centres across local authorities in Wales, and is the £2.2 million allocated going to be enough to meet the need in a way that is equal and consistent across Wales?

Well, the question—. I thank the Member for the recognition of that investment of £2.2 million this year. That investment, of course, is a major step forward. I have committed to ensuring that we support the immersion sector because of the crucial role that immersion has in providing equal access to Welsh-medium education.

There are a number of opportunities here. What we have seen with the allocation of the grant of just over £2 million is that there is interest in all parts of Wales to increase provision. Not all authorities are in the same place in terms of their pathway towards that. Some are innovating and leading the way, and providing an example perhaps to other parts of Wales so that they can learn those lessons. And that's encouraging in and of itself, but every local authority has shown an interest, but perhaps the interest differs from one area to another. Some are expanding provision, others are employing more staff so that they can start on that journey, but the picture of progress is shared across Wales.

Diolch, Weinidog. On a similar theme, Samuel Kurtz referenced his constituent earlier, describing ALN as 'a postcode lottery', and, as you will be fully aware, one of the core aims of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 is for a bilingual system. Concerns were raised during the Act's journey through the Senedd, primarily on the availability of ALN services through the medium of Welsh and the capacity of the system to meet demand. That is to say whether the necessary workforce is in place to ensure equal access to Welsh-medium ALN provision.

In terms of current provision, where more specialist support is required, such as that from educational psychologists or speech and language therapists, this is not always available in Welsh, due to a lack of sufficient numbers of trained professionals in a given local area. Again, this differs between different local authorities. I welcome the funding that's been provided for ALN, including the £18 million additional funding for this financial year, but I'd like to ask the Minister: how much investment is being put into ensuring that the ALN system is truly bilingual, by increasing the capacity of educational centres and boosting the Welsh-medium ALN workforce? 

Well, I think the point the Member makes about the—. Clearly, it is essential to be able to provide additional learning needs services and support in both Welsh and in English. So, the question about recruitment is part of a broader set of challenges that we've discussed previously in the Chamber, and that is part of the recruitment plan that we will be bringing forward in the next few weeks.

In relation to the question of educational psychologists in particular, we've been keen to make sure that the funding provided to support that study in Wales also encourages those who practice it through study to remain practising in Wales, and we hope that will attract Welsh speakers as well obviously, and to make sure they continue to work and practise in Wales, because the challenge that the Member describes in that area is a genuine challenge.

In relation to—. 

In looking at the resources available to support provision, as part of their Welsh in education strategic plans, it is a requirement on all local authorities to describe what they are doing in order to ensure that resources are available through the medium of Welsh, based on the review carried out by all authorities under the additional learning needs legislation. So, that's part of the WESPs. And, more broadly, work is already in train to ensure a licensing agreement with commercial publishing companies to get Welsh versions of ALN resources, such as dyslexia tests and speech and language therapy resources. So, that work is ongoing at the moment.