I just wanted to follow on from what was said by the Tory spokesman on the foundation stage and primary schools. I just wanted to look at the most important sector, in my view, which is the early years sector, because that is when you can make the most difference in terms of disadvantage. 

I suppose the first thing I'd like to say is that I am concerned about the reduction in non-statutory nursery education from the height of over 700 providers to just over 500 in July last year. It might not be that that is so worrying if it has led to an increase in the statutory sector of nursery education provision, and perhaps the education Minister could clarify that, but in the context of our ambition to expand the early years sector and increase the provision for two-year-olds as well as three and four-year-olds, that is potentially a pretty serious issue.

I obviously am also concerned, as others are, about the impact of the pandemic, particularly on the youngest children who don't live in houses with lots of lovely garden space, because for them the consequences will have been devastating. Trying to teach and provide an alternative education through a screen for two, three and four-year-olds—well, good luck on that one, because it really is very difficult to engage their attention online for more than a few moments. I think that one of the biggest concerns is the decline in behaviour, the physical skills and the speech and language difficulties, which of course lead to frustration, because any child who cannot express themselves is bound to take it out in poor behaviour.

There are some positives from the Estyn report, which is always great to read about, which is making a virtue out of the need to have more education outdoors, because obviously having education outdoors massively reduces the risk of contracting COVID. It was great to read about the good work being done in Denbighshire, Wrexham and Llanidloes to really increase the wealth of understanding that young people can get from the outdoors, as well as encouraging, during the lockdown, parents' learning by providing the right tools to encourage parents to take their kids out and help their learning, just by standing on the grass with bare feet. 

I think there's a worrying concern as well in relation to early years, which is that many settings didn't accept college students or apprentices this year, which obviously leads to even greater challenges for getting appropriately qualified staff for our endeavours in expanding the early years sector. These are clearly quite worrying issues and produce significant challenges for us moving forward.