Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:25 pm on 17 May 2022.
Gweinidog, I'm going to raise school admissions also, because I've been contacted by constituents from Cardiff and also the Vale of Glamorgan. They've contacted their local authorities, they've contacted schools, and they've just had no replies, or no information, or just simply saying the school that they wanted, the closest school that they want to attend, is full. Before being elected here, I used to deal fairly regularly on a pro-bono basis with schools admissions and, surprisingly, the law is probably unnecessarily complicated in this matter. But overall, where there is a will, there is a legal way to ensure that every Ukrainian child gets admitted to the closest school to them. I'm glad to hear that you have provided guidance to local authorities, but, obviously, the message isn't cutting through. What further things can you do, Minister, perhaps in co-operation with the education Minister, to stress to the local authorities that these Ukrainian children need to be admitted to the closest school to their new homes? Diolch yn fawr.