1. Will the Minister make a statement on investment in Clwyd South through the twenty-first century schools programme? OQ58198

The education estate in the area of Clwyd South benefited from an investment of over £20 million during the first wave of funding through the sustainable communities for learning programme, and will continue to benefit with a further £22 million through the current wave of investment. This includes Welsh-medium capital grant funding.

Minister, thank you for your answer. That's superb news, and that £20 million has gone a long way in enhancing not just school estates, but also communities as a whole. I'd be extremely grateful if you could update Members and my constituents in Clwyd South on progress being made specifically in the community of Brymbo, in the north of the constituency, where a new twenty-first century school would be valued by all citizens, and particularly by learners.

I thank the Member for that supplementary question, and also I'm aware that he has recently written to me in relation to this, and to confirm to him that a letter is about to be sent back in reply to that enquiry. Welsh Government officials are continuing to work with the local authority and the developers of the Brymbo site generally. As the Member is obviously very, very well aware, it's a site with a number of dimensions and a number of plans. In different ways, the school plan is one of those proposed developments, and officials are working to secure that comprehensive development of the site. My understanding is that good progress has been made on certain aspects of the land management, which are necessary in order for things to be able to move forward. So, that is progress, and I'll be reporting back in more detail to him in the letter that I'll send to him shortly. 

I thank the Member for Clwyd South for submitting this important and very timely question, because just last week I welcomed pupils from St Mary's Brymbo primary school to the Senedd here, and they took quite an interest in a lively, perhaps difficult Q&A at times, especially when I was asked about age restrictions on blades. But one of the specific questions, actually, was about the twenty-first century schools programme, which I was quite impressed that they had knowledge of. Obviously, it's important for them and their school. It became clear to me in the Q&A with those children from the school that more needs to be done to accelerate and see progress in the programme, especially at Brymbo. So, in light of this, Minister, I'd like to join the calls of the Member for Clwyd South and ask what assurances you can give me that this school is a priority for the programme, and what discussions you are having personally with Wrexham County Borough Council to facilitate progress of the programme there. Thank you.

I thank Sam Rowlands for that. As I said in my answer to Ken Skates, my officials are working with the authority on this site. It has a number of dimensions. School development is one aspect of that. But, there has been good progress on a number of the key elements required for that to progress, which I'm happy to report. I congratulate him on engaging the pupils in his region on the potential of the school build programme. I think that there are good opportunities, in particular in relation to the net-zero schools of the future, to embed that learning in the curriculum itself, and to use the construction of the school as a teaching tool in its own terms.