Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:14 pm on 12 July 2022.
Well, the easiest thing in the world is to suggest that things are not ambitious enough, but it’s just not true. It’s just not true what the Member said. What’s your definition of ambition if not to recognise that these are the first WESPs since 2014 that are driven by a target calculated by the Government, not by the local authorities? So, if that isn’t a sign of ambition, and the fact that we have set what we think is the objective, and that all local authorities have accepted that objective—. If every authority reaches the lowest part of the range, we’ll be on track to reach the objective in 2050.
So, I don’t agree at all that there is insufficient ambition in these plans. Work has been happening to ensure to ensure that they are ambitious. But the Member is right to say that this is a tool, if you like, for planning, and we need to deliver the objectives in the plans. That's entirely true, of course. I don't accept that we haven't had success so far; success has happened across Wales, but it's not happening in every authority, I do accept that as well. And we need to ensure that the plans that are agreed are also delivered. And we'll be doing everything we can as a Government to ensure that.
I've already mentioned in my answer to Sam Kurtz one of the things that we want to do, namely to ensure how the investment plan can reflect not just the broader plans that councils have but ensure that growth happens in terms of the strategic plans jointly with the broader plans that they have, so that the situation is equitable rather than one being prioritised over the other. But I do accept also that the legislative measures are not available for us to be able to enforce some of these outcomes. That's why we're having discussions with you as a party, as part of the co-operation agreement, to ensure what more we can do in terms of legislation to strengthen the statutory framework that underpins these plans.
You are right to say also that the geographical element can be challenging. The current strategic plans happen on the basis of a local authority area in its entirety, rather than at a community level, a lower level than that. So, what more can we do to strengthen our ability to plan on that basis? But there has been a geographical element in the discussions that have already happened. And certainly I think, when the Member sees the final plans, she'll be able to see that.
You asked the question why all local authorities aren't opening a new school. Well, some local authorities allow 90 per cent and more of their children to go to a Welsh-medium school already. So, it's a question of demographics. So, it's much more complex than that criticism suggests. But it is important to ensure that we do keep a watching brief to ensure that progress does happen, and so I have been clear that we need progress in every year. So, there will be annual monitoring on the basis of the action plans that will be published by the authorities after these WESPs, and they will be available to all of us to scrutinise and to ensure that that progress does happen from year to year.