7. What is the Government doing to create the best learning environment for children? OQ58399

Ensuring the school estate is fit for purpose is vital to creating a positive learning environment. This is why, since 2014, we have invested £1.22 billion through the whole of the Sustainable Communities for Learning programme, against a total programme spend with our stakeholders of £2.2 billion. 

Thank you for that response.

This winter will be one of the most challenging in the history of devolution, because the cost-of-living crisis will have a brutal and merciless impact on almost everybody, but especially the most vulnerable, without significant state intervention. Education is one of the many places where this crisis will be felt. Some children not covered by our free school meals policy will be going hungry this winter. Have you given any thought to Plaid Cymru's calls to extend the universal free school meals programme as an emergency measure for secondary school children? And, further to your answer to Sioned Williams earlier—that there aren't going to be any further funds available to schools to combat the increased costs—where would you suggest that headteachers cut their budgets in order to keep the lights on? 

Well, the Member will know that it's the Government's hope as well that we can do more in the area of free school meals, but the extension that the Member refers to in his question is one where we would need to make the kinds of cuts in other parts of our budget that the Member invites me to specify that schools should make in theirs. So, the challenge is very, very significant.

As well as having the commitment and the compassion for making the difference, we also have to find the resources for doing that, and that's the challenge that I'm sure he recognises that the Government here faces, in the absence of a commitment from the UK Government to make good, effectively, the cut in the Welsh Government's purchasing power through the funding that we already have. As I said earlier, the level of support that is required for public services to deal with energy costs—and that includes our education system—is the kind of level of support that we need the UK Government to step forward and provide to all parts of the UK.

Question 8 [OQ58392] is withdrawn. Question 9, Carolyn Thomas.