4. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Services: Early Years Provision — Expansion of Flying Start

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:19 pm on 27 September 2022.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Julie Morgan Julie Morgan Labour 3:19, 27 September 2022

Thank you very much for that contribution. Well, you said one positive thing at the beginning—that you were pleased to see me and Siân visiting the cylch meithrin in north Wales, and I’d like to say that we had a very good visit and it was very pleasant and very stimulating and I think shows what we're able to do to work with children.

I don’t think, probably, the rest of the points you made were exactly positive, but you asked some questions. So, the £70 million, how will it be weighted amongst the local authorities? The local authorities will have the opportunity to bid for that money and, obviously, it's going to cover a huge range of provision. Some of it will be for fairly small improvements to existing provision. We will need some new provision. We may need some totally new builds. So, the range of money that local authorities will bid for will be quite wide.

Then you went on to mention child poverty rates, and this £100 million investment is directly addressing child poverty, because, if you provide a warm, safe place for children to go, free childcare for 12.5 hours per week for two-year-olds, that is a huge step towards giving the parents the opportunity to have somewhere for their children to go in that sort of way, and is directly addressing the cost-of-living crisis that we're in. So, I think childcare is one of the most important things we can do, and one of the most important things that we can do to help the economic difficulties of the country as well. So, I see it as a direct contribution towards addressing child poverty, which we all want to see fall.

Then he went on to political points, from what I could see. In terms of the 36 new Members of the Senedd, perhaps he could take the view that investing in strengthening Wales's democracy through expanding the Senedd is really a guaranteed way of making sure we've got a Government in Wales that is absolutely committed to public services and to protecting the most vulnerable in society. That is the purpose of our plans to expand the Senedd in Wales. So, I really see that that is a political point, and I want to emphasise today that this is a great announcement and it is a great move forward and it's something that we are so pleased that we are able to do.