Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:58 pm on 26 October 2022.
Thank you, Jenny, and I absolutely recognise your point and some good points of how that assistance can be used. I'm going to come on a little further, in a moment, to local government funding, but I'll just pick up where I left off. I know personally how my own children and many other Monmouthshire children have benefited from their time at Gilwern outdoor education centre and Hilston Park. There used to be Talybont as well, which was owned by Newport but run by Monmouthshire. And I myself as a young boy, 50-odd years ago, went to Llangrannog as well, because I grew up in Carmarthen, down there. But when I was leader of Monmouthshire County Council, I always made sure that these services were protected, even during times when we received challenging settlements, and we've always had challenging settlements in Monmouthshire.
I've been very disappointed over recent years when neighbouring local authorities, funded far greater from Monmouthshire, withdrew from that Gwent-based education service and left Monmouthshire on its own holding the baby, but we would keep it going. So, it's important that local authorities as well as schools show a commitment to young people's development, and clearly that was being pulled out in some areas, and they had the resources to do it; they chose not to. So, as that example shows, unfortunately not every young person has equal opportunity to receive outdoor education, and the research paper published by Sam further highlights the barriers to such education: 60 per cent of schools surveyed cited financial reasons; 23 schools do not offer any support to families who are financially constrained, and by far the greatest barrier to inclusion in outdoor education was the inability of families to pay.
Now, I know that we are in challenging times, but you've got to remember that this Bill, if it was to receive Royal Assent, would probably be two or three years down the line, and we're talking about money and financial constraints at this moment. You've got to find reasons why, sometimes, things can happen, not why they can't happen. And that's one of the biggest problems I've found since I've been here in the Welsh Assembly—rather, the Senedd—is why we find reasons that things can't happen and we try to trade off, Jane, with 'What can you do? What can't you do?' Sometimes, you've got to make things happen. People make things happen or people stop things happening, and that's what happens too often. You've got to have foresight, look ahead, see how you can improve the future generations, because these difficult times will not last forever. Look ahead, look to the future, look to our future generations.
So, it's really important that we do get behind this Bill. I hope that Wales's Government and the Minister will interact more with Sam, moving forward. I'm disappointed that the Government can't support the Bill, and I know that more work and engagement is going to happen. But I ask you, Jane, as Sam did, please think carefully. You're in a very privileged position to hold the casting vote in many ways on decisions here. It's a big responsibility. Don't stifle the opportunity of our future generations; give them an opportunity to breathe. Presiding Officer, I rest my case, and I support the Bill.