Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:50 pm on 26 October 2022.
Can I thank all Members for contributing, not only to today's debate, but also to this difficult report, but a very important report is what it is, led so eloquently by the Chair, Jayne Bryant? But Jayne's committee is not the only committee addressing this particular issue. The Petitions Committee, which I chair, has received a petition, upon the publication of this particular report, and it was submitted by Hanna Andersen with a total of 417 signatures. That's now closed, in terms of collecting signatures, and it will be coming to committee later in the year, but I wanted to take the opportunity to just outline the title of the petition and some of the highlights from the text. The petition is titled, 'Take immediate action to end sexual harassment in ALL Welsh schools, not just secondary schools'. And it goes on to highlight and suggest that evidence shows that harassment is also rife in primary schools and colleges. Now, I note, in the Chair’s opening, that the Welsh Government will be reviewing this in colleges, but the text of the petition actually says,
'We can’t wait for yet more inquiries before taking action. The Welsh Government must ensure that the actions taken from the report are immediately extended to cover all settings, keeping learners safe from sexual harassment throughout education'.
The actual petition draws on the report from Estyn, which Laura Anne Jones has mentioned this afternoon, and I won't go over that. Presiding Officer, I'm obviously very limited in what I can say about the petition and, obviously, what steps committee members and the committee as a whole will decide to take when it comes to this petition, but I did think it was right and a good opportunity to do two things, really: make this debate aware of the strong feelings expressed by petitioners, and also give the Minister some opportunity, perhaps, to respond before the petition comes to my committee, and to take those actions that keep learners safe in all those settings, and not just secondary schools. Diolch.