7. Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Sustainable Communities for Learning

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:07 pm on 17 January 2023.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 5:07, 17 January 2023

I thank the Member for those questions—really important questions. I think it's too soon to know if the new mechanism will demonstrate that there are challenges. I think, in principle, it ought to be much more nimble and ought to be actually less onerous, both for authorities and for the Government, which obviously then offers opportunities to deal with things in a slightly more flexible way and to give the right mix, I think, of focus on immediate delivery in the way that the Member was saying, the need to maintain the pace of the programme, which is obviously really important, but also to give that crucial longer term horizon so that we can plan jointly across the system for future projects as well, and obviously having a rolling programme enables that to be adjusted more nimbly and more responsively. So, that's the thinking behind the programme.

What I'm keen to look at is how some of the higher expectations, if I can put it like that, that we have made through the sustainable schools challenge programme—. That will lead to the building of two new schools as part of that, but actually, as the Member heard, there were 17 bids, and I know that, amongst those bids, there is a lot of innovation, and lots of creative thinking, so that exercise in itself has, I think, thrown up a number of different lessons that we can learn for projects, both in terms of local supply chains, but also the broader use of the foundational economy, as well as, I think, one of the real opportunities here, which I know the Member and others are interested in, how we can make sure that biodiversity, sustainable food production and those sorts of critical developments are embedded in both the life of the school, but also the premises and how they're constructed. So, there's a range of, I think, new areas of focus, perhaps, in that smaller programme, and I hope for us to be able to learn from success in that across the broader investment programme.