6. What assessment has the Minister made of the impact of the Welsh Government’s budget on educational standards? OQ59257

The Welsh Government's education budget sets out our continued commitment to implementing our programme of educational reform, ensuring that educational inequalities narrow and standards rise.

Thank you for that response, Minister. Minister, as you know, our standards, sadly, in Wales are far below those in England and Scotland, with Wales sitting at the bottom of Britain's GCSE and Programme for International Student Assessment rankings. Welsh Government has chosen not to spend all of the money it could on education, even though our system is underperforming. Indeed, your budget this year cut the education and Welsh language budget in real terms, alongside an actual cut of £43 million in cash terms. I know the stock answer is to blame the UK Government for funding, but the fact remains that education is devolved and matters of your Government present choices for you to make. With this in mind, Minister, and noting the reduction in funding here, what practical steps are you taking to rectify the shortcomings in Wales in order to deliver the educational outcomes that children and young people deserve here?

Well, I think this is bold, coming from a member of the party that is the only party in Wales to campaign at an Assembly election to cut the education budget by 12 per cent. It's quite something. It is quite something, and it shows just how shallow their commitment to the facts is. Just to be— [Interruption.] You absolutely did, and it was defended by Andrew R.T. Davies subsequently. So, the facts are, Peter Fox—[Interruption.]

I would like to hear the answer from the Minister.

Peter Fox has asked for the facts. The facts are these: the funding that we received as a Barnett consequential from Westminster was passported fully on to local authorities, and not only that, it was increased through the education budget. So, in Wales, unlike what happens in Conservative England, where the budget for post-COVID intervention has completely disappeared, we have not only—[Interruption.] We have made choices, and I'm telling you what choices we've made. I'm proud of them. The choices are: to protect the funding that best supports our schools. So, as well as passporting on the consequential, we increased the funding to schools in my budget. So, whether that's the pupil development grant, whether it's the post-COVID funding, that funding has been protected or increased. So, those are the facts. They're inconvenient for him. But until we have a Government in Westminster that is as committed as we are to properly funding public services, the challenges to which he points in his questions, I'm afraid, are going to continue.