, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
And they are, yes. Very often. Okay, thank you. So, we'll close that petition. Agenda item 2.6 is petition P-06-1483, 'Give neighbours their say when holiday let owners start applying for licences'. The petition says: 'There are thousands of holiday lets in…
, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Okay. Anybody else? No. Thank you. They can be reported to the standards ombudsman can't they, as well? So, just as here.
, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Okay. Are we in agreement with that? Thank you. Moving forward, we're going to close the petition. Thank you. Moving on to item 2.5, petition P-06-1477, 'A new Senedd Act to Recall Local Government Councillors': 'As it stands there is no mechanism for…
, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Okay, thank you. Anybody else like to come in? Okay. I agree. We have a £60 million pothole fund. It's a small amount, isn't it, £10 million, compared to the budget, for different things. Thank you. So, moving on to item 2.4, petition P-06-1470, 'Scrap the…
, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Okay, thank you. Are we in agreement with that? Yes, okay. So, await the standards committee recommendations. Thank you. So, if we move on now to item 2.3, petition P-06-1469, 'Any Government policy or project that costs more than £10 Million must be voted in…
, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
—with 343 signatures. Could I invite Luke to discuss this petition?
, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
Yes, thank you. Anybody else like to input at this stage? Thank you. So, we will be producing that report, thank you, which will be ready in March. Okay. If we move on to item 2.2, petition p-06-1468, 'Set stricter rules to limit gifts, donations and payments…
, Petitions Committee
New Petitions
So, if we move on to agenda item 2, new petitions, so item 2.1, P-06-1482, 'Ban smartphones in all schools in Wales (with exemptions for exceptional circumstances)', and it reads: 'Inspired by the movements Smartphone Free Childhood and Delay Smartphones, as…
, Petitions Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Thank you, Vaughan.
, Petitions Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
—from Joel James. He is not able to attend today. I have a declaration of interest in reference to petition P-06-1387, which is 'Provide humanitarian aid to Gaza', which was submitted by a staff member of mine, Sam Swash. Are there other any other…
, Petitions Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
We have apologies—
, Petitions Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
The meeting is being broadcast live on Senedd.tv and the Record of Proceedings will be published as usual. I'd like to thank Peter Fox for his contribution to the committee previously. He has been replaced by Joel James. I'd like to move on to apologies…
, Petitions Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Good afternoon, all, and a very warm welcome to you all to this meeting of the Petitions Committee.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
Just on one specific issue. It's about training for lecturers for providing those links to children—not necessarily counselling provision. In my experience, just listening to young people doesn't work; it's that conversation with the lecturer and having…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
Yes, please. No wonder local authorities wanted some of the grants to be paid—
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
Because I don't—. I've got a final question, but I don't know whether that was covered there. [Laughter.] I'll read it out for clarity, if that's okay, and then—. So, I was going to say: what's the difference between the funding contained in the dedicated…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
Okay. I've got a final question—
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
Okay. Very good. Okay. Thank you. Moving on, can you explain to us what's behind the transfer of funding between some of the pre-16 education budget lines, specifically, the curriculum and assessment budget expenditure line and the teacher development and…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
Reflecting back some time ago, before they used to have a school curriculum liaison officer or people that would give advice, they went to the regional consortia—I know north Wales's was GwE. So, if schools needed that extra help and advice on different…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
Thank you for your answer. That’s really good to hear. In terms of improving attainment, one of the consequences of the grant amalgamations means that funding is now distributed to local authorities rather than through the regional consortia, which was…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
I know it will be welcomed by local authorities, because it was the administrative burden of applying, when resources should actually be spent on delivering—making sure the money is getting to the right place. So, that is welcome. Thank you very much for that…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
Very good. That's positive. This time last year, your predecessor merged a number of different funding streams into the local authority education grant. That's worth £400 million in 2025-26. What do you believe has been the main impact of this grant…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
I didn't realise that, already, money is coming forward from that. So, the money is going to the UK Treasury and then coming back to the Welsh Government. Okay.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
Thank you.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26 - evidence session 2
I remember as a councillor, with the school maintenance backlog in front of us, trying to allocate budgets, thinking, 'How on earth are we going to address this?' It was dire, and I remember children complaining about the state of school toilets, and the…
