, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
If I may, Chair, as you know, as the designated Member previously, I worked very closely with the then Minister for education on developing of a large part of this Bill, but not everything contained within it. Thank you.
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Welsh Government priorities
So, Dirprwy Lywydd, in the absence of clear milestones and targets in terms of improving PISA results, and hitting the recruitment targets for teachers, it's vital that we have, from the Welsh Government, an action plan with clear targets in place, with…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Welsh Government priorities
I now want to move on quickly to teacher recruitment. Recruitment of teachers, especially in priority subjects, is yet another area where we see the same old failed delivery and mismanagement from Welsh Government come to the fore. It was only yesterday that…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Welsh Government priorities
The First Minister noted last week that raising standards in education was one of her priorities. But, truth be told, she didn't have to travel around Wales or be some kind of Mystic Meg to come to that conclusion. And, after decades of failure in this area…
, Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
May I ask for a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for health regarding the future of health services in west Wales? Now, this Thursday, Hywel Dda health board will be considering a number of cuts to healthcare provision in west Wales, which include…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 1
Thank you.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 1
Yes. Sorry, before we move on to other issues, I just wanted to step back and go back to some of the subjects that we've been discussing already. There is a reference to transitional schools in the Bill. There are two steps in going from category 1 to…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 1
I accept there's a challenge. Thank you.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 1
That's a very interesting answer, and I agree, to a great extent, with that first point that you made, namely that everyone can speak some Welsh, I'm sure, unless they just arrived last week, perhaps. But that leads then to the difficult question for us, when…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 1
Thank you very much. There's a great deal of work to do, isn't there, in introducing this new concept within the education sector, because teachers need to be confident that they can provide the correct level from A1 up to C2, I suppose. That leads me—you've…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 1
Thank you very much. Perhaps I should have noted at the beginning and recognised my thanks to Jeremy Miles. I worked very closely with him in developing most of this Bill, before the co-operation agreement came to an end. And I'd like to thank the officials…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 1
Yes. Okay.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 1
I accept that point completely. The problem is, as we know from the experience of many years, a number of parents aren't going to understand the difference between category 1 and category 3. If they see something that relates to Welsh language education…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill - evidence session 1
Thank you very much for the answer. I have some concern regarding the use of words, because they do mean different things to different people, and the difference specifically between Welsh language education and Welsh-medium education. You’re quite right…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
So, I'm just asking whether it's still an obstacle and how we can find a way around that. Because, clearly, if we can't share information, young people will fall through the cracks.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
Yes. Sorry, if I can just go back quickly to the previous question around information sharing, obviously it's key to have this child-centred approach to support and care. To what extent is GDPR an obstacle? Because, in my previous life, trying to share…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
Okay. Thank you.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
The next question, if I may. Welsh Government statistics on overall child criminal exploitation show a significant variation between local authorities. For example, in 2022, Wrexham reported that there were seven children per 1,000, compared with one child…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
What's the Welsh Government's take on having a specific definition, which is the question I asked?
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
Thank you. The next question from me is what your views are on the need for a statutory definition of child criminal exploitation, and what discussions have you had with the UK Government to see whether they could include in the crime and policing Bill an…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
Yes.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
Just to follow up on that, have you seen any regional variations on other crimes? You were talking about exploiting children and you mentioned modern slavery. Are there any other patterns or regional variations?
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
The committee has heard that the nature of child criminal exploitation is changing rapidly across Wales, and that criminals adapt swiftly to local strategies to tackle their crimes in Wales. So, what is the Welsh Government’s latest assessment about the…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
I'm going to be asking my questions in Welsh.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Children and Young People on the margins - evidence session
Thank you very much. I’m going to ask my questions in Welsh.
