, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—scrutiny session
Thank you very much. Sioned, you were going to ask the first questions.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—scrutiny session
Welcome back to our final session on the importance of childcare and parental employment. I'd very much like to welcome the Deputy Minister for Social Services, for whom childcare is in your portfolio, and I wondered if you'd just like to introduce the…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Motion under Standing Order 17.42(ix) to exclude the public from items 4, 7 and 8 of today's meeting
So, I now propose that the committee goes into private session briefly for item 4, before we resume to hear the Deputy Minister at 2 o'clock, and also that we meet in private session for items 7 and 8 today. Is that agreed? Thank you. Can we go into private…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Thank you very much. Thank you very much for the depth and breadth of your evidence. We will send you a transcript, which—. It's very important you just check it to make sure that you haven't been misheard, and then we'll obviously be publishing that as a…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Thank you. That's very important. We've sort of run out of time. Martyn, is there anything you wanted to add to that, just very briefly?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Thank you very much. Sioned, do you want to pick up your questions?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Okay. Can you be brief, Ruth and Martyn—because I know Sioned wants to come in on something slightly different—if there's anything further you want to add to that?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Thank you. I'll just go back to Altaf.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Martyn, did you want to add anything to what Ruth said, or shall I move back to Altaf?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Shall we just see if the others, Martyn or Ruth, want to add to that, before you move on?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Who wants to go first? Ruth? Rachel?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Excellent. Thank you very much. Altaf, you wanted to come in.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Before I move on to Altaf, I wonder if you could very briefly, Martyn, say what you mean by 'use it or lose it'. I understand the concept generally, but in this context, just illustrate it.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Okay. I think we want to move on now to how we might shape future provision, in light of many of the comments. Jane.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Okay, thanks. Before I move on to Jane Dodds, Altaf, you had a supplementary question.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Go ahead.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Martyn, did you want to come in?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Thank you. Unless Ruth wants to add anything to what Martyn said, I'll move on to Ken Skates.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
If you'd just like to introduce yourself, Martyn.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Thank you very much for that. Welcome to Jane Dodds. Unless Martyn has any burning issue he wants to come in on at this moment, I'm going to move on to Sarah Murphy and the questions she wanted to ask.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
It is, particularly if you don't have a car. Rachel, do you want to come in next?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Yes.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Very good. And finally from me, before I move on to other Members, looking at how the childcare offer has been rolled out over the last four or five years, how do you think it's achieved the Welsh Government's objective to help parents, particularly mothers…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
Ruth Coombs, your evidence, also, is quite fierce on the rights of children, and I just wondered if you wanted to add to what you've already said in your written information.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare and parental employment—evidence session
We're now going to move on to complete our scrutiny of witnesses on our childcare and parental employment inquiry, and I'm extremely pleased to welcome Rachel Thomas from the Children's Commissioner for Wales's office, as well as Ruth Coombs, the head of…
