, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Thank you. Can I come to Jane Dodds?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Very briefly, have you considered early years degree apprenticeships as part of your suite of options?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Okay. Sioned.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Just before we move on, I don't want to lose sight of Estonia, where the vast majority of childcare providers have a degree-level qualification, and it's no coincidence that they're also very high on the Programme for International Student Assessment outcomes…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Okay. We may want to write to you about this for further information. Carolyn Thomas.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Okay. In England, early years advisers were available in local authorities. Where does that sit in relation to regional consortiums, which are obviously more focused on schools?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Before I go back to Carolyn Thomas, can I just ask the Minister about the use of improvement meetings that you've been piloting with Care Inspectorate Wales meeting people? I just wondered what you can tell us about the positive evaluation. Where did it…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Okay. Sioned.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Very good. Carolyn, I think Jane Dodds wanted to come in—or was it Sioned?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
—because what do level 3 and level 5 mean? You don't need to tell us now, but we'd be very pleased to actually be able to understand exactly how qualified people are, because it's all about the status. Back to you, Carolyn.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Right. Can you send us a note—
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Could your officials just tell us what qualifications you need to have if you wish to set up childcare?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
I was going to call Carolyn Thomas, because I know she had some questions.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Okay. Carolyn Thomas next.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Thank you. Buffy Williams.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Very young. [Laughter.]
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
So, you've had the opportunity, have you, to review the detail of the Early Years Wales survey, which was published in March.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
I think there's very clear evidence coming from that Early Years Wales survey, because while 72 per cent of providers thought they would survive for one year, that means 28 per cent of providers were saying that they weren't going to survive in this financial…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Okay, thank you. I'd now like to bring in Buffy Williams.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Would it be your ambition to see—? As you expand the existing Flying Start provision to make it more available to other two-year-olds outside its geographical area, how are you going to ensure that that wraparound support doesn't get lost in the bid to…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
So, two weeks ago, we heard from Naomi Eisenstadt, who, as I'm sure you know, drove the UK Labour Government's Sure Start programme, and is arguing strongly that we need a children's campus in every neighbourhood, which combines the early childhood and…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Okay. Did you want to come in, Jane, or—?
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
I think related to this, to make it more accessible for people who don't necessarily have a smartphone, we heard evidence that more and more schools are seeing the benefits of a community-focused schools approach, where all services are co-located on the one…
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Okay, thank you for that. That rather comes to my next question, which is around—. Oh, sorry, Sioned. I beg your pardon.
, Equality and Social Justice Committee
Childcare follow up inquiry: Ministerial evidence session
Absolutely, and a lot of the evidence we've had from international organisations has reaffirmed that. The Bevan Foundation would like to see a single application form for all the different childcare streams, so that it becomes obvious to people what they're…
