675 contributions on record. Newest first, by sitting day. Page 14 of 19. Counted by Siambr
Supporting the education workforce is central to our mission to raise standards and give learners the best foundation for their futures. I was pleased to join the Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language on 11 June to announce that we have delivered our 100-day commitment to increase the priority subject incentive for student teachers to £20,000 from September, to support recruitment across Wales.
The manifesto on which I stood promised to put steps in place to incentivise the recruitment of teachers. That's exactly what we have done. We need more teachers. I hope that we can agree on that. We have taken measures through identifying specialist areas already. We also need to make sure that we reach into communities from which not enough teachers have been coming. We also need to make sure that our teaching workforce reflects the population of Wales, where I think, on this particular issue, 2 per cent of the existing teaching workforce identify as being from an ethnic minority compared with 12 per cent of learners. So, making sure that the workforce reflects the pupils is very important too, but there are lots of different ways in which we are determined to incentivise teachers, because we need the best ones in place to improve education standards. That's exactly what we do.
Dwi'n llongyfarch yr Aelodau lleol am sicrhau eu bod nhw'n mynd i ysgolion i ddeall beth ydy'r heriau sy'n cael eu hwynebu. Mae presenoldeb rheolaidd, rydyn ni'n gwybod, yn hanfodol ar gyfer cyfranogiad, ar gyfer cyflawniad addysgol a lles disgyblion. Rydyn ni'n canolbwyntio ar nodi a mynd i'r afael â'r rhwystrau hynny cyn gynted â phosib, gan alluogi plant a phobl ifanc i fynychu'r ysgol, cymryd rhan mewn dysgu a chyflawni eu potensial llawn. Mae'r Gweinidog Cabinet dros Addysg a'r Gymraeg yn gweithio i fynd i'r afael yn benodol ag achosion sylfaenol absenoldeb, gan gynnwys drwy rannu gwybodaeth yn well a thynnu ynghyd y partneriaid sydd eu hangen er mwyn symud ymlaen yn y maes yma—gwasanaethau addysg, lles a chymorth—gwella ymgysylltu drwy wneud hynny, ac, yn y pen draw, gobeithio lleihau absenoldeb.
I congratulate the local Members for ensuring that they do go to schools to see what the challenges are. Regular attendance, we know, is crucial for participation, educational achievement and pupil welfare and well-being. We are focused on tackling those barriers as soon as possible, enabling children and young people to attend school, to participate in learning and to achieve their full potential. The Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language is working specifically to address the fundamental causes of pupil absence, including better information sharing and drawing together the partners required in order to make progress in this area—education, well-being and support services—thereby improving engagement and, ultimately and hopefully, reducing pupil absence.
Beth wnaf i ddweud ydy, wrth gwrs, fod y Gweinidog dros addysg yn cyfarfod cynrychiolwyr undebau drwy'r amser. Mae partneriaeth efo undebau yn rhywbeth pwysig. Mae'n Weinidog sydd, yn digwydd bod, â phrofiad o weithio yn y maes hwnnw ei hun. Felly, all neb gyhuddo'r Gweinidog addysg yma o beidio parchu'r berthynas efo undebau'r athrawon. Ar ddiwedd y dydd, mae yna fwriad neu mae yna nod gennym ni yma, fel Llywodraeth, i fynd i'r afael â'r heriau recriwtio, a cham cyntaf ydy hwn, wrth gwrs, fydd yn arwain at adeiladu'r incentives rydyn ni'n bwriadu eu rhoi mewn lle, oherwydd mae athrawon presennol angen gwneud yn siŵr eu bod nhw yn cael eu cefnogi. A rhan fawr o'r gefnogaeth yna ydy gwneud yn siŵr bod yna wytnwch ar draws y gweithlu addysg yn ei gyfanrwydd.
What I will say is that, of course, the Minister for education meets union representatives all the time. Partnership with unions is important. She is a Minister who happens to have experience of working in that area herself. So, nobody could accuse this education Minister of not respecting the relationship with trade unions. At the end of the day, it is our aim here, as a Government, to address the recruitment challenges and this is a first step, of course, which will lead to developing the incentives that we intend to put in place, because the current teaching workforce needs to be supported. And a large part of that support is to ensure resilience across the education workforce in Wales.
I think the Member is absolutely right, and it's why the party that I lead has spoken so clearly about needing that holistic approach, that wraparound approach, to giving both pupils and teachers the support that they need, and, of course, tackling violence in the school environment is something that is hugely important. The Member is quite right to point out, of course, that there is a whole host of issues that come together to make teaching an attractive proposition, an attractive profession. I want people to be excited about going into that profession. Both my parents were teachers themselves. Feeling safe within the school environment, of course, is a really important part of the support that we can give the workforce.
The Welsh Government is taking forward lawful, consistent and workable actions in Wales, whilst upholding the dignity and respect of all people.
Following the law, in many ways, is the easy bit. This is a Government that will follow the law, and, as public organisations, we have to follow the law. There's no question behind that at all. What we have here also is something that has become divisive in recent years. And I would appeal to the Member's sense of political leadership in everything that she does to engage with this issue to show that leadership, which absolutely does mean listening to the concerns of people, who raise valid concerns, but also balance that against—. She mentions 'concerned members of staff'. We hear from very concerned trans people who feel that they are being disempowered and put at risk, even, by the current debate. And that, I think, is where political leadership comes from. I can't comment on the particular material that she mentioned because I'm not aware of what it is. But that Supreme Court ruling wasn't a victory of one side over another. I was listening at the time when the judgment was given. What it did usher in was a new era of the need for greater understanding between people who have divergent views. All of us have to be aware of that in trying to cool down the temperature on what has become a heated debate but also a very painful debate for many individuals.
As I said, what the Supreme Court's ruling did was usher in a new era for discussion around this, in which we can allow divisiveness to come to the fore, or we can seek to understand better the concerns and the realities for people on both sides of the debate.
On the waiting, waiting is literally a part of the publication of the EHRC code of practice, in that it is published and then we await to see what the response is. And if, at a certain point in time, which happens to be next month, there are no objections, then it gets put into practice. We as a Government are reviewing that draft, as it is a code of practice by EHRC, to assess the implications for the Welsh Government. We will act according to the law. We are a law-abiding Government. But we are also a Government that has values, that understands the very real concerns that some people have, but recognises also that that original judgment does not remove protections for trans people, for example, who remain protected from discrimination and harassment under gender reassignment, and we need to step up to protect them where they feel at risk.
There are some things, if I might say, that money can't buy. There's a specific problem that has arisen this year, which should not have arisen, but it has arisen because training numbers for this cohort who are looking for jobs in September this year were commissioned in 2022. Now, we are living now with the challenges posed by the over-commissioning back then. I recognise and am really concerned about how unsettling that is for graduates who haven't secured a post. That is why the Cabinet Minister for health brought partners together on 18 June, asked the system to move at pace to maximise opportunities, provide consistent support, improve planning for future cohorts. There are a number of measures being taken on reopening streamlining, ongoing national co-ordination by Health Education and Improvement Wales, identifying transitional flexible employment routes. But let's remind ourselves: we will help those graduating now to get jobs. They have careers in the NHS. We need them. But we have a problem that we face right now, which this Government is working around to quite rightly support those who are worried in a way that they shouldn't be, when they signed up to those courses in 2022.
The Member and I have met. Discussions will take place continuously across, through the—[Interruption.] Well, it really shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody that I have met all leaders of political parties in this Senedd. When I speak of wanting to be a co-operative Government, that means having conversations with leaders of Reform, the Conservatives, Labour and the Green Party. I'm sorry if that's come as a surprise to anybody.
Listen, this supplementary budget is the first opportunity for this Government to align the some space there is, within tight financial constraints, to align budgets with priorities that were set out and for which we have a mandate to put in place. But we recognise this is a minority Government, and that is why, when we appeal in the Senedd for people, Members here, to support those measures to stabilise and get to grips with and bring down waiting lists in the NHS, I would hope that that is something that the Member would be able to support. When I look at the measures being taken now to support families with the cost-of-living crisis, through expanded childcare, I'm hoping that that is something that can appeal to Members across this Senedd, and measures to improve school buildings and so on.
This isn't a Government that doesn't recognise the need to speak across this Chamber. This is a Government that is determined to put in place the programme on which we stood and which we know we will need the support of others to implement.
I'm going to drop a bombshell: there will be a budget published later this year. The hint—[Interruption.] There has been a sense—[Interruption.] It will happen, I can assure the Member. What we will do as an approach to that budget, as we've done now, is lay out, among challenging circumstances, what it is that we hope to achieve on behalf of and for the people of Wales. I appreciate that the Member has laid out health as a priority now. It wasn't mentioned by his party as a priority during the election that we've just fought, but I welcome the fact that that is seen as an important area now. That is exactly why it has been put front and centre of this supplementary budget, which is very important in order to do that work that we promised the people of Wales we would do, which is to build a sustainable health and care system fit for the future. It is up to all Members here to decide if that's something that they can support in this supplementary budget.
The one-off payment this year, of course, is one that we know is based on historic debt in England. Looking ahead to future years, two years from now, there is a signal of consequential funding. The Government that the Member used to be a member of himself knows full well that prioritisation as to how you spend that money are decisions taken by Governments of the day, in partnership with others, as needs be. But we'll concentrate right now on putting in place the measures that we believe can help both children in education, patients in the health service and families who need support with childcare.
Those who have been in Government, Llywydd, will know that there are two sides of the ledger when it comes to budgets. There are consequentials, yes, from time to time, there are pressures, too. This Government has inherited significant pressures, which have to be addressed—and we have inherited those pressures from previous Governments—whilst taking a long-term and sustainable approach to the whole ALN system. The ALN pressures that we know we feel—families, children, local government—are not going to be resolved by a one-off payment this year; they are going to be addressed by long-term thinking in developing policy, which is what exactly my Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language is doing. We owe those families nothing less than that.
I'd make this point first of all, Llywydd, that I have always called for a just transition when it comes to steel. We were asking for the protection of primary steel making in Port Talbot, not because we didn't see that this is a polluting industry—of course it is—but that there is a way of transitioning towards something that could protect jobs and investing in those cleaner ways of producing steel. Discussions are currently ongoing with the UK Government in relation to the wider European discussion, or debate, around emissions trading. We are determined to stand up for Welsh interests, making sure that we get as good a deal as possible for Wales from those discussions. That is not denying the impact of emissions on climate change. We're a Government that is determined to fight climate change in every way that we can, but we do that by making the case for a just transition at the same time.
There's a difference of principle between us on this. I have made it clear, and I'll make it clear again, that this Government of mine and my enterprise Minister will do all they can to stand up for Welsh industry, and that means making the case, always, for a just transition. Yes, there are implications around emissions trading for that, but we take a broader view than that. Investing in our renewables industries for the future will create those jobs that will ultimately, in time, take the place of more polluting jobs in a just way. When we look at floating offshore wind, the meeting I had in Ireland last week with the company that is involved in the Erebus scheme—this will create thousands of jobs in Wales.
So, we look at the economic benefits, surely, of the transition that we need to make. And on the use of the word 'relentless', you might have noticed that it was a bit warm last week, right? Get used to this. This is the reality of climate change, and there is good reason why we need to be relentless in our pursuit of measures that we can take to protect the environment, whilst also looking after industry in Wales and building the industry of the future.
The Welsh Government is committed to introducing a national food strategy for Wales that will encompass food security, tackle food poverty and improve food literacy and health outcomes. As part of the first 100 days plan, work to appoint a ministerial working group to develop the strategy is under way, and further details will be provided by the Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability in the coming weeks. The same response applies to question 8 from Peter Fox.
I think my views on this are very, very public. I do not believe that BMV land, the best and most versatile land, should be used for large-scale solar. There are planning rules in place in Wales that mean that we should be protecting this land for food production. This is a Government that will want to uphold those rules that are in place for very good reason.
I like to keep my answers relatively brief, so I could answer with 'yes', but I'll give a little bit more than that too. And I'd like to commend the Member for the work that he did in the last Senedd, in proposing a way—through legislation, as it happens—to protect and develop the food sector in Wales. What we have said we will do—and my Minister for rural resilience is already getting down to business on this—is we are going to be bringing in exactly that kind of national food strategy, looking to create a joined-up system for production and processing through to retail and public sector procurement, so that we can strengthen supply chains, improve resilience, increase the availability of Welsh food, supporting our food producers as we do so. The focus has to be on improving access to affordable, healthy and nutritious food, which is why this is of interest to my Ministers for health, and this is something that I have always been eager to develop, and which we will now press on with at pace.
I associate myself with the concerns raised about the impact of climate change and how that will hit food production. I think the magic, in many ways, comes in the interaction between those different elements that the Minister and others have already outlined. Absolutely, one of the core concerns that we have now is the impact of climate change on the money—scarce money, in far too many cases—in the pockets of the people of Wales. When we look at what the national food strategy aims to do—supporting Welsh producers and food businesses to grow in a way that recognises the cost pressures on families and households—that's very, very important, and we'll have to look for ways also of supporting the agriculture industry to adapt to the ever-changing environment. We have to be relentless in all our approaches to the climate challenge.
Absolutely, and those different elements mentioned by the Member do very much play into the rationale and reasoning behind the need for this food strategy. We have a real eye on the future here, as the Member suggested, and I should say that the Cabinet Minister has held early discussions with key stakeholders, including the future generations commissioner, covering the national food strategy. Preparing for the future and making ourselves fit for the future does very much include elements such as—on the fringes of the debate, you could argue, but we need to bring them into the core of it—food literacy, so that people understand why it is that we're asking them, essentially, to engage with food in a different way.
We want to build on the high standards we already have in Wales. In our manifesto, we said we'll develop a science-led animal health and welfare plan. We'll work with stakeholders, operational partners, industry and the third sector to develop our new approach for Wales.
I appreciate that the Member has long taken an interest in animal welfare issues. We are a nation of animal lovers and we need champions for the welfare and well-being of animals in our Senedd. Our manifesto set out our ambition for a new regulatory framework. We have said that we want to set high standards for the treatment of animals. Legislation is one route, and one that we will always be open to considering. The last Senedd did legislate on greyhound racing, of course. Cat microchipping is an example where the jury is out a bit on the effectiveness of legislating, in that, without legislation, we have similar levels of cat microchipping in Wales as they do in England, where they do have legislation. What we always need to do as a Government is monitor. If we’re lagging behind or we feel we need another string to our bow, well let’s look at other measures that we can take.
I'm afraid I have to correct the Member, Llywydd. The vote on greyhound racing was a free vote, and I believe it was for most parties in the last Senedd.
Support for unpaid carers is essential. We're improving outcomes through short breaks, financial assistance and well-being services to provide practical help. At the same time, we're developing a new national strategy, shaped by what carers have told us matters most to them. We'll improve the lives of unpaid carers by ensuring they're recognised, valued and able to access consistent, high-quality support, including respite, wherever they live in Wales.
The Member describes so eloquently the pressures felt by thousands and thousands of carers the length and breadth of Wales. We support the work that they do and recognise that our health service wouldn't be able to manage without them. That is why actions that we take as Governments, both within our powers and in our negotiations with the UK Government, are so, so important. I of course recognise the stress experienced by that constituent and all those unpaid carers, and I can confirm that the Deputy Minister for Social Care, Mental Health and Women's Health has written to Sir Stephen Timms, Minister of State for Social Security and Disability, to request a meeting. Our intention very much is to press the UK Government to make carers allowance fairer and paid at a higher rate. We know there's an ongoing review of carers allowance, and we'll be making our views very clear, as carers the length and breadth of our country would expect us to.
It's a story we all as elected Members hear—people feeling that they just don't get the support that they need, and there's, frankly, never enough that we can do, given how much support is deserved by Government to those who give of their lives to care for loved ones. Respite care clearly is very, very important. We're working as a Government with local authorities to provide consistent and timely assessments on one hand, greater respite support across Wales on the other. There is an improvement project in place now. We will consider other levers open to us if we don't see sufficient progress on that. But, in the meantime, referring back to my first answer, that pressure that we can, hopefully, bring to bear on UK Government, working with other partners across the UK—we need somehow for that to make a difference in terms of carers allowance levels.
Fifty-plus hours—it's not even a full-time job, it's more than that, and so many people experience the same. As I say, to ensure that we can design and deliver truly made-in-Wales social protections, reflecting the needs and values of our communities, we will press the UK Government to devolve welfare powers. The Deputy First Minister has written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to discuss how we can work together to deliver on our ambitions for a benefits system that meets Wales's needs, that's driven by entitlements and supports our shared objectives on tackling poverty. But, whilst we work towards devolving powers over welfare, we will work to improve, as I say, the existing Welsh benefits system to ensure people can claim all their entitlements, including carers allowance at the current level.
As well as the measures that I've mentioned we're taking in putting pressure on the UK Government, I'm pleased to support that Welsh Government short breaks scheme, which provides, as you say, unpaid carers across Wales with opportunities just to take that break, to let them step away from what are often very physically demanding caring duties. It's a scheme that's been in place now—. I think it's about four years since the scheme was introduced. It's delivered by Carers Trust Wales, regional partnership boards and also in conjunction with local third sector organisations. We want to be able to support them to make sure that as many people access that respite as possible, within scarce resource, but, again, making that case for carers allowance to help those families and individuals too.
I appreciate that further question, and the Member mentioned Ollie. It reminded me of Jet, who's a young man from Radyr Comprehensive School on the outskirts of Cardiff. I sent him and his fellow pupils a message at their A-levels graduation ceremony last week. Jet has been looking after his family, whilst himself looking after other young carers within his school environment, and I know that the work he's done is greatly, greatly appreciated.
Again, respite is very, very important. Support on a whole host of different levels is important, but we want our children to feel that they are genuinely supported, not just applauded for the work that they do. The Deputy Minister for Social Care, Mental Health and Women’s Health will be signing the young persons covenant to make our commitment to young carers very, very clear, given some statistics suggest that nearly 20 per cent of young people in schools in Wales have some level of caring responsibility. This is something that we have to take very, very seriously, for the pressures on them now and the impact that not having support could have on the rest of their lives.
Mae adolygiad o addysg uwch yn un o’n hymrwymiadau ar gyfer 100 diwrnod cyntaf y Llywodraeth, a dwi’n falch o ddweud bod y gwaith yn datblygu’n dda. Mi fydd y Dirprwy Weinidog dros Sgiliau ac Addysg Drydyddol yn rhannu rhagor o fanylion am hyn maes o law.
A review of higher education is one of our commitments for the first 100 days of Government, and I’m pleased to say that the work is advancing well. The Deputy Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education will share more details on this in due course.
Mae’r gwahaniaeth cyfranogiad yna yn rhywbeth a ddylai ein pryderu ni i gyd. Dwi’n anghofio’r union leoliad, ond mi oedd yna ystadegyn roeddwn i’n edrych arno fo yn y misoedd diwethaf a oedd yn dangos bod 18 y cant o ddisgyblion o un ysgol uwchradd neu ardal yng nghymoedd Gwent yn mynd i brifysgol, ac 80 y cant o ddisgyblion o un ysgol uwchradd arbennig yng Nghaerdydd. Mae'n frawychus bod cyfleon bywyd yn cael eu gosod allan mewn ffordd lle mae yna gymaint o wahaniaeth â hynny.
Mae cyfranogiad yn un o'r meysydd sydd yn mynd i fod yn cael sylw yn yr adolygiad. Dydy o ddim yr unig elfen ohono fo. Mae sut i sicrhau bod myfyrwyr drwyddi draw yn cael cefnogaeth ddigonol mewn addysg uwch yn bwysig, ac mae cefnogi ein sefydliadau addysg uwch ni yn gwbl, gwbl hanfodol. Oni bai bod camau yn cael eu cymryd, dydy hi ddim yn anodd dychmygu sefyllfa lle fyddai yna ddim sefydliadau addysg uwch i ddisgyblion fynd iddyn nhw yng Nghymru. Dydyn ni ddim cweit ar y pwynt hwnnw eto, ond dyna ddifrifoldeb y sefyllfa rydyn ni’n ei hwynebu. Mae cynyddu cyfleon am gyfranogiad fel bod y myfyrwyr yma yn gallu mynd yn fyfyrwyr, yn cynllunio ar gyfer eu bywydau, yn gosod uchelgais ar gyfer eu hunain mewn sefydliadau addysg uwch yng Nghymru, yn rhan o’r ateb i hyfywedd ein sefydliadau addysg uwch. Felly, mae yna gylch yma rydyn ni angen ei gau. Mi fydd y Dirprwy Weinidog yn gwneud cyhoeddiad yn fuan iawn ynglŷn â sut y bydd y materion yma yn cael eu cymryd ymlaen.
The participation gap is something that should concern us all. I forget the exact location, but there was a statistic I was looking at in recent months that showed that 18 per cent of pupils from one secondary school or area of the Gwent valleys were going to university, and 80 per cent of pupils from one specific secondary school in Cardiff were going to university. It's frightening that life chances are being set out in such a way where there is that much difference in the opportunity available.
Participation is one of the areas that will be addressed in the review. It's not the only element of it. How we ensure that students across the board have adequate support in HE is important, and supporting our HE institutions is entirely crucial. Unless steps are taken, it's not difficult to imagine a situation where there would be no higher education institutions for pupils to attend in Wales. We're not quite at that point yet, but that's the gravity of the situation that we are facing. Increasing opportunity for participation so that these students can become students, can plan their lives and set ambitions for themselves in HE institutions in Wales, is part of the solution to the viability of our HE institutions. So, there's a circle that we need to close here. The Deputy Minister will be making an announcement very soon as to how these issues will be taken forward.
That's the supplementary question, which I'm happy to respond to straight away.
I can help you.
Diolch yn fawr iawn. Our national energy strategy will set out how Wales will capture more of the economic, social and community benefits from clean energy. Our Welsh public energy company will support local ownership and community energy schemes, creating skilled jobs and delivering reinvestment in places hosting new energy infrastructure across Wales.
That's the positivity that I really want us all to embrace when it comes to the future of energy in Wales: talking about the positive economic opportunities, some of them very, very large; talking about the offshore wind opportunities in the Celtic sea, and thousands of jobs created. But there are far more modest projects that can bring real benefits to supply chains in Wales, where companies can work together to maximise the opportunities flowing from renewables opportunities, but also for communities.
And the way that we lock into the system the community benefits happens in a number of different ways. It's through having that one publicly owned energy company for Wales that always has communities at the front of its mind when it's working on the future of energy strategy in Wales. It's when we look at how community ownership schemes can create a sense of real, literal and metaphorical ownership over energy schemes in their communities. We must adapt the way that we have been doing things and have an eye on how we can do things differently in the future.
I have no doubt that for Ceredigion Penfro, as for many other parts of Wales, there are hugely untapped economic gains to be made from getting this right, which is why cracking on with a new energy strategy for Wales is something that's keeping my energy, connectivity and enterprise Minister's time very, very occupied. I got your roles in the wrong order there: the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy.
Where clinically appropriate, puberty suppressing hormones can be prescribed for children in Wales who started treatment prior to the UK Government’s Order restricting their prescribing other than through the NHS, and to children accessing NHS gender services, as part of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence research study when that commences. We continue to be led by the evidence to inform gender identity services for our young people in Wales.
The Member references the Cass review. I'm afraid to tell him that the author of the Cass review is supportive of this research, saying that it is about reducing harm. This is a careful study, an academic study, that is about reducing harm to children and young people. I would have thought that that is something that, as a whole, we would eager to sign up to.
The Welsh Government is supporting tourism in Ceredigion Penfro through a wide range of Visit Wales activity. We're determined to make the most of opportunities that arise from tourism, and to do so in a way that is sustainable both for the sector itself, which is so important to Wales, and for Welsh communities.
Llywydd, this Government has made it clear that we will be keeping those 182 days under review because we need to be measuring what unintended consequences may have arisen, and there's still a short time since the measure was brought in. We remember why it was brought in. The previous threshold, 70 days, was worthless. We needed to have a genuine push to identify who the businesses were that were the heartbeat of our tourism sector in the letting sector, so that they could be supported and people didn't play the system, perhaps, as some may have been tempted to do because the threshold was so low. We want to make sure that that threshold is right. The exemptions are very, very important. There are some properties that have been caught in this particular policy that were never meant to have been caught in it. Barn conversions, for example—places that could never have been homes for permanent dwelling. We've made it clear that we will take action on that. On the 182-day review, I've genuinely given assurance that we want to make sure that it's at the right level.
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