, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
Thank you, Chair. Good morning, everybody. Cabinet Secretary, last year in May, you held a behavioural summit, which I'm sure we, alongside many others, have heard about in quite some depth and detail. I'd just like to know, can you update us on the work that…
, Plenary
Debate on the Children, Young People and Education Committee Report, 'Routes into post-16 education and training'
I'm delighted to be able to speak today on the Children, Young People and Education Committee's report into routes into post-16 education. Can I please take this opportunity to thank the committee clerks, the Chair, as well as all the committee members for…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
First Minister, thank you for your response, but I'm going to have to disagree with you, because, in my view, our NHS is on its knees thanks to decades of mismanagement and incompetence by your party. A constituent of mine has been on an NHS waiting list for…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
8. Will the First Minister provide an update on the steps taken by the Welsh Government to reduce NHS waiting lists in South Wales East? OQ63773
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
First Minister, it comes as no surprise to me that the number of university applicants across Wales is certainly dropping. Now, currently, we sit at the bottom of the league table for university applications, with less than a third of Welsh students applying…
, Plenary
Debate: The Final Budget 2026-27
I will. I'm just concerned with the budget as a whole. A lack of basic budgeting by failing to cut waste, while spending more on pet projects and a lack of basic decency by hardly mentioning women within your spending plan, shows a lack of vision, and what…
, Plenary
Debate: The Final Budget 2026-27
—a childcare system that remains unaffordable, inaccessible and disjointed. So I'd like to know, Cabinet Secretary, when will your Government match the child care offer in England? And I'm proud that the Conservative Government introduced it at the time—
, Plenary
Debate: The Final Budget 2026-27
Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for presenting the final budget to the Welsh Parliament. Extra funding, no doubt, will be welcomed by many schools across Wales. That's my praise out of the way. For me, it's quite funny; we are being told in the run-up to the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Thank you for your response, Cabinet Secretary. Despite a lot of warm words from the Government, the shamefully high NHS waiting lists remain, with residents across Wales, including my own constituents, forced to wait in pain. It's shocking, but perhaps not…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
7. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to reduce NHS waiting lists in South Wales East? OQ63689
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning
Cabinet Secretary, my colleagues and I are firm believers in social enterprise, and I find it interesting that the Perthyn project, which you launched in north and west Wales, includes helping communities to save local assets, such as shops and pubs. That…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing: Women’s Health Hubs
Thank you for your statement today, Minister. Overall, I have been very supportive of the introduction of women's health hubs as a way of ensuring that women's health conditions are taken seriously and that every woman can receive the help that she needs…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
Brilliant. Thank you so much.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
Okay. A final question from me. Previously, it was suggested that Medr may encourage institutions to, and I quote, 'play to their strengths', which aligns with the approach set out by the UK Government's White Paper on post-16 education and skills. So, how…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
Okay, thank you. Regarding the mapping of subject demand and provision across HE, to what extent would any interventions on individual subjects, such as incentivising and supporting institutions, be the responsibility of Medr, and/or the Welsh Government, and…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
Good. I think that would be very welcome by everyone here, as well as beyond. I will keep my next question, or my sub-question, quite short. I know we've talked a lot about financial sustainability, and I know you've mentioned the issues with regard to…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
And just for my understanding again now, the fact that you're meeting twice a month, or your teams are, with those financial heads, you're getting your reports on a regular basis—is that something that was set up by yourselves, or was that agreed by the…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
I appreciate that. I really do. As a team, I'd like to get a bit more of an understanding. If you're meeting with various universities—if you could just explain to us here on the committee—how often do you meet with the universities? Is it a regular thing?…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
Thank you very much, Chair. I'm going to ask a bit about higher education institutions, if that's okay. We're seeing higher education institutions managing their financial challenges in different ways across Wales. Some are seeing a decline in international…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
Great. Thank you so much.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
Okay. Have you got any contingency plans in place if, indeed, a new Government comes into place and the money that's been ring-fenced for Medr at the moment doesn't actually fit in or doesn't manage to cover all of the priorities that you have in future? How…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
You mentioned the election to my colleague, Russell George, in one of your answers to him. So, obviously, an election is indeed upon us in May 2026. So, what plans are you, as Medr, going to be putting into place to ensure that there's a smooth transition to…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
Okay. Great. What's Medr's experience of operating under a phased approach of transferring powers within the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022? Do you feel that this approach has helped operations so far?
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
That's good to hear. Have there been any challenges that you've faced whilst having to work between different portfolios and different Government Ministers, I should say?
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Annual Scrutiny of Medr
Good morning, both. For the benefit of the committee, how would you describe your working relationship with Welsh Government?
