, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Economy
I think that's fine, Chair, thank you.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Economy
Okay. And you've allocated an extra £20 million to the employability budget to support an expected increase in the cohort not in education, employment or training. What is the size of that cohort likely to be? How will the allocation to the employability…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Economy
And that comes back to the question of: how are you making up that gap between the end of EU funding and what you want to do? You've partially answered that, but is there anything further you want to say there?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Economy
Okay. So, you're taking a devolved approach to the research capacity.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Economy
With regard to the importance of regional skills partnerships, including apprenticeships and personal learning accounts, there hasn't been additional funding for a central research capacity. Can you just outline why?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Economy
Okay. I think if I pursue this any further we'll move away from budget scrutiny into more about degree apprenticeships, but it's certainly something I'd like to discuss with you and the Minister in the future.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Economy
Okay. So, are you anticipating an ability to expand degree apprenticeships then?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Economy
So, there's an intention to expand, but you don't know what that's going to be yet.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Economy
Okay, so I'd like to ask specifically first about the degree apprenticeship ambitions. Degree apprenticeships are using the same funding mechanism as they have in the past, and currently we've got two programmes. The Welsh Government, or the Welsh Labour…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. Thank you, Chair.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
My feeling is that as we're dealing with the consequences of flooding today, they will be caused in the future by things that are happening right now that we don't fully understand the consequences of, and wouldn't have happened in the past because we…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
My feeling is that the understanding of the consequences of erosion that will be happening over the next 10 years is limited. Do you think that there is a need for perhaps a UK-wide budget that then is Barnettised for these issues, and would that be helpful…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I wanted to thank you, Minister, for the discussion we've had about flood erosion, river erosion and water erosion that can lead longer term to flooding but isn't covered currently by flooding funding for home owners and tenants and anyone who uses land. Do…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. Thank you, Chair.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. I'm just very aware that resourcing enforcement action often affects whether enforcement action may be able to be taken or not. And any additional regulations would require that money to follow. I think there's a little bit of concern about the fact…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Not yet.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. Can I move on to the thorny question of the agricultural pollution regulations? Without getting into any additional issues that we don't want to get into, having had many conversations with NRW, regardless of a Wales-wide nitrate vulnerable zone and…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. And the funding for agriculture customer engagement is actually remaining stable, so you don't anticipate any additional calls on that budget given the difficulties of transition at this point.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
And BPS is in place until 2024, so we won't see the transition happen before 2024.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Evidence session with the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Can I just come back with a follow-up to Samuel Kurtz's question? The sustainable farming scheme and the basic payment scheme, are they going to run in parallel at any point?
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Welsh Language
And, finally, could the Minister just expand on the £2.7 million that's been allocated to regional consortia and local authorities for support for practitioners? How are the outcomes of that going to be measured to ensure they've been effective?
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Welsh Language
What about the Welsh language sabbatical scheme? Has the Minister considered extending its budget?
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Welsh Language
And if you don't mind me switching to English just to say that the numbers have fallen short of the target of 2,800 secondary school teachers. So, I'd like to understand how that bridge can be built to ensure that that happens.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Welsh Language
Well, the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol does excellent work, but the number of teachers in secondary schools who can teach through the medium of Welsh has remained relatively steady.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Scrutiny of Welsh Government Draft Budget 2022-23: Welsh Language
Thank you, Chair. There's a huge problem in terms of the number of teachers able to teach through the medium of Welsh. So, how does this budget support the urgent need to grow the number of schoolteachers who can teach Welsh?
