<p>Brecon High School</p>

Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:07 pm on 16 May 2017.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:07, 16 May 2017

Well, if I can speak generally, the leader of UKIP is correct in that, in many parts of Wales, the length of the journey time to get to a Welsh-medium school puts parents off. It’s particularly true in some parts of Wales where there is a Welsh-medium primary school but there is a substantial journey to the Welsh-medium secondary school. Monmouthshire is an example that springs to mind—Ysgol y Ffin, Ysgol y Fenni—it’s a long way to Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw from there, and steps must be taken to make sure that they’re able to access secondary education, particularly, more locally. Generally, local authorities have to produce their Welsh in education strategic plans. We look at those plans and, if we judge them to be inadequate, then we do not approve those plans. It is for local authorities all across Wales to show that they are providing sufficient access to Welsh-medium education in order for those plans to be effective.

Minister

Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.