Written Assembly Questions for answer on 16 April 2014
R - Signifies the Member has declared an interest.
W - Signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.
(Self identifying Question no. shown in brackets)
Written Questions must be tabled at least five working days before they are to be answered. In practice, Ministers aim to answer within seven/eight days but are not bound to do so. Answers are published in the language in which they are provided, with a translation into English of responses provided in Welsh.
To ask the Minister for Economy, Science and Transport
Simon Thomas (Mid and West Wales): What monitoring work has the Welsh Government undertaken in relation to the replacement of Pont Briwet? (WAQ66701)
Simon Thomas (Mid and West Wales): What discussions has the Welsh Government held with Gwynedd council on the work to replace Pont Briwet? (WAQ66702)
Answer received on 16 April 2014 (WAQ66701-2)
The Minister for Economy, Science and Transport (Edwina Hart): My Department monitors progress regularly through discussions with Gwynedd Council and our grant management procedures. I wrote to Gwynedd Council about this matter on 27 February 2014. In their reply, the Council assured me the project is being undertaken promptly, while taking into account the needs of road and rail users.
To ask the Minister for Educations and Skills
Simon Thomas (Mid and West Wales): Will the Minister make a statement on funding for the International Education Programme over the last year? (WAQ66699)
Answer received on 29 April 2014
The Minister for Education and Skills (Huw Lewis): The International Education Programme (IEP) budget was £1,391,650 in 2013-14 and provided funding in grants to the British Council, CILT Cymru, the Holocaust Educational Trust, UK China Partnership in Education (UKCPIE), UK India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI), Higher Education Wales (HEW) and the European Association of Regional and Local Authorities for Lifelong Learning (EARLALL). The British Council attracted over €4.3m of European project funding in 2012 and the Confucius Institute around £200,000 from Hanban, China.
The main deliverables for this funding were:
Deliver in Wales and China a teacher up-skilling course in Mandarin for primary and secondary with the Cardiff Confucius Institute. Target: 15-20 participants.
With Hanban funding and the Wales China Schools Project, deliver over 200 “China Weeks”, providing over 40,000 total input hours of Chinese delivery.
Continue support to a further 16 schools across LA consortia, leading to a 5% rise in uptake in 60% existing schools and 40% new schools and 5% improvement in numbers of pupils attaining L5 or above at end of KS3 (by Sept 2014)
Business Language Champions (BLC) – recruit 6+ new international businesses, bringing the total to min 44.
180 Language Assistants
Welsh Language Project with Patagonia – 2 outward and 4 inward teachers
Lesotho Teacher Training Project – Target 6 teachers
International Professional Learning Communities – 3 clusters of 8-10 teachers
Youth in Action – 65 applications
Connecting Classrooms – increase minimum of 10% of schools participating
The Lessons from Auschwitz Project gives post-16 students from every school and college in Wales the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the Holocaust through a one-day visit to the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Target 70 schools and colleges, 140 students aged 16-18 and 20 teachers.
Simon Thomas (Mid and West Wales): What discussions has the Minister had regarding the work of Connect Cymru under the Erasmus+ programme? (WAQ66700)
Answer received on 29 April 2014
Huw Lewis: I have not had any discussions regarding the work of Connect Cymru under the Erasmus+ programme. However, I am aware that my officials have agreed with the British Council that Connect Cymru will continue to be funded during this financial year.