Attendance
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Category
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Names
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Assembly Members:
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Lynne Neagle AM (Chair)
Dawn Bowden AM
Hefin David AM
Suzy Davies AM
Janet Finch-Saunders AM
Siân Gwenllian AM
Vikki Howells AM (In place of Jack Sargeant
AM)
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Witnesses:
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Julie James AM, Minister for Housing and Local
Government
Karen Cornish, Welsh Government
Emma Gammon, Welsh Government
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Committee Staff:
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Llinos Madeley (Clerk)
Gareth Rogers (Second Clerk)
Sarah Bartlett (Deputy Clerk)
Michael Dauncey (Researcher)
Sian Hughes (Researcher)
Sian Thomas (Researcher)
Lisa Salkeld (Legal Adviser)
Samiwel Davies (Legal Adviser)
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<AI1>
1
Introductions, apologies, substitutions
and declarations of interest
1.1 The Chair welcomed Members. Apologies were
received from Jack Sargeant AM, Vikki Howells AM substituted.
</AI1>
<AI2>
2
Children (Abolition of Defence of
Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill - evidence session
12
2.1 The Committee scrutinised the Deputy
Minister.
2.2 The Deputy Minister agreed to provide a
note on the following:
- Information on the
contacts made with parents, including details of the messaging used
relating to parenting, before the Healthy Child Wales
Programme’s 3.5 years pre-school point;
- A note on the mapping
exercise being undertaking in relation to the availability of early
years support for parents, to include detail of the mapping
process, timescales, and how findings will be taken forward;
- An update on the Welsh
Government’s latest work on out of court disposals, including
estimated costs;
- Figures relating to the
frequency with which ‘non-conviction’ information has,
and is anticipated to be, disclosed;
- A note providing further
detail on the discussions the Welsh Government referred to holding
with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) in relation to the
Bill and the disclosure of ‘non-conviction’ information
and;
- A written response to the
following questions not reached:
-
- How will the WG ensure
this Bill protects the youngest children who are unable to voice
their experiences?
- What assessment has been
made of whether women, particularly vulnerable women, will be
affected disproportionately by this Bill given that they are the
primary care giver in many cases?
- This Bill’s
Equality Impact Assessment says: “…there is some
limited evidence that children from some ethnic groups may
experience physical punishment more frequently due to the
parents’ ethnic or cultural origin”; ”Minority
ethnic parents face a number of different barriers to accessing
services including discrimination; language and cultural barriers
and a lack of awareness of services and how to access them”
and that Gypsy and Traveller families “may be reluctant to
use services for fear of stigma and prejudice; have a lack of trust
in service providers and may also have limited literacy”.
Please can the WG outline how significant an issue it believes this
to be, an provide practical examples of how it will be mitigating
these potential impacts?
</AI2>
<AI3>
3
Papers to note
3.1 The papers were noted.
3.2 In relation to paper to note 1, Suzy
Davies AM wished to note the difficulty disaggregating cases of
reasonable punishment as isolated incidences from cases
</AI6>
<AI7>
4
Motion under Standing Order
17.42(ix) to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder
of the meeting.
4.1 The Motion was agreed.
</AI7>
<AI8>
5
Children (Abolition of Defence of
Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill - consideration of the
evidence
5.1 The Committee considered the evidence
heard during the session.
</AI8>
<AI9>
6
Inquiry into School Funding -
Consideration of the draft report
6.1 The Committee considered the draft report.
The draft report would be considered again at the meeting on 26
June.
</AI9>
<AI10>
7
Consideration of the Committee's Forward
Work Programme
7.1 The Committee considered the forward work
programme. Members agreed the following for the Autumn term:
·
A scrutiny session with the Minister for Education on the new
curriculum as part of its ongoing scrutiny of curriculum
reform;
·
A one-off session on early years childcare and education, to
include follow up on Flying Start: outreach and matters arising
during scrutiny of the Childcare Funding Bill;
·
A short inquiry into Children’s Rights in Wales;
·
Draft Budget Scrutiny;
·
An inquiry into Education other than at school and Pupil Referral
Units;
·
A one-off session on school improvement and raising standards;
and
·
Ongoing follow-up work on existing commitments and scrutiny of
annual reports.
7.2 The Committee noted the information
available about the legislative programme, including the
anticipated need to complete Stage 2 proceedings on the Children
(Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill should
it progress beyond Stage 1.
</AI10>
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