Speaking in the Welsh Parliament this afternoon, North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has called for an urgent Welsh Government Statement on support for outdoor education providers in Wales after receiving an email from a sector representative criticising the “shambolic” way they have been treated by the Labour administration amid the pandemic.
Mr Isherwood has been told by the representative that they have “reached a critical point” having not been able to trade for a full 12 months, yet the Welsh Government have failed to provide the financial support and constructive dialogue they need to survive.
Raising the matter in today’s Business Statement, Mr Isherwood said:
A sector representative e-mailed me yesterday, stating:
“I wanted to make you aware of this issue that is affecting rural Wales and indeed North Wales most severely and I ask that you take the matter forward to the Welsh Government.
“The situation has reached a critical point and quite frankly the way that this sector is being treated by the Welsh Government is nothing less than shambolic.
“I am appalled that most recently an open letter sent to both Economy Minister Ken Skates and First Minister Mark Drakeford signed by 49 companies and organisations across Wales was only seen fit to receive a cut and paste stock response with the reply that Ministers were too busy to respond in person.
“The way that this sector has been treated is awful and the Welsh Government's attention towards rural Wales is again very poor.
“Furthermore, I become increasingly concerned for the mental health of those working within this sector that has not been able to trade for a full 12 months and seemingly has no way of making their voice heard to the Government. It does also beg the question of ‘Why run a business in Wales?’.
“As the open letter referred to states ‘on 16th March 2020 residential education centres closed their doors to children and young people on School trips from across the UK. Unlike many sectors of the economy, Welsh Government regulations have prevented us from reopening at any stage since’.
“As the open letter concluded ‘will the Welsh Government recognise the essential role the sector will play as a part of the post-Covid recovery solution, or will it allow the decline of quality educational provision for this and future generations? The sector desperately needs both targeted financial support and constructive dialogue with Welsh Government to enable it to survive the coming months and years’.
“I call for a Statement accordingly.”
In her response, the Minister stated “we've all received the same correspondence and I've asked for a copy of the response that the Welsh Government issued in the first instance regarding outdoor education . When I do see a copy of that, I'll explore what more we can do in terms of understanding what, if any, support has been applied for by those particular businesses, because our approach has been not to provide individualised, very, very narrow support but to provide packages of support through the economic resilience fund to capture as wide a base as possible.”
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Isherwood said: “Contrary to the Minister’s claim that ‘everyone’ had received this, the sender told me that they had only sent the letter to a number of MSs who they felt would be sensitive to the issue or who represent areas where outdoor education provides a large part of the economy”.