North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to provide long-term support for the children of Armed Forces personnel in Wales.   

Raising the matter with the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Kirst Williams AM, in the Assembly Chamber yesterday, Mr Isherwood referred to the Service Pupil Premium available in England and asked her to respond to calls for it to be introduced in Wales.

He said:  

“As you're aware, the Service Pupil Premium is available in England to support Service children in education, and the Royal British Legion is calling for schools in Wales to have a similar fund for approximately 2,500 children who currently attend schools in Wales.

“It's very positive that the Welsh Government announced £200,000 funding to support Armed Services children for schools to bid into for this year, but there's concern about what might follow. So, how do you therefore respond to the call from the Legion and the wider Armed Forces community in Wales for a Service Pupil Premium, as in England, so that all schools can receive the funding for every Service child?”

In her reply, the Education Secretary said: “We continue to look to see whether there is evidence to suggest that those children who are the children of our Armed Forces personnel are at an educational disadvantage, in the same way that we know, for instance, that our poorer children are, that our looked-after children are, and that children who have experienced adoption often are. And we will continue to look, within the confines of the resources available, at how we can continue to support, as we are already doing this year, those children.”

Mr Isherwood added: “In England, schools receive the Service Pupil Premium so that they can offer mainly pastoral support during challenging times and to help mitigate the negative impact on service children of family mobility or parental deployment. As UK Armed Forces Day approaches, with Llandudno hosting this in 2018, and local events across Wales and the UK, the Armed Forces community and its children in Wales deserve better”.