Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 2:40 pm on 11 January 2017.
Thank you. Of course, there is nothing wrong with looking at the way in which legislation is working and to simplify it if possible, but we must be guarded because, to date, there may be a question about the willingness and resolve of Government to implement the Measure. So, it’s important that the aim of any review is to simplify the implementation of the legislation rather than weakening that legislation. One could argue that there is room to strengthen and expand the legislation. So, one must ask why only one set of standards has been brought forward in six years. The process may be bureaucratic, but I do think that there is more than just bureaucracy behind this slow pace. For example, it was the Government that decided to reject the draft standards tabled by the commissioner, and it’s the Government that’s cut the commissioner’s budget by 32 per cent in real terms over a period of four years. Do you think that one set of standards in six years is sufficient and when will you, as a Government, publish a timetable that will lead to implementing standards in care, housing, water companies, telecommunications, train and bus companies, and gas and electricity companies, and so on and so forth?