7. 5. The Education Workforce Council (Registration Fees) Regulations 2017

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:55 pm on 31 January 2017.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 4:55, 31 January 2017

Thank you for that, Dawn, and I would welcome very much indeed the approach that’s been taken by some of the councils that you’ve outlined, and there are others in Wales that have taken that. Welsh Government recognises that some of the people that we’re requiring to register are paid at a lower level, hence the nature of the regulations—that we have tried to subsidise those on the lower pay scales more than those perhaps higher paid colleagues. The fee model proposed has been developed with three key principles in mind, and those are sustainability, proportionality, and cost-effectiveness. Now, we could create a fee model that looks at different pay scales, that looks at full-time and looks at part-time, but, in doing so in analysing that model, we’ve discovered that it could be so burdensome, cumbersome, it could become so complex, that, actually, that might lead to higher fees having to be paid for people. So, trying to keep it as simple as we have allows us to try and keep fees as low as possible, but I would commend the actions of those councils you’ve mentioned in wanting to make that contribution in the way that they have. Thank you.