7. 6. Motion to Agree the Financial Resolution in respect of the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:13 pm on 3 October 2017.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 6:13, 3 October 2017

I have to say that, after the first dog’s breakfast of an RIA, where we saw figures that were wholly inaccurate in parts of that paper, I am surprised that the Welsh Government has been able to get this thing into such decent shape. It does appear that there has been better discussion, shall we say, with stakeholders, and that we now have a set of accurate figures that are very robust and, certainly, those little 20 quid here and there have now been ironed out.

I do think it’s worth saying, however, that there are still some concerns that have been raised by some stakeholders about the potential costs of dispute resolution, notwithstanding the fact that we have a new RIA. But, of course, they base their concerns on the evidence that they’ve had made available to them by SNAP Cymru. I think it’s worth all of us reflecting on the fact that it doesn’t necessarily have to be SNAP Cymru providing dispute resolution services in the future. There may be new and innovative ways of doing that that actually cost less for the taxpayer in the future. So, we have to be aware of that—that there are other potential dispute resolution services that could be engaged and commissioned by local authorities and others. For example, there’s a fantastic organisation in my own constituency, called Createasmile, that provides advocacy services completely free of charge to people where they’re contesting issues related to autism with local authorities, and there’s no charge whatsoever to the public purse for that. So, it’s really important that we get this right. I think we now have a financial resolution that we can support on the basis that we’ve got some more robust figures, but it is disappointing it’s taken such a long time to get to this stage.