The next item on our agenda is a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education on teacher recruitment, and I call on the Cabinet Secretary, Kirsty Williams.

Thank you, Llywydd. A key objective of our recently published education action plan is the development of a high-quality education profession. It is impossible to overstate the importance of our teachers’ role in helping to succeed in our national mission to raise standards, reduce the attainment gap and deliver an education system that is a source of national pride and confidence. Today, I am setting out the Government’s plans to ensure that we actively promote teaching in Wales as a high-status, valued and flexible profession. Alongside that, in our continued efforts to raise standards in the classroom, I will also provide details of how we are developing an alternative offer to support absence management arrangements in schools.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) took the Chair.

Quite simply, an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. Our ambitious reforms need well-supported, high-quality, aspirational teachers. We must therefore attract and support the best graduates with the highest level of qualifications to teach. I am concerned that significant recruitment issues across the border can give a skewed view of what is actually happening here in Wales. I nonetheless fully accept that we do, however, experience challenges in recruiting to certain subjects and in certain geographical locations. This is a challenge we must, and will, rise to.

Therefore, I have decided to announce our incentives for the academic year 2018-19 early. We are providing clarity and assurance in our commitment to our newest teachers. These incentives support key national priorities, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, Welsh and modern foreign languages. We are also now including computer science as a priority subject eligible for the highest level of incentive. If, as a Government, we’re to achieve our ambitions in ‘Cymraeg 2050’, then we need to increase the number of teachers who can teach bilingually, through the medium of Welsh and teach Welsh as a subject.

Whilst our recruitment for primary Welsh-medium teachers is broadly on track, if we are to achieve our targets for secondary, we need to increase recruitment to Welsh-medium initial teacher education places each year to meet the target for increasing the number of secondary Welsh-medium teachers by 2021. Therefore, I’m also announcing today a new Welsh-medium incentive that will target secondary postgraduate certificate in education student teachers who are training to teach all subject specialisms through the medium of Welsh or bilingually.

Of course, our teaching workforce includes numerous different roles, all of whom play a vital role in raising standards. Supply teachers form a significant and important part of our teaching workforce. We must ensure that our supply teachers are an informed section within the wider school workforce ready and able to support our national mission of education reform. I am in no doubt that there is room for improvement in the way that our system currently employs, manages and supports Wales’s supply teachers. I am committed to ensuring that teachers who work flexibly in this way are well equipped, appropriately rewarded, and supported and integrated into the teaching profession. Therefore, I recognise that our system needs to be more flexible, innovative and inclusive in our approach to covering teacher absence and ensuring that those who work in this way are supported in the same way that permanent teachers are.

I am today announcing support of £2.7 million across the current and next academic years to fund 15 local authorities in supporting school-based supply cluster arrangements across 86 schools. This cluster arrangement will support the appointment of around 50 recently qualified teachers on a supernumerary basis to work across school clusters, covering for teacher absence, building capacity and supporting wider school improvements and learner outcomes. This approach invests in, develops and nurtures recently qualified teachers, whilst also ensuring sufficiency of cover within schools to meet demands for additional learning needs delivery and other specialist teachers, including Welsh-medium teachers.

Through this innovative approach, we envisage that savings identified from school supply budgets can be used to re-invest in the future to effect change and school improvement in a tangible way. I take the view that this approach will build capacity in the system to support our schools to manage their supply needs in a more co-ordinated, collaborative and sustainable manner. I am pleased that we were able to take forward the supply model taskforce report in this innovative way and work in partnership with local authorities to support consistency, career pathways and meet complex needs in different regions.

Deputy Presiding Officer, the world’s highest performing education systems have vibrant and engaged educators who feel valued and respected. We are well on our way in Wales in developing and delivering a high-quality profession ready to raise standards across the board. I am confident that the proposals announced today demonstrate a coherent and clear commitment to our current and future workforce, as they deliver on our national mission to raise standards and reduce the attainment gap. Diolch yn fawr.

Can I welcome the statement? We absolutely do share the aim of the Welsh Government to ensure that teaching can be promoted as a rewarding, valued and high-status profession, and it is a career that we want to encourage more people to take up. It’s especially important, this statement, given the statements that we’ve heard from the National Union of Teachers and others this year that have suggested that teaching recruitment is bordering on crisis. That’s what they said back in June. We know that we’ve had a number of years now where we have missed, as a nation, the teacher recruitment targets that have been set by the Welsh Government. Indeed, we were a third below target for the second year in a row in terms of secondary teachers, and I think that that is a concern for all of us.

I have to say I was a little surprised that there was no reference to teacher workload in your statement. We do know from the national education workforce survey, which was conducted earlier this year, that 78 per cent of the respondents to that survey said that the workload was the least rewarding aspect of their work. We also know from that survey that there are a third of teachers in Wales who are thinking of leaving the profession within the next three years. They’re extremely alarming statistics.

Now, I know, to be fair to you, Cabinet Secretary, you announced earlier this year that you were looking to pilot some business manager proposals across Wales in order to reduce unnecessary workload, and that you’ve put some good practice guides out, as it were, to make it clear to people what they do and don’t need to do. I think that that’s a positive step forward, but I do think that it has to be recognised that the workload is something that is putting some people off entering this profession altogether, and, clearly, we need to do more, notwithstanding either that the workload is contributing to the need for more supply teachers, because of unplanned absences in the teaching workforce. So, it’d be good if you could give us an update on some of the work that you’re doing on that.

I note that you mentioned that the incentives for the academic year 2018-19 are going to be announced early. That’s something I welcome. I’m very pleased to see that the Welsh Government is now looking at adding computer science to the list of priority subjects. I think that that is absolutely essential also, particularly if we want a workforce that is fit for the future, and you know that’s something that we have spoken about both inside and outside this Chamber in the past—the need for young people to be equipped to do coding and things like that, so that we can make sure that businesses have people with the skills that they need. I’m very pleased also to see that there will be new incentives in order to attract Welsh speakers into the workforce. You’re absolutely right that if we’re going to hit that ambitious target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050, we have to have a workforce that’s going to deliver these things in our schools and going to encourage the language to be used in schools and outside of them.

I note that England has already published its incentives for the academic year 2018-19. I can’t see that you’ve actually published a document today in respect of the incentives, and I can’t see anything on the Welsh Government website. So, it would be useful, Cabinet Secretary, if you could tell us precisely what those incentives are, because I’ll reserve judgement as to whether they are sufficiently attractive to bring people into the profession, because clearly the proof of the pudding is going to be how they compare with incentives elsewhere in the UK. So, I would be interested to see those incentives.

In addition, will you also tell us whether you’re going to revise the targets for recruitment into the profession? We know that we’ve missed targets in recent years, so clearly we need targets that are going to stretch but that are also realistic and that will ensure that we have a workforce that meets the demands of the Welsh education system.

Can you also tell us whether you’re going to take the advice of the Education Workforce Council and others about their calls for some sort of big overarching national teacher recruitment campaign? Now, I know that some work is going on between the consortia at the moment. There is some co-operation, there is some activity, but there’s no overarching national ambitious teacher recruitment campaign. When I go into the cinema, even, these days, very often you’ll see adverts displayed before the movies come on encouraging people to enter the teaching profession, and they’re adverts trying to attract people into the English teaching system, not the Welsh one—even in Welsh cinemas, which I find a bit odd. So, I just wonder whether you can tell us whether you’re going to do anything on that front.

One of the things that I’ve also mentioned to you in the past and has been a matter of discussion amongst the parties historically has been the potential of overseas-trained teachers and bringing those into the profession here in Wales. You’ll know that at the moment they don’t have automatic qualified teacher status, even if they’re from comparable education systems in terms of the standards of those education systems. That’s something that only applies in Wales—no other part of the UK—and is a stumbling block to potentially hundreds of people who might want to work in the profession here in Wales who don’t currently have the opportunity to do that without going through extra hurdles in order to get there.

Turning to the £2.7 million that you’ve announced today—a welcome announcement—to support the cluster arrangements, I’m very surprised at how small the number of schools is that are going to be participating in those cluster arrangements. We’ve got over 1,500 schools here in Wales, and that money is targeted at just 86, in encouraging them to work together. You said that it’s going to be spread across 15 local authorities. What about the other seven local authorities? Which local authorities aren’t being included? Why is it such a small number of schools? We know that these cluster arrangements have huge potential. I would have hoped that there would have been a bigger programme in terms of trying to get the opportunity that they present, so perhaps you can tell us a little bit about that.

And just finally, on supply teachers—

Finally finally, now.

One of the big barriers, as you will know, is to the opportunities for supply teachers to engage in professional development. You’ve said that you want to see that addressed. You haven’t said how you expect that to be addressed, but clearly we need to ensure that regional education consortia and local education authorities are inviting supply teachers and allowing them to engage in professional development opportunities free of charge, at no cost to them. Will you also tell us whether you are planning to take forward the recommendation that was made to you by the taskforce in relation to bringing forward some legislation to address some of the abuses that teacher agencies are undertaking in terms of the standards of those agencies and also the pay and rewards that they pay to our teaching workforce that works through supply? Thank you.

Thank you to Darren Millar for what I think was a broad welcome of the statement today and a long list of questions, which I will try and get through as quickly as I possibly can.

I don’t believe that we have a crisis. Ninety per cent of primary school places are met to target. But you’re right, with secondary we do have particular challenges, and then we have particular challenges within subjects within secondary—some courses. We recruit fully to others. And that’s the purpose of the incentives.

Darren is also right, though; teaching is not just about pay, and actually all the surveys show that when most teachers go into the profession they’re not solely motivated by making a lot of money. They’re motived by wanting to work with children, wanting to impart the enthusiasm that they have for their subjects, and do the best they can for the education system. So, issues around workload are important. Darren did reference our business managers and our good practice guide. I’m about to write out to all headteachers again to make sure that the good practice guide is being utilised within their schools, and we’re hoping to announce further projects around workload as we go forward. But it’s also about supporting the profession and making sure that professionals have access to continuing professional development that allows them to be the best that they can be. You know that we are developing a national approach to CPD, so that teachers get that wherever they are in Wales. We also know that, sometimes, our leadership perhaps isn’t as good as it could be. Leadership is absolutely crucial in managing workload and ensuring that schools and colleges are attractive places to work. That’s why we are developing our leadership academy to make sure that our school leaders have the skills that they need to be effective managers of their institutions.

The major changes to the incentives, as opposed to last year—. The figures are the same, in terms of £20,000 for a first-class degree in maths, physics, chemistry, Welsh, but the additional subject in there is computer science. Also, we’re changing—. There was a bit of a perverse, illogical restriction on those people who had PhDs and Master’s degrees. So, if you had a 2:1 but you had a PhD, or if you had a 2:1and had a Master’s, you only got the 2:1 rate, which is lower than the first degree rate, which actually, logically, didn’t make a lot of sense. So, we are addressing that this time. So, if you have a first-class degree or a PhD or a Master’s, you will have the maximum amount for those subjects. Medium priority subjects will come in as an incentive to £15,000. What’s really important to remember, Darren, is that these are four incentive for the next academic year, 2018-19, where these students will also be able to apply for our full Diamond package. PGCE students are an exception to postgraduate study, so potentially, these students will be able to apply for a full Diamond package of support alongside the incentives that we’re making available today.

We are working at the moment on—. You asked whether targets will remain the same. We are trying to create stability for our institutions that currently offer these courses, but we are working on a new workplace planning tool to get better data and to be able to better analyse our workforce needs in the future, and I would expect us to change our targets in relation to when that work is complete, which I’m hoping will be done by 2019—that new tool being available and coinciding with the devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions. There’s a whole set of things that need to line up there.

There is a national campaign. It’s being joint funded by all the regional consortia. It’s called Discover Teaching. We are constantly discussing whether there is room and resources for a bigger campaign. I’m also continually looking at the issue of whether we are putting up artificial barriers to teachers from other countries coming to teach in this country. The last time the Welsh Government went out to consultation on this, the very strong view of the consultation responses was that those restrictions should apply. But, obviously, we don’t want to put off people who can make a contribution to our classrooms, and we will review it. That is, of course, if they can get through the UK Government’s immigration system and come and live here and work here in the future.

You are absolutely right around the need for the consortia to offer continuing professional development to our supply teachers. The supply teaching taskforce report was published in February. We have established an independent group to oversee the implementation of those recommendations. The group has met three times, and we are making progress. The supply model that we are talking about today is a recommendation that is being implemented. We have opened up access to Hwb for supply teachers, which was previously prevented, and we are working with the consortia to make sure that the supply teachers have continuous professional development.

With regard to the pilot, let me say: this is a signal of my intent. The pilot was a direct recommendation of the task and finish group, but it gives us the opportunity to explore this as an alternative model to the recruitment and employment of supply teaching, going forward. The 15 local authorities that have been selected are 15 out of the 16 that expressed an interest. We can’t do this on our own. We have to do it in partnership with local government and schools, because of local management of schools. We can’t impose this upon them. So, 15 out of the 16 expressions of interest have been taken forward, and they are, if people want to know, and if the Deputy Presiding Officer is allowing me to list them: Pembrokeshire, Torfaen, the Vale of Glamorgan, Wrexham, Powys, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Neath Port Talbot, Monmouthshire, Merthyr, Conwy, Carmarthenshire, Cardiff, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, and Newport. So, we have a big cross-section of both urban and rural authorities, north and south, east and west, and a mixture of schools. So, we’ve got primary clusters, we’ve got secondary, but we’ve also got through-schools as well. We can’t impose this upon people; we have to do it with the coalition of the willing, if you don’t mind the expression, ‘a coalition of the willing’. We have to do it in partnership, and those local authorities, I’m very glad, have stepped up to the plate and shown real vision and have explored the potential that this can bring the advantages. And it’s advantages not just to the supply teacher. What’s really crucial about this is that there are advantages to the children, because they will have familiar faces. So, when their classroom teacher is absent or away on a training course, they will see a familiar face in their school, and that will have an impact on teaching and learning for those children.

May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement? I, too, felt that it was slightly strange that there were no details about the incentives that were being announced today, but thank you for giving us an outline of that in your response. I’d be interested to know how these incentives will compare with the rest of the UK. You did give us a brief outline, but that would be interesting to know, because we are in a very competitive situation when it comes to many of these issues. I also want to welcome the additional incentive that you’re offering in terms of teachers who can teach through the medium of Welsh, because the recruitment level for Welsh-medium teachers in the year 2015-16, the last year that we have figures for, is at its lowest rate since 2008-9. So, put that alongside the Government’s ambition in terms of the direction of travel on the number of Welsh speakers, then, clearly, we need to be proactive on that front, and I welcome that very warmly.

Your statement mentions that we also need to look at rural areas specifically, but I don’t see any reference to incentives in that context, and perhaps you could make a few comments on how you could incentivise people to look in that specific direction. You’ve also said in the past that there is a lack of variety and diversity across the teaching workforce, and you said to the committee a while ago that there’s a job of work to be done by the Government there. There is nothing in your statement on that issue, and perhaps you could give us an update on what you have been doing to try to introduce more diversity into the teaching workforce in Wales.

The ITE expert forum has also been looking at reviewing evidence from best practice for alternative routes into teaching. You’ve touched on this once or twice in the past, but it would be good to have an update and to know perhaps when we can expect a more comprehensive statement in that area.

There are a number of barriers to the recruitment of new teachers, and no-one’s claiming that there is a single solution. There is a series of solutions required, but one that comes up regularly is the requirement to have a B in GCSE maths. Now, I know that we are eager to raise standards in terms of the educators we have in Wales, but when someone like John Furlong himself raises questions on the value of that in the Children, Young People and Education Committee, I think it is important that we just take a step back and look at that, and I would ask you just to tell us whether you think that changing that is in the mix in any way whatsoever, or are you content that that is going to remain for the long term?

We’ve touched on bureaucracy, so I won’t pursue that particular issue.

In terms of supply teachers, certainly I welcome the announcement made on cluster arrangements for supply teachers as a step in the right direction. As you said yourself, much of this work will be a pilot, but I share many of the questions on the low numbers of teachers and schools that were included in this. But, of course, we are talking here about 50 newly qualified teachers, whilst we have 4,000 supply teachers in Wales, and many of those certainly feel that they perhaps haven’t been given the support and status that they would aspire towards. And I’ve raised with you on a number of occasions recently the problems surrounding pay and conditions, and I won’t rehearse those issues, but the role of these private agencies, which have increased significantly from a dozen some years ago to more than 50 now, has caused a great deal of concern for many who work within the sector.

So, what I would like to ask is: clearly, this is a pilot—it does give us some flavour of the direction of travel of the Government—but where do you see that provision and what kind of model do you see in the longer term? Is this the core of the model that you would like to see developed across Wales ultimately, or are you still looking at alternative models in addition to what’s being outlined here?

We’ve already heard that we need to devolve teachers’ pay and conditions before we can tackle some of these issues to the extent that we would like to tackle them, but I would be pleased if you would confirm that your intention would be to tackle this issue of teachers’ pay and conditions, once and for all, particularly for supply teachers, and the role of the private sector when you feel that you have the powers to do that.

Just in conclusion, you say in your statement that the teaching workforce includes people in a number of different roles, all playing a key role in raising standards, but there is no mention here of classroom assistants, or certainly they haven’t been mentioned as much as I would have liked in this general discussion about teacher recruitment, and the recruitment of classroom assistants, because they are an important element of the glue that holds the education system together, where there is huge pressure on the system. Many feel that this group haven’t been given the recognition that they deserve, and certainly the pay and conditions that they deserve. I would be pleased to hear what your message is to them too, because it’s important that we bear in mind that for every teacher, there is one classroom assistant in Wales. I would like to know what work you and your Government are doing in terms of the recruitment and retention of the workforce in that particular sector.

Thank you very much, Llyr, for that set of questions. With regard to entry into initial teacher training, and whether I’m intending to remove the requirement of a B grade at English and maths, I have no intention to do that at this point. You will be aware that the literacy and numeracy framework runs throughout our entire curriculum for the length of children’s school career, and therefore we’d need all our practitioners to have a strong foundation in both English and in mathematics. For those people who perhaps are looking—. And that’s why it’s so important that we don’t have teachers banking grades when they do their early entry, because the consequences for those young people going forward—. Only this weekend, I met a mum who had no idea that in accepting a C grade, that would preclude her son from going on to pursue a career in teaching. So, we need to be clear that we have these standards.

For those people perhaps going back to teaching, maybe career changes or people looking to go into the profession where perhaps they do have a C grade, then there are options available to do an equivalency test via the universities at the time of application. So, that’s not to say that people don’t have an opportunity to secure or to demonstrate their skills and knowledge via a different way, because graduate recruitment, career changes and alternative routes into the profession are something that we’re actively looking at at the moment.

Last year we had 20 people who schools took on and took through a training process. I’d like to see that extended, and, as I said, we’re actively looking at ways in which we can have alternative routes into the teaching profession, especially for those who perhaps have had a career in science and industry, and who now want to move into teaching to share their enthusiasm and their knowledge for that subject with young people. That’s part of a whole variety of ways in which we’re looking to expose people to the possibilities of teaching. Why would you know or think about becoming a teacher? That’s why such schemes as the modern foreign languages mentoring scheme are so important in our universities, exposing our modern foreign language students to periods of working with young people in school and exposing them to the prospect, perhaps, of going on to be a teacher. One of the strongest physics undergraduate degrees in the University of London make all their physics undergraduates do a unit in teaching physics. We’ve been talking to our university sector about including that in our science undergraduate courses, so that all undergraduates have that opportunity to be exposed to the possibility of teaching as a career, so that we can get a wide range of people interested in the profession.

You asked about the ongoing issue around supply teaching and you quoted the figure of just over 4,000 teachers being registered with the EWC as supply—that is, 4,200 teachers who are currently registered as supply teachers. It’s important to state, Llyr, that half of those are employed via schools and local authorities and are on the school teachers’ pay and conditions document. So, they are paid in that way. So, it’s important to recognise that, when we talk about the supply system, 50 per cent of those are working and are being paid on school teachers’ pay and conditions document terms. That leaves us with about 2,100 teachers who are registered with commercial agencies—that’s about 6 per cent of our total teaching population who are registered that are employed on that basis. I want to make it very clear, I do not condone the practice of schools and agencies negotiating low pay rates for supply teachers. I’ve said today in my statement, I expect temporary teachers to be rewarded and supported appropriately for the work that they undertake.

So, the approach that I’ve outlined today with regard to NQTs could offer us a viable alternative model to using supply agencies as we go forward. And, I am currently scoping the feasibility of introducing a centralised matching system to coincide with the devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions, which will be transferred in the autumn of 2018 for the first year. So, our first pay year will be 2019 that it’ll be operating. That has to be a system that is fit for purpose for Wales. It can’t just be a system that we have transported from somewhere else.

Let me make it absolutely clear again: this issue is devolved to headteachers. It is up to headteachers in their schools to make arrangements for the employment of supply teachers. There is nothing forcing them to use an agency; it is in their hands. We can have a debate about whether we want local management of schools or whether we want to strip headteachers of that power and impose a national system on them. We can have a debate about that, but it just shows that this is quite a complex issue and because of those complexities, let’s remember, that’s why the task and finish group could not recommend a single system for Wales that could be implemented quickly. But, we continue to look at this, and this pilot, as I said, gives us the potential of an alternative model.

That’s a very thorough answer. The centralised system to coincide with the devolution of teachers’ pay and condition, I have to say, is very welcome. I was surprised it wasn’t mentioned in the Welsh Government press release, because I think that’s a fundamental issue that will be of benefit to supply teachers in these circumstances. So, you are recognising, therefore, which was going to be the gist of my question, that the devolution of pay and conditions will enable you to take further action. Therefore, is the information that will lead to the setting up of the matching system be derived from the establishment of the cluster system that you are piloting? Is that where that is coming from?

The other issue I’m raising, which has come to me from constituents, is they’re very concerned about the preferred New Directions body that is supplying supply teachers. Will that current framework be renewed when it comes to the end of its contract? And what future plans has the Government got for involving agencies in the supply of supply teachers?

Thank you, Hefin. As I said, we’re currently scoping the feasibility of a national matching system to coincide with the devolution of terms and conditions. What’s really important is that we’re doing this in discussion with the unions themselves, so they are an integral part of this process going forward. We have a social partnership model here in Welsh Government, where we work in that spirit of co-operation between us as a Government, local government as the employers and schools as the employers, as well as the unions.

Again, I have to state: I don’t employ teachers and, therefore, the New Directions contract is not my contract, it’s not a Welsh Government contract, and there is nothing that forces headteachers to use that agency, or, indeed, any of the other agencies that are available out there. Whether that model will continue to exist after we have finished our feasibility and looked at policy options, well, that would be a matter for them; that’s a commercial decision for them. But what’s important to us is that we have an alternative available to teachers, to headteachers, to schools and to local authorities going forward, and that work is actively going on at the moment, because I recognise the concerns that have been expressed, and the statement today on NQTs is a statement of my intent.

Thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary, which certainly represents a step in the right direction. The statement’s entitled ‘recruitment of teachers’, but I can’t really see where you’re talking about the recruitment of teachers generally in addressing the fundamental problems that have been identified with recruiting teachers into Wales. I see three concrete announcements in the statement, the first being the Welsh-medium incentive, which I think is a great idea. It’s only right and proper that Welsh Government should encourage education through the medium of Welsh, and we’re well-acquainted in this Chamber with the shortage of those teachers. Obviously, I fully support your objective on this, as I do your measure to introduce computer science to qualify for a higher incentive.

Coming to the funding for schools-based cluster arrangements, this does sound like a really good idea, but there’s no detail—. I know you’ve given some detail today, Cabinet Secretary, but there’s very little—no detail in your statement itself. So, you know, if pupils and schools are able to build working relationships with a regular set of supply teachers, instead of the supply teacher often being a total stranger, that’s much better for the supply teacher, the school and the pupils. So, how do you envisage the clusters working in practice? Do you see the local authority—? Is it to be a cluster per local authority or are the local authorities going to cluster together? How’s it actually going to work on the ground as you see it?

I note that you want to employ a bank of supply teachers, which I think, again, like I said, is a good idea. But we don’t want newly qualified teachers to end up as long-term supply teachers, so I would like to see some sort of proposal or to hear about what work you’re doing to make sure that doesn’t happen. I mean, obviously, working as a supply teacher’s going to be a very useful way for a newly qualified teacher to pick up experience, so I’m not going to knock the supply teacher route at all.

You’ve said, and it’s been covered a little bit already, that only 15 local authorities involving 86 schools are being funded to run this cluster arrangement. I kind of gathered from the conversations today that it’s a pilot, but, you know, what are the criteria going to be for you awarding the funding? You’ve specified a pot of £2.7 million. How’s that going to be apportioned between the clusters? Who’s going to make the decision about how much each cluster gets? And how’s it actually going to work? Are these local authorities going to have to apply for the funding or are you going to make a decision based on certain criteria, and, in that case, what are the criteria likely to be? Do you think as well that you’re likely to roll this system out to the local authorities that currently aren’t being covered?

Okay. It concerns me that, according to EWC figures, over 80 per cent of newly registered teachers in Wales are working on a fixed-term or supply basis. I don’t see any measures to address this in your statement, so perhaps you could say a little bit in response to that. I don’t see any proposals to address the negative publicity about the quality of training in Wales or the perception of students that the profession’s getting harder and that the profession is unattractive. Those aren’t my words; those are the words of the EWC, by the way. The number of new registrations for school teachers is lower in this year than it’s ever been since 2004. And, although the statement does claim to be announcing innovative solutions to the problem, aside from the three measures already discussed, there isn’t much else. So, I would like to hear what other work you’re doing to address the fundamental problems and disincentives to training teachers in Wales that have been identified by the EWC and others. Thank you.

Thank you for that set of questions. It is important that we prioritise those who will go on to be our teachers in our bilingual and Welsh-medium schools. That’s why Welsh is a priority subject for incentives, attracting the highest level of incentives to go on to a PGCE. We’re also announcing today, as you have referenced, a new scheme, which will be a payment on the successful completion of qualified teacher status, with a second payment made to those graduates on the successful completion of their induction year within a Welsh school. So, this is not money upfront. This is about incentivising people to actually finish their course and go on to actually teach in a school. So, this is not just about payment through the course; this is about incentivising people then to actually get into our classrooms.

You made a very important point about how we can move people from the QTS scheme onto permanent positions. What we do know is that QTS, newly qualified teachers, do make up a significant part of our supply teaching load, and therefore it’s really important to get them onto a successful trajectory for the start of their teaching career and, hopefully, that experience going into schools gives them the best possible chance of securing permanent employment in the school, should that be what they want to do. This idea of progression, actually, is really important. That’s one of the downsides of the Northern Ireland model. Many people in this Chamber have talked about the Northern Ireland model. One of the downsides of that model is that there is no clear way for people to get off the supply register into permanent teaching positions. We don’t want teachers who want a permanent position to be stuck within one system.

Local authorities have applied for the funding. The funding has been allocated on the strength of their bids with regard to impact, sustainability and the quality of what they were proposing. Sixteen bids were received from local authorities, and 15 have been deemed to be successful, and those local authorities have all been informed of the intention of the Welsh Government to make grant available to them.

Michelle asks about the perception of initial teacher education in Wales, and you’re not wrong. Our provision in the past perhaps has not been as good as we would want it to be, and that was outlined in Professor John Furlong’s report, and that is why we are reforming ITE provision in Wales as we speak. I want people to come to Wales, not just because we offer financial incentives, but they will come to our universities to train to be a teacher because they know what they will have is a first-class education system themselves and they will have the best possible academic underpinning to launch them on a successful career. And that’s why we are reforming the way in which we do initial teacher education as we move forward. We’ve had strong expressions of interest from a wide variety of institutions—not just the usual suspects that have done this in the past—and those expressions of interest and bids are being looked at with a very critical eye the moment. The process of allocating and accrediting those courses will not be for me, and my message is very, very clear: unless they are high quality, they will not be commissioned, because we want our future teachers to be educated themselves to the very highest standards.

We’ve got our Discover Teaching campaign; we’re working with our universities, as I said, to expose their undergraduate body to the possibility of teaching; we have our incentives; we are taking action on workload; and we are taking action on leadership. I want Wales to be the place to be a teacher. There is no one magic bullet to that. It is the totality of our reforms that will make it happen for us.

Thank you very much, Cabinet Secretary.