Support for School Governors

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 2:19 pm on 31 January 2018.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 2:19, 31 January 2018

I thank the Member for that. I've been very clear that, in order to protect front-line delivery for schools, I am prepared to make difficult decisions, and, in that regard, as governor support is already provided through local authorities and regional consortia, as the Member has said, we will be ending the grant to Governors Wales.

We're not seeking to replace or replicate the support previously provided by Governors Wales as we believe that many of the services offered, as I said, are already duplicated by local authorities and the regional consortia. I need to make it clear that of the approximately 21,000 governors that we have in Wales—and, Jenny, you're absolutely right, they are the ultimate in active citizens—only 2,000 of those governors were actually on the Governors Wales mailing list, receiving information from Governors Wales, and, when Welsh Government undertook a review in 2014-15 of Governors Wales activity and support, we identified, for instance, only 10 per cent of governors participating in that review used to contact the helpline that Governors Wales operated. In these difficult times, we can't afford the duplication of service, and we'll be working with the revised regional model and revised expectations of what regional consortia need to support and recognise that, in many instances,  governing bodies and governors seek support from their local authorities.