Teaching is a very important profession that's worthy of a huge amount of continued professional development, and yet the committee found that there is very little opportunity or take-up of continued training, and a number of speakers today have covered the reasons for that. That has to be a concern that, effectively, it could be possible for someone to enter into the profession aged 23 and be a teacher for 40 years with very little additional training along the way.

As our knowledge of best practice improves and education changes alongside a changing society, it is inconceivable that a three or four-year course prior to becoming a teacher will be enough to sustain a lifelong career that serves the teacher or the students well. It's therefore essential that teachers are given time for CPD. The purpose of continued professional development is about raising and maintaining standards of teaching. So, while it is welcome that the Cabinet Secretary has accepted, at least in principle, almost all of the recommendations of the report, it's very disappointing that she's rejected recommendations 19 and 20, which are essentially about defining and clarifying acceptable teaching standards.

How can we reassure parents that we have the educational needs of their children at heart when the head of education in Wales refuses the recommendations of the committee to help define what we expect from our teachers? The committee only asked her to consider the idea—an idea that would see a baseline of acceptable standards—but she refused; she refused to even consider it. What worries her so much about the implementation of minimum standards for teachers? There are minimum standards in many professions, and, as the Cabinet Secretary won't stop telling us how important a profession she thinks teaching is, it seems very odd that she's not prepared to introduce official minimum, measurable and verifiable standards so we can be sure that Welsh children are getting a decent education.

So, in conclusion, I back the report and the recommendations 100 per cent. I welcome the fact that the Cabinet Secretary accepts, at least in principle, almost all of the recommendations. And I would ask that, rather than just acceptng them in principle, she shows us the determination she claims she has and implements them all as soon as possible. And I urge her to accept recommendations 19 and 20. She clearly thinks the report has merit in every other aspect, but her dismissal of the proposal for tangible minimum standards throughout the career of a teacher is worrying and will do nothing to reassure Welsh parents that she's genuinely concerned about the standards of teaching in Welsh schools. Thank you.