I will start by focusing on this point on the barriers that exist in terms of the education workforce taking advantage of CPD opportunities. We know, and we have heard time and time again in the evidence that the committee took, that we need to create the time and we need to create the space within the teacher timetable to train and to share experiences and to look more objectively at their own work by going to listen to lessons in other schools.

The ATL union—or the NEU as it is now—referred in its evidence to the workload crisis and, as we heard from the Chair, that was reflected in the survey that was issued by the committee on this very issue. Many of them—78 per cent, in fact—said that the main reason that they didn't take advantage of training opportunities was because of workload issues. That is no surprise when we see that almost 90 per cent of the workforce in another survey stated that they didn't succeed in managing their workload within the designated working hours. 

On average, teachers work 50.7 hours per week, and part-time teachers work 35.8 hours per week. Estyn told us that teachers in Wales work far harder and longer hours than teachers in any other nations, and that in turn leads to difficulties, with 52,000 teaching days lost because of illness caused by stress in 2015, as compared to only 21,000 back in 2009. So, the message is crystal clear in that regard. Estyn has also said, of course, that if we are to give more focus on training and development then that means that we need to place less focus on other things, such as administration and bureaucracy.

Given the contracting capacity, which is driven by reducing budgets and problems in recruitment and retention of teachers too, then finding that space and that time to leave the classroom for CPD and training is far more challenging and is a lot less likely to happen. And, as has already been mentioned, there are comments in the press today in terms of the funding of schools—well, in the evidence, we also heard that getting the funds to pay for cover in the classroom to release teachers to attend training was also challenging.

Now, the failure to meet targets in terms of teacher training is an area that the report focuses on, and I know that it's an area that the Government is very aware of. But, while people see a sector and workforce that is under stress, as it is at present, then it is no surprise, is it, that there is a recruitment problem. Yes, we can offer better financial incentives, and I know that the Government would recognise itself that that isn't necessarily the solution in and of itself. We could perhaps deal with this condition of having to have a specific grade in GCSE maths before entering teaching. There's a dilemma there. I'm also uncomfortable with that; we can look at that, but, again, that, in and of itself, will not provide the solution, because the fundamental problem will persist. Until we see a reduction in this workload—the long working hours and the pressure, much of it driven by assessment—until we tackle those crucial issues, then the next generation will vote with their feet and the recruitment targets will continue to be missed, and, unfortunately, we will still lose good teachers who will leave the profession early.

But there is an opportunity with the devolution of teachers' pay and conditions for us to do more to tackle some of these issues, particularly the conditions side of things. Now, I understand, and am sensitive to, the nervousness that exists in terms of varying pay on a regional basis. I understand the nervousness about that, and I myself and Plaid Cymru still say that we need to provide a premium to teachers and teaching assistants who are highly qualified. I think we can do that in any case in order to attract and retain the best. But, in terms of conditions, I think there is an opportunity now to look at how much time is available for teachers to train and to review this balance between teaching time, preparation time, CPD time and so on.

There's no getting away from the fact that if we need to create that additional space to carry out the training then we will need additional capacity and we will need additional resources to go along with that. Now, the Welsh Government has rejected or accepted in principle most of the recommendations. If you don't agree with the recommendations then listen to the central message of the report, namely the concerns about the capacity within the system as a whole, the workload of teachers, and, of course, the fact that reducing budgets makes that a lot worse.