'No significant improvements in Welsh education until 2022'. Those aren't my words, but those of the chief inspector of schools in Wales. Now, that might not be too bad if the Welsh education system were the best in the world, or even the best in Europe. The best in the UK would make it less worrying that there will be four years of stagnation. But, that isn't the case, is it? Under this Labour Government, who talk about equality, Wales has the worst education system in the UK. 

On 1 December 2016, the Cabinet Secretary for Education told The Guardian that there was a 'new sense of purpose', and voiced her disappointment at not doing very well in PISA. That's a very spun way of saying, 'Not doing very well in the classroom', 'Not doing very well for our families and their children' and 'Not doing very well for our economy that needs educated workers and entrepreneurs'. How can we attract young, aspirational families to Wales when an expert tells them that the failing education system will not be fixed for at least another four years?

We have a shortage of doctors and other highly educated professionals, but we're never going to be able to attract those who have benefited from a decent education and want the same for their children to bring their skills and their families here. What advice would the Government give to parents thinking of moving to Wales—'Don't bother for the next four years'? The 2016 article made reference to the previous lost decade, yet the Cabinet Secretary only talked about a new sense of purpose. Well, that was nearly two years ago, and what have been the results of that new sense of purpose as guided by the Cabinet Secretary? Let's hear the words of the chief inspector for schools again: 'No significant improvements in Welsh education until 2022'.

Over the past couple of years, the Cabinet Secretary and Minister have produced a seemingly endless stream of statements announcing that money will be allocated to various projects and a fair few talking shops have been created. But, how can we trust that these changes will work? The Labour Government has been running education for more than 20 years and failing since day 1. What excuse is there for the decades of failure? Will the Cabinet Secretary be willing to explain it? I doubt it. We need to know that the Government knows what has been going wrong so that we can be confident that they will fix the problems, but the Labour amendment shows that we have no reason to believe that Labour understand the problem. And therefore, they're incapable of fixing it. I can tell from the Cabinet Secretary's reaction that she doesn't think there's a problem, but I'm sure I'll hear from her on that in a minute.

They say performance has been stable—yes, it has not wavered from being bad; it's solidly poor. So, UKIP will be supporting this motion unamended. Labour may feel that they don't need to do much with the portfolio that they've dumped on their Lib Dem scapegoat, but the rest of Wales does. We are fed up with a Government that systematically uses the launch of a new initiative as cover for previous bad performance and as a way of deflecting justified criticism. Stop letting our young people down and start being part of building their future and the future economy of Wales. Fund education properly now and don't accept that nothing will be improved until 2022—that's far too late for thousands of young people. Thank you.