I thank the Member for that question. As he will know, local authorities retain their statutory responsibilities and accountability for school performance, and the regional consortia don't change their principal statutory accountability in relation to that, and that underpins their relationships with other local authorities. Regional consortia are, at the end of the day, if you like, joint ventures between local authorities. They're established under the section 102 joint committees and where there are concerns, as some councils may have in relation to consortia, then those concerns are ones that they can bring to bear in their relationships with other local authorities within the particular consortium.

I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Education's view is, as I think his question assumes, that there have been considerable gains in the regional model of working and that that represents the best way forward for authorities across Wales. Clearly, as his question identifies, there have been some concerns in relation to some consortia. That has been the subject of Estyn inspection and, across the board, there's been significant improvement. I know that the Cabinet Secretary has made clear her expectations of the management of consortia that, as much as possible, they should lower the spend on administration and focus their spending plans on a school-focused approach, wherever that is possible.