Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:40 pm on 19 February 2019.
I agree with you that there are certain schools that appear in red categorisation and in Estyn categorisation too often, and we could probably all, between us, name those schools, which is why I made reference in my speech to changing the role of Estyn so they're not simply there to make a judgment—they have to be part of that school improvement, they have to be more proactive in school improvement than simply making a judgment—and why I have said that we will be reviewing how we can make more effective interventions for those schools, because it is not right that those schools are left in those situations, sometimes for a period of years. We have to have a more effective way of moving those schools more quickly than we currently do at the moment, and I acknowledged that in my opening speech. And that is about challenging local authorities about their powers of intervention, and, where they're not willing to use those powers of intervention either to remove governing bodies, to remove delegated financial regimes or to have other interventions, then we, as a Welsh Government, will have to do that.
If I can conclude, because I'm just about to run out of time. I was going to cover in my closing speech, instead of responding to questions, some of the issues that were raised in my written statement this afternoon. There are significant education reforms taking place. Estyn cannot escape those reforms. I'm glad to be working with the chief inspector to implement the findings of Graham Donaldson's review into a reformed inspectorate, which I believe are crucial to delivering on all of our aspirations to ensure that every child has access to a first-class education system. But as the chief inspector says himself, Deputy Presiding Officer—and I wish that more of our Members would have acknowledged it this afternoon—there is much to be proud of in our system.