Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:17 pm on 9 July 2019.
Well, Llywydd, as David Rees knows, I know the Act itself is to be phased in from September of this year, so the Act is not yet—September of next year, I beg your pardon. So, the Act is not yet delivering the benefits that it's designed to achieve and which were endorsed on the floor of the Assembly. There is a mandatory phased introduction of the Act from September 2020—that's why we are upskilling the profession in advance of it.
The point, I think, that I want to underline in what the Member says is that there is an existing regime, and local authorities must comply with that existing regime. They have legal duties that they must discharge, and we have asked the five transformation leads that we have appointed to help smooth the path to the new regime to emphasise to local authorities their continuing obligations to meet the needs of young people with additional learning needs under the existing system right through until the new regime begins to make its impact.