7. Will the First Minister make a statement on the changes to supply teacher contracts through agencies across Wales? OAQ54397

I thank the Member. A new framework for supply teachers was awarded by the National Procurement Service on 1 August and became operational on 1 September. Amongst other features, it ensures that supply teachers are properly supported and have access to professional learning and development opportunities. 

I thank the First Minister for that answer. I was a member of the CYPE committee in the fourth Assembly and we did work on supply teaching, and one of our recommendations was actually to bring it back in-house rather than keep the agencies. I appreciate the Welsh Government has gone through a different approach and uses the NPS as a framework guidance. I very much appreciate your comment upon the fact that it's there to ensure teachers get fair play through the agency process. I have seen an e-mail from one of those agencies, which has won some of those frameworks—actually, 22 of them, so it's across all of Wales—which indicates to schools a way of getting around and circumventing the framework and encouraging schools to think about employing teachers out of the framework, therefore reducing the cost but also reducing the terms and conditions of the individual teacher, and, of course, making more profit for that agency. Will you look very carefully at all these agencies to ensure they're not circumventing the framework, kick them out if they are, quite rightly, and ensure that teachers get the due regard and respect they deserve, and supply teachers are part of that?

I completely agree with the Member about the importance of supply teachers and the fact that they are an essential part of the teaching workforce, and, of course, the new system is designed to be carefully monitored. It's been going only three weeks, so these are early stages and it's not surprising in some ways that the full rulebook has yet to settle completely. But, just to be completely clear, NPS will pursue full compliance with the terms on which companies have been placed on the framework, and where there are any allegations or evidence of non-compliance against the framework, then those things will be raised with the agencies, warnings will be issued and, if in the end it is clear that this is not just settling in but a deliberate attempt to get round the framework to which those companies have applied and been successful in being placed on that contract, then of course they will be removed from it.