Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion to approve the Education Workforce Council (Interim Suspension Orders) (Additional Functions) (Wales) Order 2021. The Order addresses recommendation 21 of the Children, Young People and Education Committee in their report on the teachers' professional learning and education inquiry, namely that the

'remit of the Education Workforce Council should be extended to provide it with power to suspend teachers in appropriate circumstances.'

However, it's important that I point out that the Order goes further in that it will enable the council to suspend all categories of registered persons, not only schoolteachers. Interim suspension orders are commonly used by professional regulators in Wales and the United Kingdom as a means to temporarily suspend a person's registration whilst a serious concern is being investigated, or pending the outcome of criminal proceedings relating to serious charges. An interim suspension order will not be a disciplinary order, but instead a temporary measure to be taken pending an investigation and a disciplinary hearing.

A person can appeal against the imposition of an interim suspension order, and it will be subject to regular review. The maximum period for which an interim suspension order may have an effect, without an application to the High Court for an extension, is 18 months. The decision to impose an interim suspension order would not involve a final determination of facts relating to the allegations in the case. The primary purpose of the imposition of an interim suspension order is to ensure the protection and safeguarding of children and young people, as it would ensure that an individual who has a very serious allegation made against them would not continue to have the status of a registered person while the investigative and disciplinary processes are being carried out. 

The Government believes that the Order provides a significant additional safeguarding protection to children and young people, and therefore I ask Members of the Senedd to approve the Order before us today.