| Thank you for the opportunity to respond
- orally and in writing - to
the Richard Commission. UCAC wishes to submit the following
comments for your attention. The Union’s comments
relate to two specific questions.
Does the Assembly have the powers it needs to operate
for Wales?
The restrictions on the Assembly’s powers impact
directly on UCAC and its members.
Although the responsibility for teachers’ salaries
and working conditions has not been delegated to the
Assembly, it is in a position to decide how some of
these matters are implemented, and this has created
some confusion on a number of occasions. Below are two
examples:
- In February 2000, the Department for Education and
Skills (DfES) introduced a change to the teachers’
pay scale. A higher scale was created, but teachers
would have to attain a certain threshold to merit
being placed on the new scale. The criteria for attaining
the threshold were decided. The Assembly believed
it had the right to establish separate criteria for
Wales. Following a debate and vote, the Assembly decided
against including "pupils' progress" as a criterion.
However, the DfES did not favour a different threshold
for Wales, so the criteria were very hurriedly included
in teachers’ contracts to prevent the Assembly
from making any amendments. As a result, the Assembly’s
view on teachers’ standards in Wales was never
reflected.
The Assembly was nevertheless responsible for administering
the new arrangements in Wales, but all the confusion
led to substantial delays, and teachers in Wales
had to wait for many months before receiving their
entitlements.
- Recently, the DfES produced a new agreement on teachers’
workload. Although Assembly officials were present
at discussions with the DfES, they were under the
impression that they ere there as observers only.
At the last minute, the National Assembly was asked
to sign the agreement.
The National Assembly drew up 29 urgent amendments
to the agreement in order to ensure that the Assembly
would have the right to decide how to implement the
recommendations in Wales. The DfES accepted only one
of these proposed amendments, and the Minister for
Education and Lifelong Learning was forced to compromise.
A paragraph has been included in the agreement, noting
that the Assembly has some rights, though no-one
is certain exactly what that implies.
The Assembly will be consulting on documents relating
to the implementation of the agreement in Wales. When
UCAC asked a senior civil servant what would be the
situation if the consultation indicated that the Assembly
had to act against the wishes of those who signed
the document in London, he replied that he did not
know, but emphasised that this was not a legal document.
However, all who have signed the document have agreed
to promote it.
What would have happened had the Assembly Government
declined to sign the agreement? This could well have
occurred in an Assembly controlled by a political
party different from the party of government in London.
The Westminster government was adamant that it would
only discuss any amendments to the agreement with
the signatories, and with no-one else. UCAC was excluded
from such discussions, because of its refusal to sign
the document. Would the DfES have treated the National
Assembly in the same way, had the Assembly refused
to sign?
The following statements by the School Teachers’
Review Body on Pay confirm that all this uncertainty
and lack of clarity, relating to responsibility for
various aspects of education in Wales, impairs the ability
of the Review Body and the Assembly to operate in a
fair and effective manner.
1. "The scene is changing
however, with devolution of matters such as teacher
appraisal and the new system of performance management
to the National Assembly for Wales. Together with
the separate funding arrangements which exist for
schools in Wales, this has implications for the operation
of the overall pay and conditions framework and hence
for this Review Body."1
2. "We commented both in our Tenth Report and in
our report on the welcome back bonus for returners
to teaching in England, on the growing divergence
in education policy and practise between England and
Wales. Consultees have also brought to our attention
the policy implications of The Learning Country, a
paving document published in August 2001 by the National
Assembly for Wales, and have continued to remark on
the different funding arrangements between England
and Wales.
"We consider that it is still possible, at present,
for one Review body to make recommendations covering
both England and Wales. In the future, much will depend
upon the extent to which policies between England
and Wales will diverge."2
UCAC strongly believe that the National Assembly for
Wales should have the right to organise, control and
decide upon all aspects of education in Wales,
including teachers’ pay and working conditions.
Funding for all aspects of education is allocated by
the Westminster government as part of the block grant,
based on the Barnett formula. It is never clear what
happens when the Chancellor of the Exchequer in London
announces that extra funding is to be allocated for
special educational schemes in England. Does this represent
new money, and should the Assembly receive a corresponding
allocation? Here gain there is confusion in the system,
which is unacceptable.
What changes do you wish to see, and why?
UCAC believes that an Independent Education System
for Wales is essential.
To achieve this, the Assembly must have the right to
legislate, including tax-varying powers. The Assembly
would then have all the powers necessary to assume all
the responsibilities relating to education in Wales,
including teachers’ pay and working conditions.
It does not make sense that the Assembly is responsible
for education, but not for the working conditions of
the people who deliver education.
The current situation is complex, impractical and unacceptable.
Because of all the confusion over different aspects
of education, effective operation is impracticable.
It is UCAC’s firm belief that the National Assembly
must be given the power and the resources to implement
an Independent Education System for Wales – with
the right to legislate and to raise taxes.
Yours faithfully,
Edwyn Williams
General Secretary
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