Memorandum submitted by Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru (UCAC)

ED 1

Proposed School Governance LCO

UCAC is a teaching union with 5,000 members who are teachers, head-teachers and lecturers in Further and Higher Education. UCAC is the only teaching union which has its headquarters in Wales.

1. Is the LCO request in the spirit and scope of the devolution settlement?

1.1 UCAC is firmly of the opinion that matters 5.2A, 5.2B and 5.2C are in the spirit and the scope of the devolution settlement.

1.2 The legislative competence outlined in this Order will enable the Welsh Assembly Government to make arrangements for the governance of schools which are better suited to the education system in Wales as it currently stands, and which provide better compatibility with the direction of education policy in Wales in a more general sense. Since education policy in Wales is becoming increasingly divergent from equivalent policy in other parts of the United Kingdom, it is entirely appropriate that legislative competence over matters relating to school governance should reside with the National Assembly for Wales.

2. Is the use of the LCO mechanism in accordance with the Government of Wales Act 2006?

2.1 UCAC believes that the use of the LCO mechanism is in accordance with the Government of Wales Act 2006.

3. To what extent is there a demand for legislation on the matters in question?

3.1 A number of developments have led to demand for legislation on these matters. One of these is the need to implement recommendations contained in the report, The Role of School Governors (July 2009), of the National Assembly's Enterprise and Learning Committee.

3.2 Further demand stems from the need for equivalent legislative competence in relation to governance for the schools sector as already resides with the National Assembly for Wales for the Further Education sector. Developments in 14-19 Learning Pathways policy, as well as the 'Transformation Agenda' make this a pressing priority.

4. Would the proposed LCO necessitate the formation or abolition of Welsh institutions and structures? If so, where does the legislative competence to exercise such changes lie?

4.1 UCAC sees no need for the formation or abolition of Welsh institutions or structures as a result of the proposed LCO.

5. Further points

5.1 UCAC would like to make one point with reference to Matter 5.2B. We do not see the need for the word 'Securing' at the beginning of this clause. The clause as it currently stands could be construed in a narrower sense than we believe was intended, and could unnecessarily and inappropriately restrict the competence of the National Assembly to deal more generally with 'collaboration' between relevant persons and bodies. Furthermore, it adds an inappropriate note of directiveness.

5.2 Beginning the clause with 'Collaboration between persons or bodies...' has the added merit of making it grammatically consistent with the other proposed clauses, 5.2A and 5.2C (and indeed, with all other clauses in Field 5, Schedule 5 to the Government of Wales Act 2006), which begin with nouns (i.e. 'Conduct and governance', 'establishment' and 'involvement') rather than with verbs.

November 2009