Browse content similar to 30/06/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Following the resignation of Leighton Andrews, Huw Lewis is in | :01:06. | :01:11. | |
charge of education. We look at some of the issues he'll face in one of | :01:11. | :01:21. | |
:01:21. | :01:21. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1921 seconds | :01:21. | :33:22. | |
the most challenging jobs in Following the dramatic resignation | :33:22. | :33:25. | |
of Leighton Andrew from the Welsh Government, we'll look at some of | :33:25. | :33:29. | |
the challenges facing the new Education Minister, Huw Lewis. | :33:29. | :33:32. | |
And as we await the UK Government's response to recommendations that | :33:32. | :33:34. | |
ministers in Cardiff be given tax-varying powers, I've been | :33:34. | :33:40. | |
speaking to the man who's commission is making those recommendations. | :33:40. | :33:42. | |
Joining me throughout today's programme are the Labour AM David | :33:42. | :33:52. | |
Rees and the Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Willott. | :33:52. | :33:56. | |
We are few days the Spending Review. We have had a few days to consider | :33:56. | :34:03. | |
its implications. The Welsh government says the real terms cut | :34:03. | :34:08. | |
of 2% in the budget is extremely disappointing. How do you respond to | :34:08. | :34:14. | |
that? Wales has come out of this Spending Review much better than | :34:14. | :34:18. | |
almost any other part of government. It has been protected quite | :34:18. | :34:22. | |
significantly by the fact the Westminster government has protected | :34:22. | :34:27. | |
spending on health and education. Labour have accepted the overall | :34:27. | :34:31. | |
amount the government is cutting but would not have protected health and | :34:31. | :34:36. | |
education. Had they been in power, the cut to the watch assembly budget | :34:36. | :34:44. | |
would have been far deeper. I am relieved how well Wales has done. | :34:44. | :34:53. | |
Wales has done well. In real terms we have lost �1.6 billion since | :34:53. | :35:00. | |
2010. The coalition is setting the budget and we have got to | :35:00. | :35:10. | |
:35:10. | :35:12. | ||
acknowledge that. We are seeing dramatic reductions. So the | :35:12. | :35:16. | |
implication as you see it, the narrative often is not from the | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
Welsh government that they can only deal with what the UK government | :35:20. | :35:25. | |
gives them. Do you think that is a thin narrative? That is the budget | :35:25. | :35:31. | |
we have. We have also got a look at how we can respond to some of the | :35:31. | :35:36. | |
other actions the government takes. The cuts to the welfare, the custody | :35:36. | :35:40. | |
and employed, the cuts to the people who are going to be in the most | :35:40. | :35:48. | |
vulnerable positions, we have got to respond to those. It is clearly a | :35:48. | :35:53. | |
very difficult financial times. The priority is to clear up the mess | :35:53. | :35:57. | |
that was left in 2010 and that has meant some very difficult choices. | :35:57. | :36:02. | |
The whole of the UK is affected by these cuts but there is a lot more | :36:02. | :36:05. | |
the Welsh government could be doing with the budget they have two attack | :36:05. | :36:12. | |
people, create jobs and build skills in the economy. We will deal with | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
more Welsh government news in a moment. | :36:15. | :36:18. | |
There's a big week ahead for the new Education Minister, Huw Lewis, as he | :36:19. | :36:21. | |
introduces his first piece of education legislation in the chamber | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
and makes a statement on the new exam regulator. Those are just two | :36:25. | :36:29. | |
of the issues in his ministerial in-tray as he begins one of the most | :36:29. | :36:31. | |
challenging jobs in government following the shock resignation of | :36:31. | :36:36. | |
Leighton Andrews. Brian Meechan's been finding out more. | :36:36. | :36:40. | |
As a former teacher, Huw Lewis may be able to bring his direct | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
experience of schools to his new role. That may be useful as he has | :36:44. | :36:49. | |
little time to get on top of his brief. The Welsh government had to | :36:49. | :36:53. | |
intervene in six council areas because the schools needed extra | :36:53. | :36:57. | |
attention. The special measures range from providing an action plan | :36:57. | :37:00. | |
to sending in commissioners to take over the running of the education | :37:00. | :37:05. | |
department. Huw Lewis will need to decide how to respond to review | :37:05. | :37:10. | |
which calls for the 22 education services in Wales to be cut by a | :37:10. | :37:16. | |
third in favour of larger, regional management groups. The general | :37:16. | :37:21. | |
consensus is that 22 is too many. We need to have a more streamlined | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
process but there has to be local accountability. We have seen the | :37:25. | :37:32. | |
work of the consortia in recent years as well. They are still in | :37:32. | :37:35. | |
their infancy and we need to make sure that they have the chance to | :37:35. | :37:42. | |
work. David Evans has been campaigning with the union this week | :37:42. | :37:46. | |
against the UK government's policies. The teaching unions often | :37:46. | :37:49. | |
find themselves with the Welsh government's approach to education | :37:50. | :37:57. | |
in recent years. Ministers have responded with the banding of | :37:57. | :38:02. | |
schools to allow better monitoring and the reintroduction of testing | :38:02. | :38:07. | |
young children. David Evans wants to see some changes. Everyone wants the | :38:07. | :38:15. | |
best. The results are not the be all and end all. While schools formed | :38:15. | :38:20. | |
the bedrock of the portfolio, further and higher education are key | :38:20. | :38:25. | |
economic drivers which need to occupy Huw Lewis's attention. Senior | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
figures from universities say the Minister needs to support them in | :38:29. | :38:38. | |
reforming the system to allow them to compete internationally. There | :38:38. | :38:44. | |
are areas like chemicals and physics were high costs are associated. | :38:44. | :38:50. | |
English universities currently get about �1500 per student more. | :38:50. | :38:56. | |
Welsh government capped tuition fees at �3500 wherever they choose to | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
study in the UK. I can see that is a good policy for students to one | :39:01. | :39:07. | |
domicile in Wales. Unfortunately, the Welsh government ends up funding | :39:07. | :39:16. | |
English universities. What I would like to see is a review of tuition | :39:16. | :39:22. | |
fee policy. The former Education Minister cut the number of | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
universities from 11 down to eight through mergers. His successor will | :39:26. | :39:30. | |
have to decide whether to continue on that route or whether that is | :39:30. | :39:35. | |
enough of a reduction. Leighton Andrews was criticised by some for | :39:35. | :39:39. | |
having a no-nonsense style which at times bordered on the abrasive. | :39:39. | :39:45. | |
Others will argue that he got a grip of an education system which was | :39:45. | :39:48. | |
underperforming in key areas. Opposition parties are looking at | :39:48. | :39:53. | |
whether the new minister will have a different style. He has been a very | :39:53. | :39:57. | |
different type of minister in his previous jobs so we are waiting to | :39:57. | :40:02. | |
see whether he can continue that work. The danger might be that the | :40:02. | :40:07. | |
people who have been herded together like cats will now start to scatter | :40:07. | :40:13. | |
and we will not see that delivery. We have not seen the improvement in | :40:13. | :40:19. | |
the standards despite the activity. 50%. Secondary school children | :40:19. | :40:23. | |
failing in numerous ER levels. We have had six by rector generals in | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
seven years of the Department. We have got a relatively inexperienced | :40:27. | :40:33. | |
deputy minister as well. Carwyn Jones has given Huw Lewis the role | :40:33. | :40:38. | |
of tidying up an education system that is in a state of flux. All eyes | :40:38. | :40:47. | |
will be on the new minister as he makes his first moves. | :40:47. | :40:52. | |
David, before you became an Assembly Member, you have a background in | :40:52. | :40:57. | |
education. Maybe you should have been considered for the job. But | :40:57. | :41:02. | |
this ministerial change was not predicted. It has given interested | :41:02. | :41:06. | |
parties an opportunity to lobby the new minister to try and unpick the | :41:06. | :41:10. | |
bits they did not like about Leighton Andrews. Could that | :41:10. | :41:17. | |
destabilise the government policy? don't think so. Huw Lewis will | :41:17. | :41:20. | |
continue the policies laid down by the government under Leighton | :41:20. | :41:30. | |
Andrews. Is he right to do that?He is right to do that. We put forward | :41:30. | :41:36. | |
policies in our manifesto and he will continue to drive that. What do | :41:36. | :41:41. | |
you make of this resignation and do you think it will have more of an | :41:41. | :41:45. | |
impact on the government's education policy or on the dynamic of the | :41:45. | :41:50. | |
Labour backbenches? I think it could be quite interesting in both areas | :41:50. | :41:57. | |
but I hope it does mean that there is a significant change in focus on | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
standards in Wales. Wales has fallen very disappointingly behind in the | :42:01. | :42:06. | |
gap between English pupils and Welsh pupils. Leighton Andrews was | :42:06. | :42:12. | |
committed to raising standards. Wales has fallen backwards over the | :42:12. | :42:19. | |
last few years. We need to see that turned around. Wales has got to | :42:19. | :42:24. | |
improve. We have got to go back up the rankings because otherwise we | :42:24. | :42:29. | |
are letting down the young people of Wales. They are not reaching their | :42:29. | :42:34. | |
potential and that is not fair. Let's address the tuition fees | :42:34. | :42:39. | |
debate. A call for a review of the policy. Your party had its own | :42:39. | :42:46. | |
troubles with tuition fees and you voted against the government. Do you | :42:47. | :42:52. | |
agree that the situation in Wales should be reviewed? It definitely | :42:53. | :42:58. | |
needs to be reviewed. There is a lot of money going from Wales to English | :42:58. | :43:02. | |
universities as the report said. There has been a significant gap in | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
funding for a very long time now. It was a problem before the assembly | :43:06. | :43:12. | |
was established and it is getting worse every year. We have some | :43:12. | :43:15. | |
fantastic -- universities in Wales and they need to be able to produce | :43:16. | :43:21. | |
the results they are capable of. will not take any lessons from the | :43:21. | :43:26. | |
Liberal Democrats on tuition fees. We are supporting Welsh young people | :43:26. | :43:31. | |
to get the best opportunities possible. That sometimes has to be | :43:31. | :43:36. | |
in institutions across the border. We are helping our young people get | :43:37. | :43:42. | |
the best start in their lives. how do you suggest the suggestion | :43:42. | :43:46. | |
that, essentially, the Welsh government is funding universities | :43:46. | :43:51. | |
in England at the expense of universities in Wales? The answer | :43:51. | :43:57. | |
is, if we follows a policy of the UK government, the UK government | :43:57. | :44:02. | |
stopped funding institutions by 80%. We are looking to support our young | :44:02. | :44:06. | |
people to go into higher education wherever they feel there are the | :44:06. | :44:11. | |
best courses and the best opportunities for them. But when | :44:11. | :44:15. | |
someone like the vice chancellor of Cardiff University says it should be | :44:15. | :44:18. | |
reviewed, shouldn't the Welsh government at least sit down and | :44:18. | :44:25. | |
listen? Anyone who is funded by the Welsh government will seek to raise | :44:25. | :44:33. | |
questions. I mention the change in the dynamic within the Labour group. | :44:33. | :44:37. | |
Leighton Andrews is considered by many to be the brightest minister | :44:37. | :44:41. | |
now start on your backbenches. Do you think you will be sitting | :44:41. | :44:45. | |
quietly? I look forward to him joining us on the backbenches | :44:45. | :44:49. | |
because it will give him a chance to attack the opposition as a | :44:49. | :44:56. | |
backbencher. Will it be harmonious on the backbenches with him? People | :44:56. | :45:01. | |
know he is committed fully to the Welsh government. Going forward, we | :45:01. | :45:08. | |
have got Huw Lewis as a minister. He has been in government. Choosing | :45:08. | :45:14. | |
him, he has got a background in education, I think he was Deputy | :45:14. | :45:18. | |
Education Minister years ago. Is he the right choice? I am less | :45:18. | :45:21. | |
concerned about who it is and more concerned about what they do in | :45:21. | :45:26. | |
their job. I disagree with what David has said about tuition fees | :45:26. | :45:30. | |
and about the way we need to Mitchell our universities are | :45:30. | :45:32. | |
protected in terms of their funding and they don't fall further behind | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
English institutions. But what they do in terms of bringing up standards | :45:37. | :45:44. | |
in schools is going to be incredibly important. And is he the right man | :45:44. | :45:50. | |
for the job? He has knowledge and history of the education system and | :45:50. | :45:54. | |
he will drive it forward. He is very passionate about education and | :45:54. | :45:58. | |
making sure people from poorer backgrounds get the best | :45:58. | :46:00. | |
opportunities. We went into last week's Spending | :46:00. | :46:03. | |
Review knowing that the UK Government would not meet its own | :46:03. | :46:05. | |
deadline on responding to a report that recommended ministers in | :46:05. | :46:10. | |
Cardiff be given tax-varying powers. Welsh Secretary David Jones had said | :46:10. | :46:13. | |
his government's view on the Silk Commission report would be given in | :46:13. | :46:20. | |
the near future, but not before the end of spring, as had been promised. | :46:20. | :46:24. | |
Led by the former assembly Clark, Paul Silk, the commission was set up | :46:24. | :46:28. | |
as part of the coalition agreement between the code -- conservatives | :46:28. | :46:32. | |
and the Liberal Democrats. The first part of the review looked at the | :46:33. | :46:36. | |
financial powers of the assembly and now they are looking at the other | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
powers. I met up with Paul Silk and asked him whether he was surprised | :46:40. | :46:44. | |
that the UK government had not yet responded to his first report on | :46:44. | :46:51. | |
finance. I think there will be a response imminently. It is not very | :46:51. | :46:55. | |
far away. It always takes some time when there is a cobbler set of | :46:55. | :47:01. | |
recommendations by typical -- different government departments. I | :47:01. | :47:06. | |
am not surprised it had taken some time. The summer recess is coming | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
up. You plan to publish your next report in the spring. How does your | :47:11. | :47:21. | |
workload look bit dinner to that? -- building up to that? We will be | :47:21. | :47:24. | |
concluding our evidence taking in the early autumn and then our job is | :47:24. | :47:29. | |
to think about the evidence we have had, to talk about it between | :47:29. | :47:34. | |
ourselves, to think where we come to a common view and were, in this | :47:34. | :47:39. | |
process, there are some differences and whether there is something we | :47:39. | :47:44. | |
can do to resolve those differences in a way we can all agree upon. One | :47:44. | :47:48. | |
of the strengths of our first report and one of the reasons I hope it | :47:48. | :47:54. | |
will be found acceptable to the UK government was that all members of | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
the commission were prepared to endorse it and that led to the | :47:58. | :48:02. | |
assembly unanimously endorsing it as well. There is a lot of strength | :48:02. | :48:07. | |
that comes first the ball from having all four parties represented | :48:08. | :48:11. | |
on the commission but also from a consensus report. I don't think | :48:11. | :48:18. | |
anyone can say it is not say anything at all but quite radical | :48:18. | :48:23. | |
things were said in the first report despite having a consensus. I hope | :48:23. | :48:28. | |
we can do the same in part two. have compiled a substantial report. | :48:28. | :48:35. | |
As a former senior civil servant, ego does not come into it, but will | :48:35. | :48:39. | |
you be disappointed if all of these recommendations are not taken on | :48:39. | :48:45. | |
board by the UK government? course I would be. When we look at | :48:45. | :48:51. | |
what the response is, I hope, because we produced our report as a | :48:51. | :48:57. | |
package, we would like it all to be accepted as a package. It may be | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
that one or two elements, they may be good reason why the UK government | :49:00. | :49:05. | |
will not want to go along with them, and if they explain those reasons | :49:05. | :49:10. | |
well, I don't think I will be so disappointed. We don't necessarily | :49:10. | :49:19. | |
expect everything we recommend to be taken up line and sinker. But we | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
came up with a package we thought hanged together very well and we | :49:22. | :49:27. | |
would like to see the whole of that package accepted. | :49:27. | :49:33. | |
We have had plenty of hints from the UK government that this response is | :49:33. | :49:37. | |
imminent but it has taken longer than they said it would. That is not | :49:37. | :49:45. | |
good news. It has left it hanging in the air. I am an eternal optimist | :49:45. | :49:50. | |
and I think the longer we wait, the better the chance we have of it | :49:50. | :49:54. | |
agreeing with the commissioner and devolving more powers to the | :49:54. | :49:59. | |
assembly. I hope we will see it soon. I have no inside track on it. | :49:59. | :50:08. | |
But I am an optimist. David, are you an optimist? We were told it would | :50:08. | :50:18. | |
:50:18. | :50:19. | ||
be done by spring. That has come and gone. Not in Westminster terms.It | :50:19. | :50:22. | |
is interesting to see that Westminster defines terms | :50:22. | :50:28. | |
differently than we all do. It says imminent, when his imminent? If we | :50:28. | :50:31. | |
are not careful, we will have part two out before part one has even | :50:31. | :50:39. | |
been discussed. Paul Silk said that he and the commissioners would be | :50:39. | :50:44. | |
disappointed if the UK government did not take on-board most, if not | :50:44. | :50:50. | |
all of the recommendations. What is your recommendation or expectation? | :50:50. | :50:55. | |
I would hope they would take on the recommendations. We all know about | :50:55. | :51:02. | |
the need for borrowing powers. The other forms of taxation could be | :51:02. | :51:11. | |
expanded. There are ways forward. Danny Alexander and George Osborne | :51:11. | :51:15. | |
are saying positive things this week, certainly about the M4 relief | :51:15. | :51:21. | |
road and tying that into the government's response on the Silk | :51:21. | :51:24. | |
Commission. That suggests it is needed as quickly as possible so | :51:24. | :51:30. | |
that these kind of projects can get moving. There is a fair amount of | :51:30. | :51:34. | |
negotiating going on behind-the-scenes. My understanding | :51:34. | :51:37. | |
is there is a lot of conversations going on to pave the way for | :51:37. | :51:43. | |
different things. I agree with David. I want to see it happening as | :51:43. | :51:52. | |
soon as possible. But it is also important that it is right. A couple | :51:52. | :51:55. | |
of weeks longer, if it means we get the right result, it is worth | :51:55. | :52:01. | |
waiting. This commission is split into two parts and evidence is being | :52:01. | :52:06. | |
taken at the moment on part two in terms of the assembly's powers going | :52:06. | :52:11. | |
forward. If you were invited to give evidence, what would you tell the | :52:11. | :52:17. | |
Silk Commission? It is quite clear where we want to go with more | :52:17. | :52:25. | |
devolved powers and more like the Scottish equality situation. I spoke | :52:25. | :52:31. | |
to Paul Silk about that and he said it was not official evidence. | :52:31. | :52:34. | |
not official evidence but it is important that these are people who | :52:34. | :52:37. | |
are going to be implementing any part. | :52:37. | :52:41. | |
Time now for a quick look back at some of the political stories of the | :52:41. | :52:51. | |
:52:51. | :52:53. | ||
week in 60 seconds. With new ministerial jobs for Huw | :52:53. | :52:55. | |
Lewis and Jeff Cuthbert and promotions fought for getting and | :52:55. | :53:00. | |
Ken Skates, Angela Burns was disappointed that they were not any | :53:00. | :53:05. | |
new women brought into the Welsh government. Then UK government | :53:05. | :53:09. | |
announced a new �250 million super prison would be built in North | :53:09. | :53:13. | |
Wales. An exact location has not been decided yet but it is expected | :53:13. | :53:23. | |
to house up to 2000 inmates. To selected candidates for the Anglesey | :53:23. | :53:27. | |
by-election. Plaid Cymru chose Rhun ap Iorwerth who has been a news | :53:27. | :53:37. | |
presenter for BBC Wales until recently. Labour chose Tal Michael. | :53:37. | :53:40. | |
And the first minister ordered a full investigation into why Big | :53:40. | :53:44. | |
Ideas Wales, a Welsh government website, provided advice to young | :53:44. | :53:51. | |
people on how to become strippers and how to set up escort agencies. | :53:52. | :53:59. | |
David, let's look ahead. Tuesday afternoon, you and your fellow | :53:59. | :54:04. | |
Assembly Members will be talking about the organ transplant bill, the | :54:04. | :54:10. | |
final stage. What do you hope will happen on Tuesday? I hope it will | :54:11. | :54:14. | |
pass on Tuesday. The Minister has brought forward some amendments | :54:14. | :54:21. | |
which will relieve the situation of concerns raised. It should pass on | :54:21. | :54:27. | |
Tuesday and look for Royal assent. What is your take on this Bill? | :54:28. | :54:32. | |
think it will be very interesting to see it passed into law. It has been | :54:32. | :54:37. | |
a very slow process. It is quite clear that the majority of people | :54:37. | :54:41. | |
want to see it come into law and it will be very interesting for the | :54:41. | :54:46. | |
rest of the UK to see what impact it has on transplant rates in Wales. | :54:46. | :54:50. | |
While David and his colleagues will be debating this on Tuesday, you | :54:50. | :54:56. | |
will be debating the Finance Bill this week and you could possibly go | :54:56. | :55:02. | |
on until three a.m. In the morning. It is the only legislation which is | :55:02. | :55:06. | |
not usually timetabled in Parliament so it can be all night. I am hoping | :55:06. | :55:11. | |
we are not as late as we has been in previous years but I have a very | :55:11. | :55:17. | |
comfortable armchair in my office. Let's touch on the advice on | :55:17. | :55:21. | |
becoming strippers and escort agencies on a website supported by | :55:21. | :55:27. | |
the Welsh government. Are you surprised about that? It is not the | :55:27. | :55:34. | |
first time it has happened. There have been job advertised for lap | :55:34. | :55:40. | |
dances. We need it sure this does happen again. They should be a no | :55:40. | :55:43. | |
tolerance policy of any work of that sort anywhere on government | :55:43. | :55:53. |