Local plans
Section 30 – Local Welsh in education strategic plans
124.This section makes provision to change the system of Welsh in education strategic plans prepared by local authorities. The Welsh in Education strategic plans (WESP) regime was introduced by the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013. This Act introduces local Welsh in education strategic plans and omits the provisions under the 2013 Act (see also section 36 of this Act). Through the provisions of this Act local authorities’ strategic plans will have to respond to targets they have been set in the National Framework for Welsh Language Education and Learning Welsh, and school delivery plans will have to have regard to the targets of their local authority’s strategic plans. The targets that local authorities have been set in the National Framework must reflect national targets that have been set in the Welsh language strategy (section 1(1)). The purpose of co-ordinating the targets is to ensure that targets facilitate the process of working towards the same goals.
125.In accordance with section 30 each local authority is required to prepare a local Welsh in education strategic plan that includes the matters set out in section 30(1) to (4).
126.Section 30(1)(a) places a duty on a local authority to detail in its plan how it will promote and facilitate, in its area, Welsh language education and the use of Welsh in schools. A plan must also, in accordance with section 30(1)(b), set out how the local authority will take all reasonable steps to meet the targets it has been set in the National Framework (section 26(2)(a)).
127.Section 30(2) requires local authorities to set out in their local Welsh in education strategic plan, to the extent required by regulations made by the Welsh Ministers, how they will exercise their education functions to promote and facilitate teaching Welsh and education and training through the medium of Welsh to children of compulsory school age who are not pupils in schools. This will include children receiving education other than at school.
128.Section 30(3)(a) to (d) details the type of steps that a local authority is required to include in a plan. Section 30(3)(a) states that a local authority’s plan must set out the steps it intends to take to exercise its education functions to improve the provision of Welsh language education and the planning of Welsh language education provision within its area. The term “Welsh language education” is defined for the purpose of Part 4 in section 37.
129.Section 30(3)(b) places a duty on a local authority to detail in its plan how it will promote and provide information about Welsh language education in “Primarily Welsh Language” schools (as defined in Part 3). There is an interconnection here with a similar duty on the Welsh Ministers to promote Welsh language education in “Primarily Welsh language” category schools in accordance with section 24(3)(c). The strategic plan could refer to the type of information needed about Welsh language education in “Primarily Welsh Language” category schools in order to improve public understanding, and about where that information will be made available to the public. In terms of promotion, the strategic plan could explain what the local authority will do to draw the public’s attention to opportunities within the local authority area to access “Primarily Welsh Language” category schools.
130.Section 30(3)(c) requires a local authority to set out in its plan the steps it will take to promote and provide information about late immersion education provision in its area. Section 23 of this Act makes further provision about late immersion education.
131.In accordance with section 30(3)(d)(i) to (iii), a local authority is required to set out in its plan the steps it will take to facilitate progression for learners who are learning Welsh and those who are learning through the medium of Welsh from one stage of their education to the next. Those periods are detailed in sub-paragraph (i) between nursery education and education for pupils of compulsory school age, in sub-paragraph (ii) between maintained primary schools and maintained secondary schools, and in sub-paragraph (iii) between education for pupils of compulsory school age and tertiary education. The term “nursery education” is defined in section 37 and encompasses full-time or part-time education provided to children under compulsory school age in a school or other location outside the school premises. The term “tertiary education” is defined in section 51 and encompasses sixth form provision in schools.
132.In accordance with section 30(4)(a) the local authority is required to include information in its plan about the education practitioners working in its area and, under section 30(4)(b), a report outlining the progress made during the period of the previous plan.
133.Section 30(5) sets out the persons who must be consulted by a local authority when preparing a plan, with a view to ensuring that Welsh language education is planned in a co-ordinated manner across the local authority’s area and neighbouring local authorities, and a view to facilitating that process. In addition, the fact that strategic plans are subject to the approval of Welsh Ministers, in accordance with section 32, should ensure that the vision of the strategic plan is aligned with the National Framework.
Section 31 - Period of local Welsh in education strategic plans
134.This section sets out the period of time for which a strategic plan has effect. It is a 5 year plan but local authorities must set out the steps they intend to take in accordance with section 30(3) over a 10-year period. This is to enable local authorities to outline their long-term intentions, recognising that some changes to school provision can take a decade to come to fruition.
135.Welsh Ministers, through regulations, will determine by when a local authority must prepare its first plan. The intention is that all local authorities operate to the same timetable with the 5-year period commencing simultaneously for all local authorities.
Section 32 - Approval of local Welsh in education strategic plans
136.This section relates to the approval process for local Welsh in education strategic plans, including the steps that local authorities must take in submitting their draft plan to the Welsh Ministers.
137.Section 32(2) states that the local authority is required, when submitting its draft plan, to include a summary of responses it has received during the consultation period, along with the local authority’s response to the consultation.
138.Section 32(3) and (4) outlines the options the Welsh Ministers have in relation to a draft plan after receiving it. There are three options namely:
to approve the draft plan as submitted,
to approve a modified draft plan (where the local authority would need to agree any changes with the Welsh Ministers), and
to reject the plan and direct the local authority to reconsider the draft plan (which may involve reconsideration of elements of the draft plan or the plan as a whole).
139.In accordance with section 32(4), if the Welsh Ministers decide to reject a draft plan, they must provide the local authority with reasons for that decision and direct it to reconsider its plan. In addition, they must set out a date by when a local authority must resubmit its draft plan.
140.Section 32(5) confirms that section 32(3) to (4) applies to a further draft plan (e.g. a plan that is resubmitted). This means that a local authority may need to resubmit a plan more than once if Welsh Ministers remain of the view that they cannot approve the draft plan.
141.Similar to the process for approving schools’ Welsh language education delivery plans, section 32 has been drawn up with the intention that all local authorities and Welsh Ministers will agree on the content of the local Welsh in education strategic plans. It is not therefore possible for Welsh Ministers, under this section, to insist on the specific content of any local strategic plan. But in this regard they must, as public bodies, act reasonably. If a local authority acts unreasonably during the approval process, the Welsh Ministers may consider whether it is necessary to exercise their powers of intervention under Part 2 of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 (see also section 50).
Section 33- Publication and implementation of local Welsh in education strategic plans
142.This section makes provision in relation to when a local authority should publish a local Welsh in education strategic plan after it has been approved by the Welsh Ministers, as well as the persons to whom local authorities are expected to send a copy. Section 52 makes specific provision for the publication of documents, and section 53 makes specific provision relating to sending documents.
143.Section 33(2) places a duty on a local authority to take all reasonable steps to implement its local Welsh in education strategic plan.
Section 34 - Review and amendment of local Welsh in education strategic plans
144.This section makes provision for the review and amendment of local Welsh in education strategic plans.
145.Section 34(1) requires a local authority to keep its plan under review for the purpose of considering if it needs to be amended, for example if there is a risk that the local authority’s plan is not going to lead to meeting its targets, or that circumstances beyond the local authority’s control affect its ability to achieve the targets.
146.Section 34(2) and (3) makes provision about the circumstances in which the Welsh Ministers may direct a local authority to consider reviewing its plan, with section 34(4) to (6) setting out what a local authority is required to do when considering to amend or deciding not to amend its scheme.
147.Under section 34(4), if a local authority decides not to amend its plan following a direction under section 34(3), it would have to give Welsh Ministers reasons for not doing so. If Welsh Ministers do not accept the local authority’s reasons, the Welsh Ministers may give a new direction. Depending on the circumstances, they may also consider using their powers under Part 2 of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 (which allows Welsh Ministers to intervene in relation to education functions in certain circumstances). The Welsh Ministers might also wish to ask His Majesty’s Chief Inspector for Education and Training in Wales (in accordance with their powers in section 38 of the Education Act 1997) to inspect how the local authority performs its education functions. The functions of a local authority in this Part are education functions (section 50).
Section 35 - Regulations
148.This section gives the Welsh Ministers a power, by regulations, to make further provision about local Welsh in education strategic plans. Section 35(1)(a) to (f) sets out that what regulations may provide for, but the power is not limited to those matters. This power is intended to enable the Welsh Ministers to provide further detail on the matters outlined in section 30 of the Act, for example in relation to the form and content of a plan. This may include making regulations requiring local authorities to provide details in their plans as to how programmes, policies and their wider statutory duties have been considered in relation to the targets they have been set, e.g. Childcare Sufficiency Assessments, Early Years Programmes, school capital programmes, learner travel arrangements, amongst others. Regulations may also detail the timetable for the receipt, consideration and approval of a draft plan, as well as arrangements for reporting on the implementation of the scheme, for example through annual review reports.
149.A power is also conferred on the Welsh Ministers, by regulations, to enable two or more local authorities to produce a joint plan, and to apply any provision in this Part with modifications for that purpose.
Section 36 – Amendments to the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013
150.This section omits Part 4, comprising sections 84 to 87, and also section 1(13) and (14) of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013, which relate to a local authority’s preparation of a Welsh language in education strategic plan. This Act changes that system. Sections 30 to 35 make specific provision about local Welsh in education strategic plans and interconnect those provisions with the other provisions in the Act. Those sections make the provisions omitted by this section redundant.
Section 37 – Interpretation
151.This section interprets terms used in Part 4 of this Act.
