Speaking about the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles MS’ announcement of a Review of the roles and responsibilities of the ‘middle tier’ of the education system in Wales, Debbie Scott, Senior Wales Officer said:
“NEU Cymru’s members’ will be immensely pleased to hear a review of the ‘middle tier’ has been announced by the Minister today.
“NEU Cymru has long been calling for a review of the so-called middle tier, with the plans set out to include looking at the role of the regional consortia and local authorities, with an aim to clearly set out their roles and responsibilities – and avoid the kind of duplication our members will recognise.
“This forms part of the work which the Minister promised to undertake as a result of the negotiations around NEU’s strike action in the spring term.
“We need to make sure that this review delivers in terms of cutting workload for our members in schools – so that they have time to focus on the children and their learning, and not worry about differing expectations from different bodies in the ‘middle tier’.
"We look forward to engaging with this review, to ensure that the middle tier work with the education workforce, in the spirit of collaborative working.”