Labour minister refuses to release education report
Labour’s Education Minister was taken to task by the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd today over a report he has refused to release.
Shadow Education Minister Laura Anne Jones MS asked Jeremy Miles about the independent review of educational leadership in Wales his government announced last year.
At the time, the Minister said “This Leadership Review will inform future developments and provide clarity on the support we have for school leaders across the system, and the support they will need to enable them to realise the new curriculum.”
However, despite being completed last autumn, the Leadership Review report remains hidden.
When Jones asked Miles if he will commit to releasing the report immediately, the latter said he will make a statement in the summer term – at least a month away – but made no mention of releasing the report.
This has led to concerns that the report is particularly damning of the Labour Government’s performance in education, where Wales’ school system is placing bottom of all UK nations in the internationally respected PISA rankings.
Commenting, Welsh Conservative and Shadow Education Minister Laura Anne Jones MS said:
“Several months on from the completion of this report, it is totally reasonable to ask why it being kept secret.
“One must question whether it has not been released because the report is pretty damning about the regional consortia and, by association, Welsh Labour’s leadership of education in Wales.
“Saying a statement – and, crucially, not the report – will be forthcoming at some point before August is simply not good enough.
“Quite simply, this report should be released without hesitation, so the rest of us can read what the Labour Government don’t want us to see.”
