P-04-458 Keep Further Education in the Public Sector
P-04-458 Keep Further Education in the Public Sector
We call upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the
Welsh Government to ensure:
1.Further education, along with publicly funded assets,
is retained within the public sector.
2. Colleges continue
to be bound by the national agreements in FE, such as the national pay scales.
3. The introduction of an all-Wales contract for FE
lecturers.
4. Welsh Ministers do not dissolve colleges and give
colleges the ability to transfer the property, rights and liabilities to
another body.
Supporting
Information
1.
The 2011 Welsh Labour
National Assembly for Wales election manifesto declared “FE colleges as public
assets which belong to their local communities and its community of staff and
learners”. One commitment in the
manifesto was to “ensure the parity of esteem for teachers and lecturers by
maintaining the current link between their pay and conditions” as well as
“introduce an all-Wales contract for FE lecturers”.
2.
However, in July 2012, the Welsh
Government tabled the long awaited White paper on its proposed bill for Further
Education (FE) in Wales. The Welsh Government wants to introduce changes,
through legislation, that will remove a number of restrictions and controls on
colleges, giving greater autonomy to college Principals.
3.
The Welsh Government currently places a
duty on colleges to maintain the pay parity for FE lecturers with school
teachers through the annual conditions of funding letter it send to FE colleges
in Wales. Many college Principals opposed the introduction of an all-Wales
pay-scale.
4.
If the Welsh Government does not
continue to exercise some level of control over the FE sector, colleges could
disregard national agreements in FE which could include the national pay
scales. Should colleges disregard the existing national pay scales and
contracts, teaching pay scales could vary significantly across each
college. The quality of teaching could
therefore be affected since teachers would not want to work for those colleges
offering lower pay scales.
5.
The Welsh Government’s White paper
notes that the power of Welsh Ministers’ to dissolve colleges will be replaced
with the ability of a college to dissolve itself and transfer the property,
rights and liabilities to another body. If colleges were allowed to transfer
their properties, rights and liabilities (as outlined in the Welsh Government’s
proposals), then colleges could dissolve themselves and transfer the assets to
a private company limited by guarantee.
Petition raised by: UCU Crosskeys Branch
Date petition first considered by Committee: 19 February 2013
Number of signatures: 246
Business type: Petition
Reason considered: Senedd Business;
Status: For consideration