Education

Anti-strike proposals an attack on devolution says NAHT Cymru

Published

2 years ago

January 30, 2024

THE GOVERNMENT’S proposed minimum service levels for schools are ‘draconian, unnecessary, and an attack on devolution’, school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru says.

In its response to the government consultation, which closes today, NAHT Cymru says the legislation cuts across devolved powers by the Welsh Government and would effectively remove the right to strike from most school staff – and especially head teachers given that most schools only have one such role.

The new laws would make it legal to sack striking education workers who have been issued with ‘work notices’ and will allow hefty fines to be imposed on unions.

NAHT Cymru says the proposals fail to recognise legislation in Wales, such as the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015; the Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 and Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 – all of which look to strengthen workers and employers’ rights and promote working together to resolve disputes where possible.

Far from ensuring a ‘minimum’ service, the union says requiring all vulnerable, critical worker and exam groups to be in school would mean a majority of pupils attending and all schools being required to open on strike days.

NAHT Cymru National Secretary Laura Doel has condemned the legislation, saying: “The proposals by the UK government aim to undermine the principles of social partnership and are a direct attack on the devolution settlement.

“The Department for Education (DfE) has no idea of the systems in place that manage and maintain Welsh schools and the UK Government has no right to involve itself in matters that do not concern it.

“School leaders across Wales face significant challenges, particularly when it comes to pay, workload and funding and we are currently working with the Welsh Government to address those issues.

“Having said that, we will not hesitate to take further industrial action if it is the will of our members and we will do everything in our power to protect those rights.”

NAHT Cymru says there was no clear evidence of detriment to pupils during last year’s industrial action by education unions, which included a strike by teachers – but that cuts to education and chronic underfunding have far-reaching implications for the delivery of education.

Referring to last year’s action in Wales, during which NAHT Cymru took action short of strike, the response continues: ‘Teachers, school leaders and support staff have taken part in industrial action to defend their pay and working conditions, to prevent a worsening of the staffing shortage and to restore the quality of our education services. The introduction of minimum levels of service will not resolve these issues, but they will impact workers ability to do something about them.’

In its response, NAHT Cymru also highlights the principle that union members need the freedom to withdraw their labour if their workplace is for any reason considered unsafe.

It points out that the proposals do not allow workplace notices requiring staff to work to be appealed or for any independent oversight of disputes that arise. There is no provision for meaningful consultation with unions and no obligation to consult individuals identified in a work notice as being required to work during a strike and is completely lacking in reference to the devolved governments at all.

NAHT Cymru has welcomed education minister Jeremey Miles’ response to the legislation, after he wrote to the DfE stating the Welsh Government will continue to work with employers and unions under social partnership to resolve disputes.

Paul Whiteman, NAHT’s general secretary, said: “The government’s proposals are a hostile attack on the basic democratic right of workers to withdraw their labour.

“Strike action will always be a last resort for dedicated education professionals. Sadly, however, it is sometimes the only way to engage tin-eared governments and employers in serious talks about issues which may not only affect their working conditions, safety and livelihoods – but also their ability to offer the education all children deserve.

“These proposals will not help to prevent industrial disputes but will make it even harder to resolve them and for dedicated school staff to act when they fear education is being devalued. If that happens, ultimately it is children who will suffer.”

NAHT Cymru is calling for the UK government to retract the proposals and enter meaningful negotiations with education unions after it abandoned talks last year.

It urges ministers to ‘learn from other nations and create a culture of social dialogue and balanced cooperation through the introduction of sector-wide collective bargaining, together with the clear legal recognition of a positive right to strike.’

The union says the proposals are ‘highly likely to fall foul of equality law’, arguing that school leaders who are more likely to be required to work are often older. It points out that a majority of the workforce are female, and that the approach taken was ‘effectively discriminating against’ staff at schools with a higher proportion of pupils with additional learning needs (ALN), vulnerable and critical worker children.

NAHT Cymru adds the legislation would ‘make the UK an outlier among comparable nations’, undermining a host of international human rights and labour law commitments. These include the United Nations’ 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, European Social Charter and commitments through the International Labour Organisation.

Education

School leaders welcome cash boost but warn ALN pupils have been overlooked

Published

15 hours ago

June 24, 2026

Tom Sinclair

Union says Welsh Government has funded repairs, meals and swimming lessons but failed to address one of the biggest pressures facing schools

SCHOOL leaders have welcomed extra Welsh Government funding for repairs, free school meals and swimming lessons — but warned that pupils with additional learning needs have been overlooked.

The criticism came after the Welsh Government set out its supplementary budget for 2026-27, including £40m for school buildings and repairs, £15m to expand free school meals in secondary schools, and £2m for swimming lessons.

Laura Doel, national secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru, said the extra capital funding for school buildings was welcome and would “go some way to plugging the gap”.

She also welcomed the expansion of free school meals, saying no child should go hungry because of their parents’ financial circumstances.

But Ms Doel said the “significant omission” was the lack of additional funding for ALN provision.

She said: “It beggars belief that of money that has come to Wales thanks to investment into additional needs in England, not a penny has gone to support pupils with ALN in Wales.

“We have seen local authorities, directors of education and the profession united on the need for significant investment in supporting our most vulnerable learners, but this government has chosen to ignore the pleas for support.

“It calls into question whether education is a key priority for this government.”

ALN pressure

Additional learning needs provision has become one of the major pressures facing schools and councils across Wales, with rising demand for specialist support, assessments, staffing and placements.

School leaders argue that without dedicated funding, already stretched school budgets are being forced to absorb costs which can affect support for both ALN pupils and the wider school community.

The Welsh Government says the supplementary budget is designed to support key priorities, including public services, schools, health and the cost of living.

But NAHT Cymru said the absence of new ALN money was difficult to justify at a time when schools are repeatedly warning that vulnerable learners need more support.

The Herald has asked the Welsh Government how much of the school buildings funding will come to west Wales and why no specific additional allocation has been made for ALN provision.

Education

Pembs parents watch closely as Carmarthenshire schools shut in extreme heat

Published

18 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Tom Sinclair

PEMBROKESHIRE parents are being urged to check school messages as neighbouring Carmarthenshire prepares to close all secondary schools on Wednesday and Thursday because of extreme heat.

The move in Carmarthenshire has raised questions across west Wales about whether schools in Pembrokeshire could also be affected as temperatures continue to rise.

All secondary schools in Carmarthenshire are set to close for two days, with some primary schools also deciding to shut. There has been no blanket closure decision for primary schools in that county.

In Pembrokeshire, no county-wide secondary school closure announcement has been made at this stage.

Parents should check directly with their child’s school for the latest information, including texts, emails, school apps, websites and social media pages.

The situation may vary from school to school, depending on building conditions, ventilation, classroom temperatures and local circumstances.

The closures in Carmarthenshire come as Wales faces exceptional weather conditions, with concerns about pupil and staff welfare during the heatwave.

Many school buildings, particularly older sites, can become extremely hot during prolonged periods of high temperature.

A Wales-wide picture is now emerging, with schools in several counties considering closures, early finishes or remote learning.

For Pembrokeshire families, the key message is not to assume schools are closed unless official confirmation has been received.

The Herald will continue to monitor updates from Pembrokeshire schools and the county council.

Community

Church in Wales legal challenge to council’s Cilgerran school plans

Published

21 hours ago

June 23, 2026

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

CHURCH education in Pembrokeshire, the birthplace of Wales’s Patron Saint, is under threat from a series of actions by the council which could amount to religious discrimination, the Church in Wales has said.

The Church in Wales has issued a formal notice that it will take legal action against Pembrokeshire County Council if it presses ahead with plans to remove church status from Cilgerran Voluntary Controlled Primary School.

Back in May, the council voted to remove the Voluntary Controlled status of the Welsh-speaking rural school and to establish it as a 3-11 community school despite 97 per cent of the responses to a consultation about its potential discontinuation opposing it.

That consultation followed a review which “considered the extent of surplus school places in the area, set against a significant decline in the pupil population,” the council has previously said.

Hundreds opposed the proposed changes, with a petition on the council’s own website gaining 391 signatures.

During the consultation, 203 responses were received; 97 per cent (197 responses) against the proposal, with just 1.5 per cent (three) in favour.

Earlier this year, councillors heard from vice-chair of the school governors Gary Fieldhouse who said the loss of the Church in Wales status would be “a profound mistake,” the school’s association with the church “not symbolic but fundamental”.

Reverend John Cecil had told councillors the proposals were “fundamentally flawed,” with the school’s land legally in trust as a Church of Wales school, and change “essentially creating a new school with no premises to occupy”.

A letter has now been sent to council officers on behalf of the Diocese of St Davids and the Church in Wales saying that, if the council persists with this course, the Church will take legal action on the grounds of claims of “public misrepresentation and unqualified legal assertions made by Pembrokeshire County Council officers,” and “discrimination against faith schooling”.

The letter also says that, if the council removes VC status from the school, the Church will not make the site available for a successor school, which it says will render “the case on which the proposed removal of VC status is based untenable”.

The legal warning follows Pembrokeshire County Council’s decision earlier this month to close Manorbier Church in Wales Voluntary Controlled School, which was damaged by a fire in 2022.

The church says that despite repeated assurances from Cabinet Members and senior officers that it would be rebuilt, it has been allowed to sit empty while the number of children, forced for years to learn in temporary accommodation, has declined.

A spokesperson for the Church in Wales said: “Pembrokeshire County Council’s behaviour in the case of Manorbier VC School has been utterly unconscionable.

“The council has presided over a catalogue of delay, incompetence and broken promises resulting in the literal destruction of a thriving school which has served its community for more than 150 years.

“Taken together with the gratuitous attack on the church status of Ysgol Cilgerran, this amounts to a targeted assault on the inclusive Christian education which Church in Wales schools have provided to their communities for generations.

“That the council should be pursuing this potentially discriminatory action against Church schools in the county which is the cradle of Christianity in Wales, and which takes pride in being the birthplace and shrine of our nation’s Patron Saint, is a bitter irony.

“We are not prepared to allow it to happen, and we look to the county’s elected representatives to halt this destructive course of action.”

Pembrokeshire County Council has been contacted for a response.