Michelle McIlveen
Strangford · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“Public confidence depends not only on effective enforcement but on enforcement being exercised fairly and consistently. <BR /> <BR />There is widespread concern across Northern Ireland about the condition of many of our lakes and rivers, and there are a vast number of factors that contribute to water quality challenges.”
“Although we support the overall direction of travel, I think that is appropriate to reflect on the concerns that have been raised and ensure that the legislation is proportionate, practical and capable of delivering its intended outcomes.”
“If we are therefore serious about improving our aquatic environment, every source of pollution must be addressed. New legislative powers are meaningful only if the Department has the resources, the expertise and the personnel necessary to implement them effectively.”
“There is, however, a need for accompanying clear guidance and support and for regulatory consistency and prompt decision-making. Delays, uncertainty and excessive bureaucracy will undoubtedly discourage investment and undermine confidence in the sector.”
“Subordinate legislation should not become a substitute for proper democratic accountability. Consultation and engagement must be undertaken before regulations are introduced, and I cannot overstate the need for stakeholder engagement. <BR /> <BR />I will now talk about the Bill's proposed enforcement powers.”
“The DUP broadly welcomes the Bill. As has been said, it provides an opportunity to modernise legislation that, in some areas, has remained largely unchanged for decades. The Bill strengthens the protection of our fisheries, improves the regulatory framework for aquaculture and enhances the management of our water environment.”
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“Thank you Mr Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to respond to the debate on today's motion. At the outset of my contribution, I will address parents across Northern Ireland: I want you to know that I treat my responsibility for your children with the utmost gravity. Their safety and well-being is the top priority for me and my Department. It informs every decision that I make. <BR /> <BR />Regrettably, today's motion represents quick fixes, easy headlines and the worst form of politics. In the midst of the most severe pandemic in living memory, we must not play politics with our children's education. My strategy and that of the Executive is and has always been clear. I have had a comprehensive plan in place since the autumn to address the challenges that are presented by the omicron variant; to suggest otherwise is just wrong.”
“I thank the Member for his question. There were issues with data sharing in August that have been resolved. As was referred to in a previous question, we are looking to upgrade the database. Somewhere in the region of £1·7 million to £1·8 million is being spent on updating processes to ensure that those issues do not happen again. <BR /> <BR />The majority of members of the council came from the teaching profession and were elected to that body; thus they were not necessarily public appointments. There were DE representatives on the council, however, some of whom have already resigned.”
“Again, I can give a brief response: absolutely.”
“I thank the Member for his question. There may be a little confusion about that. Maintenance of the register is an operational function. Responsibility for it will remain with the executive team, which will report directly to the Department. There will, therefore, be no change to that; only the oversight will change. There should be no difference, or rather, hopefully, it will mean that things will be swifter. There should not be any undue delay as a consequence of it.”
“In their assessment, GTCNI is functioning at a very low level, is not meeting its statutory obligations and is not providing any leadership to the profession. They have categorised it as a body in which:”
“They also found that the legislative basis for GTCNI's operations is weak, which hinders its ability to meet its regulatory functions; its governance framework is inadequate, leading to a failure to meet expected standards of governance or adequately hold itself to account; information flows are insufficient to inform decision-making; council subcommittees are not functioning effectively; there is an inadequate approach to organisational performance and a fundamental lack of understanding of good governance; and council business is regularly disrupted in pursuit of divergent agendas and narratives. <BR /> <BR />The consultants concluded that the council:”
“I thank the Member for his question. The consultants reported that there is inadequate governance infrastructure; the organisational culture is dominated by internal disagreements; the organisation is being driven by widely divergent agendas; there are widespread breakdowns in relationships and trust; GTCNI has lost focus on its remit and purpose and has become almost entirely inward facing; and it is failing to act as an advocate or strategic leader for the sector.”
“I thank the Member for his question. At this point, I do not want to get into personal issues relating to the chief executive or others. The Member will note from my statement that the chief executive has issued the Department with his intention to step down in April. For continuity, and given the fact that he has corporate knowledge of the organisation, it is useful to have him there for a transition period.”
“I thank the Member for her question. As a former teacher, she has an interest in the situation. There have been allegations of teacher misconduct that have, in some ways, not been investigated as they should have been. As Members will be aware from previous comments, there have been issues with the GTCNI's legislative standing in order to carry out some of its functions. It is our wish that that will be addressed during the progress of the next Bill, which will not only dissolve the GTCNI but put its replacement on a much firmer legislative footing, ensuring that we have a model that best suits the profession. In the meantime, we will seek legal advice on the outstanding issues, which perhaps cannot be looked at under the current legislative model, to ensure that guidance is given to teachers and the profession.”
“Members were asked a series of questions on council leadership and culture, and their comments confirm that the council is divided and unwelcoming, has lost focus on its purpose and remit and is inward-looking and consumed with internal disagreements. In members' opinion, council leadership is not effective, business is not transacted efficiently, and meetings are often poorly organised and poorly run, meaning that effective use is not made of their time. In comparing the GTCNI with the 645 other bodies that it has similarly surveyed, BTMM reported that the GTCNI members' self-assessment placed it in the lowest bracket for every performance indicator in the survey, which is a situation that BTMM had never before encountered.”
“I thank the Member for his question. The self-assessment exercise was based on National Audit Office (NAO) guidance and best practice for effective boards and governing bodies. BTMM has used it for around 645 organisations in the public, third and corporate sectors. It secured a 100% response rate from council members and, based on their honest feedback, found that 88% of respondents disagree or strongly disagree that the current council structures are working effectively; only 25% consider the GTCNI subcommittees to be increasing the council's effectiveness; 89% believe that the council is too large; and 60% feel that the council has too many representatives and is too disparate in its composition.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Given the times that we are in, he may look for a correlation between the two. However, I understand that the GTCNI was able to work through any backlog. Therefore, I am not sure whether it had any direct impact. <BR /> <BR />The Member will know that between 7,000 and 8,000 substitute teachers are on the Northern Ireland Substitute Teacher Register (NISTR). Daily, 3,000 or 4,000 of those substitute teachers could be allocated posts. There is probably a different issue with NISTR, which is not naturally connected to the GTCNI. On the GTCNI, we need to make sure that there is no delay in teachers becoming registered. We also need to ensure that teachers are supported to be encouraged into and retained in the profession.”
“<BR /> <BR />While the council may feel somewhat aggrieved by the report and my decisions, I hope that it will recognise that the self-assessment survey in the report clearly demonstrates that a sizeable majority of its members recognised that the council is deeply divided and has been failing in its responsibilities for quite some time. <BR /> <BR />Given the broad consensus and our commitment to consult widely and to follow best practice in replacing the current organisation, there would seem to be little basis for challenge of the Department's actions. I am hopeful that that will be the case.”
“I thank the Member for his question. I do not expect there to be a challenge to the decision that I announced, but time will tell. <BR /> <BR />Over the past 18 months, there have been numerous exchanges between departmental officials, members of the Education Committee and representatives of several teaching unions and other major representative bodies. They all expressed their deep concerns about the GTCNI and its numerous difficulties. I understand that there is widespread apathy among the wider teaching profession towards the GTCNI, an organisation that, for many, failed to have or to make a positive impact on their lives as teaching professionals. In itself, that is quite damning.”
“I thank the Member for her question. The action that I took today should start the process of resolving it. As the Member will know, the council has been dissolved. The chief executive and the staff will continue in their roles under scrutiny from my Department. <BR /> <BR />As I said, I intend to go out for consultation on a new model, hopefully in advance of the dissolution of the Assembly. The new model will obviously be designed in consultation with stakeholders. I hope and intend that that will ensure that this does not happen again.”
“The GTCNI has around £2·1 million in reserves. The bulk of those — £1·7 million to £1·8 million — has been allocated to fund the replacement GTCNI teacher registration database and to meet the potential pensions liabilities for its staff. Therefore, there is not a large reserve that could be used or released for any other purpose.”
“I thank the Member for her questions. The fee is now £44. It remains a legal requirement that teachers register with GTCNI, and, under the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (Deduction of Fees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004, they pay an annual fee to maintain their registration. Those requirements cannot be changed without amending legislation, so fees will continue to be a requirement, at least until the Assembly legislates to dissolve GTCNI. Ultimately, a new model may change that, but, in the meantime, the fees will continue.”
“I thank the Member for his question. I can be brief in answering that, because I absolutely agree with what he said. That is my intention.”
“In comparison with other arm's-length bodies of a similar size, the difference in the time that has been spent trying to resolve and respond to the volume of correspondence regarding GTCNI has been tremendous.”
“<BR /> <BR />As the Member said, a disproportionate time has been spent on dealing with correspondence within and from outside the council. In the past two years, we have had to respond to FOI and subject access requests, each of which were complex and required several hundred hours of staff time to address. That does not include the email requests that DE has received, the numerous pieces of formal correspondence from the previous chair of GTCNI or the significant number of additional correspondence cases that have been received from other council members. <BR /> <BR />DE has also had to respond to a high level of whistle-blowing complaints regarding GTCNI. Those ultimately required DE's internal audit team to undertake a lengthy whistle-blowing investigation, once again consuming several hundred hours of staff resource in DE and GTCNI.”
“I thank the Member for his question. The Department has been supportive in a range of activities, including arranging mentoring support for the chair following his election; providing regular advice and supporting staff training on information management; providing guidance to council staff on business case completion; providing support through participation in project meetings; providing advice and guidance during committee and council meetings; providing written advice to the chair on numerous issues; providing quality assurance checks of draft corporate documents; securing joint legal advice; using minutes of meetings (MOMs) and regular bimonthly meetings to offer advice and suggest solutions to emerging problems; and liaising with other DE branches to ensure that they prioritise and engage constructively with GTCNI on issues within their remit.”
“I thank the Member for his question. He summarises quite succinctly the number of failures in GTCNI. As he will be aware, there have been issues for GTCNI from a legislative perspective with the fact that there are gaps in place with teacher regulation. Obviously, we have reviewed the legislation and the regulations, and DSO has advised DE of a significant number of concerns that go beyond and which, obviously, affect teacher regulation. It is my intention that any future Bill will address those gaps and weaknesses in the legislation, which will help to solve the problems.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is my intention that a consultation document with regard to a new model will be published in advance of purdah and that, following that and subsequent to the next Assembly election, a draft Bill will be published. At that point, there will be Committee scrutiny, and consultation will take place on what the new model will look like. As I indicated in my statement, I have no set view on how that may look. Obviously, there are a number of models that are being exercised across the other regions and which may be looked at as potential solutions. Again, that is very much something that we will look to. I am very clear that, whatever comes out of this, it needs to be effective and efficient and to work in a means that supports our teaching staff.”
“I thank the Chair of the Committee for his question. I am aware that the Committee has received a number of briefings over the past year and a half on GTCNI, and, like me, the Committee will have received a bagful of correspondence on GTCNI. He asked why this has been allowed to happen, but he will be aware that the Department did take action on a number of occasions in respect of putting the GTCNI into special measures in 2015 and again in 2017. Obviously, at that point, the Department had felt that perhaps the GTCNI may have been on the road to recovery, but, clearly, that was not the pathway that it took. A catalogue of issues has come to light, particularly over the past number of months when the review was being undertaken.”
“Your jobs will not change as we work through the various steps that I have outlined today, and your employment rights will be upheld as we eventually take our final decisions on how those critical parts of GTCNI's work can best be continued. Had the report concluded that the council had some failings but that those were fixable, I would have been pleased to accept that assessment, and the Department would, in good faith, have sought to support those actions in any way possible. However, I am clear, and legal advice has confirmed, that I would be failing in my responsibilities as Minister of Education if I did not take rapid and decisive action having received such a stark indictment of the council and its leadership. I trust that Members will concur that my actions are necessary, and I am happy to answer any questions that they may have.”
“The consultation process will help us to examine the strengths and weaknesses of those different systems and allow us to develop a robust future model that reflects the unique needs of the education system in Northern Ireland. Any decision on a replacement for the current council will naturally need to be included in the drafting of a GTCNI dissolution Bill. We will also want the Bill to address all of the issues that have prevented GTCNI from exercising teacher regulation in the manner originally intended. Even with those additional complications, however, we intend to introduce a GTCNI Bill early in the new mandate, following next year's Assembly elections. <BR /> <BR />In concluding, I specifically wish to reassure GTCNI's employees, for whom this statement will naturally raise concerns.”
“The current chief executive has served notice that he will stand down from his position in April next year, and so the Department will begin work immediately to identify a new interim chief executive, who will direct the staff team until final decisions can be taken about the delivery of all GTCNI's essential functions. <BR /> <BR />I return briefly to the planned public consultation. I have no clear preference at this time for how any of these critical functions should be delivered in future. It will be important for us to consider whether they require the establishment of a replacement body or can be best delivered through some alternative mechanism. There are already a range of alternative models for teacher registration and regulation in use across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.”
“It is essential that suitably qualified individuals wishing to teach here do not face any unnecessary barriers or delays in entering our workforce, particularly given the current pressures facing schools. Whether they are newly qualified teachers graduating from our local universities and colleges or teachers returning from outside Northern Ireland, it is essential that they can start their careers in Northern Ireland as quickly and smoothly as possible. <BR /> <BR />The Department will therefore take on immediate oversight of GTCNI's executive team, allowing its staff to continue the work processing new teacher registrations and registration renewals.”
“I have tasked my officials with bringing forward at the earliest opportunity a public consultation exercise to identify those functions currently assigned to GTCNI that are critical to the sector and must be preserved, and to seek views from the public, the teaching profession and key educational stakeholders on how those can be delivered efficiently and effectively. <BR /> <BR />The Department has already identified teacher registration as one such function that must continue to be taken forward, and arrangements are already being put in place to ensure that GTCNI registration, which is a legal requirement for all Northern Ireland teachers, continues without interruption.”
“<BR /> <BR />As Members will be only too well aware, the education sector and the teaching profession are currently facing many pressing challenges as we continue to respond to the COVID pandemic. I do not consider that GTCNI's council, divided and lacking trust between its members, can contribute constructively to meeting any of those challenges, and I am unwilling to waste further time and effort in propping up such a deeply dysfunctional body. I have therefore also decided, in line with Baker Tilly Mooney Moore's recommendation, to stand down the current GTCNI council with immediate effect.”
“Having received that stark analysis and given the report careful consideration, I fully accept that recommendation. The Department cannot ignore the evidence Baker Tilly Mooney Moore has presented of systematic failings across so many of the council's roles and responsibilities. The review confirms that, despite the continuing support of the Department, little, if any, progress is being made and the underlying problems in the council are not being addressed and are, arguably, only becoming more deeply embedded and pernicious with the passage of time. Given the findings of the review, I cannot allow that situation to persist, and it is incumbent on me to take swift and decisive action. As a consequence, I have instructed my officials to begin work immediately to bring forward a Bill for the dissolution of the General Teaching Council.”
“Having undertaken approximately 640 previous effectiveness surveys, Baker Tilly Mooney Moore have pointed out that GTCNI is the first organisation in which board members have rated themselves in the lowest quartile under every performance metric used in the survey. The consultants also highlighted that members’ feedback on working relationships in the council were the worst that they had ever encountered. <BR /> <BR />The report presented to the Department reflects an NDPB in organisational failure, with a majority of its members acknowledging that it is failing in multiple areas. Following on from their analysis and considering recommendations for improvement, the consultants have concluded that the review demonstrates a council that is functioning but not functional and that is not providing leadership or advocacy to the profession.”
“<BR /> <BR />That deeply troubling assessment was pointedly underscored by the council members’ self-assessment survey that every GTCNI council member completed. That confirmed that the members themselves clearly recognise that there is a strong sense of polarisation, distrust and dysfunction in the council; that a significant number feel that they lack the experience, skills and knowledge to contribute effectively and confidently to council business; and that a clear axis of division exists between those supportive of the chair of council and those supportive of the chief executive.”
“In the consultants’ assessment, GTCNI has an inadequate governance framework and has failed to hold itself to account; it has committees that are not functioning effectively or observing any limitations on their authority; there have been systemic failures in its registration function, including information and systems management weaknesses that have directly contributed to data protection failures; it has suffered a breakdown in working relationships within the council; it has suffered a complete breakdown in the working relationship between the chair of council and its chief executive officer; it has ineffective working relationships with DE, with repeated attempts to draw the Department into operational matters in which DE has no remit or authority to act; there is a general lack of open and effective communication; there has been a long-running failure to adequately identify, monitor and address business risks and identified audit concerns; and there are a significant number of council members who lack an understanding of good governance practices and lack the knowledge, skills and experience to contribute effectively at board level.”
“In making their assessment, the consultants drew on extensive desk research, direct observation of council and committee meetings and interviews with current and former council members. Those discussions were supplemented using a standard board members' self-evaluation survey that the consultants have routinely used in undertaking organisational reviews. <BR /> <BR />The Department received a final report from Baker Tilly Mooney Moore detailing their conclusions and recommendations on 12 November 2021.”
“<BR /> <BR />In October 2020, with no tangible improvements and in the face of further council correspondence simultaneously alleging that departmental interference and departmental inaction were entirely to blame for GTCNI’s difficulties, my predecessor, Peter Weir MLA, decided that an independent board effectiveness review of the GTCNI council and its committees should be commissioned. The review was intended to provide a clear and objective evidence base on which decisions regarding the future of the council could be taken. Following an open public tender, a contract for the review was awarded to Baker Tilly Mooney Moore (BTMM) on 22 April 2021. Baker Tilly Mooney Moore is a consultancy firm with extensive experience and expertise in this type of work.”
“On each occasion, we have sought to facilitate the council's efforts to address the performance issues, staffing concerns, governance weaknesses and multiple unsatisfactory audit findings that it has faced. On two occasions, we have seconded in departmental staff to serve as interim chief executive. In addition to what might be considered normal departmental sponsorship activities, we have repeatedly provided access to departmental expertise in areas including finance, business case preparation, information management, data protection and workforce planning.”
“<BR /> <BR />Collectively, those problems have manifested themselves in repeated and sustained failures by the organisation to meet normal governance and accountability requirements for NDPBs; repeated failures to progress agreed business objectives in a timely and efficient matter; and an extremely heavy and sustained volume of complaints and correspondence received by successive Education Ministers and by officials at all levels in DE. I can categorically state that, for many years, GTCNI has consumed a level of departmental time and resource that is entirely disproportionate to its size and the complexity of its functions. <BR /> <BR />Faced with those challenges, the Department has placed GTCNI in special measures on two occasions: from December 2015 to September 2017 and from November 2019 to the present day.”
“While it has provided some policy input to the Department, it has failed to develop any clear leadership and advocacy roles for teachers and the wider profession, instead focusing an inordinate amount of its time and effort on nugatory internal discussions and disagreements, alongside personal and, at times, bitter infighting among its membership. On that point, it is noteworthy that, since the commencement of the council's current mandate in October 2019, 13 of its members have either resigned or been withdrawn by their nominating organisation, with some citing the divisive and toxic atmosphere in the council as one of the principal reasons for their actions. Those withdrawals have significantly impacted on the overall skills and experience in the council and have left several of its committees struggling to be quorate.”
“<BR /> <BR />GTCNI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) of my Department, a status reflecting the intention that, as the regulator for the teaching profession here, it should have a distinct identity and independence from DE, strengthening its ability to speak freely on behalf of all teachers. In practice, GTCNI has not fulfilled its responsibilities and been the voice for the teaching profession that it was intended to be. It has broadly met its responsibility for teacher registration, helping to protect the quality of our teaching workforce, although that has not been without its challenges. <BR /> <BR />Owing to weaknesses in its legislative base, GTCNI has not been able to exercise regulation of the profession as intended.”
“<BR /> <BR />As currently constituted, the council should have a membership of 33, the majority of whom are teachers. Fourteen of its members are teachers elected directly by the profession. A further five members are nominated by the Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC), which is the representative body of our teaching unions. Ten members are nominated by other education stakeholders, including higher education institutions, employing authorities and other agencies, while four members are appointed by DE under a public appointments process.”
“I wish to make a statement to the Assembly on the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) and the outcome of an independent effectiveness review of the council and its committees. <BR /> <BR />The GTCNI was established in 2002 to enhance the status of teaching and to promote the highest standards of professional conduct and practice. Under its founding legislation, its functions are to establish and maintain a register of teachers; to approve qualifications for the purposes of registration; to regulate teachers in relation to serious professional misconduct; and to provide advice to the Department and employing authorities on registration; the professional learning, career development and performance management of teachers; standards of teaching; and standards of conduct for teachers.”
“I thank the Member for his question. The situation is fluid, and we will be responsive. We are mindful that there are between 7,000 and 8,000 teachers on NISTR. The pressures on the number of teachers available are the consequence of a number of factors, not only because of COVID but because a considerable number of them are now involved in Engage programmes and so on. They, too, will have been sick or unable to attend work for whatever reason. As the Member knows, the situation is fluid, and we are responding to assist schools where we can.”
“The voices of young people are important. In the review, the views of parents and young people will be taken into consideration”
“I thank the Member for her question. As she will be aware, my Department has now agreed the terms of reference for a review of school uniforms, particularly around the grants but also on its policy aspects. We will take cognisance, probably, of changes that have taken place across the water. As the Member will be aware, school councils now also have quite a considerable input into school uniforms, including on their design, and boards of governors can be more or less responsive to that.”
“I thank the Member for her question. As the Member will be aware, that is a very live issue and is very much in focus, particularly coming towards the start of the new term. My Department issues guidance to schools and will advise on making sure that all uniforms are accessible to pupils.”
“I thank the Member for his question. My Department and the Education Authority work very closely with schools, young people and parents, and if anything needs to be adapted, they will certainly respond to that. We also work very closely with contractors in order to ensure that, if there are requests, they are delivered within a time frame that is useful to the school. I have been in schools that use a variety of methods to make their school accessible, but there are other schools that require quite a considerable amount of intervention. I was at one school recently and heard that, unfortunately, because of the different levels there, in some ways, that puts off young people with a disability. That should not happen in this day and age.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Unfortunately, I have not been able to see the footage from the parliament yet, but I intend to watch it. Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) pupil-specific minor works are a priority for my Department. We have challenging budgets, but that is a priority, and we see that throughout our schools. We need to raise awareness in schools and make sure that all pupils have access to facilities, and I am happy to work with any school in order to provide that.”
“I thank the Member for her question. That is moving on, and it has been moving on at pace. I do not have a particular timeline, but I am happy to come back to the Member on that. As information comes to the Department, things evolve, and it is very much a moving feast, but I am content to come back to the Member on the main tenet of the work that we are doing.”
“I thank the Member for her question. As I said in my response to Mr Blair, I am committed to ensuring that work is done to protect women and prevent violence against women, and particularly exploitation of young girls. I have no issue with meeting the Justice Minister, but, as I said in my earlier answer, our officials are working very closely together and the Department is progressing that to ensure that resources and so on are in place in order to assist teachers in raising awareness in schools.”