Leighton Andrews AM

Leighton was re-elected in May 2007, following which he joined the Welsh Assembly Government as Deputy Minister for Social Justice and Public Service Delivery, with special responsibility for housing issues.  When the One Wales coalition government was formed in July 2007, Leighton was appointed Deputy Minister for Regeneration, working within the Department for the Economy and Transport and the Department for Social Justice and Local Government.  In 2009 he was appointed Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning.  Following re-election to the National Assembly for Wales in May 2011, Leighton Andrews was appointed Minister for Education and Skills.  His political interests include education, the economy, culture, housing, the media, health and social inclusion.

He was born in Cardiff and studied at the Universities of Wales (Bangor) and Sussex.  He is a former Head of Public Affairs at the BBC and lectured at the Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies in the year before his election to the Assembly.  He was a visiting professor at Westminster University, and has been an honorary professor at Cardiff University since 2004.  He is a former board member of Tai Cymru (Housing for Wales) and was co-founder of the Yes for Wales campaign in the 1997 referendum and convened the planning group for the “Yes” vote in the 2011 referendum.  He is married with two children.

The Minister for Education and Skills is responsible for:

• Control of fees charged to students by higher education institutions in Wales and associated bursary arrangements;
• Student and learner support, including policy on higher education tuition fees and bursaries;
• “For our Future” strategy and action plan for Higher Education in Wales;  
• Widening participation in higher education;
• Higher education policy and funding, including sponsorship of the Higher Education Funding Council;
• Revenue funding of 6th forms, FE colleges, adult community learning and work based learning providers through the National Planning and Funding System;
• Capital funding for post-16 providers;  
• Inclusion in schools with particular reference to looked after children, refugees and asylum seeker children, ethnic minorities, pupils who are carers, young parents, traveller children, gay/bisexual/transgender pupils;
• The School Effectiveness Framework;
• Standards of attainment by pupils in schools including Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA);
• Support for school improvement, in particular through the Better Schools Fund and Raising Attainment and Individual Standards in Education in Wales (RAISE) grant;
• Safeguarding children in education settings;
• Provision of food and drink in schools;
• School uniform;
• Early years education;
• Personal and social education including Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship;
• School attendance, exclusions;
• Pupil behaviour, including bullying;
• Additional learning needs, including needs of pupils with severe, complex and/or specific learning difficulties, disabled pupils, able and talented pupils;
• People of all ages with dyslexia;
• Revenue funding of schools;
• School governance, organisation, admissions;
• Complaints against Local Education Authorities and school governing bodies;
• Information Communications Technology in schools;
• Welsh immersion and linguistic continuity in schools;
• Commissioning Welsh-medium and bilingual classroom materials (print-based and electronic);
• Supporting the development of Welsh-medium qualification;
• Welsh medium and bilingual education;
• Welsh Medium Education Strategy;
• Welsh for Adults;
• Welsh language – including overseeing and co-ordinating general Welsh language policy. (Other Ministers are responsible for Welsh language issues within their policy areas);
• Ministerial functions emanating from the Welsh Language Act 1993;
• Welsh Language Commissioner;
• Estyn work programme remit;
• Foundation Phase curriculum and assessment;
• 5-14 school curriculum and assessment arrangements;
• 14-19 curriculum and qualifications (including GCSE and GCE A/AS levels);  
• The Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification;  
• Statutory regulation of all qualifications (outside Higher Education), including the impact of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) on external qualifications;
• The statutory approval of qualifications used in Wales;
• Education and training research;  
• The design and implementation of the National Planning and Funding System and the deployment of strategic investment in the post-16 sector;  
• Development and implementation of 14 – 19 Learning Pathways;  
• Extending Entitlement for people aged 11-25 years;  
• Policy on youth work;
• The promotion of Wales as an excellent place in which to teach as well as to learn;
• Initial teacher training;  
• Education workforce development, including leadership training and continuing professional development;  
• Promoting teaching as a career;
• Teacher performance management;
• All-age, system-wide Transformation of the education and training system in Wales;
• 21st Century Schools programme; and
• Medical Education (except for post graduate training);

The Minister for Education and Skills also has overall responsibility for those areas listed under the responsibilities allocated to the Deputy Minister for Skills.  However, the Deputy Minister has for all practical purposes, day-to-day responsibility for these functions.

In some cases Deputy Ministers will also have a relationship with other Ministers in respect of cross cutting issues.

Writing to Ministers

Contact Leighton Andrews by email at: correspondence.leighton.andrews@wales.gsi.gov.uk

We aim to provide a response to correspondence to Ministers, including electronic mail within 17 working days.  Ministers will respond to matters that fall within their portfolio. Please follow the link ‘Writing to Ministers’ on the left hand side to direct your correspondence to the right Minister.