Darllenwch y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg
Estimated reading time: 6 to 7 minutes
Gareth Morgans has been appointed to lead the national landscape review of ALN advocacy provision in Wales.Having recently retired as Carmarthenshire Local Authority’s Director of Education and Children’s Services, Gareth brings nearly four decades of experience spanning the classroom, 18 years as a primary headteacher, and senior local authority leadership.
This combination of classroom experience, school leadership, and strategic oversight means Gareth brings a uniquely comprehensive perspective to this crucial review. The review and its recommendations are important to children, young people and their families as the ALN system is built around person centred practice, putting learners’ voices at its heart.
We sat down with Gareth to hear directly about his plans for the review.
Q. What prompted this landscape review of ALN advocacy services in Wales?
Evidence from multiple sources highlighted systemic issues regarding provision of ALN advocacy in Wales. This included findings from the ALN legislative review, parent/carer surveys, and direct examples of families struggling to navigate the ALN system. Many families noted that they were unaware of their right to advocacy, or how to access advocacy services, although local authorities are promoting it. Good practice certainly exists, but there are inconsistencies across Wales that need addressing.
Q. What is ALN advocacy, and why is it so important for families?
When we talk about advocacy in the ALN system, we’re talking about something very specific and legally defined. Under the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 and the ALN Code for Wales 2021, advocacy is about ensuring children, young people, and their families are genuinely heard.
In practical terms, advocacy means having independent, trained support to help share a learner’s views, wishes, and feelings about their education and specific needs. It means helping learners to understand their rights, supporting them to participate confidently in decisions about their ALN support and helping challenge decisions if they feel something isn’t right.
Crucially, advocates don’t work for the school or the local authority and are solely independent. Their role is to stand alongside the child or young person and their family, making sure their voice is heard and their rights are protected throughout the ALN process.
Q. How will you map what’s currently happening across Wales’s 22 local authorities?
The review follows a three-stage approach. First, a comprehensive mapping exercise of current practice across Wales, both in ALN and other sectors such as children’s social care. Direct engagement with all local authorities in Wales will be essential to build a full and robust understanding of what is being offered to our children, young people and their families in respect to advocacy. A review of the associated costs will also be needed to inform discussions and options for the future.
Second, desktop research into other models of advocacy provision and practice in Wales and elsewhere, meeting with key stakeholders and examining available evidence.
Third, individual meetings with key stakeholders e.g. local authorities, advocacy providers, Estyn, to hear about what’s working well and what needs improving.
This will lead to a report setting out what has been learned and areas for development, with clear options and recommendations for consideration.
Q.How will you ensure families and young people themselves shape the findings?
User voice is central to this review. Engagement with children, young people and their parents will be facilitated through a parent survey.
Research and reports from partners including Children in Wales, SNAP Cymru, Education Tribunal Wales will also inform the work. Learner and family experience of ALN advocacy will directly shape the report and recommendations.
Q. What are the early findings and emerging themes
Gareth: This is a complex area of provision. The ALN legislation places duties on local authorities regarding information and advice, avoidance of disagreements, disagreement resolution and independent professional advocacy for children and young people.
Understanding the ALN system and how to access support can be very confusing for children, young people, and their families. The recently published Additional learning needs (ALN): parent and carers toolkit goes some way to addressing this issue. However, more work is needed to ensure consistency of message across local authority websites and improvements in how information is shared.
A shared definition of what effective advocacy looks like is clearly needed. This will be developed through engagement with key stakeholders including local authority leads and advocacy providers.
It is also evident that in other sectors advocacy provision is regulated and regularly inspected and monitored to ensure that service users receive high-quality support. This is something to consider.
Advocacy provision also needs to move from being a last resort to being used earlier to support children and young people and their families. Advocates can ensure a learner’s voice is heard and that their wishes and feelings are respected from the outset.
Consistency in training requirements for advocates is another priority. Some practice in Wales have clear training requirements and service-specific frameworks ensuring quality and consistency. Questions around registration and quality assurance remain underdeveloped.
Finally, high-quality advocacy service requires proper investment. We need to attract and retain qualified, well-trained advocates and ensure robust support infrastructure around them.
Looking Forward
Q. What will the final report include?
The review report will provide a comprehensive map of current provision across each local authority, establish a clear and shared understanding of what high‑quality advocacy should look like, set out evidence‑based options and recommendations for improvement, and offer clear proposals for a defined information, advice, and advocacy offer for families.
The landscape review is currently underway, with findings and recommendations to be reported to the national ALN Delivery & Improvement Board and the Cabinet Secretary for Education at the end of March.
Gareth is clear that this isn’t simply an academic exercise, it’s a commitment to improvement, backed by strong ministerial support and driven by the voices of the education sector, families and learners themselves.