73.Section 15(1) to (3) makes provision for what a governing body is required to do when submitting delivery plans. Section 14 details what a school delivery plan must include.
74.Section 15(1) requires a school’s governing body to submit to the local authority a draft of the delivery plan it has prepared in accordance with section 14. The governing body will have already consulted with the local authority when preparing a plan in accordance with section 14(2). The draft plan must be submitted to the local authority at least 9 months (section 15(2)) before the start of the period in which the plan has effect (see section 14(3)).
75.Section 15(3) states that, when submitting its draft, the governing body is required to include a summary of any responses to its plan received during the consultation period.
76.Section 15(4) to (6) sets out the steps the local authority may take in relation to a delivery plan that has been submitted to it under section 15(1). It may approve the plan, with or without modifications, or reject it. The purpose of this provision is to ensure that a local authority is able to influence Welsh language education within its area, and can achieve the targets placed on it by the Welsh Ministers in the National Framework on Welsh Language Education and Learning Welsh. If a local authority rejects a delivery plan, it must give a direction to the governing body to reconsider the plan. That direction must set out the reasons for the decision and specify by when the governing body must submit a further draft of the plan to the local authority.
77.Section 15(4) to (6) also applies to a delivery plan that is resubmitted. This means that a delivery plan may need to be resubmitted more than once if a local authority remains of the view that it will not approve the delivery plan.
78.Section 15 has been prepared with the intention that a local authority and a school’s governing body will agree on the content of the school’s Welsh language education delivery plans. Therefore local authorities, under this section, are not able to prepare a delivery plan on behalf of a school. It should be noted that, as public bodies, local authorities and school governing bodies must act reasonably. Should there be a delay in agreeing a delivery plan, or if a school governing body or local authority is believed to have acted unreasonably, local authorities or the Welsh Ministers may (as deemed appropriate) consider exercising their intervention powers under Part 2 of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 (see also section 50 of this Act).
79.Under section 15(8) an approved school delivery plan must be published. This includes publishing it on the school’s website if that school has a website. See section 52 for specific duties regarding the publication of documents.
80.Section 15(9) requires a school’s governing body to take all reasonable steps to implement the proposals under section 14(1)(e) to (h) that are contained in the delivery plan approved by a local authority.
Commentary on Sections Welsh language education delivery plans Section 15 - Approval of Welsh language education delivery plans