Speeches by Ben Smith, MP

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

2 words

One- four-o.

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

5 words

Sorry about that, Mr. Chairman.

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

474 words

So, Mr. Chairman, as we are going through the reform, obviously at some point we will be at the maximum needed of the members of the Reform Unit. But as we get able to move toward implementation, can the Minister let us know whether there will be a reduct ion in the size of the members who are needed for …

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

238 words

Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, Mr. Chairman, as we are going through this reform process, it would be important to know how we are doing as we are going through. So the members of the Reform Committee, is there a way of doing appraisals each year so that we know this is how many people we have, …

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

54 words

Yes. And, Mr. Chairman, I am not saying that anybody would be picked willy -nilly. I am asking for, as an example, if role number one was something specific, what were the criteria for that particular role? And then if that role was specific, was it advert ised for that role to be specific?

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

10 words

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, on page B -134—

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

2 words

Professional Services.

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

57 words

The Minister noted that there had been a reduction in Professional Services. Can he just give us a breakdown of what services have changed in order to get to that reduction? And, Mr. Chairman, the contract for the Innovation Unit was renewed for another year. Can the Minister give details of what the deliverables are for —

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

343 words

So, Mr. Chairman, unless the Professional Services are going to come under another area. But I believe that part of the funding was coming from this area. So what deliverables were put in place for the Innovation Unit for the previous year that led to our renewing that contract? And what are the deliverables for this year so that as …

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

15 words

Business unit 26000. So these are the performance measures. And this is under General Administration.

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

326 words

So, Consultation with key stakeholders. Can the Minister please give details on how the consultation was done with the teachers? Are there continuous meetings with the teachers to get input? The reason I ask that question is because the Minister stated th at there has been communication with the union partners; I understand that. But the day -to-day teachers, is …

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

3 words

Well, I apologise.

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

2 words

Yes. Yes.

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

89 words

So in the public domain there has been some outcry from these two schools. If the Minister can just give us just a quick update on whether he has had some new meetings with them to kind of let them know that this process is happening and that he will be a ble to give them the answers that they …

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

4 words

On page B -137.

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

10 words

So, Mr. Chairman, business unit 27090, Educational Standards and Account.

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

3 words

Business unit 27090.

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

141 words

So the Minister can correct me if I am wrong here. I believe that the School Attendance, which is business unit 27095, below there I believe that that was moved into this area. That is why that line is now zero. Can the Minister please provide data on the attendance numbers? Are we seeing an increase or a decrease in …

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

109 words

So the Minister actually gave an answer that answered some of the issue that was seen here. I had been given quite a bit of feedback about what had happened in the last two budget cycles because there was a significant increase for the money toward substi tute teachers. And then in this last year there was actually a need …

8 Mar 2024 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House Of Assembly

66 words

So now I am moving into what has happened with substitute teachers, [which] is the demand that came for substitute teachers would have been, one, because there were teachers who were out of class because they were in the [Reform] Unit. But there potential ly are other reasons why we had a demand for substitute teachers, which is the question …