Newport City Council is at a pivotal point as it begins to address longstanding weaknesses in the way it plans for improvement. That is the conclusion of a report, published today, by the Auditor General for Wales. His Corporate Assessment report says that, with wider ownership and strengthened capacity, the Council has the potential to achieve the scale and pace of change required.

Reports published today by the Wales Audit Office and Estyn have found that arrangements for covering teachers' absence in Welsh schools do not support learners' progress sufficiently nor provide the best use of resources.

A team from Estyn and the Wales Audit Office (WAO) visited 23 primary and secondary schools, meeting with learners, head teachers and supply teachers.
They also carried out surveys, interviews and data analysis.