Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I don't think it's appropriate for me to respond to the contents of my personal manifesto as a spokesperson on behalf of Welsh Government in this place. What I can tell you is that, as regards the Welsh language Bill, of course we hope that that Bill will come before us. At present, you are just as aware as I am of the mess that is taking place from the point of view of Brexit, and...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, what we had hoped, of course, is that the commissioner would be doing more of the promotional work. As that has perhaps been difficult for the commissioner to undertake, part of that work has come in-house and is being undertaken by officials within Welsh Government. Of course, ideally, we would like to have people at arm's length, people with the skills outwith the Government doing...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, the answer to that is 'a lot more than they're doing in England'. The interesting thing is that the apprenticeship levy is being paid by large companies, and they're given, effectively, tokens to spend and it's only the large companies that have access to the apprenticeship system. There's been such a mess that the actual system is collapsing in England. We've not gone down that route...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: This, again, is something else that I discussed with the German representative. We talked about how they managed to convince German companies that it was in their interest to invest in their own employees. I think we've had, over the years, quite a lot of European funding, and many employers in Wales have come to depend on European funding to upskill their workers. I think we need to probably...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I met recently with the German industry to discuss this very issue. They came in and put forward their model of what is a successful model in Germany. I know that my predecessor in this role actually went to Germany and looked at the model and tried to understand if there was anything that we could pick up from the system. I think the nature of the education systems are...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I'm also delighted that we've managed to find the money in terms of the support staff. Some of these people are on extremely low pay, so I think it's really important that we've managed to find that money and to support them. As you say, they are essential staff in terms of making the colleges work, so I'm delighted that that has happened. In terms of upskilling, I think everybody recognises...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Part-time provision. Yes, part-time provision—absolutely, we are concerned about this and that's why we've had to prioritise. We have done some analysis to have a look at how this would impact. Of course we've been speaking to the colleges about this. We've had to prioritise. We're really making sure that there's consistency. When we've decided where to prioritise, though, we've decided...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Yes, just first of all on lifelong learning—I think it is critical. I think the role of FE in lifelong learning is terribly important. One of the key issues we have in our society today in terms of problems is in-work poverty, so the question is: how do we get people out of that situation? The answer, I think, is to upskill them while they are still at work. To do that, we need to provide a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, nobody wanted to see the kind of cuts that were imposed on the FE sector, but that was a deliberate decision by the UK Tory Government in relation to austerity. That is the consequence of the cuts. We have to make decisions, we have to prioritise, and this was the decision that was forced upon us, that we did not want to take, but we had to take, because of that austerity decision,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Alongside the changes to full-time provision, I'm also proposing to change the way part-time provision is funded, planned and delivered. The introduction of funding frameworks in 2014-15 I'm afraid coincided with a 37 per cent decrease in the funding available for part-time learning, with a further 50 per cent the following year. So, since 2015-16, the volume of part-time provision has varied...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The FE sector is a responsive sector and I fully expect them to embrace this improved methodology, to work collaboratively and regionally, and to ensure that each and every one of our FE learners is given the best possible start in the world of higher education or employment. We need to be constantly striving for improved learner outcomes, and I am keen to see an increase in the trend of...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Welsh Government is seeking to build an economy that works for everyone. Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that we do all that we can to boost living standards, encourage growth and productivity, and also address deeply ingrained regional economic and social inequalities. The FE sector is at the heart of this agenda, yet over the past five or six...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. That discussion about open access or having a relationship with a particular software manufacturer is something that is very alive, and something that we are very aware of. We haven't come to a conclusion on that, but we are very clear that that is something that we need to consider very, very carefully. I think, as a principle, if it's the Government sponsoring it we need to think...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, thank you very much, and I'm glad that you appreciate that the aspirations in the document are good. I think, actually, there's quite a lot of detail in the plan. There is a clear direction of travel. We have had experts advise us on what we should be doing. So, I actually think that what's clear here is that it's not just a plan, it's an action plan—we know exactly where we're...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, thank you very much, and I’m very pleased that you too acknowledge the excellent work that Canolfan Bedwyr is doing up in Bangor. It genuinely is innovative work that is happening, and it’s important that we share that work and that other people have the opportunity to use that technology. I am pleased that you’ve underlined that what we have here is a more long-term vision and a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I think—just on that first point, of course, we’re not going to be using machines to try to teach people how to speak Welsh, but I do think it’s important that we do innovate with education through digital and technological means, and I think that there is a possibility to increase educational provision through the medium of Welsh. We’re doing something at the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. In July 2017, the Welsh Government published its strategy for the Welsh language, Cymraeg 2050. The main target of Cymraeg 2050, it’s important to note, is our desire for a million Welsh speakers. But the other point that we had to underline in that process was that we wanted to see people using the Welsh language as well, and to ensure that the Welsh language is at...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: So, we have a very specific and clear programme that the Cabinet Secretary is leading in relation to digital skills in schools. We are also very aware, in terms of the skills in the sector, that we need to move in this area. That's why we have commissioned Professor Brown to look at automation, the impact that automation and digitalisation will have on our economy and how we should best, as...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you for that. We are all concerned about the lack of women in STEM subjects. We need to increase that and that is why we have a specific programme in order to ensure that we try to get more girls to study these subjects. Many more European funding programmes have received support recently in order to push for girls to go into these subjects. I think that the careers sector is extremely...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. You're absolutely right: it was the Welsh Government who commissioned that report by Estyn, of course, because we were concerned that, perhaps, in relation to the higher apprenticeship framework, we weren't getting the kinds of results that we'd hoped for. So, that's why we commissioned the report. We're obviously taking the recommendations in that report very seriously. We are...
