I would like to thank Plaid Cymru for bringing forward this debate today, and it goes without saying that UKIP will be supporting the motion. Investment in training is of paramount importance, and, like the other parties in this Chamber, we disagree totally with the UK Government’s decision to remove bursaries for nursing students in England. We implore the Welsh Government to maintain bursaries for student nurses in Wales.

Removing bursaries for student nurses not only disadvantages those from poorer backgrounds, it also prevents university graduates from entering nursing unless they can afford the £9,000-a-year fee. We want to attract the brightest people into nursing, but if you have already taken an undergraduate course, you don’t qualify for student support. Without nursing student bursaries, graduates won’t be able to enter nursing—they won’t be able to afford to enter nursing.

There is also the fairness argument. As student nurses spend 50 per cent of their time in direct clinical practice, and their final three months working full-time in the NHS, is it right that we expect them to pay up to £9,000 a year for that privilege? I don’t understand the UK Government’s reason for removing the bursaries, and I hope that the Cabinet Secretary, when he responds to the debate, will guarantee that the Welsh Government will not be following Westminster’s lead. Nurses are the lifeblood—