We now move to a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education on the Diamond review of higher education and student finance arrangements. I call on the Cabinet Secretary, Kirsty Williams.

Thank you very much. Llywydd, I have today published the Government's response to the recommendations from the review of higher education and student finance in Wales. I am keen to reiterate my appreciation for the time and effort that Professor Diamond and his panel members, from across the political parties, sector and industry, dedicated to the review between April 2014 and this summer.

Since publication of the report in September, there has been much interest from Assembly committees, parents, students, and the wider higher education sector, including policy and funding experts.

I welcome that interest, scrutiny and constructive engagement. Indeed, observers from elsewhere in the UK suggest that we in Wales are leading the way in fundamentally shifting higher education finance towards a progressive, stable and sustainable system. Therefore, I have given a great deal of thought to the practical implications of implementing the review panel’s recommendations, seeking to ensure stability and sustainability. I’m clear that Wales needs a sustainable and progressive higher education funding settlement that supports students when they most need it, and enables our universities to compete internationally.

As I made clear on 27 September, Cabinet endorsed the principles contained within the report, but our response builds on our key established principles: that we maintain the principle of universalism within a progressive system, that we have a whole-system approach, that investment is shared between Government and those who directly benefit, that we enhance accessibility, tackling barriers such as living costs, and that student support is portable across the UK. I can confirm that, subject to full Treasury approval, we will implement changes to student support funding, covering full-time, part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students from 2018-19.

In the context of austerity in the United Kingdom, the fundamental shift to improved and progressive maintenance support across modes and levels of study can only be achieved by releasing funds currently used to provide tuition fee grants for full-time undergraduates. The Diamond report modelled a range of household income thresholds for those eligible for means-tested support. We have decided to go with the proposal to set the upper threshold at £59,200. This is an increase of around £8,000 on current arrangements for means-testing. I believe this to be a fair and sustainable arrangement. Under this proposed system, we expect more than a third of Welsh students to be eligible for the maximum grant and the average student to receive £7,000 a year in grant support. The revised system of support will mean that students will receive the equivalent of the national living wage during term time while they study, with a maximum level of support of over £9,000 a year for full-time students and a pro-rata version available for part-time students.

I am proud to confirm the Government’s intention to deliver the first system in the UK and be an international model of best practice that is consistent, progressive and fair in its support for full and part-time undergraduates and for postgraduate students.

As set out in my agreement with the First Minister and our programme for government, we are committed to promoting and enhancing both academic and vocational routes into and through further and higher education, including both full and part-time opportunities that will benefit learners of all ages, employers and communities. Our response recognises the consensus that it is the fear of not being able to meet your daily living costs, rather than the prospect of paying back loans once in work, that is the bigger issue for accessing and progressing through higher education. Securing the stability and sustainability of our higher education and student finance arrangements is crucial. I can therefore confirm that we are implementing, with only minor modifications, the full Diamond package, whilst also delivering a future dividend for further and higher education. This, of course, would be subject to normal Government budget negotiations and process.

It is important that we do not implement policy that would have unintended consequences. Therefore, there are some areas where I believe it is sensible for the Government to pause and consider the next steps. These areas include recommendations on the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, which need to be considered alongside the recently announced task and finish group, the implementation of monthly maintenance payments, incentives for graduates, the University of Wales Press, and the sharing of risk between Government, institution and student. Through the consultation exercise we invite those with specific interest to engage on these matters.

Similarly, given the current economic climate, there are a number of recommendations with financial implications that will need to be considered as part of future budgeting rounds. These include recommendations on quality research funding, knowledge transfer, the Learned Society of Wales, and the unhypothecated amount allocated to the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales’s recurrent budget. However, I will be asking my officials to work with HEFCW so that they can gain an understanding of the projected financial implications for their budget.

To ensure stability and sustainability, I have decided to maintain the current intensity threshold on support for part-time study. However, we will continue to work with the sector on ways to support and promote study at lower intensities. We will also maintain current equivalent or lower qualification controls, but commit to exploring extending those subjects and priority areas that will be exempt. Alongside publication of our full response, we have published a consultation on student support funding. I welcome the consensus that greeted the principles of Professor Diamond’s report, and, in that spirit, Presiding Officer, I now seek views on the practical implementation of our proposals.

Llywydd, it was the 'pence of the poor' that helped found and build our great civic universities. It was the great reforming progressive individuals, communities and Governments that helped open up higher education through institutions such as the Open University. It is the work of NUS Wales, through their ‘The Pound in Your Pocket’ research, that was bold enough to address student funding priorities head-on. And it this Government now—working, I hope, with parties across the Chamber—that will secure a stable and sustainable higher education funding and student finance package that can help transform the lives of our citizens and of our nation.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement. I think it's impressive that you've managed to turn around a Welsh Government response to such a hefty report as the Diamond review report in such a short period of time. I do welcome, as well, the consultation that will now flow from your response; I think it's entirely appropriate that there’s a wider opportunity for public discussion on the proposals that you have indeed outlined.

I am a little surprised that you've claimed that the Welsh Government is implementing with only minor modifications the full Diamond package. Certainly, you're stepping in the direction of implementing the Diamond package, but there's no doubt in my mind that the significant change that you're making to the upper income threshold for support by reducing it by £20,000 is going to have an impact on the squeezed middle, which Professor Diamond was determined to protect, and, indeed, the other panellists were determined to protect as well. And, in addition to that, you are of course rejecting a number of recommendations in terms of apprenticeships and higher-cost postgraduate course teaching subsidies. So, let's be real about this: it's not a wholehearted endorsement of the Diamond report; there are actually some things that you’re not going to immediately implement, and there are some things that you're downright rejecting.

Now, that's not to say that I don't welcome much of what you have said and much of what's in the Welsh Government response. I welcome the fact that you're looking at implementing this in the academic year commencing 2018. I think that that's an important deadline that we need to work to. I welcome the fact that you’re trying to get the system onto a more sustainable footing, and, of course, the reduction in that upper earnings threshold is an important way of achieving that. I understand, Cabinet Secretary, that the change in that threshold will save the Welsh Government around £40 million per annum once the proposal is fully implemented, and, of course, that saving is on top of the £48.25 million on an annual basis that Professor Diamond's original recommendations said they were going to save. And I wonder where that £88.25 million is going to be reinvested. The First Minister made a very clear commitment that none of that cash would be lost to the HE budget. I suspect that he’s going to be trying to sidestep some of those commitments that he’s made, because you and I both know, Cabinet Secretary, that we need to see some more investment into our FE institutions as well, and in terms of widening access to FE and giving some support to students in our further education system as well, particularly if that vision that we all share in this Chamber, which is to give further education parity with higher education, is to be absolutely realised. I'm also very pleased, of course, to hear the confirmation of support arrangements for part-time study and, indeed, the support for postgraduates as well. I think that they’re very important commitments.

You mentioned that there’s going to be a working group that is going to have a look at this issue of sustainability and whether to maintain the link in the future to the national living wage. I think that that’s very important—that those links are maintained—because what we don’t want to see is inflation eating away into the opportunities that students can have to have this support in the future. So, there has to be some way of index linking this support to make sure that it’s going to be there in full in the future.

But I am a little bit concerned to read in your response of wanting to control student numbers and regulate student numbers. That implies that there are going to be caps on students who are going to be eligible for support in the future, which will limit access to higher education and indeed will limit learner choice, which I think is very regrettable indeed. Can I also ask you, Minister, whether that is what you’re hoping to achieve—some sort of cap? Who is going to sit on these working groups making those decisions? Will they be cross-party? That’s been the nature of the approach to Diamond so far. I think it’s important that we maintain some cross-party working on these issues, and I would be very happy to nominate a Conservative representative should you give us an opportunity to.

I’m disappointed to see no guarantee of funding of a minimum of £5.8 million to Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol in the next financial year. I know that there’s a review, which is ongoing at the moment, but that is a recommendation that you said you wanted to consult on, and you couldn’t guarantee that that money would be there in the future. I heard what you said in your statement. Perhaps you can just clarify what the situation will be in the next financial year and also going forward. I would appreciate that very much indeed.

I’m also a little bit concerned about the comments in relation to the intensity threshold, because one thing that I know that both you and I are passionate about is making sure that all the people of Wales who want access to higher education opportunities, including those who might have to, because of their situations or because of disabilities, for example, have lower-intensity courses. I wonder whether the outcome of your decision not to progress with lowering that threshold, as was the recommendation of Professor Diamond, will have a disproportionate impact on those individuals that may be disabled or perhaps have some learning needs or disabilities.

So, I do welcome the direction of travel. I think there’s an awful lot that is good in the response that you have published today, but I do think we need some clarity on these important issues, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you very much, Darren. Could I begin by acknowledging the point you made about how quickly we’ve been able to turn this around? This is down to the incredible hard work by officials in the department. They have worked at this pace because we need to move to a more sustainable situation for funding both students and our institutions as quickly as possible. I want to commend the hard work that they have put into this.

The Member, Presiding Officer, says that we are saving money by not implementing the higher threshold of £80,000. Of course, that is a notional saving. That money doesn’t exist. That was a suggestion of where the threshold should be, so it’s not correct for the Member to say that this is a saving that has accrued.

Let me be absolutely clear: when I published the Diamond report in September, I wanted to secure a stable and sustainable student support and higher education funding system for our country. I have analysed the latest projections and I have had to take into consideration cohort protection, expected growth in the national wage and inflationary forecasts, whilst delivering for part-time, full-time and postgraduate students, and I’ve had to do that in the round. That means there has had to be some give in the system, but let me be absolutely clear: one third of students in Wales will receive the full package of support of over £9,000. Seventy per cent of students in Wales will be in receipt of some means-tested grant under this system, and the average student will be in receipt of approximately £7,000. I have to say, Darren, considering what your party has done to maintenance grants across the border, which are no longer available, this represents a good deal for Welsh students in the current climate that we find ourselves in.

Can I turn to the issue of the two recommendations that have been rejected? The first is around apprenticeships. The apprenticeship levy and apprenticeship policy is being developed by my Cabinet colleague and we have a very clear way forward on how we will meet this Government’s commitment to additional apprenticeships in Wales. That is being developed separate to these proposals. With regard to higher cost, the Welsh Government does not intend to regulate post-graduate provision. So, together with that principle and the lack of available data about the actual cost of teaching, we don’t think it’s sustainable to provide additional funding in that way at the moment, but the consultation exercise is there to engage with people around some of these issues.

It is not my intention to introduce caps but, at the same time, I can’t take anything off the table in the future working of that group. The group will be made up of officials from within Government, but it will also have external advice from the sector and from those people who have a direct interest in this. I will consider further whether I will extend that invitation to political parties, but I will need them to demonstrate some in-depth knowledge of the workings of the HE sector before I consider that further.

Can I be absolutely clear about the future of the Coleg? This Government has taken the decision to remove funding of the Coleg from HEFCW, actually to fund the Coleg directly from Welsh Government, which we will do to the tune of £5 million in the new financial year. It is a matter that was welcomed recently in committee—I appreciate that you weren’t there. This matter was recently welcomed in the committee and has been welcomed by the Coleg themselves.

Intensity levels—we have agreed to look at the intensity levels starting at 25 per cent, but the consultation exercise specifically asks about how we could regulate lower intensity levels in the future. But we are starting—for the first time, we will have parity of esteem for our part-time students. That has not been achieved before. It is not available anywhere else in the UK. In fact, I haven’t yet been able to find a country in Europe that provides this package across all modes of study. We are leading the way. I can tell you, officials from the Scottish Government and the Northern Irish Government have already been on the phone asking how the Welsh Government is delivering this innovative package of support.

With regards to disability, I want to make it absolutely clear: we will continue to fund specialist payments for disability that are available under the current system. They will continue under the new system.

May I thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement, and reiterate the thanks to Professor Diamond and the group that has been preparing this report and the recommendations?

I welcome your statement. It’s good to see the process moving towards implementation of those recommendations. That is something I’m sure we would all welcome. I also welcome the central point that you highlighted there, namely that full-time, part-time and postgraduate study will be considered equally, and will have access to similar support, and that will create a more comprehensible landscape for many people, where very often there has been some divergence, which can lead to confusion and complexity.

I welcome many aspects, particularly the pilot that you mentioned to look at the practicality of extending support to students studying in the European Union. That is certainly in keeping with one of the policy demands of Plaid Cymru in the election some months ago, and perhaps you could expand a little on how you intend to introduce that pilot.

I also welcome the commitment that you’ve given in your report to vocational and technical education at a higher level. Of course, there is a feeling in this Assembly that we do need to enhance the status of vocational education across the spectrum, and I assume that this is the first of many steps in order to achieve that, and that is to be welcomed.

I also welcome the fact that you are looking at a Welsh model of the Student Loans Company, because the current situation I feel is a barrier to movement at the pace that we would like to see, and it makes it difficult for us in Wales to respond to a changing environment because of external forces, and it does create a difficult situation.

It is a significant announcement, in many ways, and, as we are talking about scoping alternative options at the moment, perhaps you could expand on any more detailed timetables that you have in mind. Moving toward monthly payment and support for those with specific needs are all aspects to be welcomed.

You’ve stated, and you’ve stated previously, that you want to continue to look at the level of fees that HE institutions can charge here in Wales, which has been capped at £9,000 at the moment, or £9,250, of course, in England. In light of financial challenges—and we are very aware of those challenges—and the fact that the institutions are operating in a competitive market, could you actually tell us what factors will influence your considerations when you look at the fee level that you have in place? Because there is a risk that the funding gap between institutions in Wales and England could widen. There’s a possible perception that the quality of courses in Wales—that because they’re cheaper they’re not as good, and some would say that there may be a competitive advantage to having different fees. Who knows? But, essentially, do you think that it’s inevitable, because of the current climate, that, if they do increase fees in England at some point, they will have to be increased in Wales, or are you considering alternative models? Because it’s difficult to see how you can withstand such a move, in many ways.

Now, of course, it wouldn’t be a statement on the Diamond report unless I raised the need to actually attract students back to Wales and to retain Welsh students here and the need to create incentives. You say in your response to the recommendations that you will continue to look at the options and encourage ideas, encouraging people to respond to the consultation. But, in looking at the consultation document, there is no specific reference to creating incentives to attract students back to Wales, as far as I can see. So, I don’t know if that’s an error, or whether you intend to create some sort of separate consultation process for that. Perhaps you could tell us.

Finally, the focus of the debate on sustainability has been looked at through a financial prison, mainly. Can I ask you what consideration has been given to the access points tariff to HE institutions in Wales? Has the Government actually carried out any analysis of this and is there any broader significance to this for the sector? Because most have seen a decline in this metric, with three of our institutions now with an average of less than 300, against a background where A-level results are going in the other direction. I’d be interested to know what influence that is having on the sustainability of the sector.

Llyr, can I thank you for your comments this afternoon and your willingness to share ideas about how we can take this area of policy forward?

With regard to the pilot, I don’t want to put a limit on the aspirations of any Welsh student. Your colleague sitting next to you will have benefitted hugely, I’m sure, from his time spent at Harvard, and I think giving opportunities for more Welsh people to study in institutions across the world to create that outward-looking nation that I believe that we are—I want to be able to facilitate that where I can. So, we will be working up a pilot scheme to allow this package of support not only to be portable across the whole of the UK, but to look to see what we can do to fund students who may want to go to Harvard, or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or the California Institute of Technology or the Sorbonne—all of the great institutions that exist around the world. It is part of Wales being an outward-looking nation, and I think that’s really important.

With regard to FE, the Government’s response today confirms that there will be additional funding allocated to improve the strategic collaboration between FE and HE, and that includes our shared priorities that are reflected in the budget for next year—funds to develop investment in higher-level apprenticeships, for instance, which I believe are important, and also money to increase FE colleges’ capacity to deliver at level 4 and level 5. I have, in my remit letter to the HEFCW, stated how much importance I place on being able to ensure that there is use of resources across both sectors to encourage that level of collaboration.

And, Presiding Officer, if you would forgive me an indulge me for just a second, I would like to take this opportunity, because I don’t believe it has been done in the Chamber today, to congratulate Welsh colleges, students and employers for their outstanding performance at the WorldSkills UK Show this weekend. We—I shouldn’t say ‘wiped the floor’, that’s not very parliamentary—but we were outstanding. Welsh students were absolutely outstanding in their achievements. And I wish them very well as they go on to the next stage in the world competition. That demonstrates that we have the potential here in Wales to be outstanding in these particular areas.

With regard to incentives, I’d like to make clear the response confirms that Welsh Government will continue to introduce legislation that will mean that every student who takes out a maintenance loan from Welsh Ministers will be eligible for up to £1,500, to be written off the balance of their loans, once they start repayment. So, again, that is a benefit to Welsh students that is not available to students anywhere else. So, that’s an incentive, and an extra benefit for Welsh students.

As you and I both know, it’s slightly more tricky to develop a scheme of how we could incentivise students, but I’m grateful for your engagement in this, and the information that you have supplied to me, which officials are currently considering. But we are working across Government in looking at how we can introduce this. So, for instance, my Cabinet colleague for health has talked about incentives for doctors, to be able to recruit additional doctors, and we continue to have conversations, about how we can do this in terms of nurses. So, those conversations are happening in Government at the moment and I will continue to work with you to look to see what more we could do in that regard.

You asked about fee levels, which, of course, are difficult and controversial. I will continue to review the maximum fee level of tuition fees in Wales, taking account of the financial stability of our institutions, how we maintain that competitiveness, which, as you say, is absolutely crucial, in an international context, and the impact upon students themselves. You asked what other factors I am considering—those are the three factors that will continue to guide my thoughts in this particular area.

With regard to tariff, I understand the point the Member is making. This is one of the reasons why we need to move to a different system of how we support the sector in the round, because we cannot afford for Welsh universities to fall behind—we need them to be the very best that they can be, and that is a job for us in Government, but it is also a job for the sector themselves. And I look forward to seeing their HE strategy that is currently being developed by HEFCW at the moment.

I’m also grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for her statement. She says she hopes to work with parties across the Chamber, at least ones she deemed to have in-depth knowledge of the sector. She also said she welcomed the consensus that greeted the principles of Professor Diamond’s report.

I’d like to just then start on two areas where I was very pleased to hear what she said just now. I think, with part-time students, the parity of esteem and support is, indeed, as she said, unparalleled, and, in principle, I can’t see the arguments the other way. And the fact that this will only happen in Wales, but not anywhere else, is something I think we can all rightly be proud of.

Second, in my party we had something in our manifesto where we proposed a £6 million bursary fund for the best and brightest students in Wales to qualify and have support at the best institutions across the globe, not just in the UK. So, to hear her speak, at least possibly, of support being available for people who might go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or the California Institute of Technology, for example, was, I think, very, very encouraging, and I credit her for that.

Where we I think have potential difficulty, at least, with the principles set out with the Diamond report—or, at least, how they may be implemented—was when we discussed universalism within a progressive system. We’re concerned, potentially, that that means large amounts of money being given to students from well-off families, when, across Wales, there are greater needs from people who are less well-off and don’t go to university. But compared to the previous statement she made, where Diamond had said £80,000 or £81,000 would be the amount that people could get money up to—we thought that was extraordinarily high, and I detected some discomfort on the Labour benches in parts as well. And when you are giving what you describe as a means-tested grant, all the way up the income scale to £80,000 or £81,000, I think that becomes very difficult to justify, so it’s extremely welcome that she’s reduced that upper threshold to £59,200.

I thought Darren Millar’s comments were quite revealing on this. He seemed unhappy with that reduction, and described this band of families earning between £60,000 and £80,000 as the squeezed middle. I think the definition of other parties in the Assembly of the squeezed middle may be a little different. [Interruption.] Sorry, there were a number of interventions there, which I haven’t quite caught—

If you’d like to continue, please.

I will continue. I wonder if I might ask the Cabinet Secretary, in light of that—the £1,000 that was previously described as being given across the board to families that earn even more than £59,200 now, or £80,000 or £81,000 before, is that still within the system proposed? It wasn’t mentioned in her statement here. And secondly, can I just clarify that this £1,500 loan write-off she described as well—is that, again, something that goes across the board, irrespective of how high up the earnings spectrum families may be?

Could I also just raise the issue of paying students, or giving a maintenance grant equivalent to the national living wage? Of course, the national living wage only applies to people who are aged over 25, and for 18 to 20-year-olds, the largest cohort of students, the minimum wage is £5.55. So, why does she think that students are so much more valuable and deserving that they should get, I think, £7.20, whereas 18 to 20-year-olds, generally, should get £5.55, and people in the first year of an apprenticeship should only get £3.40? Is that really parity of esteem?

Finally, she talks about a stable and sustainable system, and, of course, that’s a worthy ambition, and then she says ‘subject to full Treasury approval’. But she will be as aware as I am that there are some issues there, and, in particular, what is the resource accounting and budgeting that will be agreed? How much of these now much higher loans will the Treasury determine are likely not to be paid off, and therefore be written off from the perspective of the taxpayer, and therefore, as education is devolved, should be a charge against the Welsh Government? Currently, we have a significantly lower RAB than England, because our loans are lower, although Professor Diamond suggested perhaps it was too low and might need to be raised. I just wonder when the Treasury looks at these figures, and I suspect with a much more sceptical eye than Professor Diamond and others from the sector may have looked at it during their review, whether they will query how much will get written off, and whether the RAB she is presuming really will be high enough. They may ask, if you have an area where wages are relatively low, where you’re offering maintenance grants that are national living wage only available elsewhere to over-25s, and where perhaps people, given the wages in the local areas, may not expect to pay off much or any of the debt when they’re older, whether take-up will actually be significantly higher because people find the opportunity of getting that maintenance grant particularly attractive, and whether that would lead, perhaps, to the Treasury at least taking the view that write-offs, and therefore the RAB, will need to be significantly higher than she allows? And does she recognise the danger, at least, that if she sets up this system, it may all work out rather more expensive than she assumes?

Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to Mr Reckless for his comments. I think maybe he was offering himself up as a potential expert to our group that is going to review this. Well, at least I will get his advice for free, unlike the MP for Clacton. [Interruption.]

On the issue of the £1,000, it is my intention to introduce that universal £1,000 payment to all Welsh students. It is in line with the principles outlined in the report from Professor Diamond, and this Government’s commitment to understanding that higher education is a joint endeavour. The student undoubtedly gets something from studying at a higher level, but so does our nation, and I believe it is only right in that case that we contribute to some of the costs. Let’s be absolutely clear: the National Union of Students Wales have said that this £1,000, payable at the beginning of each academic year, is invaluable to helping students address some of the unexpected—not the unexpected but the hidden costs of setting yourself up in university. And therefore, it is very much welcomed by the NUS that this provision remains within the package.

With regard to the partial write-off, that has nothing to do with family income, it is to do with the fact that the student, at that time, reaches the threshold for paying back their loan. So, it has nothing to do with family income at all, it is to do with the fact that the student has reached the £21,000 threshold that triggers repayments for loans.

With regard to the disparity between students and the living wage, I can’t change the fact that the UK Government don’t have parity of esteem for workers who are 16, 17, 18 or 19. I wish I could do something about that, but it is not within my competency. As I’ve said, Diamond was very clear, we need to make sure that students have access to the amount of resources that they need to live on, independently of their parents. Across the border in England, parents are expected to hand over and to contribute to the costs hugely. This means that Welsh students will be independent, because they will be able to get the full amount of support on which they can live, either entirely through a maintenance grant for our poorest students; partially for most, over 70 per cent of our students; or a combination of a £1,000 contribution and a loan. And I think that is really, really important.

With regard to the Treasury, my Cabinet colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has formally written to the Treasury. We’re yet to have a formal response, but the Treasury have been very helpful to date and have indicated their full support for the proposals going forward, and I expect that to be confirmed in writing shortly.

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement and give a very warm welcome to the content of that statement today? In particular, I’m delighted that this Welsh Government is going to be delivering a system that is consistent, progressive and fair in its support for full and part-time undergraduates and for postgraduate students. I also welcome the speed with which the Cabinet Secretary has moved to respond to the recommendations, and would like to place on record my thanks to Professor Diamond and his team, not just for his work, but also for attending the Children, Young People and Education Committee to give evidence recently.

I just have a few questions. You indicated that you would be going out to consultation. Can you say a little bit more about how that will work, and in particular whether you will be consulting with young people? One of the features of the Diamond review was that he felt that students with particular challenges and needs should have particular recognition, and there were three groups in particular. The first is students with experience of the care system, and I welcome what you’ve said previously about young people who’ve been in care having entitlement to the full maintenance grant, but can you also tell us how you will respond to the other things he recommended in relation to care leavers, in particular giving them the flexibility to transfer credits, allowing them the opportunity to have multiple starts et cetera? The other area was students with disabilities, where he recommends further work be done with the Treasury. Can you confirm that you’ll be taking that forward? The other area, then, was students who are also parents, which is clearly really important in these difficult economic times. Can you say a little bit more about how you will be responding to those particular recommendations? Thank you.

Can I thank the Chair of the education, young people and children’s committee for her response to the report? I, too, am grateful for Professor Diamond’s continued expertise in this area. He could have just handed over the report and gone back to doing the very important work that he does, and I’m very grateful to him for coming back to committees to give full explanations, and I understand that he will be at the all-party group on higher education tonight, and I would encourage Members to go along to hear from Professor Diamond.

Can I take this opportunity to confirm that it is my intention to legislate to ensure that those children who have experience of the care sector and who have been looked after will have access to the full maintenance grant? This Government is working very, very hard to address the educational inequalities that exist for children who have been in the care system. That’s why we’ve introduced the pupil deprivation grant to support those children’s education. We know that they have been considerably under-represented studying at a higher level. We want to make sure that, right the way through the education system, we’re putting in specific support to enable those children to reach their full potential, both in school and in going on to study at a higher level.

Support that is currently available, for instance, to students with a disability and students with childcare costs will continue under the new system. What I’m also keen to look at is what we can do better to support carers and those who have had caring responsibilities in their lives, and how that may have impacted on their ability to access higher education or to stay in higher education once they were there. The consultation document does ask for some specific ideas about how best we can identify those individuals and how best we can support them going forward.

The consultation obviously opens today. I would like responses back by 14 February, Valentine’s Day, so I hope that they will all be charming and attractive and will have fallen in love with the proposals that we are outlining here by the Government today.

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement this afternoon and also for the work done by Sir Ian Diamond and his team and put that on the record? It’s clearly important that we address the issues for higher education and support for those students. Can I also put on record once again my thanks to her predecessor, Huw Lewis, who initiated all this and basically saw this start to come through and the Cabinet Secretary has now taken it through to its fruition?

Cabinet Secretary, a couple of points: I welcome the concept of the collaboration between HE and FE and it’s important we have that collaboration, particularly in relation to ensuring parity of esteem and status for higher apprenticeship courses. I think that’s crucial, but you also talk about levels 4 and 5 and possibly level 6 in FE institutions, so I can see that as also being welcome. But can you provide us with a bit more detail on perhaps Welsh Government discussions with FEIs in relation to the staffing issues? It’s important at level 6 that staff are allowed to undertake research that informs the level 6. So, discussions on the staffing issues that might arise as a consequence of that aspect.

In relation to part-time students, can you clarify as to whether in 2018-19 it will be applied to all part-time students irrespective of what level they’re currently studying at, not just new entrants into a programme, because part-time students have never had this support? So, a person who has undertaken perhaps the start of a second year on a part-time basis has never benefited from any support. Are we going to treat them equally with anyone who is starting a course from fresh, because with part-time, as you know, some students may take several years to actually complete the course because of their other commitments? I think it’s important that we understand who will be able to benefit from this in 2018-19.

We’re also looking to expand to perhaps part-time postgraduate courses because the postgraduate taught element is for full time, I understand, from what you’re saying, but there are some part-time postgraduate courses also offered. Again, some of those may be individuals who are seeking to gain further qualifications from perhaps a time when they had previously studied and wanted to get back into their work, but they are now looking to have a higher level qualification because that’s the next agenda for them.

Personally, I’m disappointed in the principle ‘only concept of quality research’. I recognise the challenges, however, that Brexit will place upon research funding, but I think it’s important that you confirm your commitment to the Sêr Cymru programme and others, and any successor programmes to that, so that universities do understand that the Welsh Government is committed to research and quality research because it’s going to be a tough time in the years ahead for universities, as we see the issues of Brexit and perhaps the loss of some funding—not necessarily, but possible loss of some funding—to research areas, because we still don’t know how the research councils will operate in the years ahead of us either.

Finally, on the incentives to return to Wales, I take from your comments today that actually it’s for students who are returning to Wales to get that £1,500 off their loan. Can you look at perhaps the challenges facing a variety of subject areas because there are some subject areas students follow that mean they just can’t get work in Wales? Even if they want to come back to Wales, they are restricted because perhaps there are no opportunities in Wales. Can you look at the opportunities perhaps to help encourage students from a wider range of subjects to benefit from the scheme, not just simply because they come back to Wales to work? They could be actually benefiting us, developing skills and wanting to come back in the future. We need to explore all those.

Can I thank David for his questions? Can I absolutely clarify that all Welsh students who have been in receipt of a loan via Welsh Ministers, regardless of whether they come back to Wales, are able to apply for that partial write-off? That is not contingent on you coming back to Wales. That is just an additional benefit that Welsh students have: when they reach the threshold to begin to pay back their loans, they can apply for a partial write-off, and that’s regardless of where they study.

Myself, Alun Davies and Julie James work together collaboratively to ensure that staff in further education colleges have the skills and the opportunities. Part of the money that’s being made available in the forthcoming budget to look at closer collaboration between HE and FE is designed to do just that, and to look at supporting research in FE institutions as well, where that is appropriate. We will be looking as a Government to outline further work in this area when we launch the Government’s response to the Hazelkorn report, which we hope to do in the new year.

With regard to who this will be available to, I’m afraid to say, David, it will be available to new entrants on that particular date. If we suddenly say to part of the cohort halfway through the course, ‘You can have a different regime’, it would just be absolutely impossible to manage. We’re trying to signal now, very clearly, cohort protection for those who are already in the system, including those who are applying to university this year, and to offer real clarity so that when people do apply for courses, they know under which system they will be treated. It is a challenge enough to create a system within the Student Loans Company to introduce this new regime. If we start asking them to have retrospectively different systems, allowing individuals to opt for different options, we would end up in great difficulty. And we don’t want to cause any more difficulty than we need to the Student Loans Company that sometimes, as we have only recently seen, finds it difficult to cope with different systems in different parts of the country.

Can I absolutely say that the quality of research in our HE institutions is absolutely key? It will become much more challenging as a result of Brexit, but part of the work of the HE group that I have set up to look at the impact of Brexit is actively looking at what we can do to protect quality research in our institutions going forward.

Finally, Huw Irranca-Davies.

Diolch, Lywydd. Can I welcome the statement in its entirety? It is a matter of judgment and some anticipation on the fees level, but I accept not only the high principles but the bulk of the substance of Professor Sir Ian Diamond’s recommendations as hugely welcome, and the comment made by my colleague here on my left about bringing this forward in a timely way is also well made. I congratulate her on the amazing serendipity of the timing as well, and her shameless plug of the cross-party group on higher education that is, indeed, tonight meeting with Professor Sir Ian Diamond, and we can discuss this further.

This is an issue of having fairness and sustainability at the heart of our higher education system for students, for the taxpayer and also the fairness and resilience of our higher education sector. But on that matter of fairness, perhaps I could ask her for her thoughts on how the Student Loans Company itself sits alongside that, and whether she does share any of my concerns over the direction of travel with the Student Loans Company? Only this week, an amendment was put forward to the Higher Education and Research Bill to try and stop the fine tuning that was done in the budget last year by Chancellor George Osborne, which will lead to repayments by higher education students across the land being something to the tune of £360 per person, on average, more expensive when they start repaying their loan. This was not what was promised to them, and there is a fear with the Student Loans Company and with the Chancellor that unless these matters are fixed, and unless the promises are delivered to our students and they can trust in the Student Loans Company, that undermines the perception of trust, fairness and integrity.

So, this set of proposals today is good, solid and is well worked, and I will look forward to, on Valentine’s Day, putting my submission in as well. It will make up for the Valentine’s Day I spent with my wife the first time I was elected for Ogmore in 2002. But does she share those concerns about the Student Loans Company, and does she hope that today, in this budget statement, the current—[Interruption.] No, she was with me. [Laughter.] My wife was with me. Does she hope that in today’s budget announcement that decision is overturned and fairness is delivered for those students?

I think sometimes, Presiding Officer, we all give the Chamber a bit too much information. [Laughter.] Or, as my teenaged daughter would refer to it: ‘TMI, mum, TMI’.

Can I thank the Member for his comments and say how glad I am that the all-party group exists? I think we do need to have those opportunities for Members, our institutions and those interested in this very important area for a forum where we can get together and discuss these important issues. So, I’m grateful for the initiative that he’s shown in setting up the group, and I’m sure Professor Diamond will have plenty to say to everybody this evening.

I am aware of the controversy in England about the UK Government’s decision to freeze repayments for a five-year period. The Welsh Government did not make a future commitment on the level of its repayment thresholds for students taking out loans since 2012. Whilst the Welsh Government is able to set its own repayment thresholds, we would need to work through the practical and financial implications of decoupling what is currently an England and Wales repayment collection system. That would be extremely complex and difficult to accomplish in a short time frame. However, I would be delighted if the Government in Westminster decided that it would like to increase the repayment threshold to fulfil its prior commitments and we would be happy to amend our thresholds accordingly.

With regard to the Student Loans Company, this has been an issue of huge importance for me since I took office. There have been problems previously with the relationship between the Welsh Government and the Student Loans Company, which has restricted the ability for Welsh Government to move in the policy directions that it would like to. That is tantamount to Welsh students being discriminated against, which is not acceptable to me. I must say that I have met, spoken to and written to the Student Loans Company on a number of occasions. In fact, I’ve a senior official at the SLC today, working on plans for the implementation of this particular scheme, and I am confident that we will be able to deliver it. But these are things that I am keeping a very close eye on and will continue to reflect on to ensure that Welsh students are getting the best deal that they can.

Thank you very much to the Cabinet Secretary.