May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her opening remarks, much of which I would agree with, particularly from the point of view of the TEF? I welcome that clear message about your direction of travel on that issue. Indeed, there is much in the LCM that, certainly, I wouldn’t oppose. But there is an increasingly important question arising for me in terms of the possible impact for research in Wales, as a result of the proposed Bill in Westminster. We know how important funding sources from the research councils are for education institutions in Wales. We know about the BBSRC, which significantly funds our IBERS, we know of NERC in Bangor, and there are other examples across Wales. In this interim period, I’ve become more and more aware that any developments that could put those funding sources at risk are ones that we as an Assembly should guard against.

We must pose the question, in looking at the Bill: where will Wales’s voice be in this proposed UKRI? There is no certainty at all that Wales will have any considerable input into that body. Indeed, if we look at one of the amendments that was passed to the Bill in Westminster, it mentions that Westminster Ministers should consider whether it would be desirable for one of the devolved nations to have representation. That is, ‘have regard to the desirability of’—that was the wording used. Well, surely we should insist that each of the devolved nations should have a voice on UKRI? Indeed, the Bill states that there has to be a student representative in some of those contexts, so why not give the same status to the Welsh voice in this process?

Plaid Cymru, like many others to be fair, has consistently over the years highlighted the fact that Wales is underfunded in terms of research. There is a risk now, I think, that that unacceptable situation could get even worse.

The Bill provides powers to Welsh Ministers to provide support for research, including grants and so on. And I would just ask myself: what’s the intention here then? Because at the moment, the Welsh Government does fund, through HEFCW, much of this research, or at least it’s part of the dual support mechanism, this core funding that provides the infrastructure for universities to compete for much of the funding from the research councils and others.

That mechanism is one that provides a great flexibility for the HE sector when it comes to research. Indeed, Sir Ian Diamond highlighted much of this in the work that he undertook most recently. But there is a risk now that we could see a situation where Ministers in Westminster would say, ‘Well, if you’re not happy, then Welsh Ministers can directly fund research.’ That is a risk I think that we shouldn’t leave ourselves open to. So, I do feel that there should be an element of ring-fencing here. I’m sure that many would agree with that from the point of view of research in Wales. But, certainly, I do think that Wales should have a stronger voice than what’s currently proposed in the Bill. You referred to evidence from other organisations as part of this process. Universities Wales is one body that’s expressed concerns about this. HEFCW too has expressed concern about where this could lead.

So, there’s a great deal, as I said, that I wouldn’t oppose, but unfortunately we can’t amend or propose amendments to an LCM in any way. So, we, as a party, will be voting against the LCM this afternoon.