What is the Welsh Government’s assessment of the effect of possible redundancies at Aberystwyth University? TAQ(5)0130(EDU)[W]

Diolch, Llyr. Universities in Wales are autonomous bodies. As such, responsibility for staffing matters rests solely with Aberystwyth University. The Welsh Government has no locus in this matter. But, of course, I understand that the university is in discussions with members of staff and the trade unions about proposals for a review of its staffing structures.

Well, thank you for that response. The university, of course, has referred to the competition for students, with a reduction of 8 per cent in the applications to study in Wales, and with Brexit and other factors influencing the situation that they find themselves in. But the important point for me here is that we don’t have a single case here, but we’ve heard over the past few weeks, the University of South Wales talking about staffing reductions from 4.6 per cent, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David talking about cuts of some 10 per cent, and they too referred to many of the same factors. Now, Unison representatives have said that the Government has to consider a package of measures to intervene in this situation in order to protect front-line workers’ jobs. Can I ask whether the Cabinet Secretary for Education therefore admits that we do have a crisis in the HE sector in terms of funding and staffing, and, although the Diamond reforms are ongoing, that the Government needs to intervene as a matter of urgency before the situation deteriorates further?

Thank you, Llyr. As I’ve said, all universities, including Aberystwyth and the other institutions that you have mentioned, are autonomous bodies and, therefore, we do not have, as I have said previous, locus in this area. I am aware that the higher education sector in Wales is facing a number of challenges, not least in some institutions a failure to meet their recruitment targets for students. And, of course, you mentioned Brexit, which is posing a significant challenge to the HE sector. As a Government, we moved very quickly to try and reassure international students, both from within the European Union and out of the European Union, that they are very welcome to study here in Wales. We continue to make swift decisions about the availability of financial packages for European students to be able to study here in Wales.

I have set up a working group that looks specifically at what we can do to support the HE sector as we move through Brexit negotiations, and the HE sector is also represented on the First Minister’s group. I continue to make representations to the previous Westminster Government about a range of measures it could take to assist us in this area. It is a disgrace that neither Wales nor Scotland’s administrations were consulted with regard to the issue of a pilot post-study work visa scheme. We would have benefited from that in Wales, as would colleagues in Scotland. I would be very keen for the UK Government to look again at that issue. It’s also very clear to me that we need to exclude foreign students as part of the Government’s continued obsession with immigration figures. We have a higher education sector here in Wales that is strong enough and good enough to sell to the world. It is a beacon of excellence and we need an immigration regime developed by the UK Government that does not make it harder for international students to avail themselves of the opportunities that we have in our universities and colleges here in Wales. I understand that the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, as the sponsoring and funding body for higher education, continues to be in close touch with Aberystwyth University and, indeed, all our universities.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I thank Llyr for raising this under topical questions. Part of the issue around this was discussed at our cross-party group on universities back on 1 February and that’s what I want to focus on for the moment, because the Cabinet Secretary is right that we do have a world-class offer here but something is going wrong, and I just want to touch on this briefly.

We know that, in Wales, our education exports to international students is worth around £530 million, which is 4 per cent of Welsh exports in their entirety. Our international students currently—currently—are supporting over 7,500 jobs at Welsh universities, and also around Wales, not just in the universities themselves. But we have had a drop of 26 per cent in non-EU students at Welsh universities since the 2013-14 intake, and this is compared to a 4 per cent decrease in the UK overall and the Russell Group and Scotland universities. So, we have a particular issue, and this is despite a world-class offer in Welsh universities and despite the fact that the cost of living and tuition fees here in Wales is much more affordable. But we do know, and the Cabinet Secretary is right, that international studies now are showing that the UK is now regarded as the least affordable place to study for undergraduates and graduates when compared to New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA. We’ve got to do a lot more in marketing. So, can I ask the Cabinet Secretary: what can we do to market the Welsh university sector better, to have a more welcoming immigration and visa policy offer, and to boost the recruitment of international students? It’s not the sole way we turn this round, but it’s an important way that we meet those challenges, turn this round and boost our number of international students.

Thank you, Huw. As you say, it’s not the only issue that we need to consider, but it is an important one. Just prior to Christmas, I hosted a quadrilateral meeting of UK Ministers who have responsibility in this area, and I repeated all the points I’ve just made to Llyr Gruffydd to Jo Johnson, the then Minister with responsibility for higher education. Who knows whether he will retain that position after the elections in June? I believe that Jo Johnson understands exactly the kind of immigration system that the UK Government needs to be put in place to support the higher education sector, both in Wales and beyond Wales. Unfortunately, he is battling with a Home Office that doesn’t share that understanding and share that ambition. But you’re right—we cannot simply wring our hands and blame it on other people; we must get up off our knees and do what we can to support the sector ourselves. That’s why I’m very keen to discuss with my Cabinet colleague, the Minister for the economy, for instance, when his department are on trade missions across the world, that education should be a part of that. As you quite rightly said, we have a strong offer here in many areas, but we shouldn’t just be talking to foreign countries about our manufacturing offer or, indeed, our airport, but we should also be talking to them about our strong HE base that we have here, and I’m sure that we can make progress on this area.

Of course, the Cabinet Secretary is right—she is not responsible for staffing matters. However, she is primarily responsible for the fiscal framework in which Welsh universities operate. Her party was responsible for trebling tuition fees five years ago. That had a real effect in Aberystwyth University; significantly fewer English students now attend Aberystwyth University, not because the university has got any worse, but because the English universities and the trebling of tuition fees are now chasing themselves for students, particularly the ones from more deprived backgrounds, and there are attractive incentives for them to study in England with the money in the English education system. She has a proposal, of course, in the Diamond review to try and, I hope, repatriate some of the money that we currently send over our border back into the university system, but that would not come on stream for at least two years, and even in full in about five years, and Aberystwyth University are proposing cuts over the next two years. It’s this actual gap between where we are today and where we could be under Diamond that is the problem for a university like Aberystwyth and the other universities that have announced similar cuts over the last few weeks.

She complains about the visas and she’s right to complain about them. We’ve all complained about them, but, again, her party in Government for five years—Vince Cable and Clegg—did not change the visa regime in those five years. So, I think there’s a lot of hand wringing going on here this afternoon, but there’s a real university facing real problems and over 100 people facing possible redundancies. What’s needed from the Welsh Government is a clear signal of sustainability going forward. We have Diamond coming on stream, but it’s not in effect yet. What are you going to do over the next two years to ensure there’s sustainability in the HE sector in Wales, and specifically whether there’s support for Aberystwyth University to ensure it does not slip down the rankings or does not lose its ability to compete in the HE market?

Could I inform the Member that the latest forecasts show that, in 2015-16, £50 million more funding came into the Welsh HE system that went in tuition fee grants to institutions outside of Wales? Now, our Diamond reforms will help secure the future stability and the sustainability of the sector here in Wales, and my remit letter to HEFCW confirmed that I fully expect future financial settlements for HEFCW to increase in each financial year for the lifetime of this Government. I’m surprised that Simon Thomas has taken this very serious situation for the people working in Aberystwyth and to turn it into political points scoring. I would remind the Member that there are people’s livelihoods at risk here, which is very serious, and, if we are to make it political, I would remind the Member that he on many occasions sits there in his seat and urges the Welsh Government to disinvest in HE and invest in FE itself. I have never heard this Member ask in his budget negotiations for more money for the HE sector.