This ‘Prosperity for All’ strategy represents another attempt to relaunch this tired, directionless and not-successful Labour Government in Wales. The fact is that, although the aims of this document are laudable, it is sadly lacking in details. Without the details on matters of delivery and measurement of outcomes, these commitments are simply ambitions. Welsh Labour has been in power in this place for over 18 years, and Labour has let west Wales down all the way since then.

Nowhere has there been more abject failure than in the education system in this country. After 18 years in office, successive generations have been let down by the Welsh Government’s complacency on education. Our children deserve a first-class education system here, but the PISA rankings show that Welsh Labour has relegated Wales to the bottom half of the global education league table. Wales has the worst performing school system in the United Kingdom. This year’s GCSE A to C pass rate was the lowest since 2006. The Future Generations Commissioner for Wales said recently that nearly 45 per cent of school leavers in Wales will not have five good GCSEs between 2015 and 2020. It’s not me; it’s the commissioner for future generations.

We face a crisis in teachers’ training and their retention. Thirty-eight per cent of secondary school teacher training places remain unfilled. A significant number of teachers who are already actively teaching are considering leaving the profession. Deputy Presiding Officer, Wales desperately needs a strategy to bring new teachers to the country and to retain those whom we already have. On higher education, Wales has seen declining participation in part-time learning at higher education institutions. Between 2009 and 2014, student numbers dropped by 11 per cent in Wales. This decline has been aggravated by sustained Welsh Government cuts to higher education budgets. Allocated public funding for Welsh universities has been cut by nearly £36 million since 2015-16. Further education has fared no better. The Wales Audit Office has highlighted the fact that the grant funding in this sector has reduced by 13 per cent in real terms between 2011-12 and 2016-17.

Deputy Presiding Officer, we need more clarity on how the Welsh Government will address the skills gap in Wales. According to the CBI, 61 per cent of Welsh businesses fear they will not be able to recruit enough high-skilled workers to meet demand and to grow in Wales. Despite increases in employment levels, economic activity rates in Wales continue to illustrate the extent of the low-skilled workforce and poor educational attainment. The Welsh Government pledges to deliver 100,000 all-age apprenticeships and to use them to raise the overall level of skills in the workplace. But, they have not provided a framework within which they will deliver this pledge, or how they intend to do so.

Adult community learning can play a key role in improving the quality of life of Welsh citizens. However, provision has contracted across Wales, and in some areas severely eroded. The Welsh Government community learning grant, used as direct ACL grant funding, has fallen. Adult community learning can play a key role in improving the quality of life of Welsh citizens if properly supported.

Deputy Presiding Officer, the lack of measureable outcomes in this document undermines the likelihood of these objectives being achieved. Unless the Welsh Government addresses these issues, it will suffer the same fate as it has on Objective 1 funding and Communities First areas. It will fail to deliver, and I’m sure they’ll reconsider again to make more improvements in this whole scenario. Thank you.