Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:57 pm on 17 October 2017.
Thank you, and that’s why I chose the word ‘supporting’. Three weeks ago, I raised concern with you expressed by the four police and crime commissioners and four chief constables in Wales that their inability to access the £2 million paid to the apprenticeship levy could result in fewer police officers, and potential recruits choosing to sign up for English forces instead. In your response, you confirmed, of course, that you’d received a share of the apprenticeship levy in Welsh Government, but
‘cannot, in good faith, pay towards apprenticeship schemes that sit in non-devolved areas’.
In reality, in the 2017-18 Welsh Government budget, you said you would give £0.5 million to police and crime commissioners to ensure that they are not disadvantaged as a result of the apprenticeship levy. You actually received £128 million, which covers the £90 million removed from the Barnett block, it covers the £30 million paid into the levy by Welsh public sector employers, and left an £8 million top-up above that level. What engagement are you therefore having as a Government with the police and crime commissioners and chief constables over this very serious matter to ensure that you give the maximum support you can, where you’re able to, in this area?