Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:23 pm on 18 October 2017.
Well, I thought I’d spelled that out, but just to repeat myself, because you clearly weren’t listening: the education maintenance allowance does not achieve its stated aims. The education maintenance allowance was scrapped in England and they have lower levels of those not in education, employment or training—in fact, record low levels of NEETs—in England, whereas Wales’s rate is much higher, proportionally, of 16 to 18-year-olds. As I said, I think using that money—it’s also very divisive. Using that money and giving 360,000 young people the opportunity to benefit, rather than 26,000, is a much better use of taxpayers’ money, and that’s why I hope, Cabinet Secretary, that you’ll take forward our proposals.