10. Plaid Cymru debate: Young people and communities in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:39 pm on 14 March 2018.

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Photo of Mr Simon Thomas Mr Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru 4:39, 14 March 2018

However, it does need to be said that this trend is not limited to the western part of the country, or even to Welsh language communities, though it is most pronounced and obvious in those communities. If we take Cardiff, for example, there has been a 12 per cent net inflow of young people into Cardiff, whereas, as I've said, in Ceredigion, we've seen an almost 20 per cent outflow. Something is driving this, and it isn't just economics. It's also culture and it's also education. These all need to be tackled if we are to strengthen our communities and the role of young people in our communities.

So, we do need an all-Wales approach, and in this debate I will set out—or, more specifically, some of my colleagues will set out—some specific ideas within the concept of 'Arfor' and the concept of some of the other policies we have to reverse this worrying trend. Some of those might include better support for business start-ups, because, clearly, young people who may be leaving their communities are entrepreneurial in their own attitudes. They're leaving something that's quite safe and familiar to them, going elsewhere, and that sort of spirit can be matched and used within their own communities, perhaps in the field of digital or transport infrastructure—something that gives them the opportunity to remain at least within somewhere around their locality but to use their entrepreneurial or their cultural interest in wider opportunities. 

The second element of this is to either enhance or relocate some national institutions to areas of Wales that require greater job opportunities—Siân Gwenllian has fought very hard to retain Welsh Government jobs in Caernarfon, for example—this is part of why we do this; a new regional approach to retain young people in areas under particular pressure as regards outward migration, that's the 'Arfor' concept, which we negotiated some resources for, which I think have been increased, actually, as the local authorities in those areas have seen the possibility of working together along the western seaboard to better enhance their communities; and, specifically, to respond positively to the Diamond review's recommendation to incentivise students who study away to return to Wales after graduation. 

Clearly, the farming community and rural communities are also an important part of this, Llywydd. We recently secured £6 million as part of our budget agreement with the Welsh Government for a young farmers grant scheme, which I'm pleased to see has now been announced by the Welsh Government, and publicity is starting to flow out. But we need to build on that, for example to get hold of the lack of banking facilities in many rural communities, to enhance people's ability to gain bank loans to enable them to take part in schemes like this, and to attract new entrants to a vital industry, where just 3 per cent of farmers are aged under 35.

We also will be looking at health and education in these reports, and I don't want to repeat what might be in the speeches of Rhun ap Iorwerth and Llyr Gruffydd, but we know from our research that here in Wales we have the lowest percentage of home-grown graduates who have been trained in medical skills. We also know that we are, in effect, funding an outmigration of our best students out of Wales with our own public policy money. There are good reasons for that, but there are good reasons as well to go back to the Diamond review and the central feature of Plaid Cymru's manifesto, which is about attracting graduates back to Wales and seeing those skills that they have had invested in them by investment from Welsh Government money back in the Welsh economy, back through developing our own ideas. 

I very much look forward to this debate because I hope it will be a debate that will be taken in the spirit in which it's meant, which is that we have an ongoing crisis about youth opportunities, in effect, in many parts of Wales and we need to address that. I will address the amendments when we come to the end of the debate. I will respect people's opinions, and to explain those amendments to us in one or two cases, but, certainly, we hope to be able to give this Assembly, over the next hour or so, some positive ideas for how we go and help tackle the outward migration of young people, but more importantly give opportunities for our young people in their own communities.