Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 21 November 2018.
This, again, is something else that I discussed with the German representative. We talked about how they managed to convince German companies that it was in their interest to invest in their own employees. I think we've had, over the years, quite a lot of European funding, and many employers in Wales have come to depend on European funding to upskill their workers. I think we need to probably start to get them to understand that they also have to put their hand in their own pocket to upskill their own workers and that it's in their interest to upskill their workers, as their productivity will increase and their profitability will increase as a result. That is very different from the culture that exists in Germany, where there's an understanding that they make a contribution. So, we're working towards that change.
On the relationship and making sure that the courses that we provide are relevant, you will know that we're really trying to push this issue in relation to regional skills partnerships. We've put that additional funding on the table, which further education colleges can't touch unless they're responding to the skills needs of local employers.