Further education colleges are an essential part of our education system. They provide a range of lifelong learning opportunities, from vocational and technical education and basic skills to academic and higher level qualifications. Given that developing the skills base of the Welsh workforce is crucial for growing the Welsh economy, you would think that adequately funding further education would be a key priority for the Welsh Government.

But this is not the case. Under the Welsh Government, or the Welsh Labour Government, the further education sector has been chronically underfunded for many years. The budget for further education provision will be reduced from just under £401 million in 2018 to less than £396 million in 2019-20. The audit office states that grant funding in the sector has fallen by 13 per cent in real terms between 2012 and 2017—within five years, Minister, it has reduced by 13 per cent, a staggering figure.

Funding for part-time courses has dropped by 71 per cent over the same period. The effect on part-time student numbers has been dramatic. The number of part-time learners at further education institutions fell from over 85,280 in 2014-15 to just over 65,345 in 2015-16—this is a decline in numbers of nearly a quarter.

In response to the Welsh Government's underfunding, colleges have tried various ways to generate income from other sources, and they have won praise for doing so. The Wales Audit Office review of 2017 praised colleges on how resilient and entrepreneurial they have been in bringing in their own commercial income. They said,

'The sector has shown resilience, maintaining cash reserves and liquidity and generating underlying surpluses...each year.'

I fully support colleges increasing and developing their commercial income, and congratulate them for their success in doing so. However, the fact remains that the Welsh Government grant is the majority source of reliable income for colleges. That source, at present, does not meet the needs of the sector. The Welsh Government's own national strategy states its aim to

'Instil in everyone a passion to learn throughout their lives, inspiring them with the ambition to be the best they possibly can be.'

It is clear that, as far as further education is concerned, it is the Welsh Government itself that lacks ambition. Wales needs a fair further education funding formula, the current budget offers little support for ongoing development in further education. We need a formula that avoids further core funding cuts to colleges and meets the needs of the sector, both now and in the future—one in line with the Welsh Government's own key priorities of jobs, skills, high-level growth and lifelong and adult learning. This, I believe, would go a long way to improving the morale of the staff working in further education institutions.

I was contacted recently by a constituent who works in the sector. He points out that many of his colleagues earn less in real terms than they did in 2008—over 10 years ago, his income was more than what he's earning now. Some have had to take second jobs to support their families, and others have left the sector totally for more lucrative employment in other fields. That is the experience of lecturers, tutors and teachers; they are leaving the sector because of financial reasons. That is totally unacceptable. As a result, my constituent says there was a severe shortage of applicants for positions requiring specialist skills, such as construction and engineering lecturers in Wales. 

Deputy Presiding Officer, we can call all support the laudable aims of the Welsh Government with regard to further education, but unless the sector is properly funded, their aims will not be achieved. Unless further education in Wales receives the funding it needs and deserves, it will not be the catalyst for change that we desperately need. 

Another area that I would like to mention, Minister—.