We now move on to item 5 on our agenda, which is a Member debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv), on further education funding. I call on Bethan Sayed to move the motion. Bethan.

Motion NDM6862 Bethan Sayed, Mohammad Asghar, Helen Mary Jones, Siân Gwenllian, Suzy Davies

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

1. Regrets that funding for further education has been under significant pressure in recent years as a result of funding cuts.

2. Notes that the further education sector has been placed under extra demand, in part due to the Welsh Government’s policies relating to lifelong learning, skills and employability, which have been clarified in the recent employability plan updated by written statement in September 2018.

3. Expresses concern that staff in further education institutions are considering strike action over insufficient pay and concerns over heavy workloads.

4. Proposes that there be no further reduction in the amount of funding received by the further education sector and that its position as key to productivity, skills, training and employability in the Welsh economy be recognised.

Motion moved.

Thank you. I brought this debate today, co-signed by some of my colleagues here—and thank you for doing that—because further education in Wales has been under pressure and has not been given the level of recognition and central position of importance that it deserves. We believe that further and lifelong education is the key to unlock the potential in the Welsh economy. For too long, further education has been looked down on as a lesser option to success than higher education. Government approaches to FE have confirmed this, because the levels of funding and the strategic, joined-up and forward-thinking vision in this sector have been lacking—not only recently, but for some time. It's time that that was reversed. We know that, during the last Assembly term and this one, further education has been a target for cuts. I know that the Welsh Government points to the UK Government cuts, which, yes, have been difficult, and that has been a political choice, but a choice has been made here too, a political choice by this Welsh Government. Further education has long been viewed as the less prestigious and more junior partner to higher. It's been, in some ways, an easier target than other sectors for spending constraints. Since 2011-12, there has been a serious real-term reduction in spending, not to mention staggering cuts to part-time courses, mostly taken up by adult students and those in work. 

Despite these financial constraints, the rising demand for further education and lifelong learning opportunities has been noticeable, as it should be. It's part of the Welsh Government's strategy to upskill our economy, and to do so, they indicate to us, to equip our citizens with the skills they'll need to be successful in a modern economy. Yet, the truth is the funding and vision have not been forthcoming. I mention vision for a very specific reason. It's clear that over recent years there hasn't been the strategic leadership and road map for what the Welsh Government actually wants to achieve. We have soundbites and we have statements, but we are still waiting for something long term and tangible that delivers strategy to embed colleges and further education into the heart of economic planning and policy. At present, this simply is not the case and this is what the sector wants and needs. 

Sometimes, the only remedy is more money, but on other occasions and in some sectors what is also needed and often not provided is clarity of purpose, clarity of direction, and leadership. In so many areas of public life, the Welsh Government has singularly failed to do this. I think we can sum up our approach to further education in Wales as being stuck in a catch-22 situation. We need the economy to be better and more productive with higher wages and skills. How do we do that? By focusing on lifelong learning and upskilling and high-quality vocational education. How do we get there? The last part is left open, because, as yet, I don't believe the Welsh Government has decided, nor is it clear in its mind what it wants, despite myriad reviews and evidence on which road map is the way forward. 

So, our motion today aims to reflect the importance that we believe this Parliament and the Government should place on further education. Firstly, there has been a substantial cut to the amount further education receives. Ultimately, the Labour Party is in Government here in Wales, this is a devolved field, and it has to take some form of responsibility for those political decisions it has taken. Of course, money is tight, but there are ways of finding extra money. In 2016, we as a party were the only party to have a five-year budget plan independently assessed by Professor Gerry Holtham, who determined that Plaid Cymru's plan to identify over £600 million of savings per year in the Welsh budget was reasonable. We were able to put forward these plans because we were ambitious about reforming our Government.

So, there are always choices to be made. We made a choice with the Welsh Government in recent budget agreements to find extra money for FE. The Government requested that the college sector became less financially reliant on the Welsh Government, and that is something that they were able to achieve, going from a financial reliance of around two thirds from the block grant to just over half. There are decisions and actions that can be taken. 

The college sector has demonstrated this by becoming more financially efficient, but the flexibility is not being stretched to the limit. The problem is compounded by the complicated funding formula—which now, as Plaid shadow Minister, I'm getting to grips with—and the disparate and myriad pots of money, funding streams and programmes that run through the sector. Some people in the sector have told me that, compared to what is now a far simpler formula for HE, the FE sector is in need of a long-term overhaul. 

Whilst Government funding has been cut, the FE sector has been asked to deliver a wider range of services and to be more central in delivering on upskilling and productivity. We welcome this, FE colleges are well placed to do this. But, the question remains: how much can be feasibly and effectively delivered when factoring in increased demand and fewer resources? Many of the actions from the Welsh Government's employability plan will fall upon the FE sector. As stated in the plan, 

'Achieving the objectives within this Plan will require a co-ordinated and focused effort across the employability network. This requires partnership between Welsh Government, UK Government...Local Authorities, Universities, Further Education colleges' and so on. 

'This effort will need to embrace flexibility and innovation whilst retaining a relentless focus on improvement and results.'

It's notable that every area of Wales is below the UK average in terms of productivity, but the UK average in itself is below many other advanced economies'. But how will the demand placed upon the sector as a result of the employability plan be met when the resources are simply not there?

I note today that £8 million has been committed by the Welsh Government to ensure some pay parity between FE lecturers and teachers. A strong FE sector needs the best talent available to teach and that must come with a salary that's reflective of their importance. It is interesting, in fact, that the details of this announcement have been made today in time for this debate. Coincidental or not, it is to be welcomed. I think it's also worth pointing out here that the further education joint trade union in Wales has said in the past that any increase has to be above the retail price index and that the Welsh Government recognises 10 years of pay restraint. I hope that's what's being announced today and that that will be able to cover those concerns. But we also need to understand that part of the complaint that led to a vote for strike action was not only about raw numbers but also about a workload that has risen, is rising and set to rise further, with pay and resources not being reflective of that. 

Our final point urges what I think all of us in this Chamber, regardless of party, recognise: that FE has not been given the prominence in policy making it requires and deserves and that this country needs if we're going to have an economy that succeeds. The frustrating thing for many of us is that I think the Welsh Government knows this. I believe the Minister was right on the money when, as part of her campaign to be Labour leader in Wales, she said that upskilling and the wider skills agenda have to be a focus of the Welsh Government. I don't believe that it is currently, and I don't think that she thinks that it is currently, judging by her comments to the BBC. I think that this statement yesterday regarding further education funding also proves this. Another missed opportunity, another piecemeal bit of reform.

The Welsh Government's own employability plan shows they're aware of the scale of the challenge, because it says, and I quote, 

'The Governor of the Bank of England has calculated that more than 15 million jobs in the UK are at risk as a result of automation, this translates to around 700,000 jobs in Wales over the next two decades. The Centre of Cities think tank suggests that we will need to replace 110,000 jobs in Wales by 2030 as a result of automation.' 

When we look at the reviews that have taken place in recent years into financing, the Hazelkorn review into the long-term funding future, reports on innovation, we see a road map that has been laid out reasonably well for the Welsh Government. What is lacking is the strategic initiative to gather these separate pieces together and make them whole. And we cannot continue to wait any longer. Other countries are recognising the importance of FE and lifelong learning and have structures in place that place the sector at the forefront of their economic strategies. It's noticeable, for example, in the Basque Country; it's one of the highest per-capita regions of Europe, but it got there because of the importance it placed on education. It has focused investment on innovation and research and skills in the round, with skills plans—its fourth skills plan, which ties the education system together as one with planning, guidance and funding running through from pupils aged 14 onwards. 

In Wales, as I noted earlier—. And yesterday, we've had announcements around the FE sector being more engaged with regional skills partnerships, which the Welsh Government seemed to acknowledge were not up to the task of playing the central role they need because of the fact that they announced that they needed to have an independent adviser to be appointed to help with the way forward. The contrast is truly striking. The education Secretary has said that she hopes that a major overhaul of further education can take place before the end of this Assembly term. I don't hope that it can be realised, I think it must be realised. This is necessary to plan strategically for the way forward. 

Now, as I said, we are in a catch-22 situation in the Welsh economy. At some point, we're going to need to make a decision on how we make real economic progress, because our citizens are not going to put up with another two decades of managed decline. I've said in this Chamber in the past that, at the outset of devolution, our gross domestic product was comparable to that of the Republic of Ireland; now, we're not even in that country's rearview mirror any more. 

There is such a thing as damaging through doing nothing. I think what we would like to see is a commitment to bring in the strategic vision the sector wants and needs; to protect funding and prioritise for real-terms increases; to plan education and skills so that they're intertwined with our economic needs; to increase investment in innovation; and to decide where we want to go as a nation—what is our unique selling point, where do we want to invest our skills for the future and what do we want to achieve? How can we make our businesses more commercially viable, create more entrepreneurs and keep the people and their ideas here in Wales, promoting Wales and working in Wales? We are willing to work with the Welsh Government, but they now need to step up to the plate and deliver in this sector.

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—. 

No, no. You need to wind up. You're running out of time. Thank you. 

Afro-Caribbean, disabled people, LGBT and others also need to be put into further education. And poverty, finally, should not be a barrier to education. Thank you. 

Welsh further education colleges are critical players in the economy of Wales. As ColegauCymru have reminded us, their annual economic impact on the local business community is no less than £4 billion. And in addition to this contribution, they undoubtedly have a crucial strategic role to play in futureproofing the economy in Wales.

In 'Prosperity for All', the Welsh Government sets out how it will build an economy based on strong foundations, focusing on the industries of the future and empowered regions, and how inclusive growth will be used to narrow ingrained inequalities as our wealth and well-being improves. But, as the Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning reminded us just yesterday, for the Welsh Government to build an economy that works for everyone, the FE sector must be at the heart of this agenda. And it's easy to see that in terms of a whole range of challenges Wales faces, the FE sector provides the answers and solutions.

For example, around a month ago we debated the economy committee’s report on the future of the Welsh economy. During this inquiry, we took evidence that low-skilled workers, and women in particular, are likely to be at risk from automation and artificial intelligence. In consequence, we recommended that retraining and upskilling should be at the heart of the Government’s lifelong learning policy.

This is an area where the FE sector is well placed to make that central contribution and, moreover, one where it can help shape what the nature of that future should be. As Professor Richard Davies suggested, we need to develop a triangular system of exchange between FE, employers and HE. This could involve the sector having to make some difficult decisions. They may not be popular ones. For example, colleges may have to decide to focus on the ICT skills that we desperately need for the future, and the expansion of areas of teaching like Coleg y Cymoedd's really exciting work around sustainable construction. These could be at the expense of other popular teaching areas, but in choosing which courses to focus upon and prioritise, we really must bear in mind the best interests of the economy and of our country. So, I welcome the Minister’s comments yesterday that her officials have been working to better align provision with regional skills partnerships. This is key to clear employment progression, escaping low-paid work and ensuring that provision meets the needs of local employers.

Adult community learning is another area where the FE sector has an important part to play. Much good work is already taking place, but I would like to see more partnership working with adult community education, more outreach to the most challenging communities, and more liaising at the coal face to ensure the hardest to reach are brought into the learning environment. I know that the Minister spoke about changes in terms of part-time provision, which may be especially important here.

Of course, achieving these goals relies on FE being properly funded. In the new twenty-first century Coleg y Cymoedd campus in Aberdare, there is a very visible symbol of the Welsh Government’s commitment to this. The Minister referred yesterday to additional money being made available to the sector. Of course, none of this can be delivered without a supportive workforce who, in turn, feel supported and valued. From this perspective, I welcome the announcement from the Welsh Government yesterday on pay. It's an important step forward and welcome news that funding will be provided so that FE lecturers will receive a pay award equivalent to school teachers. Importantly, this will also be extended to those crucial supporting staff, like technicians and instructor demonstrators too. This is a crucial intervention, I think, from Welsh Government. Along with my colleagues Mick Antoniw and Hefin David, I have been in discussions with University and College Union members at Coleg y Cymoedd and I would hope this action would go some way to showing staff involved just how much they are valued; how respected their work and contribution is.

Of course, we cannot undo the impact on the sector of the austerity obsession of the UK Government. Wales is effectively £4 billion worse off as a result of the UK Government's austerity agenda and there's no doubt that funding for FE has suffered as a result. But we can work together with the sector to achieve our shared goals, and we can only achieve prosperity for all if we continue investing in FE.

It’s a pleasure to take part in this very important debate that gives us a platform to be able to discuss the funding of FE here in Wales. I congratulate Bethan on bringing the motion before us and also for all her work in the background to realise what we are seeing in the motion that we see before us.

Before I go on, it’s important to pay tribute, as others have done, to the great work that’s being done in this area in our different FEIs. I was in Gower College last week, in Tycoch in Swansea, and I was there about two months ago as well. I have to say, there is excellent work going on there, particularly in Gower College, because they have a centre there that teaches those with autism. It is a wonderful resource, and an innovative resource that provides enough quiet time for our young people with autism to be able to have an education—sometimes for the first time. Coming into the education system for the first time in an environment that is very attractive to them with the condition that they have in the background and all the problems that they have suffered, and there’s a wonderful resource with wonderful staff who provide the time and due regard for the challenges that our young people do face who have the condition. There are forecasts that this wonderful work that’s going in Gower College is flourishing and the place is expanding the provision for that, and that’s very important.

In terms of skills, we are talking about strengthening and giving a genuine future to our young people, whatever their background and whatever their challenges in terms of health. So, there is wonderful work going on and we need to draw attention to that, despite the emphasis and the background context of funding and the pressure that there is on funding.

As the first part of the motion says, we regret 

'that funding for further education has been under significant pressure in recent years as a result of funding cuts.'

Well, that’s a matter of fact, of course. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that, and I think that’s a very sensible proposition to put before us, and I don’t think anyone would argue with it. Of course, in another part of our motion we express concern

'that staff in further education institutions are considering strike action over insufficient pay'— as they see it—and concerns, as we’ve heard, about heavy workloads.

In that context, as I’ve mentioned in terms of Gower College, that there is great work going on there, there are people working very hard for the future of our young people. At the end of the day, as Bethan mentioned in setting out the situation in such a clear way this afternoon, we are talking about skills and the skills agenda. And ultimately, we’re talking about jobs for our young people. It’s still a significant challenge for our young people to obtain jobs in the first place, to get their foothold in the market and to get their first job. It’s vital that they have all the support necessary to be able to do that.

And, yes, we do need a clear vision on behalf of the Government as Bethan did already note, because also on the horizon, as we know—. We know that funding for further education comes from many different streams. Of course, there is a significant challenge in terms of the European funding stream now because, of course, as we all know, I would hope, Brexit is facing us and there are significant challenges in terms of funding from any European funding streams that go to our further education institutions. There is a significant challenge there. We're looking forward, of course, to seeing the commitments made in terms of European funding that goes to the sector, and several other sectors in Wales, which used to come from European funds, to seeing those being realised, and that the same kind of funding will come to our FEIs that they've had previously under European resources in the past.

But, to summarise, I'm very pleased to praise Bethan for her work in bringing this motion before us, and I would encourage all of you to support this motion. Thank you very much.

Can I just say: if only life were as simple as this motion seeks to suggest? If only we could pass motions that then delivered money to fund our many public services, but life never is that easy, unfortunately, because, from what I know, and in spite of what the UK Prime Minister states, it is clear that austerity is not over and it's the shadow that continues to hang over us. The pressures of austerity still fall on our public services, and hard choices have to be made.

But contrary to what the mover of the motion asserted, amongst the choices made by this Welsh Government is the drive to improve our economy and to support the skills development to help achieve that aim. And I'm pleased to see that the further education sector is at the heart of that agenda to build a Welsh economy that can work for everyone. I've seen that agenda being put to work in my own constituency of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, where we have an excellent facility in Merthyr college delivering a range of both academic and vocational opportunities—thousands of people benefiting from the investment in skills programmes, helping to transform life opportunities. It shows the depth and range of the commitment of this Welsh Government to work with the further education sector, assisted in so many ways by the funding from the European Union to ensure that post-16 education is delivering what both learners and employers are looking for.

But, of course, there are still challenges in helping people to make the right choices or choices that don't necessarily fit the stereotype but do draw on the untapped talents that people have. For example, in Merthyr—and I know I've discussed this previously with the Minister—I have to say that it would be good if we could see more women becoming engineers rather than hairdressers or more men becoming carers rather than builders, because we know that making the right choices on skills and learning can open the doors to better employment opportunities and better wages. So, the sector has to strike the right balance between the choice of learners and the needs of local employers, and I therefore welcome the move for the skills partnerships to help decide on both the needs and the opportunities that these provide.

Given the challenge in some of our Valleys communities, I welcome the research that the Minister announced yesterday into a deprivation uplift because I do think that an additional helping hand is sometimes required in order to intervene, break cycles of deprivation and help improve social mobility. Skills and learning are the key to this.

Finally, can I welcome the decision that the Welsh Government has made to provide funding to help with the pay award for teaching and support staff in further education? Hopefully, this will help to avoid the pay dispute from escalating, because I've been concerned with the way in which things have been going around the FE pay negotiations. I've been concerned that FE lecturers would be losing out compared to school sixth-form teachers, and I've been concerned that FE support staff would be losing out compared to both lecturers and teachers in relation to their pay awards. And, as Vikki Howells said, schools and colleges can't operate without support staff and yet it's that group, amongst the lowest paid in the sector, that has been on course for another standstill pay deal and which have become a political football in the colleges' funding battle with Welsh Government. In my discussions with their union, Unison, I know that they are now looking for parity of treatment in pay awards between lecturing and support staff, because further education providers depend on their whole staff team to deliver the best outcomes. But I'm also clear that we don't resolve pay disputes by passing motions in this Senedd; that's a matter for the employers and the trade unions. And given yesterday's announcement, I hope that both sides can now come together to resolve the pay dispute, which has clearly gone on for too long. With the Minister's statement yesterday, I believe the Welsh Government has shown its clear commitment to further education and its importance to our economy, and that should be welcomed by everyone.

I'd like to thank everyone involved in tabling this important debate today. Our further education colleges are an essential link in the education chain and it is vital that we ensure that they're properly funded and adequately resourced. I've had the pleasure to work closely with Gower college in my region, which is a large further education college with over 4,500 full-time and 10,000 part-time learners from across the region. The atmosphere in Gower college is second to none, and pupils are encouraged to be the very best they can be. Some pupils have autism, and the lecturers work extremely hard to give pupils the necessary support they need according to their needs. They have achieved amazing things. 

The college boasts the largest A-level cohort in Wales, with over 1,500 students studying a range of almost 50 different A-level subjects. Gower college, like all further education colleges, play a vital role in educating our young people and providing lifelong learning opportunities for people of all ages. It is, therefore, concerning that funding cuts are threatening this essential role.

Our FE colleges are facing increasing demand from Government, and yet have continued to have their budgets slashed. The FE sector provides a service just as valuable as that provided by our schools, yet unlike schools, their budgets aren’t protected, and it’s the staff who have had to bear the brunt of those cuts. College lecturers are left struggling after years of poor pay increases. FE lecturers play as valuable a role as teachers yet are not being treated the same. Many lecturers have reported being unable to pay their rent or forced to take on second jobs just to make ends meet. Staff at one college regularly reported skipping meals because they couldn’t afford it.

It is little wonder that FE staff have voted to go on strike. This puts the colleges in an impossible situation. Their funding has been cut drastically in recent years: an overall cut of 6 per cent in 2015-16, which also saw part-time funding cut in half. In the past seven years, FE sector funding has increased by virtually nothing, yet their costs, which include pay awards, have increased by over 12.5 per cent. Colleges' contributions to pensions is set to rise by around 40 per cent next year. It is, therefore, essential that the Welsh Government, at the very least, agrees to ColegauCymru’s demand for an immediate increase of 3.5 per cent for the FE sector.

I welcome the Minister’s statement yesterday, which announced that funding will be made available to fund a pay award commensurate with teachers. However, as always, we wait for the detail. I look forward to seeing college lecturers and staff receiving a 3.5 per cent pay rise, but given the Minister's comments about improved methodology for FE funding, I wait to see the detail as the Minister didn't indicate increased funding.

Colleges such as Gower college are invaluable and we cannot afford to lose them. It’s time to reverse the cuts and ensure that colleges and those who staff them are properly funded and fairly treated. I urge Members to support this motion today. Thank you. 

Thank you. Can I call the Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning, Eluned Morgan?

Thank you very much, and thank you to the Member who opened the debate and to everyone who has contributed too. May I make it clear that, like so many of you, I am disappointed that our public services, including FE, have been under substantial pressure over the past few years? I have to highlight, of course, that it's the austerity agenda of the UK Government that's entirely responsible for this, and this has prevented us from going further than we would have liked to have gone in order to maintain and support this important sector. And of course I am highly aware of the figures quoted by Mohammad Asghar earlier.

It’s important that we recognise that the FE sector makes an important contribution to the Welsh economy, and the sector is in a far better state than the FE system over the border. As a result of the cuts, we do have to ensure that we make the most of the funding available and that we provide services across Wales in a fair manner. And this is one of the reasons why we have changed the way we will fund and agree to effective planning programmes, so that we can respond to demographic changes and respond to the needs of our local economy. We have allocated an additional £7 million in the draft budget for 2019-20 to support the FE sector in tackling these demographic changes.

Now, today’s statement mentioned the additional demand that will come about as a result of the employability programme. One of the things that became clear in the employability plan was that we need to increase the number of courses that respond to the demand from employers. As a result, I will be suggesting that the colleges prioritise these over other courses that they provide today, in the way that Dawn Bowden highlighted. But we must ensure that these are independent bodies, although they are substantially funded by the Welsh Government.

I think it's also worth stressing that it's not just the responsibility of the Welsh Government to upskill and to uptrain the workforce. Employers also need to put their hands in their pockets because it's the employers who will ultimately benefit from improved productivity. We need to see the employers step up in terms of preparing and training and really investing in their own workers. We are looking and trying to learn from the examples of the Basque Country, so we're keeping a close eye on what's happening there and seeing if we can learn from their examples.

I don't want to rehearse the points I made yesterday, so I would suggest that people read the statement if you want to know more about how we will fund FE colleges in future.

Our FE sector is, I think, one that we should be proud of. The Skills Show in Birmingham, managed by WorldSkills UK, took place last week, and I'm pleased to announce that indicative figures show that team Wales have brought home a total of 51 medals, including 14 gold, 20 silver, 12 bronze and six highly commended. This is an increase on the previous year. I'm also delighted to say that we have four Welsh colleges in the top 10 in the provider league: Coleg Cambria, Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, Coleg Gwent and Gower College Swansea. I think that that quality mark is something that we're really looking for in terms of our colleges, really making sure that we are improving our standards year on year. Colleges never cease to be innovative in terms of curriculum design, and we need them always to be looking for new and better ways to deliver provision. It's clear that staff in further education institutions have been under a considerable amount of pressure over the last few years, and I'd like to thank them for their continued support and their passion and dedication to the learners in their care.

We, of course, have been closely monitoring the FE pay negotiations that are currently under way, and whilst these negotiations remain the responsibility of Welsh FE colleges, directly with the unions, through the umbrella body of ColegauCymru, I'm pleased to announce that I and the Cabinet Secretary for Education wrote to the chair of ColegauCymru to announce that we would be supporting a pay increase, not only for the teaching staff, as I mentioned yesterday, but also for the support staff. So, we'll be providing £3.2 million in 2018-19 and £4.8 million in 2019-20, subject, of course, to the passage and approval of the Welsh Government's final budget 2019-20. 

The Welsh Government has been able to provide additional help and support for pay in 2018-19 and 2019-20, recognising that these are exceptional circumstances, following the UK Government's decision to ignore its own 1 per cent pay cap for public sector workers and to make up to a 3.5 per cent pay award for teaching staff. We're pleased that that now has been corrected by the Welsh Government.

I want to give my thanks to the entire FE sector for their resilience and flexibility, through what's been an extraordinarily difficult time. The sector plays a vital role in delivering the skills and training that our learners need to address the demands of our economy. Our message is clear: we are committed to providing the very best education system we can for learners of all ages. But as a Government, we'll be voting against this resolution because it fails to note that the funding cuts have been caused by Tory austerity. Secondly, we don't accept that extra pressure has been put on FE colleges as a result of the employability plan. We're suggesting that they reprioritise the provision they're offering to respond to labour market demands. Thirdly, we're pleased that we've been able to support FE staff, both lecturers and support staff, in terms of their pay claims, and we hope that this will help to avoid industrial action.

Finally, whilst we agree we would not want to see any further reduction in the amount of funding received by FE due to its key role in shaping the skills of tomorrow, we can't give this commitment whilst we have a Tory Government that is determined to follow through on its austerity agenda. Diolch.

Thank you. Can I call on Bethan Sayed to reply to the debate? Bethan.

Diolch. Thank you, everybody who has taken part. From what I can gather, we've got a consensus in the fact that we all support further education and we all want to see it prioritised. I guess where we differ is in our politics and in our analysis as to the prioritisation that it has for the Welsh Government. I did recognise the investment that has been put into the staffing issues, but, of course, this isn't a new thing. Since I was elected in 2007, there have continuously been pay disputes in relation to FE terms and conditions in terms of workload. So, I genuinely hope—I genuinely hope—that this will be able to stop any future potential action and that we can all work together to ensure that the sector does have the respect that it deserves. Because we know from what Caroline Jones has said, from what Mohammad Asghar has said and from what Dai Lloyd has said—the pressure is being felt on the ground in the everyday realities of the colleges that are in our constituencies. Lecturers and tutors and staff are coming to us and telling us how much they feel stressed by the current situation, how they're leaving the sector and how they feel that they cannot commit to the sector that they love so dearly and are going to jobs anew. We cannot see this as sustainable for the future. We have to ensure that those staff stay and remain in the further education sector.

Now, I think I should bring up the point that Dawn Bowden made about the fact that this says 'at the heart of the Welsh economy'. If it was at the heart of the Welsh economy, then the Minister just in front of you wouldn't have said that it wasn't at the heart of what the Welsh Government was doing, especially in relation to lifelong learning. If it was at the heart of what the Welsh Government is doing, I wouldn't have needed to have brought this debate to the floor of this Chamber here today. I don't want to have to say that these cuts are happening, but they are, and it is a matter of prioritisation, not only for the UK Government, but for Welsh Government too, as to where they allocate those funds. Since I was elected in 2007, that prioritisation has not happened. If it's going to turn around now, that's great, but I was on the economic committee this morning and it was said that our productivity levels are still really very low. That is not a sign of putting the further education colleges at the heart of our economy here in Wales.

Thank you to Dai Lloyd, who stated very clearly how important this sector is to us, and he visited Gower college in my region, as well as Caroline Jones's region, who has also mentioned the excellent work being done with people with autism in this area. What's important is that we allow these colleges to innovate and to assist different sectors of society to evolve and develop.

Oscar, you mentioned diversity and I think that's really important. We have to ensure that we encourage people from all walks of life to be able to upskill and to take part in our further education structures. We were at the Treforest campus last week, where we met with young entrepreneurs from different walks of life, and, sometimes, if you grow up in some communities of Wales, you might not necessarily think about starting a business, you might not necessarily think about how you could be innovative in that regard. So, I think that was a really inspiring event that we held to try and see how we can keep that expertise here in Wales and how we can develop that for the future.

Vikki Howells, you spoke about what the Welsh Government has done and you spoke about the investment in your area, and I think that's really important. You also mentioned funding, support staff, and the fact that you met with UCU members, and I think that's really important as well, so that we ensure that our engagement with trade unions is alive and well. 

And in the tiny time that I have left, I'll mention Caroline Jones. You also mentioned visiting Gower college—Gower college has had quite a lot of headlines here today—and the respect that you had for the work that was being committed there.

So, thank you, everybody, for taking part in the debate, and I hope this is the first of many in relation to further education here.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Okay, we defer voting under this item until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.