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.