That brings us to the next item and it's the debate on the Children, Young People and Education  Committee report, 'Degrees of Separation? The Impact of Brexit on Higher and Further Education', and I call on the Chair of the committee to move the motion—Lynne Neagle. 

Motion NDM6996 Lynne Neagle

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

Notes the Children, Young People and Education Committee Report—'Degrees of Separation? The Impact of Brexit on Higher and Further Education', which was laid in the Table Office on 4 December 2018.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Llywydd. I'm pleased to open this debate today on the Children, Young People and Education Committee’s report, 'Degrees of Separation?', which discusses the impact of Brexit on higher and further education. Members of this Chamber will be fully aware of my views on Brexit, but at the outset of this debate it's important that I emphasise that I am contributing this afternoon as Chair of the committee. The comments I will make draw on the evidence-based report we agreed as a cross-party committee, and the views I will express reflect the recommendations we made together.

It is difficult to know where to begin a debate on the impact of Brexit when so much is still unclear, but I don't want us to focus our discussions on whether we agree with Brexit or on the votes happening in the UK Parliament. Rather, our aim in tabling today's debate is to discuss the potential impact Brexit could have on students and education providers in Wales, based on the evidence we received from experts in the field and those on the front line. 

This was a challenging inquiry that was considered against a backdrop that was, and still is, constantly changing. Due to this shifting landscape and the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, a number of significant matters only became clearer as the inquiry progressed. The way we approached our work and the shape of the conclusions and recommendations in the report reflect this uncertainty.

The committee came to three broad conclusions. Conclusion 1: even a reasonably favourable Brexit would, under current plans, require the HE sector to adapt and change in its most important areas of operations, while the FE sector, with its much smaller international staff and student bodies, will also need to respond to Brexit-related changes in their local economies. Conclusion 2: despite Treasury funding guarantees, a 'no deal' scenario would still be significantly disruptive to both sectors, deeply so for the higher education sector. Conclusion 3: we found that few opportunities from Brexit for either sector were identified in the short term, and those that were identified were raised in the context of simply making the best of Brexit.

Within these three broad areas and the key issues that emerged, the committee made 12 recommendations. I am pleased that the Minister was able to accept all 12 recommendations either fully, in part or in principle. However, since the report was published in December 2018, the likelihood of a 'no deal' Brexit and the consequent need for clear and proactive Welsh Government planning to mitigate the impact on staff, students and providers substantially increased. We were therefore concerned that, in relation to a number of the recommendations, the Government’s initial response did not provide sufficient clarity, or failed to respond to all the specific recommendations made.

With so much still unclear, it must be our shared goal to reduce uncertainty for staff and providers as much as possible. I’d like to thank the Minister for the additional information provided last week, which does provide some further clarity on a number of points. The committee will take this additional information into account alongside her response to today’s debate.

I don't intend to go through each of the 12 recommendations today; I would instead prefer to concentrate my comments on three of the key areas contained in the report: student and staff immigration, the effect of Brexit on EU programmes like Erasmus+, and meeting industry skills demands after Brexit.

Firstly, student and staff immigration: new immigration restrictions for EU staff and students was a key issue considered during the inquiry. The evidence we received indicated that a change from the current immigration status quo to a more restricted system would have a detrimental impact on universities. To reduce uncertainty, there needs to be as little change as possible to the rules governing the movement of EU students and staff.

We also recognised that student immigration is not limited to EU students. The committee therefore believes that the immigration rules for EU students and other international students should be brought together into one set of rules for all international students coming to Wales. In highlighting the principle that there should be as little disruption as possible to staff and students, the committee was mindful that it would be for others to set the detail of the rules. It is our clear view, however, that Wales should be able to set its own direction on this.

Our recommendation was, therefore, that, via the UK Immigration Bill, Welsh Government should demand executive powers that allow it to make different immigration rules specifically for students and academic staff in Wales. It is important to note that this is different to seeking legislative competence over immigration. Since the publication of the report, the UK Government has published its White Paper consulting on the UK's future immigration system, and has introduced its Immigration Bill. This Bill appears to give the Secretary of State the power to repeal free movement law in the UK. This means that, in the event of a 'no deal' Brexit, freedom of movement need not be ended immediately.

The Deputy Presiding Officer took the Chair.

Due to these actions at the UK level, the specific recommendation made by the committee may no longer be necessary, but the principles that lie behind it remain important. In her recent response, the Minister also outlined the work Welsh Government has been undertaking in seeking to contribute to and shape the development of migration policy in the UK. It is a concern, however, that the Government’s position on this still appears to be 'wait and see' before deciding on differential rules, rather than taking a proactive approach, as we recommended. We note that the Welsh Government intends to engage with the Home Office to highlight its main aims for the HE sector. While we welcome this approach, as a committee, we will be monitoring this closely and will seek regular updates on progress.

Finally on this point, we note the publication on Monday of the report 'Migration in Wales' by the Wales Centre for Public Policy. The committee has not had an opportunity to consider this, but we note it is not focused on students. We will reflect on its content as we monitor the ongoing work of the Welsh Government.

I turn now to the effect of Brexit on programmes like Erasmus+ and Horizon. In both the oral and written evidence the committee received, there was complete consensus about the value and importance of international mobility placements for students and staff. We heard clearly that, despite Erasmus+ being only one of several mobility schemes, continued participation in it post Brexit 'would still be hugely beneficial'.

And, as outlined in the report, the committee believes the Welsh Government is doing all it can to maintain Erasmus+ participation. However, students need assurances, especially to confirm that they will face no financial disruption to their mobilities in the short term and in the event of a 'no deal' Brexit. Recommendation 7 of the committee’s report sets out how we believe the Welsh Government can help ensure this. We were therefore concerned that the Welsh Government’s response offered no assurances in this respect to students expecting, or required, to undertake an international mobility placement in 2019-20. As we've already outlined, there must be a clear focus on reducing uncertainty for students and providers and urge the Government to do so.

The third area to focus on today is meeting skills demands after Brexit. The evidence received during the inquiry painted a very clear picture that, through their more local focus and skills-based curricula, further education colleges are particularly sensitive to the strength of their local economies and employers. They also have a key role in meeting skills demand. It is almost inevitable, therefore, that any negative economic impacts from Brexit will also have a negative impact on the FE sector, and further education colleges will need to respond to any changes in skills demands resulting from Brexit.

The committee strongly believes that colleges have a fundamental role to play in any plans the Welsh Government has to upskill workers in economic sectors that may be exposed to risk from Brexit. Recommendation 11 in the report therefore calls on Welsh Government to commit to working jointly with the FE sector to develop and publish a plan to identify and respond to any changing skills demands. We welcome the Minister’s response setting out that proposals for skills projects funded by the EU transition funds are being prepared and that the future skills system in Wales will be demand-led. The additional information provided by the Minister last week also provides some further detail on the work being carried out and the proposals being developed. This additional response does suggest that the aims of Welsh Government and the committee appear to be fundamentally the same in this respect, which is very much welcomed.

One final point I would like to make is in relation to the committee’s recommendation 12 relating to funding the Reid review’s recommendations. We very much welcome the Minister’s announcement last week of an extra £6.6 million to support higher education research. We believe that research and innovation are of fundamental importance to the prosperity of Wales and that the Welsh Government must do all it can to fund the remaining recommendations from the Reid review.

In closing, Deputy Llywydd, I would like to highlight one of the key messages from the inquiry: Brexit will undoubtedly have a deeply disruptive impact on both the higher and FE sectors. While we recognise that there are shared themes across both sectors, we are very aware that the impact of Brexit on both will be very different. In looking to do all we can to help mitigate any disruption, it is vital that we do not simply conflate the very visible impacts on our universities with the impacts on our colleges, which are, on the whole, more locally rooted. I want to make a very clear commitment to both sectors today that, as a committee, we will continue to monitor closely the work the Welsh Government is undertaking to help ensure that it and we do all we can to protect education in Wales from the effects of Brexit in whatever form it takes. Thank you. 

Can I thank Lynne Neagle and my colleagues on the committee as well as the committee staff, and, of course, the Minister for their part in this inquiry? I hope Members have found the report interesting. We didn't get the opportunity to hear from the education Minister on the department's preparedness for Brexit in that marathon session we had fairly recently, so this is a chance to look at this more closely.

I think what struck me most in the inquiry is that while our higher education sector will undoubtedly be disrupted and hit financially by Brexit, particularly if there's a 'no deal' Brexit, it has recognised the challenges and wanted to get on with meeting them, even in this period of uncertainty. There was a genuine sense that the reputation of our higher education institutions would be strong enough to withstand the buffeting of the storm ahead, but they were likely to need some political help to lever the value of that core asset.

I have no problem signing up to this report because of how it framed its recommendations. One of the questions that have become difficult to answer—or will be post Brexit—is why staff and students if they've come from the EU should be treated differently from staff and students from other countries from now on. Our main selling point should be that the excellence of our research and academic offer, alongside accessibility to those who would benefit from a university experience regardless of their background—as I say, it should be the selling point, not that individuals from some countries can have a financial advantage over individuals from other countries through the former tuition fee grant, which is why I draw Members' attention to the first six recommendations in particular, in which we ask Welsh Government to examine why EU students choose to come to Wales, and to report now on the legacy of Global Wales and to be clear about its expectations of Global Wales II as well, because I think they must be connected.

We will lose EU students. I'm in no doubt about that. So, our universities do need to examine their unique selling points and use whatever Global Wales II can offer to fit their own maintenance and growth strategies, and that will mean Welsh Government talking again to HE institutions to make sure that Global Wales II is compatible with those universities' strategic priorities in this new challenging environment—because it is more challenging. We've already seen a 10 per cent drop in EU students studying here when there's been a 2 per cent rise in other parts of the UK, and we also heard that despite that—despite that—the sector's short to medium-term reliance on EU funding streams for programmes was relatively high, which is why I thought recommendation 1 was very interesting, and I appreciate, as Lynne mentioned earlier, we may not need that now, but I still think it's something to ask ourselves: whether our powers that are incidental to the devolved area of education could be explored to devise a way to apply different rules for permitting overseas students and staff to come here. 

As well as Global Wales, we also took evidence that Welsh Government needs to step up to the plate now in delivering on the Reid review recommendations, and I also welcome the announcement of the £6 million. It's not particularly clear why there's been policy drag here. I think, if our universities need to sell excellence, innovation and specialism to attract the finance staff and students they will need, it can't be Government policy that puts them at a disadvantage. Professor Reid was—well, he was stating the obvious, really, when he said that our universities needed to move on from reliance on EU funding and become more competitive at winning UK funding, and it should remain a cause for concern that we already have a research and innovation gap, which can't get bigger. Whatever the justifiable complaint there may be about the UK's lack of clarity about things like the prosperity fund, that doesn't explain the funding gap nor the slower pace on Reid, but I am pleased things have moved on there. 

I'm pleased also with the First Minister's commitment that any future regional funding won't disappear into the general pot and that will remain multi-annual in nature. That suggests he can do it for other services as well, but maybe that's for another day. It's a shame, I thought, though, that there was nothing earlier in the 2019-20 budget despite that Barnett consequential. It struck me that it did give Scotland that little bit of an edge on us by having early announcements. 

Just finally, Welsh Government has given £6.2 million to HEFCW and £3.5 million to Global Wales to help them respond to Brexit challenges, and while it's quite right that it's up to them how they spend it on what, I, for one, would really like to have a little bit more detail on quite what they've spent it on, because in the case of HEFCW, it seems to be about universities getting some money a little bit sooner than they were going to get it. Well, how are they going to use that? And, with Global Wales, it's subject to continuing negotiations with Universities Wales, which means it may not even have been spent, and yet, we could be leaving in 10 days' time. So, that's the best part of £10 million, the efficacy of which remains a bit of a mystery, at a time when we're facing uncertainty, and at least, I'd like to have some certainty on how that was spent. Thank you.

Well, I'm not sure if we can say that we welcome another debate on Brexit, but I think it's important that we discuss it in relation to education. But, here we are again, talking about this important issue. I'm not going to go into much detail on the finer points of this committee report. I'm sure that many of us will have read the report and we've listened to Lynne Neagle's introduction as Chair, but there are lots of issues there for us to pick up on, from whatever party that we're in.

It does lay out some very clear pathways to offer some security and to build some resilience in the sector, as we face what is potentially a very disruptive and uncertain period in our lives in relation to higher education in particular. I think the university sector has been clear, so we must react in that same way. The current state of Brexit is going to be a serious deterrent to attracting people to come to the UK to study and work in our higher education sectors. This is going to be the case in other aspects of the economy, which we have debated at length here, but particularly in higher education, and I am personally very concerned about the short and longer term impacts that this could have on our economy.

The Welsh Government has implemented sweeping changes to student support over the last several years. There has been some confusion that I think Suzy Davies referred to earlier, which I don't think has been communicated to our European partners particularly well, regarding changes to that support and, in particular, the removal of the tuition fee grant. But in this current Brexit process, Britain has become an international laughing stock. I was in the Committee of the Regions and that was the attitude that I faced on a daily basis; emphasising that I was Welsh and trying to remove myself from some of the decisions that have been made was particularly challenging. But The Washington Post has said that the Brexit mess, from the US, is like watching a country argue with itself in an empty room whilst trying to shoot itself in the foot. Now, imagine what our European partners must feel, who come here on a regular basis to study and to take part in our vibrant higher education institutions.

I'm particularly interested in recommendation 1 relating to the treatment of free movement and the immigration status of those EU-27 citizens working and studying in higher education. I would support this, as the uncertainty, with certain politicians playing this issue—playing with people's lives like a cheap political football—has been an absolute disgrace. And, funnily enough, none of them are actually bothered to come into the Chamber to discuss this report today. There are people who've been committed to this country and who are contributing to it and their status should be settled, and that should not be questioned.

I'm also concerned about the loss of potential EU partnerships, such as Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020, and that's not just for HE; I've spoken at length with leaders in the further education sector whose young people may not have otherwise been able to have gone to many of our European capital cities and have utilised that potential because of Erasmus+—and only because of Erasmus+. They would not have had that opportunity otherwise, and we can't underestimate that influence on a young person's life, on how they will form relationships in the future, how they will think about working abroad for the first time. If they don't get that opportunity through Erasmus+, then we may be confining the aspirations of some areas of Wales where aspirations are already at a low point. 

The Minister has said in the past that HE establishments are autonomous, but this isn't something that's going to fly, I think, in relation to Brexit, and I would hope that the Minister would commit to initiating a mitigation strategy and a round-table with vice-chancellors to ensure that higher education institutions are acting in unison. I think leadership in this regard is entirely essential. And if the Minister, potentially, doesn't want to do it, then why doesn't the committee do it? Why don't you take the mantle in terms of hosting these opinions and coming up with a strategy in this regard?

In relation to recommendation 2, I believe that this response lacks clarity and seems to put the onus on universities with only a commitment to ask HEFCW to engage. This doesn't seem to be the cornerstone of the proposal as requested in this particular document.

I do welcome that the Welsh Government has accepted, to a large degree, the other recommendations, and I look forward to some further detail on some of these. I know that the economy committee that I sit on will be potentially coming up with similar recommendations in relation to the Graeme review, but also Welsh visibility and participation in UK-wide research funding opportunities. We have to make that work.

Cardiff University has called for the Welsh Government to work with the UK Government to underwrite UK student mobility in the EU and commit to seeing what support could be done to continue widening participation from BME international students. I've said this before; I have a declaration of interest in that regard. My husband is from India, and if he hadn't come here, I wouldn't have met him. So, you know, we have to encourage more international students to come to Wales, if only to facilitate intercultural relationships on a personal level. [Laughter.] You can see these Brexit debates are something that I'm really enjoying here today.

I jest, but I think this is a really, really important issue, because the more integration that we allow between different cultures, between different countries, the wealthier we are as a nation, as people, and I think that's integral to what the issue is with Brexit. If we make enemies of each other, then how are we going to be able to work together for the future benefit of our nation? We've seen what's happened in New Zealand recently, but we've seen the amazing response of the people of New Zealand to such an attack. I think that the problem that we have is that higher education is a microcosm of society, and we have to treat that as a way in which we can support the sector, but also how that, then, will emanate through all of our lives in various different ways.

I wanted to say, 'Well, I used to teach higher education international students, from within the EU and outside the EU,' and I was going to say about what great relationships I had with those students, but I didn't want to go any further then, following what Bethan Sayed was saying. [Laughter.]

The students that contributed to my courses brought a whole range of different experiences and backgrounds, and you can see in one classroom, whether they're European Union or non-European Union, the value that these students bring to our economy, and of course, also—Universities Wales has commissioned research—they also come and spend money here, and they have a value directly into the economy on which we rely.

I wanted to concentrate on recommendations 1, 2 and 7. With regard to recommendation 1, in the response the Minister has said 'accept in principle' to what Suzy Davies recognised as quite an innovative approach, and we should see if we can take this further anyway—proactively demand executive powers for Welsh Ministers over spatially different immigration rules for students and academic staff. I think that's an innovative approach, and it recognises the kind of devolution settlement we might want to see collectively in the future, apart from, of course, Michelle Brown, who is not supporting recommendation 1 by her absence today. I think we can be quite innovative about this. Suzy Davies would say—I'm not party political for the sake of being so, but I do have to note what the Minister says in her response to recommendation 1:

'Our aim is to ensure the Welsh economy is not adversely affected by an overly restrictive migration system and that Welsh Universities are able to meet their future staffing and student needs.'

Well, yes. The UK Government has now got this White Paper and the Bill going through on immigration, but I don't share our Chair's optimism that it will lead to any better policy, because I have to say, Theresa May, as Home Secretary, introduced incredibly restrictive immigration practices for international students outside the EU, and all I can think is that those incredibly restrictive practices will be imposed on EU students now. So, it won't be the fact that we will be able to offer international students outside the EU the same equality that EU students enjoy now; quite the opposite. Those EU students will be closed down as a result of UK Government policy, and therefore I think recommendation 1 should still hold, and still has a lot to recommend it. 

With regard to recommendation 2, the Minister accepts in principle and says that universities are 'independent, autonomous bodies'—that they are, that they are—and therefore it would be inappropriate to commission this study. But when it comes to, say, housing, that wouldn't stop us commissioning a study. Housing companies are independent, autonomous bodies, but it doesn't stop us commissioning a study as to why houses aren't being built. I don’t see why we cannot support the university sector—some would say the more worthy university sector—as it’s currently structured, by commissioning studies into how students will be affected by the consequences of Brexit. I would urge the Minister to reconsider on that ground, particularly in terms of the parameters that are imposed on her with regard to continued participation in Erasmus+ post Brexit. 

Which brings me to recommendation 7, which is about Erasmus+. The vice-chancellor of Cardiff University, Professor Colin Riordan, has called on the UK Government to create an alternative back-up scheme, but, with 'no deal' Brexit looming, and looming ever closer every day, it appears that that will be in vain.

Let’s focus on what the Welsh Government can do. The report notably places the blame for an unwillingness to engage on the European Commission and the response from the Government on the European Commission and calls for the UK Government to urgently set aside funds for an alternative to Erasmus+. Can I ask the Cabinet Secretary? She said she’s awaiting responses from the Government to the House of Lords' committee's report. This is changing daily; perhaps she’s had an update since. But can she also tell us, in addition to what has happened since she wrote her letter to us on 15 March, what engagement she has had with the European Commission? Maybe we should bypass the UK Government and go to the European Commission directly on the principle of subsidiarity—those decisions taken relevant to those areas in which they have most effect. Has she considered that as a process and a decision?

I think the report, as it’s presented, is a good one, and I think it gives us a very clear insight into the problems faced by higher education as a result of Brexit.

Thank you very much. Can I call the Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams?

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. And can I thank Lynne Neagle and members of the committee for their work in this area?

Given the enormous uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the limited time available to me this afternoon, I will not go into a discussion about the impact of the UK Government's handling of Brexit on the higher and further education sectors here.

I fully appreciate the challenges that Brexit provides for those sectors, their students and individual institutions. That is why, since June 2016, I and colleagues have been proactive in doing all we can to help mitigate those challenges, provide leadership, and identify new opportunities and partnerships. We provided guarantees in 2017-18, in 2018-19, and for 2019-20 that EU students at Welsh universities will continue to be eligible for financial support. We are introducing an outward mobility pilot going beyond Europe that will give Welsh students the opportunity to study, work or volunteer overseas. And we know that it is students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds that too often miss out on those opportunities, and our scheme will reach out to those students.

Through the Global Wales programme, we are supporting the sector to reach new markets and to build new partnerships. I recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese Government, and we are in the process of agreeing exciting new partnerships in North America.

Only last week, as has been referenced by a number of speakers, I announced new funding worth £6.6 million to enable Welsh universities and researchers to compete for a greater share of UK funding, as suggested by Professor Graeme Reid’s review.

For Bethan Sayed’s information, within a week of the Brexit referendum result, I convened a HE working group to advise me on the challenges facing the sector, made up of vice-chancellors. That group has been particularly useful. Vice-chancellors are, of course, represented on the First Minister’s Brexit group. Colin Riordan of Cardiff University is also representing the Welsh sector on some UK consultative arrangements. It was this Government that initiated the regular four nations meetings of the university Ministers so that we could work across the UK on these matters, but also hold the UK Government’s feet to the fire on promises that they have made.

Deputy Presiding Officer, this is an uncertain and rapidly changing area, and, of course, this is not helped, I'm sorry to say, by at times limited and often very unclear communications from the UK Government. Although I have been in post for less than three years, I'm onto my third different English education Secretary, and my third different universities Minister. Of course, we all know why Jo Johnson and Sam Gyimah are no longer in the Government.

But I can now turn to the committee's recommendations. On recommendation 1, I agree that it is vital that the UK Government's migration policy does not create unhelpful and unnecessary barriers to the universities' ability to attract EU students and faculty to come to Wales, and in particular, that it does not have a differential impact on Wales that puts our institutions at a particular disadvantage. I have to agree with the comments made by Hefin David—this point is well understood. It was well understood by Jo Johnson, it was well understood by Sam Gyimah, it is now well understood by Chris Skidmore, but of course they have to run the gauntlet of the Home Office and the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister's record on this is one that Hefin outlined. So, although they understand the challenges, I'm afraid I sometimes feel for them and the battles that they're trying to win at a Westminster level. What we do know as well is that some decisions that have been made have been particularly unhelpful, and don't recognise the reality of HE provision. So, for instance, part-time courses, four-year courses, and don't get me started on the post-work visa scenario where Wales's needs were ignored initially completely by Westminster.

On recommendation 2, I agree that it's important for universities to understand what attracts or deters students from studying in Wales, but I do feel that recruitment is a matter for them, but we will continue to work with HEFCW and the sector on these matters, and will assist where we can.

As regards recommendations 4, 5 and 6 on Global Wales II, the committee made a number of recommendations on the detailed implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Global Wales II, and asked for more detailed information to be provided, which was included in my written response last week to the committee's follow-up letter. The issues raised by the committee are being pursued by my officials in discussion with HEFCW, which is managing our financial contribution to Global Wales II on behalf of the Welsh Government, and I hope some of that extra detail about the nature of when payments will be made and the evidence that will be required for payments to be made, has provided some reassurance to the Minister.

On recommendation 7, in relation to participants in future Erasmus projects proposed for later than 2019, our concern about the UK Government's handling of its proposed underwrite guarantee, as again mentioned by Hefin David, has been shared by the House of Lords, who recommended last month that the moneys that would have covered the underwrite guarantee should be used to put in place a UK replacement arrangement, and we continue to press UK Ministers to deliver on this.

The EU's proposals in relation to UK participation in the EU's 2019 budget would seem to offer an opportunity to resolve this and to provide reassurance on access to Erasmus funding for students going abroad in autumn 2019. But disappointingly, once again, the UK Government has yet to say what its position is on this proposed solution. And I think it's important to note that it's not just university students or indeed FE students that benefit from Erasmus+ projects; Welsh schools have been particularly successful in accessing this money and providing opportunities for their students. As I said, I absolutely do not want to let the Westminster Government off the hook here, but I can assure Members that we continue to work on contingency plans for a Welsh solution if absolutely necessary. But it is the Westminster Government that should pick up the financial tag. I have to say: we have been proactive in supplying information to the UK Government about the importance of this scheme, but once again, that information disappears into the Treasury and we do not have any feedback from them. But in terms of value for money, sometimes it's about knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing. Even a UK replacement scheme, I believe, would not bring us the advantages that we currently enjoy as participants in the Erasmus+ programme.

On recommendation 8, regarding the evaluation of the overseas mobility pilot, this will be received by the Government in the summer of 2021 when we will be able to share the results with the committee. As regards recommendations 9 and 10, it is a matter of concern that the UK Government has yet to share its thinking on the future of the regional development funding. We will continue to press them on our priorities as set out in the Welsh Government's policy paper on this issue, and I'm very glad that that position is being wholeheartedly supported by Universities Wales and our Welsh vice-chancellors.

On recommendation 11, on changing skill needs, officials are working with our partners to ensure the current plans are being developed to focus on the changing needs of Wales as a result of Brexit-related disruptions, and are developing options for actions that could be taken to address 'no deal' Brexit resilience issues. The financial implications of proposals emerging from this process will need consideration as part of the Welsh Government's wider Brexit resilience work.

And I think what's really important to me, as I reflect on why we're in this situation in the first place—it was perhaps previous Governments' inability to respond to industrial change that has led to us and maybe many people in those communities feeling that Brexit was an option for them, and we cannot fail to address those industrial changes and economic changes again, otherwise we will set up more problems for our future. 

And finally, Deputy Presiding Officer, if I may, on recommendation 12—implementation of the Reid review—I have made £6.6. million available and Welsh Government are establishing the office in London. The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales are also embedding a member of staff part-time there so that we can draw down our fair share of UKRI money. And I will give the Chamber a commitment that I will work with them, with the sector, to ensure that the real and present risks that Brexit and especially a 'no deal' Brexit faces for the sector—we will continue to do all that we can to support the sector to mitigate them.

Thank you. Can I call on Lynne Neagle, as Chair, to reply to the debate? 

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank everybody who has spoken in the debate today? Your contributions are very much valued, including the Minister's. Can I also take this opportunity to thank all the organisations who engaged with our inquiry and provided such insightful written and oral evidence, and also take the opportunity to thank our excellent clerking and research team? This was a difficult and challenging inquiry because of the fast-moving situation, and I’m very grateful for their expertise and input. I won’t be able to reply to every point that Members made today, but if I can just pick up on some of the points made.

Can I thank Suzy for her contribution and her continued support for recommendation 1, and also the points that Suzy Davies made, which were echoed by Bethan Sayed, about the need to really get to the bottom of why EU students come to study here in Wales? As you’ve highlighted, we have already seen a significant drop, and we do need to very urgently get on top of that, so that we can ensure that our universities are as resilient as possible. Thank you, too, for your welcome to the FM’s announcement on the multi-annual funding and the regional funds—that is going to be crucial going forward.

I’d like to thank Bethan for her contribution and her support for the recommendations on immigration and, again, on establishing why students come here. Also, Bethan raised the importance of Erasmus+, and I wholeheartedly agree with your comments on that, and I’m grateful to you for highlighting the involvement of FE in Erasmus+, because it is often seen as a HE initiative. I have got a personal bugbear about Erasmus+, in that I was once an Erasmus student, so I do very much see the value of that, particularly for young people from our most deprived communities. I was in that position, I’d never had anyone in my family go to university, yet I had the brilliant opportunity to go and study in a university in Paris, and I think it’s vital that we continue to see, particularly our young people from our low-income families, continue to get that opportunity. So, we’ve all got to keep pushing on that.

Hefin David also raised the importance of Erasmus+, which I know that he’s been able to see from a very useful front-line perspective, and highlighted the importance of recommendation 1 and 2 also. I completely take on board what you’ve said—I have little confidence in the Prime Minister’s approach to immigration myself. I think the immigration Bill does provide us with an opportunity to make those arguments, and to make them as strongly as we can. And I hope that we, as a committee, can work with the Welsh Government, to ensure that we continue to emphasise to the UK Government the importance of certainty in this area, not just for our students, but for our staff in our universities—it's absolutely crucial.

So, can I just close, Deputy Llywydd, by thanking again everybody who has spoken today, and everybody who has contributed to this inquiry? The committee will be taking a very keen interest in developments going forward and continuing to monitor Welsh Government activity in this area, and I'm sure, along with all other Members, hoping for some certainty as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you. The proposal is to note the committee's report. Does any Member object? No. Therefore, the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.