Could I thank Bethan Sayed for, once again, her recognition of the hard work that is going on the length and breadth of Wales in this important field, and also to recognise that informal, non-accredited learning is often the very first step that some people need to undertake before they move on to a more formal accredited learning? So sometimes we can be perhaps overly dismissive of what seems mostly a social activity, but actually that can be often the crucial hook to get somebody building their confidence, building their self-esteem, reconnecting with learning, especially for those people for whom perhaps school, and their first opportunity of learning, has not been a positive experience. So like you, I think we should recognise the role that informal, non-accredited opportunities can play. It is important.

The Member asked whether I have meetings with my colleague Ken Skates with regard to the impact of automation. The Government is very alive to the threats but also the opportunities of automation. Undoubtedly we need to be in a position that the Welsh workforce is skilled to take advantage. Every time we've seen an industrial revolution or a big step forward in the world of work, naturally there's a great fear about the negative impact, but there are also opportunities, and we need to be alive to where the future employment opportunities are going to be, and to ensure that our workforce has the skills and the aptitudes to be able to switch and to be able to move into those new opportunities should they become available. The Government has commissioned a specific piece of work to look at the potential impact of automation on the Welsh economy and what we will need to do to respond to any new opportunities that will arise out of that. 

The Member recognised that, in my statement, I said that I would be making an announcement with regard to older learners shortly, and I am due to meet with the older person's commissioner on Thursday of this week to talk about these important issues for our older citizens. Having recently visited a class in Merthyr Tydfil that was frequented—. I think their oldest learner was in her 90s. She left me in no doubt of the importance of continued availability of that particular opportunity. It certainly was delivering all sorts of benefits to her in terms of combating social isolation, making sure she had an opportunity to engage with like-minded people on a subject that was really important for her, and, again, we want to make sure, as we develop our Welsh right to lifelong learning, that we encompass our older citizens in that. 

The regional skills partnership is an increasingly important way in which we can align our education and training provision with the needs of our economy. Sometimes, there can be a tension between what people want to study and learn about and actually what qualifications they need to be able to gain gainful employment. The Member will be aware that we have set aside an amount of money for FE colleges to be able to respond proactively and positively to the request of our regional skills partnership, but we recognise that sometimes there is the need for flexibility on an institution-to-institution basis. We're alive to that. But my call to our colleagues in FE, which I delivered in a speech at their conference just last week, is the need to work collaboratively with our regional skills partnership so that our learners, at whatever age, are able to take advantage of training opportunities and learning opportunities that are going to be meaningful in the context of employment in their area. Because most learners want to be able to use those skills to be able to work their way up the employment ladder to give them and their families opportunities. Making sure that there is an alignment between what our FE colleges are providing and the needs and the opportunities for jobs after a period of learning is absolutely crucial. 

I obviously take a great deal of interest in the Augar report. What's interesting about Augar is the headlines, of course, have been dominated around fee structures for FE, but actually the Augar report has some very interesting things to say about lifelong learning. I think, actually, in Wales we are potentially in a position to look at some of those recommendations and perhaps move more swiftly than our colleagues in England, given the chaos that currently reigns. Whether the Augar report will ever see the light of day is another question in terms of an English context. But there are some interesting things that it has to say about FE and adult learning, and, as I said, we're currently working with our partners to ensure that we develop a right to lifelong learning in Wales.

But, of course, the Member talks about opportunities for part-time study. For those people who may have caring or working responsibilities but want the opportunity to re-engage in learning, just two very practical ways in which we're making that a reality is our support for part-time learners. As I said, the Open University has seen a 50 per cent increase in applications just this year because we are proving the financial support to enable those individuals to go back to studying. But I also recognise that a full-time course of that nature might not be right for the individual. Our personal learning accounts will give greater flexibility in our pilot areas in north Wales and south-east Wales where it may be a shorter course or a specific professional qualification that is needed to help you switch your career or move up the career ladder. So, that gives you a flavour of the flexible way in which we're trying to support those people who are trying to engage in learning to assist them and their employment prospects.