Diolch. I'd like this afternoon to perhaps join colleagues in appreciating the efforts and the commitment of the higher education sector in Wales and the positive impact it has on civil life as well as our economy. As Helen Mary has indicated, I'm proud to have been a part of that before I became an Assembly Member. For many years, I worked in the sector. I do recognise that, over those years since as well, there have been some considerable changes in the sector with respect to the structure and organisation. We've seen an expansion in the number of students, the different numbers of providers available, the provision—the expansion of programmes—and the research has increased dramatically. Greater variation of providers exists in Wales, and there's an increase in the number of HE courses now being offered within further education institutions. There is a whole different set-up to what existed, perhaps, when I left eight years ago.

Now, a significant feature of this changing landscape has been a trend towards greater consolidation with the merger—. We now see eight universities. You mentioned the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Well, that was, of course, Lampeter, Trinity college and Swansea Metropolitan University put together—and the University of Wales, actually—and it now includes FE colleges as well. So, there has been a dramatic change, with many FE colleges offering degree courses now as well. So, those FE colleges you talk about actually are offering HE level courses, level 6 courses.

They have some of the highest satisfaction rates in the UK, Welsh universities have, so let's actually congratulate them on some of the work that they do, because the students are actually seeing good provision and a good experience, and they wouldn't have those satisfaction results if they didn't. Believe you me, I've been with students during those results; I know exactly what they say—they'll tell you as it is. So, if they are actually giving you a good satisfaction result, they are seeing universities as offering something beneficial to them and they're happy with that.

Now, I'm not going to hide from the fact of the other aspects, but let's also recognise the voice of the student, because I haven't heard much about the voice of the student in this debate. It's all been about governance. I'll come back to that; I will come back to governance. But let's talk about the students and remember that, because I also highlight—. We talk about health very often; we talk about a patient-centred agenda. Perhaps we should be looking at a student-centred agenda, a student-focused agenda when we talk about education, and particularly higher education as well. And I do recognise, unfortunately, the challenges from governance and financial aspects of HE institutions that exist today, but they're not new, unfortunately. I remember being a trade union officer at the time when the then Swansea Institute was under threat of closure or being basically taken over following questions of governance and academic standards.