Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:32 pm on 16 July 2019.
Well, Llywydd, I agree of course—the importance of actions that Government can take to make sure that public services, businesses, have the skilled labour that they need. It's why the actions that this Government has taken have seen that, between 2011 and 2018, the percentage of working-age adults in Wales with no qualifications fell from 12 per cent to 8 per cent, and, over the same period, the percentage of working adults qualified at higher skills level rose from 32 per cent to 38 per cent. It's why we have our commitment to 100,000 apprenticeships during this Assembly term. It's why we are moving our policy in the apprenticeship area, to put new emphasis on higher level skills. There is much that the Government is doing and will continue to do. But the Member also has to face the facts that businesses, public services and universities in Wales rely on our ability to recruit people from other parts of the European Union, and other parts of the world, to come and make their futures here in Wales. Not only will Brexit be an impediment to that, but the policies being pursued by his Government in relation to migration will make those difficulties even greater, and that's why we will oppose those ideas as vigorously as we can.