COVID-19: Impact on Universities in Wales

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 2:19 pm on 20 May 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Helen Mary Jones Helen Mary Jones Plaid Cymru 2:19, 20 May 2020

I'm grateful to the Minister for her reply and for the confirmation that she gives, of course, that she fully understands the importance of the sector. But I wonder if she can tell us a bit more about what the nature of the support that's been provided is. The Scottish Government, for example, as we know, has provided £75 million of research funding to its universities. Now, obviously, its model of funding universities is different from ours, and I wouldn't necessarily expect our Minister to respond in exactly the same way, but she has acknowledged herself the huge importance—5 per cent of Welsh gross value added, 17,000 direct jobs, 50,000 jobs in the wider economy depending on our academic institutions. So, can she tell us a little more about what efforts the Welsh Government are making, and are planning to make, to ensure the longer term sustainability of the universities? Because I'm sure that she will agree with me that the Wales Governance Centre report made sobering reading—not surprising reading, I'm sure, to her—and that it is essential that we protect this vital sector of our economic structure as well as our academic structure here in Wales.