Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 30 September 2020.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 1:42, 30 September 2020

Suzy, you'll be aware that the £27 million additional money that we've made available to the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales will be delivered to our institutions by the funding council. I met with the chair and the chief executive of our funding council just yesterday. And in my remit letter to them, emotional and mental health support for students is a priority for me, and I would expect part of that £27 million to be used to support universities deliver robust mental health and well-being support to students at this time, and also, potentially, to use some of that funding to ensure that financial distress that some students may experience is also taken into consideration. Obviously, Welsh students who are residing in Wales and studying—well, wherever they study—are entitled to our support programme. But I recognise that many students would usually supplement their income with part-time jobs, which may prove more difficult to come by at this particular time. So, both financial support and mental health support are a priority for me and a priority for the funding council, and we await bids from Welsh institutions to that pot of money, to ensure that that support is available.