Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 1:48 pm on 30 September 2020.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 1:48, 30 September 2020

Thank you, Helen Mary, for that. I want to assure the Chamber and, indeed, I want to assure students and parents that it is a priority for me, and a priority for this Government, to ensure that students who are residing and studying at Welsh universities will be able to return home for Christmas. I say that as a Minister, and I say that as a mum who has just sent my eldest daughter to university on Sunday evening. Believe me, she might have views about coming home for Christmas, but I desperately want her home for Christmas with me.

So, we will be working with our health Minister, working with our individual institutions and, indeed, working with the UK Government to ensure that the circumstances can be put in place to allow that to happen. SAGE, in their advice to the UK Government, is very, very clear that this needs to be worked out on a UK-wide basis because of the student flows across our borders. Individual students will be wanting to cross county and country borders, so, therefore, Governments need to work together on creating the circumstances that will allow that to happen. I discussed this matter with the universities Minister in the UK Government yesterday. I will discuss it again tomorrow with Gavin Williamson, and we are determined to ensure that students, when they want to, will be able to return home. But, clearly, we need to put the circumstances in place where they can do that safely.