Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:41 pm on 3 November 2021.
Thank you for the question. And, interestingly, we have good relationships with Canada, the example you mentioned—internationally—and we do look regularly to see what effective practice exists within the UK, Europe, and beyond, when developing policy and programmes, and in particular in this area, where there is a real challenge for us, but also a real opportunity, as the Member has recognised. And officials do meet regularly with colleges, including representatives from Black Mountains College, to explore those opportunities, and I think we're in a good place in Wales in the way that we've been able to work together. The biggest barrier to us being able to take up those opportunities is certainty on what we can do here in Wales. That's both budget certainty and the policy certainty we can provide, and actually to move away from an unnecessarily competitive and unhelpful dialogue with the UK Government, but greater certainty about what each Government is going to do in respect of the devolution settlement, and making real progress forward, because there are opportunities that have real gain for students and citizens here in Wales.