We'll move now to group 7, which relates to learner well-being and protection. Amendment 12 is the lead amendment in the group, and I call on the Minister to move that amendment. 

Amendment 12 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Thank you, Llywydd. I call upon members to support amendments 12 and 13, which introduce new mandatory initial and ongoing conditions of registration regarding the effectiveness of tertiary education providers' arrangements for supporting and promoting the welfare of their staff and students. This will ensure that consideration is given to whether providers have proper processes, services and policies in place to support the welfare, well-being and safety of students and staff.

Everyone has the right to a happy education experience, and I want Wales to build a reputation, within the UK and internationally, for putting well-being at the centre of our education system. A lack of support for mental health and well-being can be a critical barrier to success in education for many learners and students. It is therefore vital that we ensure that providers are attentive to addressing these challenges and are supported to do so by the commission. It's clear that we face many challenges across the UK. Full-time students are more likely to experience sexual assaults than those in any other occupational group, and nearly a quarter of ethnic minority students experience racial harassment on campus. Students continually report lower levels of happiness and higher levels of anxiety than the general population, and this has been exacerbated by the recent effects of the pandemic.

Over the past decade there has been a reckoning, particularly within the UK higher education sector, about how providers address matters of bullying and harassment and how they support students' well-being and mental health, and I think that we would all agree that more progress is needed on these issues. A Universities UK report in 2015 recommended sweeping changes to the ways in which universities manage reporting and support for victims of harassment, violence and hate crime, and I think that we would all agree that more progress needs to be made on this. In England, the Office for Students does not formally regulate the way in which higher education providers promote and support student welfare. We will therefore be going further in Wales by ensuring that the new commission is empowered to prioritise the oversight of these vitally important matters.

I hope that these amendments will command cross-party support. I want to thank Laura Anne Jones for tabling amendments at Stage 2 that highlighted the importance of ensuring that mental health and well-being were reflected in this piece of legislation. I believe that the amendments tabled here at Stage 3 will offer the most effective way of ensuring that the commission promotes the mental health and well-being of learners. I cannot support amendments 98, 99 and 100. As I stated when these were proposed during Stage 2 consideration, the commission has to retain the ability to modify learner protection plans so as to ensure that those plans are robust and remain focused on the learner. I call on Members, therefore, to support amendments 12 and 13 and to reject all other amendments in this group.

I'd like to echo much of what the Minister has said and I'd also like to thank him for taking our original amendment forward and supporting the intentions originally set out by the Welsh Conservatives regarding learner well-being and protection.

I would like to move amendments 98, 99 and 100. Amendment 98 and its two consequential amendments have been brought forward again to reiterate Universities Wales's suggestion for the commission to be able to approve the learner protection plan with or without modifications. The commission must be able to specify requirements as a condition for approval, and it should be a matter for the governing body to determine whether to accept the modifications. It would also be for the commission to decide whether to approve or reject the plan. However, attempts to oppose modifications directly without providers' consent would seemingly risk the commission being in breach of its duty in relation to charity law, meaning the legislation is relying on provisions that are unworkable. Therefore, I stress again here at Stage 3 that the clause should be amended to remove the ability for the commission to make unilateral changes to plans. I ask Members to consider this. Thank you.

The question is that amendment 12 be agreed. Does any Member object? There are no objections, therefore amendment 12 is agreed.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 13, is it moved by the Minister?

Amendment 13 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

It is. Are there any objections to amendment 13? None. Therefore, amendment 13 is agreed.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Is amendment 14 moved?

Amendment 14 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

It is. Are there any objections to amendment 14? There are none, therefore amendment 14 is agreed.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 15, is it moved by the Minister?

Amendment 15 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

It is. Are there any objections to amendment 15? There are none. Amendment 15 is therefore agreed.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 16. Minister, is it moved?

Amendment 16 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

It is. Are there any objections to amendment 16? There are none, therefore the amendment is agreed.

 Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 17 is next. Is it moved.

Amendment 17 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

Are there any objections to amendment 17? There are none, and therefore amendment 17 is agreed.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 18. Is it moved?

Amendment 18 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

It is. Are there any objections to amendment 18?

Gwelliant 18, unrhyw wrthwynebiad?

There are none, therefore amendment 18 is agreed.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 19, Minister.

Amendment 19 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

Amendment 19 is moved. Are there any objections to amendment 19? I don't see objections, therefore amendment 19 is agreed.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 20, Minister.

Amendment 20 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

Amendment 20 is moved. Are there any objections? There are none, therefore amendment 20 is agreed.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 21. Is it moved?

Amendment 21 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

It is. Are there any objections? There are none, therefore amendment 21 is agreed.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.