Group 19 is next, and this final group of amendments relates to sixth forms. Amendment 161 is the lead amendment in this group, and I call on Laura Jones to move amendment 161. Laura Jones. 

Amendment 161 (Laura Anne Jones) moved.

Diolch, Llywydd. Finally, I wish to speak to my amendments in the group first. As I've described previously, my group and I fundamentally disagree with the Welsh Government's holding power to rationalise sixth forms. Governing bodies and local authorities must be central to the process, and be in collaboration, not a mere afterthought. Amendment 161 serves to omit lines from the Bill that provide for powers for the commission for tertiary education and research to restructure sixth form education, as was the result of an amendment to the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013. Further to this, the purpose of amendment 162 is to omit an amendment that adds a condition concerning objections to proposals in the context of approval of Welsh Ministers. 

I'm also submitting amendment 163 to remove Chapter 3A in order to combat the relentless pursuit of grab powers over the rationalisation of sixth forms. This follows concerns raised at the previous stage about the impact on sixth forms, including concerns raised by those in the sector, especially NASUWT. Whilst they have noted the Minister's previous reassurances that the proposals don't mark the end of sixth form education, it is in reality, when in several local authorities—Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr and Torfaen—the choice of pursuing post-compulsory education in school has already been removed. 

The Welsh Government also needs to take action to mitigate the risk of an exodus of Welsh learners and teachers. NASUWT has already received reports of this occurring, particularly near the border with England. We must remember that A-levels are a popular option and 70 per cent of publicly funded A-level provision is in sixth forms. 

Finally, amendment 165, which is linked to amendments 161, 162, 163 and 164, seeks to bring provisions relating to sixth forms in the Bill in line with the existing provisions of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013, relating to primary and secondary schools, as recommendation 29 of the CYPE committee suggests from the last stage. 

As for the Minister's amendment, I'll be abstaining on this amendment. Amendment 76 is similar to amendment 77 from the previous group, and is a result of a Stage 2 amendment being passed. We didn't approve of that amendment at Stage 2, and we fundamentally disagree with the premise of this aspect of the Bill. And therefore, despite it being a housekeeping amendment to clean up the Bill, I cannot once again support this out of principle. I urge other Members of the Senedd to listen to these views. Thank you. 

This group of amendments includes amendments related to sixth forms. We will support amendments 76 and 77 whilst voting against the rest. The reason for that is that we believe that the proposals that will come before the commission will require approval—I couldn't remember the Welsh term—

—by Welsh Ministers as a result of amendments made at Stage 2, which we supported. I'm glad that improvements have been made in this regard when it comes to sixth forms during Stage 2, and that a whole range of concerns raised by Plaid Cymru and others in this area have been addressed by the Minister. 

Sixth forms play an important and unique part within Welsh-medium education, safeguarding elements of immersion and securing a crucial contribution to the skills of learners who have been taught through the medium of Welsh, and to allow them to contribute to the Welsh language ethos of their schools and to be linguistic and cultural role models for younger pupils. It is crucial that the provisions within the Bill support democratic accountability at a local and national level, and that local models that are appropriate to the needs of communities are allowed. We therefore feel that the amendments made at Stage 2, which relate, for example, to using the term 'restructure' rather than 'rationalise', do meet that need, and that the choices and needs of learners, and particularly Welsh-medium learners, are now safeguarded, as they will be referred to Welsh Ministers where there is valid objection.

I have to say that I don't share the optimism of the previous speaker about the safeguards that are in place in the Bill. I believe that, fundamentally, people should be able to express a choice about the provision that they want to attend in their locality. I think that learners should have every opportunity to enjoy a breadth of provision, whether they want to undertake their extra post-16 learning in an FEI, a further education institution or college, or whether they want to attend a local sixth form. But the reality is that those choices aren't there in all parts of the country, and we've seen an erosion of that choice over the years.

One other aspect of the erosion of that choice is the lack of availability of not just Welsh-medium post-16 education in some parts of Wales, but also faith-based education in some parts of Wales too; the Catholic Education Service, the Church in Wales, want to be able to offer more opportunities for post-16 learners to learn in an environment where there is a faith characteristic, and that is not an opportunity that I see being actively promoted in this Bill, and in fact I think that those sorts of opportunities, where they are available, are potentially threatened, and I don't see the protections in place from the Minister's amendments that have been suggested.

So, that's why I'm speaking in support of the amendments that have been tabled by Laura Anne Jones. I think it's really important that we've got to get these safeguards in place so that learner choice is something that is critical, going forward, and not something that is pushed to the sideline.

Can I thank Sioned Williams for her supportive remarks in relation to the amendments? I think matters have rather moved on since Laura Anne Jones first expressed the concerns that she has repeated in this debate today, and the concept of rationalisation, to which you referred in the question, has already been entirely removed from the legislation. So, I think that sets a hare running that doesn't reflect the reality of the Bill coming into Stage 3. And I hope I can offer Darren Millar the assurance that the concerns that he has expressed have no bearing on the proposals in the debate today, because they in fact protect the kinds of arrangements that he's talking about, rather than put them at risk.

I'll speak first, if I may, to the amendment tabled in my name, amendment 76, which removes provision amending the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013 that would have enabled the commission to refer any proposals made by a local authority or the governing body of a voluntary or foundation school that affect sixth-form education as defined and are subject to a valid objection to the Welsh Ministers for a decision. As all such proposals subject to a valid objection will now require approval by the Welsh Ministers, as a result of an amendment I made at Stage 2, this provision is unnecessary.

Turning to the other amendments in this group, I reject amendments 163 and 164 and also amendments 161 and 165, which are consequential on those amendments. These are all repeats of amendments tabled and rejected at Stage 2, and my reasons for their rejection remain the same. To recap for the record today, these amendments remove the new Chapter 3A that the Bill currently inserts into Part 3 of the 2013 Act, and instead retain the existing powers of the Welsh Ministers to reorganise sixth-form education, and extends those powers to the commission.

The Bill inserts a new Chapter 3A into the 2013 Act, rather than amending the existing provision, to better reflect the changes to the regulatory landscape brought about by the establishment of the commission. The provisions in this new Chapter will enable the commission to take a more strategic approach, offering a wider perspective to school sixth-form provision. Through the provisions, a legislative framework is established that enables the commission to adopt this strategic view and direct local authorities to bring forward proposals, ensuring the link back to the local level. By removing the amendment to the 2013 Act that I inserted into the Bill at Stage 2, amendment 162, tabled in the name of Laura Anne Jones, requires the Welsh Ministers to approve all proposals that affect sixth-form education, even when no objection has been made. This adds unnecessary bureaucracy. If there are no valid objections to the proposal, I do not see what benefit is added by Welsh Ministers needing to approve such a proposal, and so I call on Members to support amendment 76, tabled in my name, and to reject all the other amendments in the group.

Laura Jones to respond.

Okay. Diolch, Llywydd. I concur with all that my colleague Darren Millar said earlier and his concerns for faith schools and all sixth forms, and I still don't believe that the safeguards in the Bill go far enough. Excessive provision should be the only part that matters here. I find the rejection of the amendments in the group to be particularly frustrating, actually, and the Welsh Government's seemingly incessant pursuit of further powers over sixth forms in Wales is something that my group and I are concerned with. The  Government has listened partly to concerns, but must listen fully to the concerns of NASUWT, the Education Workforce Council, the National Education Union Cymru and National Association of Head Teachers Cymru, who are still not happy with your amendments, Minister, and I don't understand why you can't support these amendments. I'm sure they would add to the safeguards that you say that you want in place. Diolch.

The question therefore is that amendment 161 be agreed to. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Therefore, we'll have a vote on amendment 161. Open the vote.

Amendment 161. 

Close the vote. In favour 15, no abstentions, 38 against. Therefore, 161 is not agreed.

Amendment 161: For: 15, Against: 38, Abstain: 0

Amendment has been rejected

Amendment 162. Is it moved, Laura Jones?

Amendment 162 (Laura Anne Jones) moved.

Move.

Yes, it is. Therefore, is there objection to amendment 162? [Objection.] Yes, there is. Therefore, we'll have a vote on amendment 162. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 15, no abstentions, 38 against. Therefore, amendment 162 is not agreed.

Amendment 162: For: 15, Against: 38, Abstain: 0

Amendment has been rejected

Amendment 76. Is it being moved by the Minister?

Amendment 76 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

Yes. Amendment 76, is there any objection? [Objection.] Yes, there is objection. Therefore, we'll move to a vote on amendment 76. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 38, 15 abstentions, none against. Therefore, amendment 76 is agreed.

Amendment 76: For: 38, Against: 0, Abstain: 15

Amendment has been agreed

Amendment 163. Moved by Laura Anne Jones?

Amendment 63 (Laura Anne Jones) moved.

Move.

Yes. Is there objection? [Objection.] Yes, therefore we'll move to a vote on amendment 163. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 15, no abstentions, 38 against. Therefore, amendment 163 is not agreed.

Amendment 163: For: 15, Against: 38, Abstain: 0

Amendment has been rejected

Amendment 164. Is it moved, Laura Jones?

Amendment 164 (Laura Anne Jones) moved.

Move.

Yes, it is. Is there objection? [Objection.] Yes, there is. Therefore, we'll have a vote on 164.

Open the vote on amendment 164.

Close the vote. In favour 15, no abstentions, 38 against. Therefore, amendment 164 is not agreed.

Amendment 164: For: 15, Against: 38, Abstain: 0

Amendment has been rejected

Amendment 165, Laura Jones—do you move?

Amendment 165 (Laura Anne Jones) moved.

Move.

Is there objection? [Objection.] Yes, there is. Therefore, we'll move to a vote on amendment 165. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 16, no abstentions, 37 against. Therefore, amendment 165 is not agreed.

Amendment 165: For: 16, Against: 37, Abstain: 0

Amendment has been rejected

Minister, amendment 177, in your name. Is it moved?

Amendment 77 (Jeremy Miles) moved.

Yes.

It is. Therefore, amendment 77, is there objection? [Objection.] Yes, there is. Therefore, we'll move to a vote on amendment 77. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 38, 15 abstentions, none against. Therefore, amendment 77 is agreed.

Amendment 77: For: 38, Against: 0, Abstain: 15

Amendment has been agreed

Amendment 119. Is it moved?

Amendment 119 (Laura Anne Jones) moved.

Move.

Is there objection? [Objection.] Yes, there is. We'll have a vote—why not—on amendment 119. Open the vote.

Amendment 119.

Close the vote. In favour 15, no abstentions, 38 against. Therefore, amendment 119 is not agreed.

Amendment 119: For: 15, Against: 38, Abstain: 0

Amendment has been rejected

That's it. We've reached the end of our votes. We've therefore reached the end of our Stage 3 consideration of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill, and I declare that all sections of and Schedules to the Bill are deemed agreed. That concludes our work on Stage 3 proceedings. Thank you very much for your co-operation.

All sections of the Bill deemed agreed.

The meeting ended at 19:29.