Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:52 pm on 21 September 2022.
Thank you for that response, Minister. I'm sure you'll be as concerned as I am at the significant increase in inflation in the past few months and, of course, it's forecast to rise even further in the months ahead. The student finance regime hasn't changed to take account of those rising costs that many students are facing, particularly in terms of any increase in the level of grant that the Welsh Government makes available on an universal basis to all students—that has been frozen since the beginning of the introduction of the new student finance regime. And there's been no increase either in the maintenance grants that are available to students. What consideration has the Welsh Government given to actually looking at the levels of that universal grant and, indeed, the maintenance loans that are available to support students, given the situation that many will find themselves in over the next few months and years ahead?