Thank you. As a Government, we acknowledge the positive impact that the education maintenance allowance can have on young people. That's why we, during the years of austerity forced on Wales by the coalition Government, have tried to safeguard the allowance, as opposed to what happened in England, where it was abolished in 2011. And now we face another extremely difficult financial situation, we are still committed, in accordance with our programme for government, to maintaining the allowance. Alongside our other commitments for young people, and at an annual cost of £17 million, the EMA makes it possible for more than 18,000 young people to continue in post-compulsory education every year. Almost one in three—31 per cent—of full-time students who meet the eligibility criteria in terms of age receive support through the EMA.

The current payment rate in terms of attendance, namely £30 a week, is consistent with what is available in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Of course, I understand that there are concerns, particularly at a time of crisis, that the EMA hasn’t increased for some time. I acknowledge the work of the Bevan Foundation and continue to welcome their views in terms of where we can make further improvement in terms of our commitment to young people. I realise that young people also are feeling financial pressures as a result of the cost-of-living crisis that we are currently facing. But, at a time when we all have to get to grips with this new pressure on spending, it isn’t possible to increase the level of the EMA from £30 to £45. We estimate that doing so would mean £8.5 million in addition annually. Also, even though I understand that the threshold for considering a young person’s household to be eligible hasn't changed, the additional £8.5 million that would be required to increase the rate would increase to more than £15 million a year if we were to introduce these changes as suggested.