Battling the rhetoric over the Welsh Liberal Democrat’s deal with Welsh Government.

It seems that some Plaid Cymru and Welsh Conservative members are fairly unhappy that they were not the ones to secure a deal with the Welsh Government. I’ve seen many call it a “pathetic deal” and claim that, in the case of the Tories, that the party have “endorsed Labour’s savage cuts to the NHS” – probably a case of sore losers. This shows that the Welsh Liberal Democrats are the effective and responsible opposition that Wales needs, holding the Government to account and ensuring that it delivers for Wales.

The package secures one of the party’s key manifesto priorities - an extra £20m for a new Pupil Deprivation Grant; Wales’ version of the Pupil Premium. It also includes a £38.9m economic stimulus package to stimulate the economy and protect jobs, including extra resources for the young recruits and skills growth Wales programmes.

The Pupil Deprivation Grant will ensure that the Government can reduce the effect of poverty on educational attainment, something that is vital to secure if we are to see the future economy and skills base of Wales progress. Just 1 in 5 children on free school meals gets 5A*-C good GCSE’s – the policy will ensure that each child that receives free school meals will receive an extra £450 in funding. Securing £71,001 for Cardigan alone - £511,200 for Ceredigion – a fair sum of money for a relatively small county.

Teachers and a teaching union have welcomed the new policy.

People have attacked the Pupil Premium claiming that it is just a policy which re-distributes existing money – but the argument is that we can do more for less. We have to do more for less.  However, doing more  for less doesn’t have to carry the same negative connotations it usually would. By effectively targeting new or old money, we can have a real impact on the lives of individuals. We can’t continue throwing money at projects and policies – we need to be far more effective in how money is spent and distributed.

I believed that Welsh politics had moved on following the Referendum, but First Minister’s Questions and reports have often left me doubting Wales’ progression since May – the lack of government programmes, the constant references to Westminster on devolved issues – this policy however, and the manner in which the need to redraft the Welsh budget has been approached, allows me to believe that Wales has moved forward, and we can continue to do so.

Letter: Welsh Liberal Democrat and Welsh Government budget deal.

I was pleased to hear of the agreement that the Welsh Liberal Democrats have brokered with the Welsh Government, securing a budget that provides the help that the most deprived children in Wales need to break the link between poverty and educational attainment.

For every child that receives free school meals schools will receive an additional £450 in funding to help raise standards. This could be used to reduce class sizes, put in extra learning support, or to buy additional books or equipment.

The additional £38.9m economic stimulus package is also something that we can be proud of and which will bring real benefit to the people of Wales. A stimulus package that will protect jobs and target the skills gap that exists in Wales, to help our faltering economy, and to build for the future. If Wales is to compete in the future world economy we need a strong skill base and strong economic foundations.

These plans will not only help the economy short term but also build towards the future. The Yes Referendum in March proved that Wales was ready to make the big decisions, and this deal is a step in the right direction.

Rhys Taylor

Students should be at the centre of any future HE policy in Wales.

Education can be seen simply as education for the sake of education, or a means of improving the future economy. However, if the education itself is sub-standard, curtailed, or not reinforced with practical experience, the developments of the future economy could be undermined.

As stated in the May ’11 Welsh Liberal Democrat manifesto: “Higher Education will drive the new Welsh economy…” Higher Education Institutions are key to the future economy, research and development, and overseas connections amongst many other things, but if institutions don’t nurture and promote the factors that contribute to and make long term economic development possible, talk of placing HEIs at the centre of the future economy means nothing.

Labour’s (havoc-wreaking) HE policy is a way of cutting the education budget, a way of closely monitoring HEIs, and a way of stripping institution’s autonomy and independence – it is essentially a highly centralising policy. If the policy was to go ahead resources would be spread thinly across institutions, directly affecting student’s experience and ability to ‘make the most’ of what is available to them – particularly, for example, students studying science and similar courses which will benefit economic development long term.

If student’s experience and access to resources is hampered by a centralising, cost cutting policy, the economic development that the economy would have seen will be affected – graduates’ skills will not be properly developed, their understanding which may be vast, will lack the appropriate practical experience, detracting from the value of their understanding.

If Higher Education in Wales is to undergo reform we have to make sure that students and their education is at the centre of any change. With government subsidising fees for Welsh students the ‘return’ must be graduates with the knowledge and experience to progress into these innovative fields and contribute effectively to that area to bring about development.

The policy needs to work from the bottom up, beginning (education) to end (economic development), or higher education will not drive the new Welsh economy, and improvements to HE in Wales will be nothing more than a Cardiff Bay postcard policy.