North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has hit out at the Welsh Government’s proposed reduction to the higher education budget which he said universities in North Wales fear could potentially have a huge negative impact on the region.
Closing the Welsh Conservative Debate on Higher Education (HE) Funding in the Assembly last week, Mr Isherwood noted that successive reports have found that cutting Welsh University funding to fund Labour’s Tuition Fee Grant Policy is unsustainable, and that Welsh Government proposals would mean an 81 per cent reduction in the higher education budget since 2010.
Mr Isherwood said Glynd?r University has stated that the budget cuts to Glyndwr and Bangor Universities would potentially have a huge negative impact on North Wales.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“The future of the HE sector is of critical importance, driving the economy and social mobility. But, as Professor Diamond’s interim report into HE funding said, the current system is not sustainable, with evidence suggesting the Welsh Government needs to revisit the tuition fee grant policy. This follows findings from Universities Wales, the Learned Society of Wales and the University and College Union, all of which emphasise the policy’s unsustainable nature. If the trend continues, this will put Welsh universities at even greater risk. But the Welsh Conservatives would support an innovative widening-access programme.”
Mr Isherwood noted that Labour introduced tuition fees and that a Welsh Conservative motion defeated Labour in the second Assembly to introduce a top-up fee grant, which Labour then scrapped in the third Assembly.
He said: “The impact of all this is that record numbers of students started university this year as the cap on university places in England was lifted, including a 4 per cent rise in the number of young disadvantaged students. However, whilst England had a 3 per cent increase in students finding places, the increase in Wales was only 1 per cent.
“As we heard at the annual meeting of the court of Bangor University last Friday, one of the biggest challenges is the funding of higher education, with the increasing differential between England and Wales causing pressures. The cutback in HEFCW (Higher Education Funding Council for Wales), we heard, on behalf of the Welsh Government, they said, is the biggest in over three decades as the cost of the tuition fee grant increases. They said that, of over £350 million of Welsh higher education money, £100 million is going to fund English universities, and they’re working with Vice-Chancellors across Wales to address this. “Let us replace the tuition fee grant with a progressive system of living costs support that enables students from all walks of life in Wales to study at university.”