NDM6692 - Assembly Debates
Tabled on 07/03/2018 | For debate on 14/03/2018To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1. Notes that many communities across Wales experience significant outward migration of young people to other parts of Wales, the UK and beyond.
2. Recognises the contribution of young people to the resilience and sustainability of Welsh communities.
3. Welcomes Plaid Cymru’s success in securing funding for a young farmers grant scheme to help retain and attract young people in rural areas.
4. Regrets the current Welsh Government’s failure to create opportunities for young people to choose to live and work in their communities.
5. Calls on the Welsh Government to:
a) improve the economic opportunities afforded to young people in communities in all parts of Wales;
b) provide better support for business start-ups in Wales and enhance the digital and transport infrastructure which they rely upon;
c) support a new regional approach to retain young people in areas under particular pressure as a result of outward migration e.g. the Arfor region and the valleys;
d) examine whether existing or new national institutions can be located in areas in Wales which require greater job opportunities;
e) provide affordable housing and reform the planning system to enable young people to stay and/or return to live in their communities; and
f) respond positively to the Diamond Review’s recommendation to incentivise students who study away to return to Wales after graduation.
Tabled By
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To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1. Notes Plaid Cymru’s compact with the Labour-led Welsh Government from 2016-2017 and the One Wales coalition agreement with the Labour-led Welsh Government from 2007-2011, and believes that current and past Welsh Governments have failed to create opportunities for young people to choose to live and work in their communities.
2. Calls on the Welsh Government to work with the UK Government to create well-paid jobs for young people in Wales’s communities by taking action that includes:
a) reducing mass immigration, and its associated squeeze on the wages of unskilled and semi-skilled occupations, as revealed in Bank of England working paper, 'The Impact of Immigration on Occupational Wages';
b) reducing taxes and regulation on all businesses, especially small and medium sized enterprises;
c) reducing the income tax and national insurance burden;
d) abandoning the man-made global warming and decarbonisation agenda, and its associated green subsidies, which transfer wealth from the poor to the rich;
e) encouraging policy makers and planners to stimulate the creation of well-paid jobs in rural areas, villages and smaller towns, rather than just large cities; and
f) cutting the non-humanitarian foreign aid budget and redirecting the savings proportionately to the people of Wales.
Bank of England - The impact of immigration on occupational wages: evidence from Britain
Tabled By
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To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:
1. Welcomes the UK Government's ambitious, modern Industrial Strategy which sets out a long term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of young people throughout Wales and the UK.
2. Notes the figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency which show Welsh graduates earn less than anywhere else in the UK.
3. Regrets that since 1999, successive Labour Welsh Governments – supported by other parties – have failed to lift the educational and economic prosperity of young people in Wales.
4. Calls on the Welsh Government to increase employment opportunities for young people and support for businesses and entrepreneurs by:
a) abolishing business rates for all small businesses (up to £15,000);
b) introducing free bus travel and discounted rail cards for all 16-24 year olds; and
c) increasing the opportunities for younger people to secure finance for start-ups.
Tabled By
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Recognises the support the Welsh Government provides for young people, including through:
a) Jobs Growth Wales, which has supported more than 18,000 young people into good-quality employment;
b) high-quality apprenticeships and the commitment made by the Welsh Government to create a minimum of 100,000 all-age apprenticeships this Assembly term;
c) access to housing as 10,000 affordable homes were built in the fourth Assembly and the Welsh Government plans to deliver a further 20,000 this Assembly term;
d) supporting students’ living costs by ensuring they will receive the equivalent of the national living wage while they study;
e) maintaining the NHS Bursary to support young people to start a career in NHS Wales; and
f) investing £100m to raise school standards across Wales over the course of this Assembly term.
