Still much to be done to aid Wales’s economic and educational development in next Assembly, says new report

A significant amount of work must be carried out in the next Assembly to further develop Wales’s economy, transport, education and skills, according to a report from the National Assembly for Wales’s Enterprise and Learning Committee.

The Committee’s legacy report, which looks back on its past four years of work, contains 35 recommendations for the next Welsh Government, aimed at strengthening these sectors.

These include the need to push for the electrification of the rail line as far as Swansea and to improve road and rail links.

The report also states that Welsh Government departments must work more closely to ensure that Wales’s economic and educational development is better aligned – particularly within the skills agenda so that young people are equipped with the skills necessary to drive growth.

It says that this joined-up working must also be encouraged in the field of higher education, which has great potential for its economic contribution but needs to adopt a culture of enterprise and commercialisation.

The importance of providing a clear pathway of learning from the early years into further education and then into employment is another key theme of the report.

Committee Chair, Gareth Jones AM, said: “Over the past four years, this Committee has published 38 reports, met 103 times in public, questioned 557 witnesses and cross-examined Welsh Ministers on 51 occasions.

“We’ve scrutinised the policies and expenditure of the Welsh Government in subjects including roads, railways, education and skills - all areas that have a direct impact on people all over Wales.

“Effective scrutiny of Government policies and holding Welsh Ministers to account on behalf of the people of Wales is crucial to a healthy democracy. As a scrutiny Committee, we’re proud to have been able to shape and influence decision-making; important work that must continue in the next Assembly.”