Bethan Jenkins AC/AM Blog

….BUT this time it’s the long awaited review by the Labour Westminster government on top-up fees, which was announced at the beginning of this week. Lord Bourne, the former Chief of BP, is heading the review group, and he will report to government. The group will also consider the cost of higher education to the taxpayer – and, of course, the thorny issue of increased fees for students.

Now a review is all well and good, but if it is to happen and to work well, then there should be  a cross section of society represented on the review group. The National Union of Students is angry that there is only one student representative on the group. But if it is so concerned now, then why was one representative sufficient enough for Wales when Ben Gray, the former President of NUS Wales, sat on Jane Hutt’s group? I don’t remember such outrage then.

Wes Streeting, the NUS President, has noted his worry that this review will merely pave the way for higher fees, with some claiming that they are now a foregone conclusion. Again, I did not hear this point being made in Welsh review by the NUS.  In fact, the union here did the opposite, and effectively agreed to changes that have culminated in the imminent introduction of higher fees for Welsh students studying here in Wales. 

There is a clear inconsistency in the positions taken by the NUS and its Welsh counterpart. For example, Wes Streeting told The Guardian this week that higher fees will lead to the marketisation of HE. I said exactly the same when we debated this at the National Assembly in March, but NUS Wales remained silent on the issue.

This all comes at a time when students face massive debts, and when young people are being hit the worst by the recession. Most people know my view on what happened here in Wales, but now I hope that Westminster does not introduce higher fees because I worry that Wales will have to follow suit. The Welsh Assembly Government will be left with little choice in the matter.

I intend to raise this issue with Jane Hutt, and to ask how she will be taking part in the Westminster review process. After all, it will affect a large proportion of Welsh students who currently have to pay top-up fees if they attend universities in England. So far, when I have asked this question of her during question sessions at the National Assembly, she has indicated that she is waiting for the review to be announced on a Westminster level. Now that it has, I can see no reasons for stalling this process. It should be the  duty of the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure that it has proper input into the Westminster review.