Cabinet meeting: 3 February 2025

• Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS (Chair)
• Huw Irranca-Davies MS
• Jayne Bryant MS
• Mark Drakeford MS
• Rebecca Evans MS
• Jane Hutt MS
• Julie James MS
• Jeremy Miles MS
• Lynne Neagle MS
• Ken Skates MS
   
• Sarah Murphy MS
• Vikki Howells MS
• Jack Sargeant MS

Apologies

• Dawn Bowden MS

Officials

• Andrew Goodall, Permanent Secretary
• Rachel Garside-Jones, Transition Director Office of the First Minister
• Rebecca Dunn, Head of Cabinet Division
• Victoria Jones, Principal Private Secretary, First Minister
• Toby Mason, Head of Strategic Communications
• Sinead Gallagher, Deputy Director Cabinet Office
• Wayne David, Special Adviser
• Sarah Dickins, Special Adviser
• Madeleine Brindley, Special Adviser
• Ian Butler, Special Adviser
• Haf Davies, Special Adviser
• Victoria Evans, Special Adviser
• David Hooson, Special Adviser
• Kirsty Keenan, Special Adviser
• Jackie Jones, Special Adviser
• Stephen Jones, Special Adviser
• Philippa Marsden, Special Adviser
• Martha O’Neil, Special Adviser
• Maddie Rees, Special Adviser
• Victoria Solomon, Special Adviser
• Mary Wimbury, Special Adviser
• Christopher W Morgan, Head of Cabinet Secretariat (minutes)
• Damian Roche, Cabinet Secretariat
• Helena Bird, Permanent Secretary’s office
• Kath Hallett, First Minister’s office
• Tracey Burke, Director General Climate Change & Rural Affairs
• Sioned Evans, Director General, Education, Culture and Welsh Language
• Tim Moss, Chief Operating Officer
• Judith Paget, Director General Health and Social Services
• Andrew Slade, Director General, Economy, Energy and Transport
• Nia James, Director Legal Services
• Dean Medcraft, Director of Finance (items 4)
• Sharon Bounds, Deputy Director, Financial Controls (item 4)
• Andrew Jeffreys, Director Treasury (item 4)
• Emma Watkins, Deputy Director Budget and Government Business (item 4)
• Claire Bennett, Director of Climate Change & Environmental Sustainability Item 5)
• Chris Jones, Deputy Director, Mining Legacy and Reservoir Safety (item 5)

1.1 Cymeradwyodd y Cabinet gofnodion y 27 Ionawr 2025 / Cabinet approved the minutes of 27 January 2025.

Cardiff University

2.1 The First Minister invited the Minister for Further and Higher Education to provide Cabinet with an update on the recent announcement from Cardiff University about restructuring.

2.2 A statutory consultation on redundancies of up to 400 staff, voluntary with compulsory as a last resort, commenced on 29 January and would last for 90 days. The consultation proposed course closures in nursing, ancient history, music, religion and theology, and modern foreign languages. However, Health Education and Improvement Wales had advised they were confident they could reallocate places to other institutions and continue to meet the government’s targets for nursing training and recruitment.

2.3 The cuts in arts and humanities subjects reflected a long-term decline in student demand for these subjects across the UK, with provision in these subjects increasingly concentrated in a smaller number of universities. The Vice Chancellor of Cardiff had indicated the proposals remained in a consultative phase and was open to views of the government and Senedd members.

2.4 The whole sector in Wales and across the UK was undergoing a challenging financial situation due to fluctuations in international student recruitment between 2021 and 2024, as student visa regulations were first liberalised and then curtailed, along with increased market competition for domestic students, as more prestigious institutions expanded their recruitment, and declining student applications for some subject areas, particularly in the arts and humanities.

2.5 There was also a decline in the real-terms value of tuition fees since its high point in 2012, the loss of EU structural funding, upon which universities in Wales were especially reliant, and the failure of UK Government to replace it. This was coupled with increasing costs related to energy, pensions, and the increase to employers’ national insurance.

2.6 These challenges had been evident over the past 12 to 18 months, with many universities reporting forthcoming deficits and several running voluntary exit schemes.

2.7 Nevertheless, universities in Wales remained relatively well-funded per-student compared to other parts of the UK and also internationally.

2.8 It was noted there would be an opposition debate this Wednesday, and a Universities and Colleges Union protest outside the Senedd. Government communications on the matter had highlighted an expectation the university would provide necessary support to affected staff and students and to work in the spirit of social partnership and that Welsh Ministers were committed to supporting the universities during a challenging time.

2.9 However, many of the underlying causes of the financial challenges facing universities were outside Welsh Government control, such as visa rules, Brexit, and the loss of structural funding, with direct Welsh Government support accounting for only 10% of the sector’s turnover. It was important to remember that universities were autonomous institutions, and the government could not and should not direct their academic decision making.

2.10 The Welsh Government had already taken some steps to support the sector where possible, such as increasing tuition fees in successive years, from £9,000 up to £9,535 next academic year, generating an estimated £36 million additional income for the sector. £10 million of grant income in this current financial year had been reinstated, following the autumn statement, taking Medr’s funding to £200 million.

2.11 However, the total scale of the financial challenges exceeded the government’s financial capacity, unless significant sums were diverted away from other vital services, and it was not possible to provide additional grant funding to the sector for the next financial year.

Amgueddfa Cymru / National Museum closure

2.12 The First Minister invited the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership to provide an update on the recent closure of the National Museum in Cardiff.

2.13 On Sunday the museum made the decision to temporarily close its building in Cardiff for a short period due to a mechanical issue caused by a component failure in an isolated area of the building. The fault had been identified and was in the process of being resolved. It was expected that the Museum would remain closed on Tuesday to undertake tests. The minister would be meeting the Chair and Chief Executive of Amgueddfa Cymru later that afternoon and a Written Statement would issue once matters had been rectified.

3.1 Cabinet noted voting time was scheduled for 7pm on Tuesday and would be around 6:20pm on Wednesday.

4.1 The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language introduced the paper, which asked Cabinet to approve the proposed content and confirm arrangements for the Second Supplementary Budget 2024-2025.

4.2 The government was continuing with the standard practice of publishing 2 supplementary budgets, with the first being agreed by the Senedd the previous October. This budget proposed changes to regularise the final adjustments to allocations before the end of the financial year. Most of these had already been announced, such as those relating to public sector pay, SCAPE funding and to support the First Minister’s priorities.

4.3 Revenue reserves were forecast to be £260 million with a deficit on the capital budget of £140 million. The intention was to convert revenue to capital to offset this overprogramming.

4.4 Following a review of the in-year period 9 position there would be a small number of further allocations. £35 million would be allocated to the Health and Social Care MEG in recognition of the revenue position and to reflect a number of pressures, such as a £15 million shortfall in funding from the Immigration Health surcharge. There would be £25 million revenue for the Economy, Energy and Planning MEG as a contingency to cover a potential legal challenge, along with almost £1 million being allocated to the Social Justice MEG to support the Communities Facility Programme.

4.5 The Second Supplementary Budget would be laid on 18 February and moved in the Senedd on 18th March.

4.6 Cabinet approved the paper.

5.1 The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs introduced the paper, which asked Cabinet to note the initial reception following the introduction of the Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill in the Senedd in December. The paper also provided an update on operational activities, including next steps following the landside at Cwmtillery in November.

5.2 The Bill was laid in the Senedd on 9 December and was well received with positive reports in the media.

5.3 The weeks prior to the introduction of the Bill were challenging due to Storms Bert and Darragh, with the former resulting in a landslide at a Category D disused coal tip owned by the Local Authority in Cwmtillery. This demonstrated the need for the Bill and a reminder of the potential threat disused tips posed to communities.

5.4 £154,000 had been committed to support communities in Cwmtillery and the Coal Tip Safety Grant scheme would continue to be made available to ensure the long-term stability of that tip and all disused coal tips in Wales. Inspections of Category D tips had begun, with no major problems identified so far. Additional checks would be carried out following storms or localised adverse weather.

5.5 The Senedd’s Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee was linking the Bill with Welsh Government policy on coal, additional powers on open cast mining and the extraction and sale of coal from disused coal tips, in terms of overall climate goals.

5.6 The £25 million already secured from the UK government in 2025-2026 for coal tips was welcomed.

5.7 The overall funding package available now amounted to £102 million, which was made up of £65 million being allocated since 2020, along with a further £37 million within the 2025-2026 Draft Budget.

5.8 Cabinet approved the paper.

Cabinet Secretariat
February 2025