The leading provider of apprenticeships to the hospitality industry in mid Wales has welcomed plans to create a Commission for Tertiary Education and Research to govern all post-16 education and training.

Arwyn Watkins, managing director of Cambrian Training Company, which has offices across Wales, believes the commission will have much better control over post-16 education and training provision based on evidence and the needs of the economy

The bill to create the new body is expected to become law by next summer and will herald the end of the Higher Education Funding Council.

Plans for the new commission come at an opportune time for Mr Watkins as he is calling for a change to the compulsory education system in Wales to give apprenticeships parity of esteem with university degrees to meet the needs of employers.

He maintains that the most talented young people are encouraged to aspire to attend university rather than to consider apprenticeships in sectors, such as hospitality, where there is a desperate need for skilled employees.

“The Commission for Tertiary Education and Research will be in a much better position to respond to national and regional learning priorities based on evidence to fit the actual needs of the economy,” said Mr Watkins at the recent Mid Wales Tourism conference. “Commissioning learning, whatever that might be, cannot continue to be a free for all.

“We have to realise that we live on an island and there is no longer freedom of movement of people following Brexit, which should not come as a surprise to any of us. How are we going to fill job vacancies and fill skills gaps?

““There is a high percentage of our talented young people that leaves the area at the age of 18 for higher education rather than staying to develop higher level skills through apprenticeships. Many of these young people never return to employment within the region and this must change.

Significant investment in Powys and Ceredigion planned over the next decade had the potential to be a regional economic “gamechanger”, with projects likely to impact positively on the visitor economy which would require a highly skilled workforce.

“Changing the compulsory education system is not likely to win votes but meeting the needs of our regional economy is far more important, in my opinion, to the region than votes,” he added.

He is concerned how much longer businesses can continue to operate with a staff shortage before they become unsustainable, with the consequent impact on visitor experience.

“We need to be continually raising the quality and increasing the offer, not reducing it,” he said.