Lee Waters: 4. Will the First Minister provide an update on action the Welsh Government is taking to protect jobs at the Schaeffler plant in Llanelli? OAQ52977
Lee Waters: Thank you, First Minister. I warmly welcome that news. I met with the economy Secretary last week to urge the Government to engage with the plant, so I'm delighted that that has now happened. When I met with the UK managing director of Schaeffler, they made it clear that their decision to begin the process of closure had nothing to do with the workforce, which, they stressed, had been...
Lee Waters: 4. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to enable firms to remain in Welsh ownership? OAQ52988
Lee Waters: 2. Will the Welsh Government commission a study on how it can help Welsh legal firms to prepare for the challenges posed by new technology? OAQ52987
Lee Waters: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. We know that the economy of Wales is marked by having a small number of very large anchor firms and a very large number of micro firms, but a missing middle—too few medium-sized firms. And small firms that tend to grow often cash out and the ownership leaves Wales. We're now seeing in Llanelli the difference between a grounded local firm and a rootless global...
Lee Waters: Thank you, Counsel General. I was very grateful to you for attending the round-table I organised recently with law schools and law firms looking at the impact of automation on the legal sector in Wales. It was clear from the discussion we had there were both opportunities and threats: opportunities for the firm, like we heard from Hoowla, who provide software to manage cases and automate work...
Lee Waters: I think the motion before us is fairly uncontroversial; I think it's a matter of fact that the decision will be made by the next First Minister. In the budget, the decision to sign the Orders is primarily a procedural one, and as I understand it, without signing the Orders, the public inquiry report won't be able to be published. So, I hope that there's a unanimous vote here this afternoon in...
Lee Waters: Mark Drakeford.
Lee Waters: Thank you very much. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. It only seems like a few months ago that I was standing up in this Chamber making a similar speech calling for the Government to take action on digital skills, and that's because it was only a few months ago that I was giving such a speech. I'd like to thank Mohammad Asghar for bringing forward this debate. It's important that we work across...
Lee Waters: The future has still got to be about equipping our people, our places and our businesses to adapt to change in order to face the future with confidence. Members may be aware of the report I published just before Christmas, which set out a range of recommendations for transforming public services through the better use of digital. And one of the key conclusions of that report, developed with...
Lee Waters: North-east Wales has seen significant investment in digital infrastructure, with the Superfast Cymru scheme investing over £23.3 million to provide fast fibre broadband access to over 90,000 premises.
Lee Waters: The taskforce delivery plan was updated and published last November. My focus will be delivering the actions in that plan which make a real difference. Strengthening the foundational economy is key. We will also continue to deliver on the commitments to the strategic hubs, Valleys regional park and entrepreneurship support.
Lee Waters: Thank you. As part of the new economic action plan, we place particular emphasis on taking a regional approach to developing the Welsh economy. We've established chief regional officers and regional units to make sure we co-ordinate our work with local partners. And we are working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to inform our approach to regional investment...
Lee Waters: Thank you. Yes, I'm sure that the OECD team will be keen to learn lessons from the experience in Caerphilly, and specifically in the Islwyn constituency. So, I very much hope that they'd want to meet with the officers there. This will be a two-year project. The first phase is now under way. And I think it's really important that we have external challenge and scrutiny to the approach that...
Lee Waters: Thank you. I think the First Minister has been clear and consistent in the process that's undergoing on the M4. He's still awaiting for the legal advice before he can look at the evidence of the public inquiry—he's not yet been presented with the inspector's report. And he'll take that decision in the way that it's been set out on a number of occasions.
Lee Waters: Our mobile action plan outlines our commitment and plans to continue supporting emerging technology initiatives throughout Wales to enable future 5G deployment. Furthermore, we have also asked Innovation Point to co-ordinate 5G activity in Wales and to identify and develop tangible 5G projects that help progress this agenda.
Lee Waters: Thank you. In line with our economic action plan, we are supporting indigenous businesses across Wales to expand and grow by providing advice, support and finance through Business Wales and the Development Bank of Wales.
Lee Waters: Thank you. The growth of indigenous, grounded firms is a central plank of the approach we're taking on growing the foundational economy. It's a well-recognised problem in the shape of the Welsh economy that we have numerous small and microbusinesses but that many struggle to grow to medium, and then beyond that. So, we'll be looking at a range of interventions to tackle that. One of those is...
Lee Waters: Thank you. Yes, tourism remains one of the focuses in the economic action plan of the foundation sectors, and we've been working closely with the UK Government to see what advantages we can draw out of their work, and bringing our work together. We have the tourism infrastructure fund as well, which is proving successful, and I can assure the Member of our continued commitment in this area.
Lee Waters: Absolutely. I think a regional economic focus is essential, and the economic action plan puts this front and centre of our approach from now on. We are currently aligning the teams within the Welsh Government to make sure that the expertise and the capacity is there to take this forward. And it is also important to be engaged with local authorities in a spirit of mutual respect, working...
