Vaughan Gething: A critical cog of the foundational economy is social care. It enables so many people to live fulfilled lives, whether they are the recipients of care, or relatives and close friends of those receiving care, as well of course as the significant number of people who work in the sector. The sector is facing unprecedented resource pressure, so we're channelling assistance to try to help address...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of questions. I'll start with your point about the challenge fund and the assessment. Fifty-two projects were supported, 47 of those completed at March, and the assessment of those has helped to inform the activity we're now moving forward with as well. There's also, though, plenty to learn from the community of practice internally, which Cynnal Cymru have helped to...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the comments and questions. I hope that we heard a more positive Luke Fletcher than last week, when he talked about how he self-described as rather negative and seeing the downside. Actually, I think there's a lot to be positive about in the foundational economy, and as I say, we started the challenge fund in particular following a budget agreement with his party in the previous...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you. There are two points there. The first is the really positive point for Bridgend and Porthcawl and other constituencies—that you can expect more business to go to local firms to support local jobs. The three sectors initially are the three areas in the backing local firms fund—food, social care and optimised retrofit suppliers, which I'm sure you have a number of within your...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Our young people hold the key to Wales's future. That is why I'm delighted to have officially launched our young person's guarantee this week. The Welsh Government is determined that there will be no lost generation in Wales as a result of the pandemic. We are putting in place an ambitious programme designed to provide everyone under 25 in Wales with the...
Vaughan Gething: Whatever the uncertainties we face, we can be sure of one thing: failing to step up to support young people today guarantees economic failure tomorrow. The guarantee is supported by wide-ranging provision to ensure that young people can take up effective support that works for them. In this year alone, the Welsh Government has invested £390 million in sixth forms and further education,...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of questions that I'll try and address in time. About your point about the national conversation with young people, we've of course been having a conversation with young people, as part of the regular interaction that we have, about how the guarantee could and should work. We haven't done as much as I would have wanted in a more structured national conversation. We...
Vaughan Gething: I thank the Member for his questions, and I want to reassure him that he'll be young in this place, comparatively, for some time to come. On your starting point and your endpoint about fair work, essentially, and what our expectations around fair work are, you'll see things that aren't just part of the guarantee. You'll see the legislation we're going to be introducing on social partnership...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, and I recognise that the last decade has been more challenging than we'd want, both coming out of the global financial crash, and then measures that the UK chose to take at the time. And, to be fair, I know that the Member wasn't an enthusiastic supporter of the austerity that was introduced and the challenges, the very real challenges, that that provided, but, even during that...
Vaughan Gething: I thank Joyce Watson for again highlighting the point that the youngest people have been one of the hardest hit groups from the pandemic, and the loss of work opportunities in the work that they were already in and the direct impact. Equally, I too am very proud of what previous Welsh Labour Governments have done with Jobs Growth Wales, and the more than 19,000 job opportunities that we've...
Vaughan Gething: I remember many debates around the role of school, and by the time people are of school leaving age, the fact that many of your patterns for life are already set: your expectations about who you are, for better or for worse, but crucially also, the way you see yourself and whether you think a career is a realistic option for you. Many people have not necessarily consciously ruled out careers...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. I think it's a very practical example of where we're already engaged in supporting a major employer, but looking at a sector that provides really well-paid jobs. The investment we've continually made in broadly more skills, and I'm pleased to hear the Member reference the fact that it was Welsh Labour funding that helped him to achieve his own apprenticeship, and...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, I'm happy to do so. I did actually deal with Paul Davies's question, in that I indicated that I'd have a further announcement to make on the detail of that support, but I also indicated that I was looking at previous practice that had had some success on a number of start-up grants, as well as the business support that is provided as well. It isn't just the money; it's the actual support...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. We're committed to building on Wales’s success in hosting major events. We work proactively with event owners across the whole of Wales, and I was pleased to see events like Focus Wales and the Curtis Cup delivering economic, cultural and social benefits to north Wales this year.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. And I should say, Wales has a good track record of not just attracting but gaining real benefit from major events, and there is real credit to the Member for his time in Government in helping to move that forward. We see the events that we help to fund having a return on the investment of around about 10:1, so it does provide significant economic benefit, but also,...
Vaughan Gething: Well, I could agree with much of what the Member said and support it, until the last 'Give me a guarantee on the future.' Look, the reality is that if we see the new omicron variant, and if it is something that spreads much more rapidly than even the Delta variant, and if it has the same level of harm over the population and for each person, then, actually, by the fact that it spreads more...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. The difficulty with the omicron variant is that we don't have a fully formed picture of its overall impact. But we are genuinely concerned that it appears to spread even more rapidly than the delta variant. You'll have heard Conservative Ministers in the UK Government talk about that as well, but about the fact that collectively within the UK we don't understand...
Vaughan Gething: Yes. So, on the additional funding that I was pleased to announce— and I'm particularly pleased to have announced that we'll be delivering that in partnership with local authorities, who will deliver the funding and they'll be able to make choices within the local authority area, so it will cover every single local authority in the country. And the figures that we provided on the number of...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, I'll happily deal with those points. It will be of no surprise to you that I'm not going to preannounce the budget. The finance Minister and the First Minister would not be wonderfully happy if I attempted to preannounce parts of the budget that will be published at the end of the year, but I have heard, as indeed has the finance Minister, calls from a range of business organisations for...
Vaughan Gething: That would be a matter for discussion with business sectors themselves, about what courses they would offer directly and what our more broad offer is on the skills and training agenda. I'm interested in the future of work and young people coming into the world of work for the first time and are looking to move on. That's why, of course, we've launched the young person's guarantee. The young...
