Ken Skates: Ford is one of our anchor companies; we have a very close working relationship with them, and I asked my most senior officials to meet with senior executives in Europe to discuss long-term plans for the Bridgend site. That was back in June, when they assured us that the plans at that point, for 250,000 units, were still absolutely fine. That was back in June. The Member is right—as I’ve...
Ken Skates: Can I thank the Member for his question? I should just say that we have been assured by Ford—I must stress that we have been assured—that there will be no surplus of labour in the short term. So, those jobs there—the 1,850—are secure and safe in the short term. But, as I’ve tried to impress upon Members, I wish to see the plant secured for the long term, and not just the 1,850...
Ken Skates: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome this opportunity to reflect on what has been an extraordinary year for sport in Wales. I’d particularly like to mention the incredible performance of Wales’s men’s football team in the European championships, and the strong Welsh presence in the record-breaking Team GB Olympic squad. It is now great to see our Paralympic athletes continuing...
Ken Skates: I’d like to thank the Member for his questions and say, first of all, with regard to Pride Cymru, it is a fantastic Welsh Government-sponsored event. We are very proud of that event. It attracts a huge number of people to Cardiff from right across Wales and the UK as well. We wish to see it continue and to grow. In terms of its position on Coopers Field, I have already taken this matter up...
Ken Skates: I’d like to thank the Member for his well-informed contribution and I would agree entirely with it. I think, in terms of the triangle of movement of the games, he’s absolutely right; that needs to be addressed. In my view, as I’ve already said but I’ll repeat, in my view, big ambition is about having the determination to innovate. That’s why I wish to see change take place, not just...
Ken Skates: I’d like to thank the Member for his questions. First of all, with regard to the Champions League, of course, one of the big challenges there is that we won’t know which two teams are going to be in the final until about three weeks before the final takes place. So, depending on which teams are in the final, there will be very different dynamics at play in terms of people accessing...
Ken Skates: I’d like to thank Julie Morgan for her questions, and, with regard to women’s sport, actually it’s a fact that with regard to women’s football there are more than two under-18 women football players registered with the Welsh Football Trust than adult women players. With regard to men, it’s one to one. There are actually more girls playing football—double the number of girls...
Ken Skates: The Member’s right—there is actually a great crossover between sporting and cultural events, and many of our biggest sporting events also have a cultural event attached to them. For example, the Champions League final will have numerous activities of a cultural nature promoted around the city next year. In terms of some of the major events that are classed as cultural, we have some of the...
Ken Skates: The Member raises a really important point, actually, in the context of the Commonwealth Games, as well, because, in many instances, when we attract major events to Wales, we don’t own those events. Therefore, the event’s owners will stipulate who takes part in terms of arranging the logistical solutions to the problems that the events can often present. So, it’s essential that we also...
Ken Skates: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion. I’m pleased to be able to bring forward this legislative consent motion on the UK Government’s Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill. I’d like to record my thanks to the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee for its scrutiny of the memorandum and also note that they are content with it. I commend the motion to the...
Ken Skates: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I thank Members for their contributions today and start by saying that, as a Government, we have been absolutely clear about the importance of full and unfettered access to the EU single market? This is a fundamental priority. We must have access, tariff-free, for goods and services to the EU single market with no technical barriers in place. We...
Ken Skates: Absolutely.
Ken Skates: I can’t speak on behalf of Owen Smith, but the point that you’re making is that you would wish Wales, against the will of the people, to be a member of the European Union, when the result was very clear on 23 June. You cannot be a member of the single market without being a member of the European Union.
Ken Skates: Yes.
Ken Skates: I will come to the point of people, but, just to remind you of what the First Minister said to you directly in response to a question yesterday, when you asked him this very same question about movement of people, he said: ‘Access to the single market for goods and services is the red line; the issue of free movement of people is something that will need to be examined and discussed as...
Ken Skates: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I’d like to thank all Members for their contributions today. I realise that, from some opposition Members, there was a little cynicism; I will forgive them for that and say that, generally, I think we are all on the same page insofar as the need to grow our economy in north Wales is concerned. Creating a strong internal economy within Wales and growing the...
Ken Skates: Yes, I’ll accept.
Ken Skates: Yes, absolutely. The Member may or may not be aware that we put it our manifesto, the Welsh Labour manifesto. We actually said that we would be looking and ensuring that there is responsibility devolved to regions such as north Wales, but what we need to have is the clear go-ahead for the growth deal, because if there isn’t to be a growth deal, then we will have to look at other means of...
Ken Skates: But surely the Member would also recognise that what businesses are telling us, what people are telling us, is that the UK and Welsh Governments should work together in the interests of the people of north Wales, and it would be far better to integrate our policies with UK Government policies where economic growth is concerned. That means that we should seek to dovetail our approach to...
Ken Skates: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome this opportunity to congratulate our Olympic and Paralympic athletes who represented Team GB and Paralympic GB at the 2016 Rio games. I am especially pleased that Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales will be hosting a public event outside the Senedd later this week, giving people from across Wales the chance to pay tribute to all...
