Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I too would like to thank members of the Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee for their in-depth inquiry and report into the future of hospitality, tourism and retail, leading to this debate today. As we all know, the experience of recent years has been a significant challenge for most businesses in most sectors here in Wales, including, of course, the...
Vaughan Gething: The development bank is already active in this space, in supporting employee ownership, but it also has to work alongside others like Cwmpas Cymru, as you're aware. I'd be happy to have more of a conversation with you. As you know, at today's event, I committed to having a conversation with you and other actors in this space to not just look at the ideas from this lunchtime but to see how...
Vaughan Gething: There are two broad points there. The first is that, yes, when I do talk to the development bank I do take an interest in where that investment goes. If it was only going neatly in and around the centre of the Cardiff capital region, then that would not be what I think is appropriate, because it was partly set up to deal with the gap that has been mentioned about small to medium companies, as...
Vaughan Gething: It's not a specific objective of the development bank to increase food security in the country. It's not a specific objective that we've set. However, we have set objectives around helping to transition Wales to a more sustainable economy and plans around net zero. Lesley Griffiths, as you know, is the Minister who leads on the food sector. I mentioned this last week, and Alun Davies noted...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the questions. You're right; growth from small to medium and then from medium to large is one of our big challenges in the economy. Actually, it is exactly part of what DBW can do, because, often, it is the access to finance that holds people back. It's where high-street banks have seen a gap in what they do and DBW has been able to plug that gap. When it comes to the jobs and...
Vaughan Gething: To start with, on your point about the individual courses available, I'm not in a position to answer that individual point now, but I will make sure I come back to you with the detail on that particular point. On your final point around net-zero investment and the announcement that we've made today on the new support that should be available to help with decarbonisation and energy efficiency...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the series of questions. It's a good place to be making a statement, five years after Ken Skates launched the development bank. It's fair to say that, at the time, not everyone was as optimistic that we'd be at this point celebrating its successful journey, with it overachieving its investment targets. On your point around small businesses and how aware they are, actually, the...
Vaughan Gething: Now, Wales possesses natural resilience. Welsh businesses have stepped up and developed a remarkable capacity to adapt to the toughest of challenges. It’s this spirit that has kept so many businesses afloat during the recent uncertainties. In stark contrast with the UK Government, Wales has a stable, mature Government and a network of social partners that help us to make the right calls....
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. I know that businesses and workers are grappling with very real trauma all over again. From the many discussions that I have had with businesses in recent weeks, I recognise the enormous difficulties that they face. The Welsh Government is in no doubt about the gravity of the situation. Our economy is more reliant upon small businesses, so the risks that...
Vaughan Gething: We are doing everything that we can with the levers that we have available to us to try to support businesses that find themselves in exactly this position. We know that there is a range of energy-intensive businesses, as I said earlier in response to your colleague Luke Fletcher, and our challenge is both wanting a settlement on UK Government support, but also what we can do to try to...
Vaughan Gething: The main levers to tackle cost increases on businesses, interest rates for borrowing, the tax of windfall profits and regulation of the energy market lie squarely with the UK Government. Our priority is to support businesses to decarbonise and to save, as I've mentioned in response to previous questions today. We continue to identify opportunities to redirect resources to reduce burdens on...
Vaughan Gething: Yes, I'm more than happy to say that. It comes on the back of consistent work done across this Government in different iterations. You may or may not have heard the Deputy Minister talking earlier, but we've invested £200 million of Welsh Government funding into Superfast Cymru. That's money in an area that isn't devolved. We recognise the significant benefits of enhancing, improving and...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. Telecommunications policy is not devolved to Wales, yet the economy of north Wales benefits directly from the £56 million broadband roll-out and our £4.2 million grant to the digital signal processing centre at Bangor University, as this Welsh Government continues to step in where the UK Government has not.
Vaughan Gething: Of course, I think this and our previous iterations of Welsh Labour-led Governments have a good record on promoting apprenticeships, not just on the numbers, but also on the quality and the completion stats. I remember Ken Skates, when he was an even younger man, as a skills Minister, and the work he was doing and the fact that our completion figures even then were much better than was being...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the questions. We are certainly looking to improve employment prospects for people who are economically inactive, particularly those aged over 50. We have seen, particularly pronounced at the end and post pandemic, a number of people who have made choices, some of those deliberate choices about wanting to get a different balance between work and life, but also a range of other...
Vaughan Gething: I've set out action within the employability and skills plan to help everyone, particularly those furthest from the labour market, to navigate and respond to any work-related challenges they may face, whether that is through training, upskilling or changing careers.
Vaughan Gething: Actually, it goes back to some of the points I was making in response to earlier questions about what we're considering in terms of increasing our support for businesses to both decarbonise and also to de-risk their own energy supply with energy generation—that includes district heating schemes as well—and look at where we have different economic enterprises and how the heat that is...
Vaughan Gething: You're right, we have some really big challenges. I know that the Member in his private time, as a dad, enjoys swimming, and I too have taken advantage of the opportunity to go and spend time with my own son, but I recognise that that activity is really challenged because of the energy cost, and one of the things that isn't often talked about is the costs of chemical imports as a real issue...
Vaughan Gething: Public swimming pools are an important health and leisure resource, and, equally, an important part of our nation’s well-being. We know that many face unprecedented challenges. We don't have an exact assessment of the number that may have to close. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and, where necessary, if we need to, to work with the UK Government to do everything possible...
Vaughan Gething: We're optimistic in our ambitions about our ability to both attract new businesses to come to Wales as well as businesses that were already founded here to grow and expand. A good example of that is in the compound semiconductor cluster. I recently attended the groundbreaking ceremony with Jayne Bryant in her constituency for the KLA Corporation—750 new jobs being created with an expected...
