Ken Skates: Can I thank Helen Mary Jones for her third question and say that when I announced the third phase of the economic resilience fund, the first inquiry I got was from somebody who owns and operates a hair and beauty salon, asking whether the lockdown fund would be applicable to them? It will be. Where the business development grants would be available to them, they will be, provided, of course,...
Ken Skates: Can I thank Helen Mary Jones for that important point about the role of Welsh Government in supporting steel businesses in Wales through the procurement process? As we seek to build back better, we intend to do so using Welsh steel, and we will look for every opportunity to do so. The Member is aware that the Welsh Government was the first Government to sign up to the steel charter, and that...
Ken Skates: Can I thank Helen Mary Jones for her question? It gives me an opportunity to promote the consultation that's taking place at the moment concerning the Welsh Government's new manufacturing plan. I encourage all Members to contribute to that consultation, because it covers all important sectors within the Welsh manufacturing base, including, obviously, steel. And we are determined to support...
Ken Skates: I missed the first part of Helen Mary Jones's question.
Ken Skates: Can I thank the Member for his questions, and say that I do appreciate his more reasonable sentiment today regarding the letter to employers than his colleague expressed in the press release last week, which I'm afraid was just pure scaremongering? In terms of remote working and homeworking—or, as I like to call it, multi-place working—we came to that target on the basis of the proportion...
Ken Skates: Can I thank the Member for his questions? First of all, on the point regarding the letter that we sent out, I make no apology whatsoever for my commitment to working with employers and trade unions to change people's working lives for the better. Nobody is trying to coerce any individual or any business, but we are promoting a 'something for something' relationship between the public and...
Ken Skates: I'm sorry, Llywydd, I can't hear—I can't hear Russell George.
Ken Skates: Yes. That's perfect.
Ken Skates: No.
Ken Skates: Can I thank Jack Sargeant and say that his question is actually very timely, because I've just come out of a virtual meeting with the local area board, who oversee the AMRC and economic development opportunities across Deeside industrial park and the enterprise zone? I was pleased to receive a comprehensive briefing from Bill Duckworth, the excellent site manager at Tata in Shotton, and also...
Ken Skates: Well, first, a number of points in observation on what Janet Finch-Saunders has just said in the Senedd Chamber: we're putting lives first, we are prioritising human life and we make no apologies for that; the First Minister was right in what he said yesterday; and, thirdly, the incident management team that met last week, to decide on restrictions in north Wales were unanimous. This was a...
Ken Skates: Diolch, Llywydd. I was just saying about the IMT that met last week: a range of stakeholders—local authority leaders, the police, health chiefs—all in agreement that action had to be taken. The reason being that the later you act, the longer restrictions are often in place. Just look at what's happening in Paris right now, just look at what's happening elsewhere, when you fail to...
Ken Skates: Well, the Member will also be aware of the astonishing work that's been taking place at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre Cymru, which we opened just last autumn. That centre was designed to deliver opportunities for businesses to collaborate. It was designed to capture the 'wing of tomorrow' for Airbus, it was designed to capture more research and innovation funding from the UK...
Ken Skates: As the Member is aware, north Wales has a huge range of strengths that have proven to be attractive to overseas investors over this Senedd term, and we'll continue to use both economic and international levers to ensure those strengths are recognised globally.
Ken Skates: Well, unfortunately, service numbers are actually at a maximum. It's service capacity, the number of seats, or seat capacity, that is currently much reduced and, therefore, there is not the space available on those lines in order to trial as the Member suggests. But, I can assure the Member, again, the Welsh Government is doing all it can to deliver against the ambition of four trains per...
Ken Skates: Well, I should point out the fact that Network Rail is accountable to the UK Government; it is a UK Government body. But, for our part, when we secured the contract for the Wales and borders franchise, when we outlined our aspirations for the metro, we also detailed how we intend to deliver a raft of services across the metro area that would be zero carbon. Their power would come from forms...
Ken Skates: Can I thank the Member for his supplementary question? He regularly makes a very powerful case for the devolution of responsibility for rail infrastructure and, with it, fair funding. And I've recently outlined how we found, through a conservative estimate, that, over the course of 28 years, from 2001 to 2029, spend on Welsh-related rail infrastructure is £2.4 billion below what it should...
Ken Skates: We continue to work with Transport for Wales and with Network Rail on the Ebbw Vale line frequency enhancement scheme, which would enable four trains per hour to be operated, and we're also working with Blaenau Gwent on plans to reopen the line to Abertillery.
Ken Skates: Our £1.7 billion business support package is the most generous help offer anywhere in the UK. On 28 September I announced economic resilience fund phase 3—£140 million—to further help businesses deal with the economic challenges of COVID-19, providing businesses with the reassurance that further support is available when they need it most.
Ken Skates: We are providing a £40 million skills and jobs fund, alongside our support for business via the economic resilience fund. We want the people of Islwyn and across Wales to receive the assistance they need, be that work, self-employment or to take up a place in education or training.
