Lee Waters: We'll be discussing this further this afternoon, I know, but let's decouple the city deal with the broader agenda of digitisation. The two are not the same thing. One is a means towards an end, and let's focus on the broader end. 5G, of course, at the moment is not something that's being developed at any scale. We've commissioned Innovation Point to give advice to the Welsh Governmenment on...
Lee Waters: Thank you for the question. The Minister has just informed me he has already accepted an invitation to attend the factory; I would also be delighted to come. I'm aware the Member is, of course, a great champion for Sony's presence in Pencoed. I think there's a real exciting opportunity. It's one of the things I want to try and focus on in this portfolio—how we harness the good practice that...
Lee Waters: Thank you for the question. The Member is preaching to the converted on this one—I fully recognise the benefits of artificial intelligence, both at the high, cutting-edge end, but also in the more mundane, everyday end of running a business and running organisations. And I've been impressed, since coming into the brief, with the amount of activity that there is going on, not just directed...
Lee Waters: Thank you. Our economic action plan recognises the crucial role digital technologies will play in the future, with digitisation and innovation featuring as key themes within the calls to action. We continue to engage with business to encourage the adoption of technologies, including artificial intelligence.
Lee Waters: We remain committed to delivering successful city and growth deals in Wales with Welsh Government continuing to be a full partner in their development and delivery, working closely both with the regions and with UK Government.
Lee Waters: Thank you, Jack Sargeant, for those comments, and I must say that having the first-hand testimony of somebody who's fairly recently come through the apprenticeship system adds greatly to the depth of the discussion we have in our National Assembly. And I know from first hand, having attended meetings with Jack with Tata, that he's able to draw on his own experience to inform that discussion,...
Lee Waters: Well, I'd like to thank David Rowlands for his comments. On the question of funding, there has been something of a conjuring trick taking place by the UK Government on the funding of apprenticeships, because we were not given additional funding to reflect the levy. The levy is, in fact, a tax on businesses and we've not had the funding passed on—£120 million or so was cut by the...
Lee Waters: I'd like to thank Jenny Rathbone for her comments. She's certainly right—and this is why we're putting the emphasis on apprenticeships at level 3and above—that the evidence is quite clear that higher level apprenticeships deliver higher value skills and improve the life chances of the people doing them, which is why we've taken the decision to prioritise skills at this level. That's...
Lee Waters: Thank you. I think there were six questions there—I'll try my best to briefly answer those. Your first point about private training providers and was there an argument for a mixed economy and moving to a different provision—I think that's a very interesting idea. I'd certainly welcome the opportunity to see more social enterprises and co-operatives providing training, and I'd be...
Lee Waters: I think I counted five questions there. I will try to answer as many of them as I can. Your first point, about the report done by Estyn into training providers: last year, Estyn found that two of the three providers that were inspected were 'good' and the other was 'adequate'. Clearly, adequate is not good enough and we are reviewing the position about the quality of standards. And as well,...
Lee Waters: We are committed to skills progression across the board, and continue to work closely with our social partners in trade unions and in industry. We are creating better jobs closer to home, through extending and expanding shared apprenticeships in the Valleys taskforce area to support small business in accessing training. We are encouraging SMEs to use apprenticeships by offering an incentive...
Lee Waters: Diolch, Llywydd. I am pleased to be able to inform the National Assembly that the Welsh Government is on track to meet our manifesto commitment to deliver a minimum of 100,000 all-age, high-quality apprenticeships by the end of this Assembly term. Thanks to a remarkable effort from employers, providers and advice services, we have delivered 56,635 apprenticeship starts between May 2016 and...
Lee Waters: Well, that is a correct challenge. There is not enough resource, either at the Welsh Government level or at the local government level, to really make this agenda fly. For example, today, officials are assessing the latest round of Safe Routes in Communities bids. For a £5 million pot, we have only had £6 million-worth of bids. This is the lowest number of bids that we've ever had, and the...
Lee Waters: Okay, well, that's a slightly different point. Let me just finish addressing the other point first. I'm mindful of time, and there's much that I wanted to try and say that I won't be able to say today. We do need to look at regional collaboration as a way of achieving the resources available. The proposal in the bus White Paper for joint transport authorities has the potential, if that's...
Lee Waters: I would.
Lee Waters: Of course.
Lee Waters: Absolutely, and I think that when Carwyn Jones, the former First Minister, said that he wouldn’t dream of cycling in Cardiff, he was roundly criticised, and I think he was right to say that. It’s important for people to feel comfortable to say that they don’t feel happy to cycle or walk under current conditions. The answer to safety is to have enough people doing this so you feel safe,...
Lee Waters: Diolch, Llywydd. It’s a curious position I find myself in as the Minister responding to this debate. I’m thrilled to be given the opportunity to try and advance this agenda and turn into reality some of the things I’ve been saying for some time. It’s a nice touch that I have Dafydd Elis-Thomas sitting next to me, because it was to Dafydd, when he was the Presiding Officer in October...
Lee Waters: The First Minister and the Minister for the economy met with the UK chair of Ford last week to see if we could provide any further help and assistance. Clearly, the situation they face is serious, and they too, like Honda, are facing the changing nature of the automotive sector and the confluence of different forces that have come together at the same time to cause difficulties for the...
Lee Waters: Thank you. Yes, I'm aware of the position at Kasai and the 200 jobs. As I said, there'll be no immediate redundancies in any of the plants, as this announcement will not take effect for three years, and we will be working with the companies in the meantime to help see how we can support them to find alternative markets. Kasai, as Dawn Bowden said, produce the inner door panels for the Honda...
