Paul Davies: Minister, the one project the Welsh Government has committed to is reducing the speed limit on the A40 in Scleddau in my constituency in this financial year, and yet the Government has recently made it clear that current capital budget allocations for trunk-road network operations in 2022-23 require all projects to be re-evaluated. Minister, I can't overemphasise the importance of road...
Paul Davies: 6. What are the Minister's spending priorities for Preseli Pembrokeshire for the next 12 months? OQ58073
Paul Davies: 3. What is the Welsh Government doing to support farmers in Preseli Pembrokeshire? OQ58072
Paul Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank the Minister for his statement this afternoon? Of course, offshore marine energy is something that I'm particularly interested in, given the constituency that I represent and the opportunities that that particular part of the Welsh coastline presents for the sector and, indeed, for the Welsh economy. Indeed, the Minister has mentioned the latest...
Paul Davies: Will the Minister make a statement on the provision of ambulance services in Pembrokeshire?
Paul Davies: —what action they can take. And I will take an intervention from the Member for Islwyn.
Paul Davies: Well, Llywydd, I'm not going to take any lectures from the Labour Party when it comes to running the economy. Let's not forget that it was the Deputy Minister for Climate Change that said—and this is what he said— 'For 20 years we’ve pretended we know what we’re doing on the economy—and the truth is we don’t really know what we’re doing on the economy. Nobody knows what...
Paul Davies: Yes, but the statistics are very, very clear, Mike: Wales's businesses pay the highest business rates in the whole of the United Kingdom. That is a fact and a fact that you cannot get away from. Of course, business rates are just one piece of the jigsaw puzzle in creating the conditions for growth and making Wales a more attractive place to do business. We need to harness the potential of our...
Paul Davies: Well, I'm not sure whether you're a unionist or not, Joyce, to be perfectly honest, after that intervention. I'm a unionist, I believe in the United Kingdom and so should you if you are a member of the so-called Labour unionist party. Now, one of the biggest burdens on businesses in Wales is non-domestic rates, and that has been a long-standing issue for businesses. At the end of the third...
Paul Davies: I will take an intervention from the Member for Mid and West Wales.
Paul Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I move the motion tabled in the name of my colleague Darren Millar. Today, our motion reflects the fact that, by many key indicators, the Welsh economy continues to lag behind other parts of the United Kingdom. For example, it's a fact that out of all the nations of the UK, Wales has had the worst gross value added growth since 1999. We've also had the lowest...
Paul Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank the Minister for his statement this afternoon? I appreciate that the decision to introduce import control checks has been scrapped quickly and without meaningful dialogue with Governments across the UK, and so, as a result, the Welsh Government has not had a huge amount of time to really consider the implications for Wales. Nevertheless, I'm grateful to the...
Paul Davies: First Minister, as you are aware, the Finance Committee of the Senedd will be looking at the shared prosperity fund, and, as Chair of the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee, I want to make it clear that my committee will also be investigating these new funding arrangements and the impact of the arrangements on Wales, once the Finance Committee has reported on this issue. Now, you and...
Paul Davies: It's a shame that some Members in this Chamber are playing politics with this issue. And so that the Member for Alyn and Deeside hears, and other Members too, the behaviour of P&O Ferries is a scandal and is entirely unacceptable, and we as a group here have made that entirely clear. Now, bearing in mind the serious situation, and considering that it appears that the chief executive of this...
Paul Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank Members for contributing to this debate this afternoon? We've heard some very insightful contributions from Members on some of the issues facing the sector and the impact that driver shortages are having more widely on the economy. I'm grateful to all Members, whether they are committee members or not, for engaging on this issue. Before I respond to...
Paul Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I move the motion tabled in my name. Dirprwy Lywydd, if Members cast their minds back to last autumn, they will remember the supply chain issues that were affecting our lives: certain shops running out of specific products, some petrol forecourts running dry, and emergency efforts by the Welsh and UK Governments to intervene and support our vital supply chains. The...
Paul Davies: I'm grateful to you for that response, Minister. Now, the Welsh Government's plan for employability and skills commits to reviewing adult education and lifelong learning and improving quality and access to skills-based formal and informal adult learning, and I'm sure that you'll agree with me, Minister, that, sometimes, shorter courses can be more effective than other routes at filling skills...
Paul Davies: Of course, Minister, it's vital that the enterprise zones, the Cardiff capital region, the regional skills partnerships and other key forums are working together effectively, and that we can see clear outcomes and value for money from them. The Welsh Government's regional economic frameworks are important in developing place-based approaches to economic development, and marketing the...
Paul Davies: Well, I hope you'll condemn this brochure, Minister, because it's vital that Wales is not marketed to external investors as a low-wage economy, and this language certainly does nothing to retain graduates who feel that they do have to get out of Wales to get on in life. Now, of course, it's crucial that, as we develop the Welsh economy post pandemic, the Welsh Government harnesses the unique...
Paul Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Minister, yesterday, I raised with you the Cardiff capital region brochure that boasted of relatively low rates of pay, and describes Cardiff as having lower graduate salaries than Birmingham, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Unsurprisingly, Cardiff capital region's approach has been labelled a destructive strategy that would push away young talent in south-east Wales by...
