We now move to the party spokespeople and, first this week, I ask the Conservative spokesperson, Russell George, to ask his question.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, I’d like to question you on the Welsh Government’s support for small businesses and, in doing so, I also declare that I’m an owner of a small business myself. Small businesses in England will benefit from a number of key priority changes that the UK Government has brought forward in its 2016 budget in order to assists small and medium-sized enterprises. This includes small business rate relief for businesses with a rateable value of between £6,000 and £15,000. Numerous businesses have contacted me in recent weeks concerned that the schemes that were available in the past few years have not been available in this financial year. Can I ask you, therefore, whether you will commit to replicating the UK Government’s policy to support small businesses in Wales and outline a timetable for reform to business rate relief?

This is an issue that I am working on principally with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, who is responsible for local taxes. It’s important that we continue to support indigenous businesses in every way that we possibly can, including through tax cuts. My party had a pledge to ensure that there are tax cuts for small businesses in Wales; we intend to carry through that pledge.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that. You have rightly outlined your manifesto commitment to cut taxes for small businesses. Could I ask you how you would do that for small businesses that currently don’t pay business rates? How are you going to cut taxes for those small businesses?

If they’re not paying taxes at the moment, they wouldn’t benefit from a tax cut, so it’s only for those businesses that are currently paying tax—they will experience that tax cut. Those that don’t pay tax at the moment will continue not to pay tax.

My question was in regard to the fact that there are a number of taxes that small businesses would pay and, clearly, as it was a Welsh Labour manifesto commitment to cut tax for small businesses, if they’re not paying business rates, then obviously that manifesto commitment will cut taxes in other areas.

The Development Bank for Wales is also designed to address the growing bank funding gap between SMEs looking to expand. I would like to ask you, Cabinet Secretary, to provide some details on the next steps for the development bank. There is some concern that interest rates will be punitive if the bank is to be self-financing. So, perhaps you could outline how the bank will work in practice and how it will be different from Finance Wales—whether it will just provide tailored business support as well as a source of funding.

Yes, it will provide that tailored business support that the Member talks about in addition to funding. Our preferred option is a hybrid model that seeks to lever in additional investment and to work in partnership with other stakeholders. I am pleased to be able to tell the Member today that Finance Wales is committed to submitting a fully costed business plan for the development bank to consider prior to recess. I expect that plan to be with me by the end of this week.

The UKIP spokesperson, David Rowlands.

Diolch, Lywydd. Can I rather belatedly congratulate the Cabinet Secretary on his appointment to what is a very comprehensive portfolio? I’m sure he’ll prove as competent in handling it as he has in his previous roles. I look forward to working in a constructive manner with him as UKIP’s member on the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee.

The matter that gives rise to my question is one that I’m sure has been raised a number of times, but I make no apologies for raising it again and will continue to do so until the matter has some kind of resolution. I refer to the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff line, which still has no link into Newport. Can the Cabinet Secretary update us on the latest situation with regard to this very important part of the south-east Wales infrastructure?

Can I thank the Member for his very kind, genuine and sincere comments and offer my congratulations to him on his election and his appointment as a spokesperson? I don’t have the details to hand today on that particular piece of infrastructure, but I would be pleased to be able to submit information to all Members in the form of a written statement.

Fine. As you haven’t been able to give me an answer on that, can I say that it slightly alters what I’m going to say now? But there is a suggested alternative to the difficulty of constructing a turn-back facility at Newport, which appears to be a major stumbling block, which under the present circumstances will require extensive structural changes. The alternative compromise is that the train would carry on to Abergavenny, where construction of this turn-back facility would be far more affordable. This would only require some signalling alterations and, of course, timetable changes. Could the Cabinet Secretary inform us as to whether this strategy has been fully explored?

Well, I’m pragmatic in terms of how we solve transport problems in our communities. Perhaps it would be beneficial if I was to visit the site with the Member to discuss and explore the options that he presents today. If it emerges that that is a more cost-effective solution and one that can be delivered rapidly, then I would happily consider it.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Adam Price.

The Cabinet Secretary has already said that securing inward investment and higher exports for Wales is going to be more challenging, at least in the short term, as a result of the referendum result. He’s referred to the need for confidence-building measures and has announced a new export initiative. Now, that export initiative, as I understand it, is going to be delivered essentially by the civil service, and I have to say that doesn’t build my confidence. So, can I ask the Cabinet Secretary if he can name a single European country, apart from Wales, that doesn’t have its own dedicated trade and investment body?

Well, I would have thought the Member would appreciate that sometimes having Welsh solutions for Welsh problems is something that the people of Wales would be proud of. The fact of the matter is that, up to Brexit, exports from Wales are something that we should be proud of. We’ve been able to assist numerous companies in breaking through into new markets. We are determined to ensure that that continues. We’ll be investing more heavily in accessing new markets and in introducing Welsh businesses to the possibility of exporting right across the globe. We are going to be targeting specific areas where we also have contacts abroad, and I’m confident that we will be able to take advantage, in the short term at least, of currency fluctuations to be able to deliver economic growth in those areas where exports can be delivered in a very strong and robust way.

Maybe I can help the Cabinet Secretary out. There is only one other European country that lacks a dedicated trade and investment agency, and that’s the Ukraine. To be fair to them, they are a country currently under military occupation. The reason that countries have dedicated agencies is that they work. The World Bank says that. The OECD says that. All the published evidence says that. Now, there are certain people who say, of course, that we shouldn’t listen to experts, and that we shouldn’t focus on facts. I’m sure he doesn’t agree with that. Countries with dedicated investment agencies attract two and a half times the level of inward investment compared to those without, and that’s borne out, actually, by the Welsh Government’s own statistics. Our share of inward investment jobs is 50 per cent lower now than it was under the WDA. So, as part of his new economic strategy, can he say that his mind is open, that he will look at the evidence, and that he’s interested in hearing the views of key stakeholders as to whether Wales should now create a dedicated trade and investment body?

I am principled, but I am also pragmatic. I remain open-minded, and as I’ve said on numerous occasions, I don’t have a monopoly on wisdom. I do listen to experts, and I do have an open mind on this issue.

I’m grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for placing that on the record. Following on from the question from Russell George, the Welsh Government, in response to the feasibility study in 2015 on the development bank, said that its preferred approach was one that specifically prescribed a management and organisational structure different to that currently managed by Finance Wales, i.e. not Finance Wales. And yet, speaking at the Cardiff Breakfast Club last week, Giles Thorley, the CEO of Finance Wales, said, ‘Let me let you into a secret; in almost every definition, Finance Wales is already a development bank.’

Since that directly contradicts his own Government’s report and his own Government’s policy, what confidence can we have, in asking Finance Wales to draw up a business plan for a development bank that was meant to replace it, that this isn’t just a very elaborate and expensive rebranding exercise?

No, the development bank for Wales will have access to far more resources to be able to then pass on and to lend to businesses across Wales. I have every confidence in Giles Thorley and also in Gareth Bullock to deliver a bank that offers not just more lending, but also offers bespoke, tailored advice to the business community, which is what they’ve called for for many years.