4. What are the implications of the UK Government's industrial plan on Wales? OAQ(5)0406(FM)

Thus far, it is not full of detail, but we have long called for a rebalancing of the UK economy and we will carefully consider the UK Government’s industrial strategy Green Paper when we see it in more detail.

Obviously, the industrial plan will impact on devolved matters in some way, but we won’t exactly know that until the Welsh Government publishes an industrial plan for Wales itself. In response to a question from my friend the Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr last week, the economy Secretary dismissed any need for an urgent industrial plan for Wales, with some suggesting that we might have to wait until late in the summer for a Welsh economic plan, let alone an industrial plan. When will the Welsh Government stop playing hide and seek with the future prosperity of this country?

Far from it—the unemployment rate is 4.1 per cent, lower than in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and we’ve just had the best figures for foreign direct investment for 30 years. We take the view that it’s hugely important that we look to develop business, setting up a development bank for Wales and the national infrastructure commission for Wales as well, and so supporting sectors where they need support. We’ve not seen support from the UK Government for steel; we’ve provided that support and it’s because of that support that there is a future in prospect for the Welsh steel industry. So, from our perspective, the figures speak for themselves in Wales. There’s heavy investment in skills as well to improve, ultimately, gross domestic product per person and GDP across Wales, and we believe that the story we can tell is a good one.

First Minister, you’ve just mentioned steel there, and are you as disappointed as I was when I read through the industrial plan from the UK Government that there’s very little reflection on steel? In fact, it reflects, perhaps, their whole approach to steel—non-existent, effectively. Will you look at the industrial strategy, because manufacturing is 16 per cent of the gross value added here in Wales? It’s a major sector, so when you produce the economic strategy, will you ensure that there’s an industrial strategy within that to ensure that our manufacturing sector and our steel sector is reflected in the actions we take?

By our actions, we are judged on what we have done for the steel sector in Wales: the financial support that we’ve provided; and the fact that we’ve engaged so much with Tata and other steelmakers, particularly, showing them that we steel as an important part of the Welsh economy. There’s scant reference to steel in the Green Paper itself, despite the assurances we’ve heard from the UK Government about its central importance. We need to see more detail on how the UK Government will do its bit to support the steel industry.

In regard to your White Paper on exiting the EU, First Minister, there’s much I can agree on. But there does appear to be a lack of strategic planning to leverage the opportunities, I think, to grow the Welsh economy. We know that Welsh exports were down in 2015 and new business start-ups since 2011 have reduced by 26 per cent. So, in growing the Welsh economy, how is your paper linking with your prosperous and secure strategy that your Cabinet Secretary talked about last week? What Welsh Government plans are there to reverse the export declines and indeed support particularly new business start-ups?

Firstly, I thank him for what he said about the White Paper, not describing it as ‘The Beano’, of course, as we heard others in his party describe it. He talked about small and medium-sized enterprises—well, we’ve got our repayable fund to SMEs, which offers repayable finance to SMEs. Immediately following the referendum we did launch the business confidence plan, which is a series of actions we’re developing aimed at promoting business confidence, and that includes the announcement of the new growth and prosperity fund, so that Wales remains an attractive place for businesses to invest. On top of that, Finance Wales has increased one fund and introduced two new funds as well. For example, the Wales technology venture investments fund and the Wales business fund. So, we are determined to make sure that we can provide as much support as SMEs need. It’s right to say there is still some uncertainty as to what happens post Brexit. We don’t know what the arrangements will be for accessing the single market, and until those questions are answered, then it’s natural that some businesses who wish to export will wish to wait and see what happens before they take investment decisions.