5. Will the First Minister provide an update on the work programme of the Welsh European Funding Office between now and the UK's exit from the European Union? OAQ(5)0501(FM)

The Welsh European Funding Office is continuing to implement our EU funding programmes, as agreed with the European Commission, to deliver jobs and growth. Nearly two thirds of the funds have been committed to date, and our aim is to invest all of the EU funds available to Wales by early 2019.

Thank you for that update. You may already know that, as well as indicating that equivalent money should come to Wales after exit, witnesses giving evidence to the external affairs committee have said that this is an opportunity to do things differently in terms of regional funding. Can you tell me how many of the applications currently with WEFO are predicated on the private sector taking the delivery lead? And what advice is WEFO giving bidders for that remaining money to make sure that its long-term projects are structurally flexible enough—perhaps I could put it like that—to make sure that they can last once the days of the Commission directing regional funding have gone?

Well, clearly, multi-million EU projects include Business Wales apprenticeships, directly relevant for the private sector, south-west workplace plus, which you will be very aware of in your region, making an impact by boosting business, helping them to increase work prospects and skills of our people, but also ensuring that, through the programme monitoring committee, we’re engaging fully with Welsh stakeholders, including the private sector in terms of a common Welsh position on future arrangements for regional funding in Wales. That’s critically important—of course, the PMC is chaired by Julie Morgan—in terms of safeguarding those investments.

Leader of the house, as Suzy Davies pointed out, WEFO operates under EU regional policy rules at this point in time, but in two years they’re not going to be there, effectively. What I’m asking is: what discussions have you had with the UK Government about a future regional policy, and are you taking the opportunity to be creative in the agenda to ensure that what happens in Wales can actually be unique to Wales?

I think our White Paper, ‘Securing Wales’ Future’, is vitally important because it does lay out what we made clear as far regional economic development—. It’s very clear that that is a devolved competence, and it must remain so. We would resist firmly any attempt by the UK Government to reverse any form of devolution and take control of regional policy. So, I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to put that on record today. It is important that we have got our engagement through the Joint Ministerial Committee on European negotiations, at which the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government represents us. He presented our White Paper at their meeting on 8 February.