<p>Small Businesses in West Wales</p>

Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:33 pm on 21 March 2017.

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Photo of Adam Price Adam Price Plaid Cymru 1:33, 21 March 2017

Last week, the Welsh Government announced two new business investment funds of £7 million each. The application deadline is in just five weeks’ time. The same thing happened with the growth and prosperity fund last year. It was announced on 17 September last year and the deadline for the large applications was just four weeks later. The Scottish Government has created a £500 million fund with an open window for applications over three years. We seem to run the show with: every time the Welsh Government finds a bit of money down the back of the Welsh European Funding Office’s sofa, they announce a new fund, and it’s closed before most businesses have had the opportunity to hear about it. It’s the opposite of strategic, and I would say to the First Minister, gently, that it makes Wales look amateurish.