6. Will the First Minister make a statement on Welsh Government financial support for employment in south-east Wales? OAQ(5)0513(FM)

Yes. We continue to provide all forms of employment support to all areas of Wales. This includes our highly successful Jobs Growth Wales and Business Wales programmes, additional investment in apprenticeships and, of course, not forgetting, a range of other EU-funded programmes.

Thank you very much for the reply, First Minister. The announcement by Newsquest that they propose to close their subediting hub in Newport and relocate to Weymouth has been raised in this Chamber before. However, it has been revealed that Newsquest received £95,000 from the Welsh Government in 2012-13 under the Skills Growth Wales programme, and a further £245,000 to expand its subediting hub last year.

Will the First Minister advise us what conditions applied to these grants and what action will the Welsh Government take to safeguard its investment in supporting employment in Newport?

In 2015, we provided £245,808 to the company towards the creation of 50 jobs and the safeguarding of 15 jobs at the facility in Maesglas. That was exceeded, but the award was conditional on the jobs being in place until May 2020. If that condition is not met, then we will look to recoup the money.