9. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on how rural Wales can boost its economy? OAQ(5)0172(EI)

Yes. Rural Wales has specific opportunities and challenges, which have been brought into sharpened focus as a result of Brexit. We must look at the contribution of all the levers at our disposal, across all ministerial portfolios, which have a part to play in shaping and also influencing an agenda of prosperity for all.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. We heard during the referendum that Brexiteers like R.T. Davies and Neil Hamilton made promise after promise—[Interruption.]—yes, and you, Janet Finch-Saunders, fair enough; you made those promises as well. I think it’s worth saying that those promises were made to the farmers of Wales and the people of Wales, who were promised that they would not see a cut in the amount of money coming to Wales. Now, in rural Wales, that amounts to about €350 million a year. One thing is clear to me and that is, whichever way we leave the European Union, hard or soft, we’ll see the end of the common agricultural policy.

Does the Cabinet Secretary believe that rather than cross our fingers and hope for the best in terms of what comes next, actually we need to start focusing now on our rural economy, and we need to develop a specific rural economic development plan for Wales? That should include things like providing the right infrastructure, and I’d like to congratulate Julie James on the incredible work that has been done on superfast broadband in rural Wales, but other things like the foundational economy, the need to enhance tourism and the need to add value. But specifically, how are we going to deliver an economic development plan for rural Wales? What are the drivers? Who is going to deliver it? Because the massive pressure on local authorities means that it’s very, very difficult for them to deliver without support from the Welsh Government.

Can I thank the Member for her question, and also thank the Member for recently hosting me at one of her forums—the mid and west Wales economic forum—which I found incredibly interesting and which certainly has contributed to my thinking with regard to the new regional place-based economic development agenda, which I have talked of previously in this Chamber and at other venues? I think it’s absolutely essential that the agriculture sector, in particular, gets continued support from Welsh Government as we leave the EU, but there is also a need to recognise that challenges faced across rural Wales can be unique and require bespoke solutions. For that reason, I’m keen to go on working not just with the Member through her economic forum, but also with my colleagues across Government, and principally the Cabinet Secretary for environment and natural resources, to ensure that as we succeed in spite of or because of Brexit, regardless of which it is, that we do succeed and that all parts of Wales benefit from economic growth in the future. Not all parts of Wales have benefited equally from economic growth in recent years. It’s this Government’s intention to ensure that in the future there is prosperity for all.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.