1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement about the staging of the UEFA Champions League final recently held in Cardiff? OAQ(5)0187(EI)

Yes. The UEFA Champions League final was the spectacular culmination of a four-day celebration of football in our capital city, and the eyes of the world were on Cardiff, for what was a spectacular Team Wales effort, delivered by an excellent team from across the capital.

Thanks for that statement. There have been moans, perhaps inevitably, from some residents and traders, but, of course, most of us appreciate that there are long-term benefits from the decision to host the final. I wonder whether you could just perhaps briefly illuminate some of them.

Absolutely. It’s quite timely, as, last week, I listened to Jason Mohammad give a speech in north Wales, where he talked about his pride on the evening of the Champions League final in his city, the city that he grew up in. In fact, he was an Ely boy. And it struck me that the event not only served to encourage economic prosperity, but also to enhance pride in our capital city and in our nation. I understand and appreciate that some businesses in Cardiff, and some residents in Cardiff, will have been limited in terms of how they could move about the city and in terms of how many people they could attract to their premises and their facilities. However, the economic impact is estimated to be £45 million to the capital region. There are many legacy projects that have stemmed from the event.

And I think it’s fair to say that it was a monumental success. In the lead-in to the event, there were concerns expressed about transport, logistics, security, communications, but we delivered, and we delivered well. And it’s now my hope that we can build on what was an unprecedented, or, actually, the biggest sporting event this year, anywhere on the planet, by attracting more world-class events to Wales and by ensuring that we celebrate what makes Wales great, which is our warmth and our welcome.

Cabinet Secretary, it was a huge success, the UEFA cup final here in Cardiff, but, obviously, a series of events before that came to Cardiff, to show that Wales, and Cardiff in particular, could obviously accommodate such a mega event. One things that has been disappointing is the Welsh Government’s lack of ambition to bid for a Commonwealth Games here in Wales. And, as we’ve proven that we can host some of the biggest, if not the biggest, sporting event in 2017, I wonder whether the Cabinet Secretary was minded to maybe reconsider some of the options that might be available to a successful Welsh bid to host a future Commonwealth Games as we go forward. Surely, that would be the pinnacle of bringing many nations into this part of the United Kingdom, and show what a great country we are and what an able country we are to host these major events.

Can I thank the Member for his question, but point out that it was not a lack of ambition that led to the decision not to bid for the 2026 games? It was a lack of resource as a consequence of years upon years of austerity and budget cuts to this Welsh Government. That said, I’ve been very clear that we remain in a position where we would wish to examine every opportunity to bid not just for Commonwealth Games, but other major events. I’m on record as saying that, for the 2022 games, there is an opportunity for Britain to do something very different if the Commonwealth Games Federation is minded to allow the rules to be relaxed so that a multination bid could be brought forward. At the moment, it does not seem as though those rules could be relaxed, but, if they were, it’s entirely possible that a Commonwealth Games could be spread out right across the UK. That would be one option. A further option is to bid for a games in the future—2030 or onward. Given what’s happened with the 2022 games, it’s now less likely that the 2026 games will be hosted in the UK, which makes 2030 a possibility.

We’ve already instigated a thorough review of all sports and major events facilities in Wales, with a view to being able to identify what sort of investment would be required and where for the communities that would also enable us in the future to bid for an event such as the Commonwealth Games. But I’d also say that, in bidding for and trying to seek opportunities on a global platform, we have to be very mindful of the need to return on our investment, and, for that reason, we are very careful within Government to ensure that we are bidding for those events that bring the taxpayers of Wales, and the people of Wales, the greatest benefits.