2. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the Development Bank of Wales? OAQ(5)0178(EI)

I am pleased to say that we are making good progress, particularly with regulatory matters, and we remain on course to announce and launch of the development bank later this year.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. We all know that the clock is now ticking on our exit from the European Union. Therefore, building business confidence is more crucial now than ever it was perhaps before. Therefore, Cabinet Secretary, can I ask whether you have any further details on what the practical set-up will be, and how micro and medium businesses throughout Wales will be able to access finance and other services from the development bank once it’s up and running?

The development bank’s main purpose, of course, will be to seek out where there’s market failure and to address it, and we know that micro, small and start-up finance is a particular problem in rural Wales—those areas of Wales that the Member so brilliantly represents and serves. Now, I’ve charged Finance Wales to develop a location strategy that will take account of the emerging regional structure within the economy and infrastructure unit, and we are currently working on that restructuring exercise. The Development Bank of Wales will provide a physical presence across the whole of the country, and will be established as a headquarters in north-east Wales. But, I’m also concerned that the Development Bank of Wales has an effective interface with Business Wales, and, for that reason, I’ve asked both Duncan Hamer from Business Wales and Giles Thorley from Finance Wales to work together in exploring how we can make sure that both organisations are able to signpost customers in the best possible way.