Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. The aim of today’s debate is to recognise the importance of regeneration schemes in enhancing the future prosperity of communities in Wales. We also want to draw out of the Government how it proposes to increase investor confidence for regeneration projects. I know that my colleagues hope to be called with regard to regeneration schemes in north and south Wales, and I hope to have time in my contribution to deal with some aspects of regeneration in mid Wales.

So, I move the motion today in the name of Paul Davies, and we’ll certainly be supporting Plaid Cymru’s amendments, as Andrew R.T. Davies also called for, of course, a public inquiry into the Circuit of Wales last week. I am disappointed that the Government is doing one of its ‘delete alls’ to our motion. I’d say, why not add to our motion rather than delete all? The first part of our motion says this:

Recognises the importance of regeneration schemes in enhancing the future prosperity of communities across Wales’.

How can you object to that? So, I would say that I hope the Government will change its position on its ‘delete all’ tactics. It’s a shame because there’s much in the Government’s amendments that I can agree with, but it doesn’t, of course, address as well the aspects of the handling of the Circuit of Wales that we would have wanted to see.

Acting Presiding Officer, the confidence of both the public and major businesses to invest in the regeneration of our communities across Wales, I think, has been seriously dented by the Welsh Government’s handling of the Circuit of Wales. Millions of taxpayers’ money has been spent, there have been allegations of mis-spending of public funds, and this is the latest of a long line of Welsh Government failure to adhere to simple processes of due diligence, governance and accountability, leaving it wide open to significant financial and legal risk.

Last week’s Cabinet statement explains that, following discussions with the Office for National Statistics and Her Majesty’s Treasury, it was assessed that there was a very significant risk that the full £373 million debt of the entire Circuit of Wales project would be classified against Welsh Government capital spending. So, why wasn’t this spotted by the Welsh Government officials at an earlier stage? And why wasn’t the concern about the projected numbers of jobs to be created being an overstatement communicated at an earlier stage? Both questions are yet to be answered. So, I would say that the Government must take, I think, very significant responsibility in this regard.