3. Will the First Minister make a statement on economic development in South Wales West? OAQ51508

That wasn’t aimed at him, Llywydd. But may I say that our plans for economic development are set out in 'Prosperity for All' and the economic action plan? We continue to provide a wide range of support to businesses in Wales through, for example, Business Wales and the development bank. We also provide infrastructure investment and take actions to improve business conditions.

Thank you for that response, First Minister. Now, naturally, the latest GVA figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the Welsh economy continues to perform worse than the rest of the UK, with GVA per capita at only 72 per cent of the UK average. We also have significant economic inequality here in Wales, with Neath Port Talbot in my region, for example, almost 10 per cent below the Welsh average.

Now, people feel that the area is being neglected and they are not convinced that the efforts of the city deal and the Valleys taskforce will deliver the necessary economic change for our communities, particularly in the valleys of the county. Do you agree, therefore, that the Welsh Government and Neath Port Talbot council must do a great deal more to ensure that areas such as the Swansea valleys and the Neath and Afan valleys catch up with the rest of Wales and the rest of the UK economically?

Well, fine, but may I say in the first place that Welsh Government did a great deal of work as regards securing the future of the Port Talbot steelworks? The UK Government did nothing, from what I can see. I spoke a lot with Tata here in Wales, and also in Mumbai, and worked with the unions to secure the future of the steelworks. A year and a half ago, its future looked very shaky indeed. And, of course, we know that the steelworks pays well in the area. And, of course, by using the Valleys taskforce, and also collaborating with the city deal, it is vital that that work continues. May I say that it is essential that Neath Port Talbot considers itself part of the Swansea bay area and works with other councils in Swansea bay in order to secure the economic future of that whole area?

Since I've been an Assembly Member, which is the best part of seven years now, Welsh Government has given over £320 million of taxpayers' money towards businesses in Wales, which, of course, includes South Wales West. By October, just at the end of last year, we heard that less than £7 million of that total has been repaid to date, and, even from a Welsh Conservative point of view, which embraces calculated risk, that's really a pretty poor rate of repayment. Will the—and I quote this—

'Economic Contract between business and government', referred to in the new economic plan, include a requirement that all loans are paid in full and on time, and contain the relevant provisions for enforcement?

Well, yes, but she doesn't say that the loans aren't being paid on time; she just says that a relatively small percentage have been repaid, which I would expect at this stage anyway, in terms of the process—unless she is saying that we demand that loans are paid back in a time period that is not appropriate in terms of job creation. Of course, we've always taken the position, over the years, of ensuring that money is recouped where that can be done. We've taken action to do that when it comes to grant funding, for example, and we will continue to do that. Can I remind her that the £60 million package that we put on the table ensured the survival of Tata Port Talbot at a time when the UK Government did nothing? We asked the UK Government to deal with energy prices; they did nothing about that at all. We asked the UK Government to deal with the issue of pensions; they did nothing about that either. Tata and ourselves worked together to secure the future of the steel industry in Wales as the UK Government stood by and did nothing. 

First Minister, I agree totally with the actions the Welsh Government have taken to support Tata, particularly in my patch, and the failure of the UK Government—they've done literally nothing. But the question is—. I want to expand on Dai Lloyd's point, I think: the consequence of Tata losing its workforce has meant that well-paid and skilled jobs have gone. As we see, in industries and businesses coming in, they tend to be more the minimum wage and zero-hour contracts. What are you doing as a Welsh Government to actually encourage jobs into the area that are matching the skills and the pay levels that we are seeing lost?

It's down to training on the job. First of all, the economic policy of the late 1980s and early 1990s was to attract investment into Wales based on the fact that we had lower wage rates than anywhere else in western Europe. Those days, thankfully, are gone. We now attract investment that is well paid. We have investors coming into Wales who would never have come here 20 years ago. They wouldn't have seen Wales as a place where they could get the skilled, well-paid workforce that they require. That's why, of course, we have the economic action plan. It's why we've put so much emphasis on skills through schemes like Jobs Growth Wales, to make sure that our people have the skills they need to earn more when investors come to Wales and when they set up their own businesses. That is the answer, to my mind, in making sure that we see GVA per head improve over the next few years.