Well, it’s not acceptable to me, and I’m certain it’s not acceptable to the Finance Committee either when they request that the Secretary of State attends, the person in Westminster—so they say—who is accountable to us in Wales, and he is not willing to come to give evidence to the committee.

I have read a number of submissions made to the committee by others, and a great deal of interesting evidence has been submitted. I saw Julie Morgan and others come before the committee, and I look forward to my attendance, too. This is not the first time for the Secretary of State to be offered the opportunity to attend the Finance Committee, and he is not willing to do it. I take every opportunity I have to raise the future of the structural funds with the United Kingdom Government, but that is not the only way of doing it.