Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 4. Questions to the Leader of the House and Chief Whip – in the Senedd at 4:15 pm on 11 December 2018.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 4:15, 11 December 2018

We've been very much part of the UK Government's competition, where business-led consortia, including local authorities and academia, can apply to get a slice of £25 million-worth of funding, as I said, from DCMS. And that's looking to support the development of all of the technology; it's not just the connectivity—it's all the widgets, if you like, that go with it. So, 5G doesn't go very far; it's a wide signal that doesn't go very far, so you need a lot of widgets on street furniture and so on. So, we're very keen on making sure that the supply chains are viable here in Wales and in the UK overall, and that we aren't reliant too much on external technology. Indeed, Deputy Presiding Officer, it's been this Government's aim always to fill in gaps in supply chains for Welsh companies where at all possible, and this is clearly an opportunity.