Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion in the name of my colleague Darren Millar. There is quite a bit we can agree with in the Government's motion today, but we can't support it because it deletes the entirety of our motion. We will not be supporting amendments 2 or 5, but we will be supporting amendment 3, and are interested in hearing more detail on the Plaid Cymru proposal for a regional investment Bill, which is contained within their amendment 4.

Deputy Presiding Officer, economic output per person varies widely across Wales. There is a marked contrast between gross value added per capita in the north and the south-east corners of Wales, our Valleys communities, and our rural communities in mid and north Wales. If I can give some examples of this, gross value added per capita in Anglesey is just under half that of Cardiff, and numerous regions of Wales lag behind the wealthier parts of the nation. There is also a clear geographical division in wealth in Wales, and there is also, sadly, an urban and rural divide. The latest figures indicate that Wales's less well-off regions and local authority areas are subject to very poor growth rates, and this is, of course, the responsibility of the Welsh Government. We need to put in place an economic strategy capable of both closing the gap and improving the economic fortunes of Wales as a whole. By contrast, some poor and very economically challenged regions of England saw growth in GVA per capita, so it's simply not correct to say, as in amendment 2—what the Government is trying to accomplish—that it's the UK Government's economic policies that are contributing to these internal regional inequalities within Wales. And it's clear that despite similar structural challenges, many poor regions of England are experiencing robust growth, while similar regions of Wales are not only failing to grow at a significant rate, but some are actually contracting, which is very, of course, concerning. So, I simply don't accept Plaid Cymru's argument that it is somehow the UK Government's economic policies that are a contributing factor towards this. 

Let's look closer, also, to home, to the Welsh Government's economic policy over the last 20 years. There have been a number of drivers here. We've already had, of course, three major economic strategies launched by the Welsh Government since the creation of this Welsh Parliament. And I put it forward today: all have failed to boost the regional growth, failed to drive forward Wales's economic Welsh economy, and failed to create sufficiently well-paid jobs, and failed to create productivity. Wales is currently the weakest, slowest growing economy in the UK, still lagging behind Scotland considerably. I don't think any of us in this Chamber want to see that, so I don't say that with any satisfaction. We want that to change. Firms that have invested in this country should have been integrated into domestic supply chains in order to help embed that outside investment in local communities, and I just believe that the Welsh Government has failed to properly capture that inward investment, which has meant that their strategy has failed to close the economic gap between Wales's regions and also failed to increase prosperity in Wales in general. For example, despite huge injections, of course, of public funds into our enterprise zones across Wales, they have failed to deliver on their key objectives. The zones were meant to build capacity in specific sectors of the Welsh economy, including manufacturing, energy and professional services. They were are also intended to attract firms to certain areas of the economy as well. There have been some examples of successful areas within the enterprise zones, but it's a mixed bag. That's what I would contend. But the economic data makes it clear that enterprise zones and their associated funding have not made the impact on economic growth that we would have expected.

So, on these benches, we also do welcome the contribution that the Cardiff, Swansea bay, north Wales and mid Wales growth deals will make to addressing regional inequality in Wales, and I'm sure that the Minister will agree with that. These city and growth deals represent a game-changing, I think, approach to regional development because they have the potential to help develop small and medium-sized enterprises, larger firms and transport infrastructure across Welsh local authorities. And I do give an example, of course: last week, the Growing Mid Wales partnership visited the Senedd to showcase their produce and services from businesses across Powys and Ceredigion. That was a great opportunity, I thought, to underline the need for public investment and growth for a mid Wales growth deal. I thank the Minister for meeting the delegation, meeting businesses, and speaking at that event as well. These growth deals, of course, have a strong regional focus and are centred on building collaborative partnerships between neighbouring local authorities in order to raise that regional growth and prosperity. And I am grateful, also, to the Minister for the way that he has engaged with me and other stakeholders on this issue. And in this motion, we call on the Welsh Government to continue to build a positive, open and collaborative relationship with the UK Government and major UK civil service departments to help enable long-term success for the growth deal initiatives across Wales.

Deputy Presiding Officer, the Minister wouldn't expect me to heap too much praise on him, and, in concluding, there are a number of areas where we feel that the Welsh Government's approach to economic policy must be improved significantly. The Welsh Government's economic action plan rightly begins to turn Welsh Government attention towards boosting business support for Wales's SMEs, consolidating that finance mechanism together, improving public procurement and strengthening the Welsh supply chain. However, I contend that it must also be developed further to ensure that it outlines clearly how its central themes and content will help raise wages in Wales going forward. The new regional offices also need appropriate resourcing and their work plans must dovetail with existing policy measures to boost regional growth. And there needs to be greater funding, I think, for business support in Wales also, going forward, in my view. So, while the economic action plan represents a welcomed change in the direction in relation to Welsh Government approach to developing the Welsh economy, there are many areas that must be bolted on to that strategy if Wales's regions are to prosper and the economy of Wales is to thrive going forward. I look forward to Members' contributions in this debate this afternoon and remain open-minded, again, to Plaid's amendment 4, with regard to which way that we may vote this afternoon.