4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's economic priorities for South Wales Central for the remainder of this Assembly term? OAQ54034

I thank the Member for that. Our economic priorities for the whole of Wales, including South Wales Central, are set out in the economic action plan. These include investing in people, places and businesses through skills, infrastructure and business support.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. Last week, the environment Minister gave a statement, a written statement, around the Welsh Government's change in its commitment to hit zero carbon emissions by 2050. In the penultimate paragraph, it said that the climate change committee report

'makes it clear the scale and pace of change required to meet a net zero target is greater than any other planned economic transition in modern times.'

Could the First Minister confirm that when the Cabinet agreed to this commitment and indeed its declaration on climate change emergency, that detailed economic modelling was made available so that residents in South Wales Central can have confidence that the economic model that the Government is pursuing will not jeopardise jobs and jeopardise prosperity, and, where possible—where possible—those papers will be made available for Members to look over?

Well, Llywydd, I'm very pleased to confirm that, of course, the Welsh Government's actions in this area are underpinned by detailed advice. We have very few Cabinet sub-committees, but we do have a Cabinet sub-committee on decarbonisation, where a great deal of very detailed work is considered, and which underpins all the decisions that we make. We had, of course, the very detailed 300 pages of advice from the climate change committee itself, and all of that was properly considered by the Cabinet before my colleague Lesley Griffiths made her announcement. It was followed the next day, I think, by the UK Government also accepting the advice of the climate change committee in relation to setting emission targets for the future, and I'm sure that Andrew R.T. Davies's colleagues in Government in London also had access to the underpinning analysis that the committee provides in order to inform their decision too.

First Minister, you will be aware that last month the New Zealand Labour Government published its well-being budget, which is described as a world first. It placed social well-being indicators as priorities within their economic policy, instead of a narrow focus on GDP or GVA. With initiatives like the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the economic contract here in Wales, it is clear that this kind of approach resonates with what we're already doing. So, how else can this kind of approach be prioritised within Welsh Government economic policy this Assembly term?

Llywydd, can I thank Vikki Howells for that really interesting question? Of course, we are very interested to learn more about the New Zealand Government's decision. We're lucky we've always had strong links between a Labour Government here and the Labour Government in New Zealand. My colleague, Lesley Griffiths, was in New Zealand not that long ago, looking at other aspects of that Government's work, and we've looked ourselves at the limitations, on the floor of this Assembly, at GVA. We know that, if we're genuinely interested in well-being, then GVA is not a good means of capturing that rounded picture. We know that there are progressive administrations elsewhere looking at well-being economics, and the way in which we intend to pursue that in Wales is through the work that we have commissioned through the OECD—part of our determination that, even in these difficult times, Wales goes on being an outward-looking nation where we learn from others, where we're involved in joint activity with countries in other parts of the world. And the work to which Vikki Howells has referred has come to a fruition in New Zealand maybe sooner than anywhere else, but there is a broader range of countries interested in developing measures that go beyond the narrow range that GVA captures, and we are very much committed, through the well-being of future generations Act and other economic policies of this Government, to being part of that international effort.