Questions now from party spokespeople. Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Rhun ap Iorwerth. 

Diolch, Llywydd. Yesterday, in the Chamber, we were told that Welsh Government had not given money directly to the Afan valley project. You've confirmed that again today. Welsh Government, though, had given money to the Northern Powerhouse Developments company to develop the Caer Rhun hotel in Conwy. It had been given some £0.5 million and there are now clearly concerns over the future of that hotel in which Welsh money has been invested. Can you comment on the assessments that were made of the company's situation before that decision to invest £0.5 million was made? 

Of course, this was a matter for my colleague in Government, the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism, but I can assure the Member that no release of funding has taken place for that particular project. There were significant conditions attached to it that still have not been met, and so tourism officials are in the process of looking at the withdrawal of the offer of £0.5 million to Caer Rhun.

That's comforting to know and I look forward to more detail of how that progresses.

In the case of the Afan valley project, of course, there may not have been an exchange of funds in any way, but there was certainly support from Welsh Government in the form of your appearance in a video promoting Northern Powerhouse Developments plans, which gave the very public impression that Welsh Government was backing the company. That’s exactly what the developer wanted, of course, and no doubt it helped attract investors. In hindsight, do you think that your appearance in that video was a good idea? It is a number of weeks now since very serious concerns were raised about this company. Can you confirm whether, at the point at which those concerns were made, Welsh Government did instruct that video to be taken down? Would it be morally right, knowing the concerns at that point, for such a video tying Welsh Government into a project with its support to continue to be shown?

Well, first of all, I think we should just reflect on what your own colleague Bethan Sayed said, which was: you have to separate out the vision of the project from the people who were proposing to finance it. In terms of the project itself, it does promise to transform an area. In terms of the funding required for that, clearly, the company behind it are facing very serious questions. And, again, I would reiterate my thanks to those that have recovered significant information that has given rise to those questions.

Of course, I would prefer the video to be taken down—there is no doubt about that—because if there is any suggestion that the Welsh Government or I were backing the company, then that is wrong. I do support the transformational potential of the scheme, but I do not support those people who have been shown in recent weeks to need to answer very serious questions.

And I certainly agree with my colleague Bethan Sayed, who is now sitting behind me, in terms of the potential, and we're talking about an area that wants to see that potential being realised. And there's a danger always in raising people's hopes by going down the wrong avenues. But you tell us time and time again, quite rightly, of course, about constraints on Welsh Government finances. What that means is that we have to be very, very careful, very strategic and rather ruthless as well in how we spend that money.

This project was launched with great fanfare and Government, of course, was four-square behind it, having gone through due diligence processes, presumably, to measure the appropriateness of teaming up with that particular investor. In light of what has happened and what is emerging, will Welsh Government now undertake to publish, in its entirety, details of how and when it collaborated with the Afan valley project and Northern Powerhouse Developments, and what it did, in particular, to protect creditors and investors once it became clear that there were serious doubts about the company involved in backing it?

I think the Member believes that Welsh Government had a greater involvement than it did. There was no collaboration whatsoever: we did not promise money, we did not give money to this project. Any request for funding would have led to a thorough, and as the Member identifies, ruthless process of due diligence. And I’ve already identified one project here in questions today that underwent that thorough process. And despite vociferous support and pressure—indeed, from the Member’s own party, it has to be said, in particular the leader, who said that perhaps we should short-circuit in some way the due diligence process, I stayed firm; I made sure that the taxpayers’ interest was first and foremost considered by the Welsh Government. I will do that again and again. If they’d asked for money, if there had been any request for money for this particular project, the same approach and principles would have been taken forward.

Conservative spokesperson, Russell George.

Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, do you agree with the First Minister when he said that there have been major improvements to the Welsh economy since devolution?

Yes, there have been major improvements to the Welsh economy since devolution. We've helped to create more than 300,000 jobs since devolution, employment rates are at a record high, economic inactivity is at a record low—indeed, for the first time ever it's at the level of the UK average. In addition to this, we've seen the level of qualifications rise incredibly fast. We've seen economic productivity levels rise faster than the UK average in recent years. I think there is an enormous success story for the Welsh economy to celebrate, but it hasn't been achieved by Welsh Government alone, it's been achieved through a partnership between Welsh Government, business and other social partners. 

Thank you for your answer, Minister. Your Deputy Minister, of course, has recently said that the Welsh Government has pretended to know what it's doing on the economy for the last 20 years, and efforts to improve the economy under devolution have not worked. Personally I think it is refreshing to hear a Minister speaking very candidly about the economy. I very much agree with the Member for Blaenau Gwent when he said he would prefer to hear a Minister who speaks plainly and clearly about the challenges facing the Welsh economy. I think the general public agree with that also. With this in mind, is there now a recognition that it's time to approach the economy in a different way? We have had three major economic strategies since devolution, but these efforts to improve the economy have not worked and have not raised the economic fortunes of Wales. Now, the economic action plan covers a large number of different themes but contains no targets for measuring progress, so it is, I think, also contradicted and undermined by the Welsh Government's 2018 budget, which provides no new funding to support any of the action plan's key priority sectors. So, can you, Minister, say what you are going to do to change, and how is your approach going to be different following the Deputy Minister's comments so we can see simplified access to business support, we can align an effective business and industrial strategy, we can reform a failing public procurement strategy to support small and medium-sized businesses, upskill the workforce and reflect this boost with suitably improved infrastructure?

What the Deputy Minister said reflects, in many ways, the challenges that I outlined when the economic action plan was being developed, that whilst we've had enormous success in many regards regarding economic development since devolution, the fruits of growth have not been felt fairly across all parts of Wales, that growth has been uneven and we need to iron out that inequality that we still see—not just across the regions, but also within the regions. It's why the EAP was designed to drive not just futureproofing of Welsh business, but also to drive inclusive growth. And at the heart of the economic action plan, of course, is the economic contract, which is designed to provide for fair work, high-quality work and improved skills. 

Now, the Member mentions other economic strategies, including the UK industrial strategy, and, of course, the EAP was designed to complement and to dovetail with that, and that has been recognised by Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. And, furthermore, in terms of targets and measurements, the whole reason why we've introduced the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to the process of offering challenge is to ensure that we are measuring, in the right way, how inclusive growth is being delivered. 

Well, thank you for your answer, Minister. I appreciate you speaking candidly about some of the challenges of the Welsh economy as well. Two main strands of the economic action plan, the regional business plans and the plan for the foundational economy, remain undelivered. So, I would ask you if you would look at some of the ideas that we have on these benches, for example for deploying trade envoys around the world to boost investment in Wales, and also to have a shift to an economy and a strategy where we're also supporting small and indigenous Welsh businesses as well. We want to see small and indigenous Welsh businesses grow. It's very easy for other businesses to come in and move out, taking investment with them, but we do need to support these small and indigenous Welsh businesses that we have in Wales as well. How can we avoid, in 20 years from now, a Minister looking back and saying, 'Forty years since devolution, nobody knows what we're doing on the economy'? How can we avoid a Minister saying that in 40 years' time?

In the first 20 years of devolution, we have pretty much solved a challenge that Wales has faced during the course of deindustrialisation, which is a higher level of unemployment than the UK average. We brought it down to the UK average and, indeed, on many occasions in the last year, it's dipped below the UK average, and for the first time, as I say, again, inactivity rates have fallen to the UK average.

So, what we've done over the past 20 years, on a macro level, is resolve unemployment and worklessness. However, that's in the whole. What we now wish to do is drive inclusive growth so that we get deeper into the roots, get into the communities that have not benefited so much from the fruits of our growth over the last 20 years, and ensure that equality and inclusive growth are at the heart of everything we do. Now, regional place-based economic development is absolutely crucial, particularly where you don't have the effects of agglomeration, and you don't tend to get the effects of agglomeration in urban areas of less than 0.5 million people. That's why we developed within the EAP the new regional units, that's why they are developing, in conjunction with local authorities and city and growth deal partners, regional plans—so that we can all work together to the same purpose to design interventions to make sure our investment is directed at the same purpose within each of the regions so that we're not competing, so that we're not duplicating but so we're all working to the same ends. And it's my view that, by having a place-based approach, we will be able to better identify the opportunities, the entrepreneurs, the businesses that can drive inclusive growth in the regions of Wales.

I have to say that, in terms of supporting small indigenous businesses, we've done a fantastic job in recent times through Business Wales and, more lately, through the establishment of the development bank. We've heard questions today about the Afan valley and my colleague Dai Rees's local authority of Neath Port Talbot, where we've seen an 18.8 per cent increase in the number of businesses since 2011, up from 6,455 to 7,670. That is not an unusual picture in Wales. We now have a record number of businesses in existence in Wales. The key for us in the next stage in turning the dial through the economic action plan is in ensuring that we turn more of those small businesses into stronger grounded firms, bigger grounded firms within Wales, and so that we ensure that employment is more sustainable in the long term and that we are capturing as much of their spend as possible for local communities.

Brexit Party spokesperson, David Rowlands.

Diolch Llywydd. Minister, when I was a member of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee, we visited Trawsfynydd, where we learned about the decommissioning of the nuclear power station. At that time, there were discussions about the possibility of the site being used for the emerging small modular nuclear reactors. Has the Minister explored this option in any way?

Yes, I have. I'm really excited about the potential of Trawsfynydd as an area that could be used to develop and support small modular reactors. I'm not alone in this. The North Wales Economic Ambition Board shares the determination to examine all opportunities for Trawsfynydd, and that's why, within the north Wales growth deal, there is an access to the smart energy programme, which is designed to promote renewable forms of energy and the potential of SMRs in that particular area of north Wales.

Okay. I thank the Minister for his answer. I'm given to understand that Rolls-Royce are at the forefront of this type of technology. As such, a development at Trawsfynydd could benefit British industry as a whole. I'm also given to believe that much of the grid infrastructure linking to the national grid system is still in place at Trawsfynydd. So, given the local expertise and general disposition in the area to nuclear power, Trawsfynydd would surely be an ideal location for the emerging technology. It also falls into the Welsh Government's overall decarbonisation programme, and such an installation would also help alleviate the anticipated extra demand on the electricity infrastructure, which the advent of the electric motor car will inevitably put on the electricity industry as a whole. This should—and given some of the adverse decisions with regard to Wales over recent times, I emphasise 'should'—make the UK Government more amenable to such a development. So, would the Cabinet Secretary give serious thought to promoting this industry-leading project to Trawsfynydd?

Yes, I will indeed. In fact, I'm pleased to say that I've met with Rolls-Royce to discuss this very issue directly in relation to Trawsfynydd and so too have members of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, and I think it's worth telling Members today that energy features as one of three primary strengths of the north Wales regional economy within the economic ambition board's vision for the region. It also forms one of the four key enablers within the north Wales growth deal. So, I can assure the Member that, not just within Welsh Government, but regionally across the local authorities and collectively as the new regional unit, we are well aware of the potential of energy in north Wales, very supportive of it, not just of SMRs, but also, crucially, I think, of the renewable energy sector, where there is enormous strength and expertise in north Wales, and that's why that is included as such a crucial component of the north Wales growth deal.