Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:49 pm on 22 January 2020.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 1:49, 22 January 2020

What the people want is access to high-quality jobs. That's precisely what our economic strategy has and is delivering. We're creating jobs at record numbers, jobs of a higher quality, jobs that people can access. We've got a skills training system that is the envy of the rest of the United Kingdom, and you can take, as I've just mentioned, the apprenticeship completion rates, for example, which remain higher than the English average—far higher than the English average. We have also access to a development bank that, again, is the envy of the rest of the UK. Governments in Scotland and beyond are looking at the Development Bank of Wales, examining how they can replicate the services that are offered here in our country.

I would welcome any expression of optimism in a bright future, but you have to back it up with cash, you have to back it up with investment. And the fact of the matter is that over the past 10 years, there's been a £1 billion raid on rail infrastructure in Wales. Now, as we approach the budget in March, I pledge this, Llywydd: I will work hand in hand with the UK Government in delivering better rail infrastructure in Wales if they do what they are meant to do, which is to invest in it properly. The underinvestment in Wales's rail infrastructure must end, and it can do so in the budget in March.