Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 4. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 1:11 pm on 1 July 2020.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 1:11, 1 July 2020

I think what we want to avoid is a cliff edge for people. So, you'll have seen the statement that Ken Skates has put out in terms of aviation and the aerospace industry here in Wales and how important it is, and you'll have heard what I said to Nick Ramsay in terms of how important it is that Welsh Government and the UK Government work together. So, in terms of the job retention scheme, I do think that there is a case for industries that were particularly hard hit to receive support for longer, and actually aviation was one of those sectors, which, alongside tourism, Ken Skates and I both mentioned in our letter to the Chancellor. Two things need to happen at the same time: people need to be kept with the support that they need, but also new jobs need to be created and new opportunities need to be found for people, because, even under normal circumstances, in an average week we lose 2,000 jobs here in Wales but another 2,000 are created. So, we need to ensure that that pipeline of new jobs comes into line, and I'm really aware that, particularly in Airbus, for example, the individuals there are very highly skilled, and I think that we need to ensure that the kind of employment that we're able to offer in the future continues to be in high-skilled and well-paid roles.