3. What assessment has the First Minister made of the impact of COVID-19 on the economy in South Wales Central? OQ55436

Llywydd, Wales remains in the grip of the coronavirus crisis, but, as circulation of the virus diminishes, economic activity in South Wales Central continues to recover with the support of both Welsh and UK Governments.

I thank the First Minister for his response. Getting a co-ordinated response from different Governments within the UK has been one of the problems of the crisis we are living through, and it is clear that the economy in Wales will suffer more because of the First Minister's insistence on doing things differently here. I feel the problem may be aggravated by the First Minister possessing an inflated idea of his own importance. One issue may be that the salary of the First Minister of Wales is almost equal to that of the UK Prime Minister. Given that an important trade association in Wales has just declared no confidence in the First Minister, I wonder if he really believes he is worth such a salary.  

Llywydd, I work as hard as I can every day to attend to the needs of the people in Wales. I understand that the Member has a great deal of difficulty in understanding the difference between what is possible for Wales and what is possible elsewhere. I see, in his last contribution—. My attention was drawn to his contribution on 24 June, when he said,  

'we know that Mark Drakeford didn't even attend COBRA meetings for several weeks, when he was able to do so.' 

Llywydd, maybe I'll put on record, because I'm sure the Member wouldn't intentionally wish to mislead people, that there is not a single COBRA meeting—to which I had been invited—that I did not attend. 

Could I put on record my thanks as well to the Commission staff and to yourself as Presiding Officer for making these facilities available today for the first hybrid Assembly?

First Minister, the economies of south Wales are very intertwined, and the news yesterday about the the Ineos reconsideration—shall we call it—of their proposals in Bridgend affects South Wales Central and, in particular, the Vale of Glamorgan, where there's a lot of transit back and forth for jobs. Can you clarify exactly what is going on with the proposal? As I understand it, Ineos have put a halt on consideration of advancing the project at the moment, but they haven't actually stopped the project. And comments about not trusting the company are deeply unhelpful from the constituency MS, who was on telly last night saying such things. Surely, we should be working night and day to convince Ineos that Bridgend and the wider south Wales economy are an ideal home for their ambitious proposals for this new facility. 

I thank the Member for that. I want to say to him that the Welsh Government and the contractors we have employed have worked tirelessly to ensure that the site was made ready in line with Ineos's tight timescales and that that work continued despite flooding earlier in the year and the coronavirus crisis. So, we have worked really hard to try to meet the requirements that the company had laid out. So, we were inevitably disappointed, on 2 July, when officials were told—not Ministers; officials were told—that the company intended to suspend its plans for investment in Wales and in Portugal, pending a review. The company was due to sign an important agreement with the Welsh Government on Monday of this week. It was very disappointing to us, after all the efforts that have been made, that that wasn't possible. 

But, let me agree with what Andrew R.T. Davies has said: while there is a possibility that this company would yet come to Wales, we must work positively with them to make every argument to bring that about. My colleague Ken Skates spoke directly with the company on Monday evening, and I know that he made that point to them: that, despite our sense of disappointment, so very late in the day, to find that the company may be having second thoughts, anything we can still do to persuade them of the merits of coming to Bridgend and the outstanding workforce that is available to them there—we will never give up on making that case up until the point where that company makes a final determination. 

First Minister, I've been in discussion with very many businesses in Cynon Valley who are extremely grateful for the financial support that they've received from the Welsh Government under the economic resilience fund. I note that, in order to access that fund, they need to sign up to the Welsh Government's economic contract. Would you be able to give us an assessment of how you think signing up to that economic contract will be of benefit, both to the economy and society of the South Wales Central region, moving forward? 

I thank Vikki Howells for that, Llywydd. I know that she will recognise that the incredible speed at which everything has had to happen during the coronavirus crisis means that the sort of detailed discussion of an economic contract that we would normally have with businesses hasn’t been possible.

Before the crisis hit, we had agreed economic contracts with 385 companies in Wales. Today, that's over 4,000 companies who have committed to the principles of the economic contract. And the principle is very important. It says to companies that when the Welsh public is finding money to support them in the work they do and to help them to sustain and create new jobs, the Welsh public is entitled to a return on that investment that goes beyond the interest of the company itself, and that there are important things that we want to create across Wales: a low-carbon future, increasing levels of investment in skills, and a fair-work approach to Wales. All of those things are important, and when we strike an economic contract with a company, it is those additional returns on the investment that the Welsh public is making that we seek to negotiate.

And the good news is, Llywydd, that companies in Wales very readily see the benefits of that. They too want a future in Wales that allows them to go on trading successfully in a country where we don't have low pay, where we don't have low skills, and where we are focused, as the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 requires us to be, on making decisions today that give those who come after us a proper chance of a successful future.

Question 4 [OQ55414] is withdrawn. Question 5—Rhun ap Iorwerth.