Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:13 pm on 19 January 2021.
Thank you to Alun Davies for raising those two issues this afternoon. Both of them, I think, describe areas where the UK Government has absolutely misled, I think, the people who will be on the receiving end of the various forms of support. I know that many working in the fishing industry feel that they had been sold a future that hasn't actually materialised, and we've seen the difficulties that that's presenting for those working in the fishing industry at the moment. I will speak to the Minister with regard to your request for an update to explore how we can best demonstrate the Welsh Government's support for the fishing industry here in Wales.
I agree with that analysis in terms of the shared prosperity fund and the impact that it might have on communities such as those that Alun Davies represents, and the opportunities that they will have for future funding. You'll be aware that the UK Government has said that they will introduce a £220 million pilot scheme, starting with further information available from this month. Well, of course, the time for a pilot scheme was a long time ago, and we are actually in a situation where we have a £220 million scheme for the whole of the UK, whereas if we had retained our membership of the European Union, of course, we'd be looking at £375 million just for Wales. So, the analysis that Alun Davies describes is absolutely something that I would agree with, and I will explore with my colleague the Minister with responsibility for EU transition and our future relationships how we can best update the Senedd on these issues.