2. Will the Minister outline the Welsh Government's priorities for the future of the Welsh economy? OQ56533

Yes, thank you. A new programme for government will be laid before the Senedd within the coming weeks. This will outline how we plan to take forward our economic resilience and reconstruction mission for Wales and reiterate our commitment to develop a new young person’s guarantee, giving everyone under the age of 25 the offer of work, education or training.

Thank you for that response, Minister. One of the things that has been devastating in Wales in recent months as a result of the pandemic is the impact on our coastal communities, in particular our seaside towns. We've seen university studies that have demonstrated that communities like Colwyn Bay, Towyn and Kinmel Bay, and other parts of the north Wales coast, in terms of the towns there, are amongst those that have been worst hit by COVID. I was wondering what consideration the Welsh Government has given to the establishment of a seaside towns fund, specifically to ameliorate the impacts of COVID on those communities and to help them rebound from the pandemic economically. 

Well, I'm still open to ideas about how we successfully see the economy of Wales and all its parts rebound. I had the pleasure to be in the Llŷn peninsula visiting a range of seaside towns with my family during half term, and I can see that there are lots of people returning to those areas and, broadly, being very respectful of the need to behave sensibly. We do need to understand what's returning, the amount of support we still need to provide, and we're still in an emergency position, so there are still not the old normal trading provisions, and that's what we're going to need to work through with a range of stakeholders in the future. But, of course, our 'town centre first' approach, I think, will be important for seaside towns as well, as we look to drive more footfall into our towns to make sure that they do have as bright and prosperous a future as possible, and that will, of course, require us to work not just with local partners, local authorities, but also to see how we can, if possible, work rather more constructively with the UK Government.  

Minister, the economy of north-east Wales is driven by manufacturing. On Friday, I had the pleasure and the opportunity to meet with eXcent UK and hear about their plans for growth based on employing well-paid, highly skilled, local engineers. Their message was clear: given the right support, the advanced manufacturing sector in north Wales can compete for work globally and provide jobs for future generations. Now, I believe employers like this can—

We seem to have lost the connection to Jack Sargeant. I'll call John Griffiths, and I'll come back to Jack Sargeant, if the technology allows us. John Griffiths to ask his supplementary question. 

Diolch, Llywydd. The steel industry continues to be a real strength for Wales and is, of course, a strategic industry, so important to manufacturing and construction, for example. I would like the Minister's reassurance, which I'm sure will be forthcoming, that it will be a continuing priority for Welsh Government to support the steel industry in Wales, and to make sure that we have the high-tech, value added, sustainable steel industry that will really support our economy into the future, and, also, that Welsh Government will continue to be in close dialogue with UK Government and Liberty Steel, because that's an important employer in my constituency and we need to ensure that it has a strong future also. 

Thank you for the question. I can reiterate that this Government places a high value on the future of the steel industry as it moves to transition to become a decarbonised steel industry. One of my first external ministerial engagements was the UK Steel Council, engaging with the UK Government and other Governments within the United Kingdom, together with the industry, represented by UK Steel, and the trade union side as well, and there was a recognition of the high value that steel provides, and I welcome the change in tone from the UK Government. If we were having this conversation just a few years ago, we would have been talking in rather more critical terms about the view of the UK Government. The current view from the UK Government is it sees a real value in sustaining the steel industry across the United Kingdom, and I recognise the Member's interest with Liberty, but also other providers and manufacturers here in Wales, and I look forward to continuing to meet those individual employers, as well as meeting them collectively. And I also have in my diary a meeting date with the trade union side to understand how we take forward the steel industry, not if we do so here in Wales.