Diolch, Llywydd. I move the amendments tabled in the name of Siân Gwenllian. We welcome the opportunity to debate this important issue in Government time. The UK Government has consistently misled the people of Wales on levelling up; from HS2 to the shared prosperity fund, and now the levelling-up fund, Wales stands to lose money, or we'll receive less than we did when we were part of the EU. Westminster's levelling-up agenda has so far meant more powers for Westminster, more money for Tory seats, and less funding and representation for Wales. We deserve better.

But what does 'levelling up' actually mean? So far, all we've been presented with is an array of competing competitive and opaque Westminster-controlled funds, which undermine rather than enhance Wales's economic strategy. In evidence to the Westminster Welsh affairs select committee, the Bevan Foundation said that

'Successive rounds of European Structural Funds have made significant and longstanding contributions to Wales and the Welsh economy.'

This has included tackling poverty and deprivation, regeneration, upgrading key transport facilities and infrastructure, as well as investment in skills, jobs, apprenticeships, business facilities, and support for key sectors and industries. If these funds are not replaced in full and implemented by devolved decision makers, then Wales will be left short-changed and worse off. If Wales can control its response to the pandemic, we should be able to control the levers of our economy in full. Decisions about funding in Wales should be made in Wales. The EU recognises this principle; why can't Westminster?

The levelling-up fund was announced by Westminster last year—a fund said to be open to all local areas in England. Wales would get our share of £800 million through the Barnett formula, and we would spend it according to our priorities. However, the Treasury has since announced they will be deciding how that same £800 million is spent in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and there is no ring-fenced fund for Wales. Rather than levelling up, these latest proposals are instead spreading resources thinner and taking our money away from us where we need it the most. Our amendments seek to bolster the Government's motion, making explicit points regarding the process behind the selection criteria for these funds, and calling for detailed assessments as to the impact these funds will have on Wales. 

If I could first turn to our first amendment, Welsh local authority areas like Gwynedd have been placed in the lowest priority need category for the levelling-up fund to finance infrastructure projects in deprived areas of Wales, bearing in mind, of course, that the Chancellor has included his own constituency in the highest category of need. Under previous EU funding criteria, Gwynedd was prioritised as being one of the least developed areas in Europe, along with the rest of west Wales and the Valleys. With the community renewal fund, Caerphilly has been left out. Caerphilly should score highly on the other indicators the UK Government claimed—