1. Will the Minister make a statement on Welsh Government support for businesses in Alyn and Deeside? OQ56721

Thank you. We have made unprecedented levels of funding available to support Welsh businesses through the pandemic. Flintshire businesses have received £69.7 million in grant support since April 2020, which is in addition to our extensive support provided by Business Wales and the development bank.

Thank you for that answer, Minister, and thank you for the support to date. Minister, previous Welsh Labour Governments have had a strong focus on apprenticeships, a fact I should know better than most as a time-served engineer. We must train the next generation in order to deliver a green recovery and to develop the green products of the future. The Minister will know I want to see a green new deal for manufacturing in Wales. To ensure that happens, we must work with businesses to deliver highly skilled apprenticeships, and to also upskill the current workforce. Minister, do you agree with me, and can you update the Chamber on your plans to ensure this happens?

Yes, and, of course, in the manifesto that we stood on, we talked about having a greener, fairer and more prosperous Wales. And I have met a range of the coming generations of apprentices and engineers during my visits both to Airbus and Toyota, and I look forward to meeting more of our new range of people coming in with skills into the workforce. And in fact, the manufacturing action plan provides a focus to support futureproofing of our manufacturing capabilities, and also, of course, the need to decarbonise the way that industry works here in Wales. And yesterday's steel statement—you'll recall in the question you asked yesterday—is a significant part of this. It's a challenge, but also an opportunity. So ,I look forward to seeing more of those skills, to green our economy as well as to grow it in the future, and this Government is certainly committed to that greener, fairer and more prosperous Wales.

Thank you, Minister, for your response to questions from the Member for Alyn and Deeside. As you will know, Alyn and Deeside is a strategic location in north Wales, with its border and important transport links into the north-west of England. Many businesses in Mr Sargeant's constituency, and across north Wales, do rely heavily on strong cross-border collaboration, which needs the UK and Welsh Governments working closely together in the best interest of businesses throughout north Wales. Minister, you will know that you and I attended a launch event for the Mersey Dee Alliance fiscal stimulus package recently, and it's a really important partnership to see that continued cross-border collaboration. So, what assessment would you make of the work of the Mersey Dee Alliance, and what plans does the Welsh Government have to improve that cross-border collaboration? Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Well, it's something that my predecessor, Ken Skates, has recognised, about the importance of north-east Wales and north-west England, and some common economic interests. And we do think the Mersey Dee Alliance is helping to make the case for that. I have met them twice now since becoming the economy Minister, and I actually think that their stimulus package is worth serious consideration. The advice that I have given them, and the steer I've given, is we want to see this work—we recognise that investing in this part of Wales, and over the border, will benefit businesses and employees from Wales and from England too. And the challenge is whether, within the next comprehensive spending review, we'll see the sort of financial support that is required to make the stimulus package, and the real economic benefit it can bring to both north-east Wales and north-west England, a reality. And we stand ready to be constructive partners in doing just that.