Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:33 pm on 28 September 2021.
I thank the Member for that question. She's absolutely right to point to the very long history of the Hawker Siddeley Switchgear company in her constituency. And the Welsh Government was indeed very pleased to be able to support its relocation, because that relocation safeguards the future of those jobs in the constituency for years to come. Not only is it a company with a very secure reputation for what it does already, but importantly to us in making investment decisions, it has real future prospects in the green growth area, helping to make UK infrastructure fit for electric vehicles, for example. So, Rhianon Passmore is absolutely right, Llywydd—the decision to make that investment is an investment in the future prosperity of that part of Wales, and the many, many people who rely on that employment already. That is, of course, only a part of the help that the Welsh Government has provided to businesses in Islwyn during the pandemic—over 300 offers of help to businesses in the constituency, £4.6 million invested in Islwyn alone, helping those businesses that had a successful future in front of them before the pandemic struck us to be there ready to pick up that success story now that the pandemic, as we hope, is beginning to come to an end.