Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:44 pm on 29 September 2021.
Well, you can expect to hear more from this Government about what we expect to do to be able to invest together with businesses. You can expect to hear that as part of further reforms in taking forward the economic contract. You can expect to hear that when I do indicate over the next month further detail on what we're going to do to try to restart the Welsh economy to build back better. But it's also an undeniable reality that investing in financing for business is something that we recognise. It's also a reality that investing in the skills and talent of people is hugely important as well, to help deal with some of the prosperity challenges that we know that we have. And it's why yesterday's statement was so important, about the certainty that we need and that businesses need to be able to plan. If there is a cloud looming over our ability to continue to invest in skills across the economy, such as the future of post-European funds, on which we rely a third of to fund our apprenticeship programme, that is a huge uncertainty for us and for businesses. If the Development Bank of Wales, which supports thousands of jobs in every constituency and every region of Wales, has uncertainty about its ability to continue to be funded and supported, that, again, is a very practical challenge for us.
So, actually, there are choices for us to make, and I will certainly set out the choices that we wish to make and how we'll go about doing that, but we could do so much more if there was a UK Government prepared to at least be a willing and constructive partner and to make some choices to work with us, not against us. And I look forward to seeing what happens with Michael Gove at his new ministry and, more importantly still, what happens when the spending review and budget are finally delivered at the end of October.