2. Will the Minister outline the Welsh Government’s priorities for the UK Government spending review 2021? OQ57021

I want to see the UK Government follow through on its commitment to work with the grain of devolved Government policies. In areas such as net zero and addressing regional inequalities, there are opportunities for action on investment that will really make a difference for people in Wales.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. As you know, over £150 million risks being lost annually to Wales as a result of the HS2 project, which will increase the attractiveness of the north and north-west of England. It's essential that Wales gets its fair share and is not left behind. Minister, would you agree with me that the UK Government have the perfect opportunity to do this in the forthcoming spending review on 27 October by committing investment that can deliver the essential rail infrastructure package set out in the Burns recommendations for Newport, including mainline rail upgrades and six vitally needed new stations? 

Thank you. Llywydd, Jayne Bryant's absolutely right to recognise that the UK Government's own analysis does show that HS2 has the potential to harm Wales, and particularly south-west Wales, and yet they still categorise it as an England-and-Wales project. They do have the opportunity to address both this and the historic underfunding of and underinvestment in rail in Wales at the forthcoming spending review on 27 October.

But, in particular response to the questions around the Burns commission, its 58 recommendations were accepted in principle by the Welsh Government, and they do align very well with our new transport strategy for Wales. The delivery unit has been established now in Transport for Wales, and that's pressing ahead with making those recommendations a reality. Burns did recommend six new stations at Newport Road, Cardiff parkway, Newport west, Newport east, Llanwern and Magor, and we accepted those recommendations, but those stations do require upgrades to the non-devolved south Wales main line to enable them. So, there's a great opportunity for the UK Government, at the forthcoming spending review to make real its talk of levelling up and to invest in this area in particular. 

Minister, one of the main aims of the UK spending review is levelling up across the UK to increase and spread opportunity. However, as we've heard in the previous question today, Wales continues to face significant skills shortages, hindering the Welsh economy and the ability of the workforce to adapt to ever-changing industries and technologies. Research from the Open University shows that the Wales skills gap in 2020 was higher than in Scotland and six of the eight English regions. Out of 50,000 apprenticeship programmes started in 2019-20, just 740 were in manufacturing and 5,000 in construction. Minister, what guarantees can you provide that one of the priorities of the Welsh Government for allocating any increased funding coming to Wales will be used to level up the Welsh economy by meeting the needs of businesses to ensure that the skills shortages here in Wales are actually filled?  

Well, there's a deep irony in that question, of course, because the UK Government is not funding the Welsh Government in respect of the £375 million that we would previously have received from the European Union, and much of that funding actually went into investing in skills, employability, apprenticeships, the Development Bank of Wales and other strategic infrastructure projects. So, there's clearly a disconnect between the Member's desire for additional funding in this area and the actual reality of what the UK Government is doing in terms of not living up to its promise that Wales wouldn't be a penny worse off.