We've been looking to maintain and protect businesses right across Wales, of course, including within this region. The £2.5 billion and more we've provided to support Welsh businesses during the pandemic has meant that in Swansea, over £127 million has been provided, in Neath Port Talbot, over £60 million, in Carmarthen, over £109 million and in Pembrokeshire, over £111 million from the Welsh Government to support businesses and jobs within those counties. And I'm delighted that Business Wales continues to assist businesses. When you think about this particular reason, there are hundreds of businesses that have been supported through the pandemic because of the activity of Business Wales. And that targeted approach has helped to save literally thousands of jobs. 

When we look at what we're looking to do to get more people into work, our employability strategy, which I'll report back on in the new year, is a key part of highlighting the support available for individuals, particularly those who have had the greatest impact with the pandemic, and those who are furthest away from the labour market. A key factor in that will be the challenge of giving people the skills to either increase their opportunities to work, or to enter the workplace full stop. Our regional skills partnerships will be a significant pivot—a pivotal component—within the skills landscape, with the labour market intelligence they provide us, but they're also strategic partners who bring together collaborations within their regions. They directly support our regional approach, and the city and the growth deals within Wales that the Member highlighted in his speech as well. 

Alongside that, of course, we've continued to develop our regional economic frameworks, and I think they are an essential part of the future for economic development in Wales. They're a vehicle to further develop the collaboration that we recognise—and the Member's highlighted a number of areas not just within the Swansea bay region—but they're part of the success story of Mannheim, of Aarhus and other European regions as well, and how we deliver with collaborative regional planning, that binds in public, private and third sector partners, with a shared vision for the regional economic future.

Now, the good news is that those regional economic frameworks are well advanced, with Welsh Government officials working with those regional partners to try to define an agreed set of economic development priorities for each region. And in the Swansea bay region, the draft framework already reflects the work that's been carried out beforehand from preparing a regional economic delivery plan for the region, and we're expecting publication of that on or before Christmas. So, I do want to place on record my thanks to all partners within the Swansea bay region for the way that they have worked constructively together, and the way that we want to continue working with them now and in the future, and the additional work that I've commissioned the OECD to do alongside that. 

As well as that work on the regional economic framework, of course, we've seen that the Swansea bay deal in particular has recognised the reality that there is a viable and potentially significantly profitable new marine renewable energy sector that's part of the pilot within the Swansea bay city deal. The city deal aims to deliver over 9,000 skilled jobs—an increased GVA by £1.8 million. We're pleased that the region has made progress with the development of a portfolio project, with eight of the nine projects already up and running and proceeding. And the funding that's been released so far means that we've already given three years of the first funding, with over £54 million of the city deal programme already being out to be spent. That's really good news, because it isn't just about the money, it's the drive of enterprise and innovation that makes your partner see your return on the time that they've invested in working with each other.

And, again, the university sector have been key to this as well, exactly as Mike Hedges has pointed in other regions where they've been successful. Having a research-focused university and having research, development and innovation that involves the university sector and the private sector is key to the future of successful economic development. And I think that, actually, the Swansea bay region has much to offer in support and encouragement for the rest of Wales as well. That really is helping to deliver marine energy projects in Pembrokeshire—the Pembroke Dock marine—but also, of course, the ambitions we continue to have for lagoon technology as well. But I think, also, it highlights the opportunity that exists within the Celtic sea. The Irish Government, together with Welsh Ministers, have had constructive conversations together with the private sector, and I think there are real opportunities, not just to generate, as I've said, a greater source of renewable energy, but to generate real, significant economic opportunity in supply chains of construction, which will be a significant endeavour for us and will, inevitably, involve this sector. The research to date, with the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, has identified those opportunities, and I'm keen to see those taken up with partners in the Swansea bay region, together, of course, with Ministers here in our climate change department.

We will, of course, continue to work with Swansea Council to further its ambitious programme of regeneration and economic development for the city. The city deal itself has been instrumental in creating a pipeline of additional regeneration projects that, in Swansea alone, are worth over £1 billion. As Mike Hedges highlights, there are good reasons to be positive about the future for the Swansea bay region, but, more than that, there is a considerable appetite to learn from other parts of the world, including Mannheim and Aarhus, to deliver a healthier, greener and more prosperous Swansea bay region, as part of a healthier, greener and more prosperous Wales.

I look forward to carrying on these discussions with Members from across the region, including, of course, the constituency Member who has brought forward this debate today. I wish you all a very peaceful, I hope, Christmas and new year, and, if it can't be that, at least I look forward to seeing you all in the new year at some point as well. Take care.