Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I share the Minister's concerns over the UK Government making spending decisions in devolved areas, in particular the fact that the spend seems to happen in particular seats held by a particular party. It's another example to add to the mounting evidence that the UK Government's rampant unionism threatens the autonomy of the Senedd. 

Moving to the statement, we know that there is an ongoing problem in Wales with keeping people in our communities—the brain drain, as it's referred to. Of course, this isn't just an issue of young people moving from Wales to England or to other countries; it's also an issue on a regional level as well, for example rural to urban migration. The brain drain very clearly makes it an uphill struggle for areas to recover economically. It also threatens the access regions have to skills and talents to fulfil the plans within the regional economic framework. Using mid Wales as an example, there are concerns with demographic changes in the region, specifically to do with an ageing population, brain drain and net migration. We know that there has been a projected decline in the working-age population in the region of 16 per cent between 2018 and 2019, and, at the same time, there's expected to be a 3.45 per cent decline in the economy in the region compared to a 7.4 per cent increase in the UK economy as a whole. Could the Minister outline how regional economic partnerships and regional projects will work in tandem with the young person's guarantee, and other projects, to address the brain drain? I'm sure the Minister would agree that access to skills for those regions in Wales that have been affected by the brain drain will be vital to their economic prosperity in the long term.

If I could draw the Minister's attention to energy, specifically to net zero and fuel poverty. While all of the regional economic frameworks raise issues of climate change, green energy and net zero within them, there's no real tangible commitment or assurance that economic development resulting from regional partnerships will help achieve the Welsh Government's net-zero target. I was wondering how the Minister will monitor future developments in the region to ensure that this supports green economic growth, and prevents economic growth damaging the environment as it has been doing for so long, and to ensure projects in the regions are working towards our climate change targets.

I also wanted to raise the issue of imbalance between green energy projects within the regions. For example, the north Wales economic framework—there's a huge focus on green projects that could help boost development in the region, and rightly so. However, coming back to the example of mid Wales, despite the mid Wales framework, the growing mid Wales report, and the final deal agreement noting that natural resources in mid Wales are well placed to produce green renewable forms of energy, the growth deal in mid Wales has not identified any energy projects in the region at this stage, nor do net-zero targets appear in the investment objectives.

It's also further disheartening to hear that no energy projects have been identified in the region in light of the cost-of-living crisis and the prevalent fuel poverty that exists in the mid Wales region. Seventeen per cent and 14 per cent of households in Ceredigion and Powys respectively live in fuel poverty. Meanwhile, in my own region of South Wales West, it's estimated that 8 per cent live in fuel poverty in Bridgend, 10 per cent in Swansea, and 11 per cent in Neath Port Talbot. We know that the rises in energy prices expected in April 2022, this year, and previous increases, disproportionately affect certain regions in Wales, such as rural, less connected areas more than others. Given this, I'd be keen to know from the Minister: how will the Welsh Government ensure that all regions of Wales can benefit from more green energy project developments, with the aim of making energy bills cheaper, especially as we face a cost-of-living crisis, a crisis that fuel poverty is playing a significant role in driving?