Cost of Living

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:33 pm on 19 January 2022.

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Photo of James Evans James Evans Conservative 1:33, 19 January 2022

Minister, what we've heard the last couple of weeks from Members and you is that you like to berate the UK Government with the usual mantra of, 'We don't get enough money', but the fact of the matter is you've had more money than ever before. The UK Government provided furlough for workers during COVID. The UK Government is increasing the national living wage by 6.6 per cent this April. The real issue here is that the economy in Wales has been failing for over 20 years. Wales has the lowest gross disposable income in the UK. Wales lost 6 per cent of its businesses whilst Scotland and Northern Ireland went up by 10 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. We have the worst gross value added growth out of all of the four nations across the United Kingdom since 1999 and just one business in the FTSE 100. So, Minister, with the cost-of-living crisis coming, and we all are concerned about that, what further economic levers can you and the Welsh Government use to ensure that, in Wales, we're creating a high-wage, high-skilled economy?