Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:35 pm on 16 February 2022.
Thank you for that answer, Minister. The fact that there are still question marks over this so close to when we should be finding out about this speaks for itself, doesn't it, in terms of how Westminster is treating this whole process? And we know the total amount that we've been shortchanged already, don't we? We lost £375 million of EU structural funding and in return got £46 million from Westminster, a loss of £329 million in this financial year. And regardless, Minister, of the fact whether Westminster will be conceding how much money we'll be receiving through the shared prosperity fund, the way it's going to be spent is deeply concerning, isn't it, because it's not just about the amount of the funding? The strategic oversight of the Welsh European Funding Office has been replaced by a pork-barrel process, with Westminster selecting specific schemes based on some opaque criteria. Do you agree with me, Minister, that there is no economic justification for spending money in this way, and that the only way to interpret the fact that the Tories have chosen this process is because they want to be able to point to certain schemes that have received funding in order to try to win votes?