3. How is the Welsh Government supporting economic development in the Mersey Dee area? OQ57825

Thank you for the question. We continue to support the region through our regional economic framework and our place-based approach to economic development. The Welsh Government is a founder member of the Mersey Dee Alliance, as the Member will know, and this is a partnership of organisations working to support the cross-border functional economic area between the north-east of Wales, west Cheshire and the Wirral.

Well, can I thank the Minister for his answer to my question and also for his steadfast support for Wrexham's bid to be the UK City of Culture in 2025? The Minister's support has been noted across the county borough, and it's been incredibly valuable to be able to boast of to other bidders and obviously to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and to the board. In the spirit of solidarity with our northern cousins, who have also supported the bid, would you join Mayors Rotherham and Burnham in calling for the FA Cup semi-final to be moved from Wembley to the north? And would you be able to outline how discussions with our partners across the Mersey Dee area are taking place, with a view of creating more high-quality jobs across the region?

Yes. On both the first points, yes, I am very pleased to continue my stated support for Wrexham's bid to be the UK City of Culture. I know that the Member, and indeed the one-time director of Wrexham Supporters Trust, the constituency Member for Wrexham, have been very clear in their support for the bid as well, as indeed are people across the region and outside. It enjoys cross-party support.

And I also think it would be a very sensible move to ensure that Manchester City and Liverpool fans don't travel to London for the FA Cup semi-final, and that would have wider benefits as well.

And when it comes to developments in the Mersey Dee area, my officials continue to work directly with the counties on both sides of the border to try to understand how we maximise the opportunities that do exist in a range of sectors, from offshore wind to nuclear to marine energy, and of course a range of cross-border supply issues. So, I'm very optimistic about the strength of the partnership that exists, and a recognition that investment in this part of the UK, whether on the Welsh side of the border or the other side, will have a significant and positive impact. So, we'll continue to have those purposive, and what I hope will be productive, conversations.

In addition to UK Government-supported signalling renewals on the north Wales main line and over £1.2 billion UK Government funding for the Liverpool city region, benefiting rail service and inter-city transport and economies in the Mersey Dee area, including north-east Wales, the Mersey Dee area has received £59 million directly from the UK Government, including £2.6 million for the Wrexham-Bidston-Liverpool rail line, and £400,000 to further develop proposals for a new station at Deeside industrial park. Step-free access at Flint station is also in development. Network Rail is progressing the development of north Wales main line journey time improvements to outline business-case stage by summer 2022, following which a decision to design will be sought by the rail network enhancements pipeline. And £42.5 million development moneys for the union connectivity review, carried out for the UK Government, which recognised north Wales and north-west England as a highly integrated cross-border economy that will benefit from a programme of transport improvements, will be allocated soon. How will you and your officials therefore work with the UK Government to maximise the economic benefit of this for the Mersey Dee area?

Well, we'd like to be able to do just that. It does require, though, not just a level of honesty but a level of practical ability to work together, and that can't be on the basis that the UK Government decide what's going to happen and then demand that the Welsh Government falls into line. Now, in the Mersey Dee area you've got local authorities on both sides of the border who are having that productive conversation, and again including different political leadership, so it is about recognising the wider benefit to it.

But a range of the areas that you've mentioned in your statement and question actually come from reserved responsibilities. It's the UK Government's responsibility to invest in rail infrastructure and of course that investment can provide significant additional economic benefit. And of course the union connectivity review you mentioned, one of the things it highlighted, as indeed has the Conservative chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, is that HS2 is going to be a problem for the economy of Wales. It should be seen as an England-only project, not England-and-Wales, and that would actually allow us to have significant additional investment within connectivity and transport infrastructure here in Wales, and I hope the Member will join with other people across the Chamber in calling for the UK Government to change its mind on the way that HS2 is categorised, because at the moment Wales will lose out.