Questions now from the party spokespeople. The Conservative spokesperson, Tom Giffard. 

Diolch yn fawr iawn i chi, Dirprwy Lywydd, and good afternoon to you, Deputy Minister. With the World Wrestling Entertainment Clash at the Castle event at the Principality Stadium just a few months away, I wanted to ask you about the state of professional wrestling in Wales. In April 2021, the all-party parliamentary group on wrestling in Westminster, chaired by the Pontypridd MP, Alex Davies-Jones, published their report into professional wrestling in Britain. The report found that the industry was not clearly defined as either sport or theatre, and therefore found huge problems in its lack of regulation as a result. It said health and safety standards were worryingly low in independent wrestling, and that insufficient protections and checks were in place for people who were fulfilling roles as coaches, particularly as it relates to minors due to its problematic classification between sport and theatre. We also saw, in June 2020, the Speaking Out movement, with a shockingly high number of young women who had been involved in professional wrestling sharing their stories about being abused by fellow wrestlers or coaches. So, the industry for too long at the independent level has been an unregulated wild west when it comes to safety and safeguarding, and the report makes a number of recommendations as to how to tackle them. I appreciate not all the recommendations will be devolved in the Welsh context, but much of it is. So, what steps have you taken, Deputy Minister, in the 15 months since that shocking report was published, to ensure that young people who choose to pursue a passion for professional wrestling are safe when they do so?

Well, thank you for that question, Tom. And can I, first of all, just welcome the event of WWE coming here later this year? It's a huge event and it will be a massive boost to our economy. But you make a very good point, don't you, about the difference between sport and theatre, which, of course, covers—. I cover, in my portfolio, both of those areas. And I tend to look at WWE, in particular, as entertainment rather than sport. We don't see wrestling on that scale in the same way that we see sport. But you make a valid point about the report. I've not had any reports back to me from that report in terms of any particular concerns that we've had raised by professional wrestling in Wales. But I'm happy to look into that further and to come back to you with some views and recommendations that we might want to consider here in Wales. But I've had no concerns raised with me around those areas. 

Okay. I'm grateful to you, Deputy Minister. Moving to a completely different arena, this time, a virtual one, I want to ask you about esports. 

Esports? Okay.  

I recently met with John Jackson, who runs Esports Wales, who mentioned the esports Wales team will soon be competing in the Commonwealth Esports Championships, which, like the Commonwealth Games, are in Birmingham next month. I'm sure you'll be aware, Deputy Minister, of the huge economic and social benefits that esports provide. But one of the things that became very clear during the conversation we had was that these don't seem, like professional wrestling, to fit very neatly in your Government structures. They mentioned they're often passed between pillar and post, between Creative Wales and Sport Wales, when looking for funding. And, for an organisation that's run by volunteers, we should be setting up structures and removing as much bureaucracy as possible for those organisations to access the funding they need to continue the good work that they do. So, how is the Welsh Government supporting esports in Wales? And how are you making it easier for those organisations to access grant funding when they need it? 

Well, most of the funding for esports is through Creative Wales and that does continue. I'm also aware that we have a number of colleges, for instance, that develop esports games. I've got one in my own constituency. I actually sat down and played one particular sport—don't even ask me what it was—with JakeyBoyPro at Merthyr College, who was—[Interruption.] I know. Listen, I had so many brownie points from my kids you wouldn't believe, when I went back and said I'd played esports with JakeyBoyPro. But the point I'm making is there is a huge crossover: sport, entertainment, and, actually, education as well, because of the development of esports games. But, in terms of esport, we do have the crossover between Sport Wales and funding for the development of the professional aspect of that sport and the development of the creation of games. So, there isn't a single channel of funding, as there isn't for a lot of things that we do in my portfolio; there is a significant amount of crossover. But there is substantial funding available both on the development and on the professional aspect of esports. 

Thank you, Deputy Minister. And as this is my last question to you before our summer recess, can I wish you and your officials a very happy, and, hopefully, peaceful recess as well? And it's also the last number of questions to you before two key events: first of all team Wales in the Commonwealth Games, which I'm sure you'll join me in backing, and, second of all, whilst we won't be at the world cup in Qatar, because of the delay in it, we'll obviously be starting our preparations for that tournament later on in the year. But all of the athletes that I've spoken to mention the importance of good facilities in their areas to help them progress throughout their careers, and, unfortunately, in Wales, it's quite a patchy picture. The chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, as you'll know, has previously said, and I quote: 

'our grass-roots facilities are absolutely disgraceful here. I'm really shocked by how bad the facilities are here. So, if you want to talk about accessibility, Wales is a shocker when it comes to facilities.'

End quote. So, as we know, with Wales participating in the world cup in Qatar, the FAW have announced an investment of £4 million in the grass-roots game, with the aim of improving facilities. But, given that they've previously said that up to £150 million of investment is needed to improve our facilities here in Wales, and the fact we want to capitalise on our qualification to the world cup, what further support can the Welsh Government provide to ensure that Wales is not just seen as a footballing nation now, but harnesses the potential of growth for the future? 

Well, can I thank Tom for those points, which are hugely important, and can I also add our best wishes to team Wales in Birmingham next month—or this month, actually; at the end of this month? I've had the huge pleasure of being involved in the kit distribution to our athletes. I've actually got my commonwealth badge, which is made of Clogau gold, would you believe. The kit distribution, the—what do they call it—the baton relay and so on—. So, we went to Holyhead to receive the baton relay. I don't think I saw you there, Rhun, did I? But, we saw the baton relay coming in from Ireland through to Holyhead, and then I had the pleasure of seeing the baton relay coming through my own constituency, starting in Aberfan, as well. So, good luck to team Wales, and obviously good luck to the team in Qatar in November—the world cup team in Qatar.

The issue of facilities is one that's come up time and time again, and I'm very aware of the views of the chief executive of the FAW. We are in regular contact with the FAW about how we can capitalise on the legacy that Wales being in the world cup is going to deliver for us. What I would say is our starting point is that we have put in the highest amount of capital investment in facilities that we have ever put through Sport Wales. So, over the next three years, we're seeing £24 million being invested in sports facilities across Wales. 

But I think we also need to remember that sports facilitates are not just about the money that goes in through Sport Wales. We have to think about the amount of money that goes into multi-centre sporting facilities in our schools, for instance. So, if we look at the amount of investment that we've had in the twenty-first century schools programme and the current incarnation of that—again, in my own constituency, we have state-of-the-art sports facilities in many of those schools, and those all have to be added in to what we are delivering in terms of community sporting facilities.

I do agree with the chief executive of the FAW that we still have a long way to go in terms of all of those facilities, and I know that the FAW is working alongside other national governing bodies to develop and deliver sporting facilities that can be multi-use as well. So, if we are investing in new 3G pitches, for example, we shouldn't just be investing in football pitches, These should be multi-surface pitches that can accommodate rugby, hockey and other sports, and I know that the FAW are working with national governing bodies on that. 

In terms of the £4 million invested by the FAW, or going to be invested by the FAW, that of course is to be welcomed, and that is money that is available to them because of the qualification, and it is the amount that they are able to deliver through the prize money that they have from qualifying for the world cup. We will continue to work with them and with other national governing bodies to see how we can develop those grass-roots facilities and how we can ensure that that legacy of our qualification for the world cup is followed through and delivers the community facilities that we so badly need.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Luke Fletcher.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Given that this is the last economy spokesperson's questions before the summer recess and that many of us will be engaging with the hospitality sector in one way or another, I thought we'd take a look at that sector. 

The picture for hospitality continues to be fairly uncertain. As I'm sure the Minister is aware, not only have we had the shortages in staff, but the cost of living continues to take its toll. A recent report by Barclays Bank estimated that the cost-of-living crisis and staff shortages threaten £36 billion-worth of growth in the hospitality and leisure sector. Now, I do believe that the shortage is happening for several reasons, but if we could focus on one particular aspect of it for just a moment, industry representatives have called for Welsh Government to help address the skills shortage within the sector. Could the Minister outline what work the Government has done so far on this particular point?

Yes, we've run a joint campaign with the sector for both recruitment and on looking at future skills needs. It's a regular point that's been raised with me, and, of course, the sector is quite diverse. You can go from high-end eating venues, for example, as part of the sector, to what would be a traditional venue within a locality and not at the same end. So, we recognise that this is also interlinked with other areas as well. There's an obvious interlinking between hospitality and tourism and the events strategy that we've just published today as well. I'd be more than happy to provide an update to the Chamber on the work we're doing in hospitality to deal with skills and the results of the joint campaign we've run with them throughout this year.

Thank you for that answer, Minister, and I'd very much appreciate an update on that front. Of course, as I mentioned, there are several reasons for the shortage of staff in hospitality. From experience, wages in hospitality need to improve, their work-life balance element needs to improve, security of work, and, as well, workplace conditions need to improve, as we've seen in the recent Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs committee report on hospitality. Now, the sector has a desire to professionalise careers within it, but it believes that the Government has a role to play in helping them to achieve this. I think it's important to emphasise that, overall, the hospitality sector is a great sector to work in. I had a good time working in the sector myself. I'm still in contact with many of the friends I made in the sector, and of course there are a number of transferrable skills. Most useful for me has been public speaking. I've said it countless times already, but if you can work on a bar on a rugby day in Cardiff and be called all sorts of things then I think you can definitely get up in the Chamber and be heckled by Members. But, on a serious note, there is a need for a culture change in the sector, so I would be interested to hear from the Minister where he thinks the Government can come in on this.

Well, I think it's actually about working alongside the sector to try to design it in exactly the same way we have done with the retail sector, where we've actually got a strategy. That may not be what they want to do, but to understand what they're asking and to be honest with them about what we can do together with them. As I say, we've been promoting careers—not just seasonal work, but careers—in hospitality, together with the sector, and, you're right, there is an impression that the work isn't as well remunerated as it could be, and there is a challenge around work-life balance. I've got a brother who is a chef. I have always been very happy to eat his food, but, in the time that I've worked in and around the sector, there is a challenge about that balance. That's been accelerated again by the pandemic, and it's one of the reasons why there has been a challenge recruiting into it. People have thought again about what they want. Most of us want to be able to go out and enjoy the hospitality sector as customers, but we actually need to have people in the sector working to a high standard for us to be able to enjoy. And part of the message, I think, here is about all of us and our constituents actually looking at people who work in that sector not as people who should be having anything thrown at them, verbally or otherwise, when at work, but actually to show some kindness. The whole world is struggling with staff shortages, so we should be kind and decent to the people who have shown up and are working so that we can actually enjoy a significant part of our life too. But I'm more than happy to commit again, not just in the meetings I've had, but to work with the sector and my officials to look at the challenges over wages, what the message is from the sector, the challenge over work-life balance, the points about certainty and what we can do to have a thriving hospitality sector, because, as I say, it underpins a range of other sectors within the wider economy.