Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:53 pm on 25 October 2022.
I enjoy the Minister's statements and I enjoy the conversations that he embarks upon across the Chamber. In discussing a lot of his different priorities for the investment bank he's made it very clear that he wants to see the development bank acting in a very agile way, looking for opportunities, and also investing in a creative way, and I very much welcome what he said this afternoon about decarbonisation.
What I worry sometimes, Minister, is that there are not very clear objectives and targets set for this activity. For example, one of the biggest issues facing us in the Welsh economy is that of productivity. What guidance or advice have you given the development bank to address issues of productivity in the economy, and how will you measure whether the development bank is having an impact on that?
The constituency I represent in Blaenau Gwent, of course, is one of the areas where we need greater investment, not only in productivity but in economic activity. Do you give the development bank clear guidance on a spatial aspect to their investment, so that you look and you set targets for investment in the Heads of the Valleys, for example, to ensure that you actually are investing not simply in businesses to achieve global outcomes, which would drive investment to places like Cardiff and the M4 corridor, but to drive investment into some of the more difficult parts of Wales, which are suffering from significant market failure?