4. Statement by the Minister for Economy: Development Bank of Wales — Investing with ambition

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:55 pm on 25 October 2022.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 3:55, 25 October 2022

There are two broad points there. The first is that, yes, when I do talk to the development bank I do take an interest in where that investment goes. If it was only going neatly in and around the centre of the Cardiff capital region, then that would not be what I think is appropriate, because it was partly set up to deal with the gap that has been mentioned about small to medium companies, as Mike Hedges mentioned, about access to capital for some of those businesses, which was often a problem from traditional lenders. Now, it doesn't mean that high-street lenders don't do anything for people on that growth journey, but actually it's where there's been a real call for further action. And also the different parts of the country that people are in, and I recognise with your own constituency it's a real factor. So, yes, we do look at that, but it's not just the development bank.

I haven't set them a particular target or measure. I'm more than happy to discuss this with the Member and others—and we're due to have a broader meeting to talk about some of these points—about the remit that I set them and when and how we expect to see progress. But it is then also part of the conversation we have with the capital region, for example. What we're talking about with them and what we want to see and expect to see as the capital region invests more funds is to make sure that, again, it doesn't simply happen around Cardiff and Newport but that it's the whole capital region that needs to see the benefit—and not simply to get people quickly from other parts of the capital region into Cardiff or Newport or other major urban centres but actually to drive some growth in other parts of the region, too. It can't be all one way, taking people from the Valleys into Cardiff and Newport. 

I think that's really important in terms of the metrics we set ourselves, and that goes into the productivity puzzle as well, because often a lot of that is the levers we have to invest in human capital, in the skills and in the people, and then to make sure we're getting people to invest in areas where those people themselves live and are able to work. So, it's part of the reason why we have the employability and skills plan, setting out what we will do. We'll need to look again to see if there's a different change in direction from the latest iteration of the UK Government, because that plan was set out when DWP were more active and people were closer to the market. We may well need to review again earlier than I thought we would do whether we're still doing enough and in the right place because, I'm afraid, we'll face a more difficult economic picture, with potentially more people out of work in the coming months.

So, our interventions, like the ReAct+ programme—are they going to be doing enough to get people back into work rapidly, and are we doing enough to get people who have been in long-term economic inactivity back on a path to become active and to have the skills to not just get into work but then to succeed in work as well? It's also why we're looking at what we're doing in our skills policy place, not just in apprenticeships but also in in-work training as well. For the current workforce, the future of work is here already in very large number. In 10 years' time, most of the people in work will already be in work already. What we need to do is to make sure they have skills that are appropriate for the world of work in 10 years' time. So, much of this is going to be about investing in the current workforce, and that will definitely make a difference to productivity. 

And the final point on this is investing in the quality of leadership and management within businesses. It isn't just workers on the shop floor, if you like, it is also about those leaders and managers who make a big difference to the effectiveness and productivity of a business as well. But, as I said, I'm very confident we'll talk about this more in the Chamber and outside it in the months ahead.