5. Statement by the Minister for Economy: Economic Priorities and UK Government Relations

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:36 pm on 17 January 2023.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 4:36, 17 January 2023

I think the Member makes an entirely fair point, as the representative of Blaenau Gwent, as to what will be the impact for his constituency, for the community that he has grown up in and now represents. To be fair, outside the Chamber, Dirprwy Lywydd, the Member makes broadly similar points sometimes a touch more colourfully, but it's part of his role. So, it is part of the test, which is, 'Will it make a difference?', not just for individual projects—we can point to the work we're doing with Thales, for example, but that isn't just founded in Blaenau—but what difference will it make more broadly. So, the work that my colleague the education Minister has seen there about 5G classrooms, and the ability it has to have a much wider, broader and deeper impact. 

On your point about productivity, you're right, of course. Some of the challenges around skills investment, one of the key points, are the adoption of different process improvements, and the difference that that can make in a whole range of sectors; the improvement in leadership and management skills—a key challenge in the Welsh economy; but also the adoption of not just new and leading edge technology solutions, where, actually, a lot of the adoption is about things that are already mature. The pandemic, for example, forced lots of businesses to go into the online world where they hadn't been. Well, actually, there's an opportunity there in operating in a different way. There's also the need to then make sure that you're secure online as well. It's also about understanding simple ways that are adopted and mature in other sectors to make sure you are driving more business and more traffic your way.

I do think, though, that as well as all of those challenges where we understand them—I wouldn't quite put my constructive approach to relations with the UK Government quite the way that the Member would—but there are areas where we see different parts of the UK Government behaving differently. Some are more difficult to deal with than others, and as I mentioned in the statement, the advanced technology centre, for example, that should be based in Jack Sargeant's constituency. Actually, that's a good example of where we can work together, and we want more of that and less of the betrayal that absolutely has happened on the shared prosperity fund, which is something that we'll continue to discuss until the position is resolved. Maybe that will require a change in the UK Government.