, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Are there any further questions from Members? I can see that there aren't, so I'll ask one final question, if I may. You touched on HS2 earlier on, and I think it's only fair to allow you to tell us what the Welsh Government's thinking is on the potential…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Okay, Hefin. Thank you very much indeed. Sam Kurtz.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
It did seem to us as though the development bank were owning that target as well for themselves, so it's good to get the clarity, and, yes, I think a written note would be helpful. Can I come to Hefin now on regional development funding?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
That's right.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
So, it's not just development bank—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
I'm wondering: do you have a different definition than them?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Okay. Thank you for that, Minister. I'm going to come to Luke Fletcher.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Thank you, Vikki. Can I just ask, in terms of the whole decarbonisation agenda, Minister, obviously one of the big carbon-consuming industries in Wales is steel. We know that and we want Wales to be able to produce the greenest steel in the world, and, of…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Okay. Vikki Howells, I'm going to come to you.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Sarah Murphy.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Thanks very much. Luke Fletcher.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Absolutely. That would be helpful, I think, Minister. Thank you very much. I'm going to come now to Hefin David. Hefin, over to you.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Apologies to our viewers there—we did have a problem with the microphones, but it now has been resolved. And thank you for that initial answer, Minister, to the question on the roads review and its impact on the economy. One of the things that I know has been…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Thank you for that, Minister. Can I just check? We were having some issues with the microphone for our virtual attendees. Has that been resolved for people yet? It hasn't. Can I suggest we just suspend proceedings for just a minute while we get that situation…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
—if that's all right. So, obviously, the Welsh Government's approach to roads and investment in roads has changed significantly. We appreciate that this is not within your portfolio directly, but, clearly, roads have an impact on the economy and can be…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Good afternoon and welcome back to today's meeting of the committee. We're going to move on to item 6 on our agenda now, which is a general ministerial scrutiny session with the Minister for Economy, Vaughan Gething. Welcome to you, Minister. He's joined…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you. Take care. We'll take a short break now, before our next item on the agenda, and we'll reconvene at 12.30.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Are there any further questions from Members? No. If there aren't, then, if I can just thank you, Minister, for your attendance at committee today, and thank you, Gavin Watkins and Gian Marco Currado. You'll obviously have a copy of the transcript of today's…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Yes. That would be very helpful.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Sarah Murphy, you wanted to come back in on animal welfare.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
I should express an interest, given my son is training to be a vet at the moment, shouldn't I?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
That's great.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Sam Kurtz, do you want to come in?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Okay. Thank you. Luke Fletcher.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd
Thank you for that, Minister. Can I just ask, as a follow-up, are you considering any kinds of reforms to national parks, to go alongside this piece of legislation that might need to be brought forward for the establishment of a new national park?
