, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
Building out the port, capturing the heat?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
Concretely, what has the new UK Government done to strengthen the priorities for your area?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
It is, but RenewableUK have said there's a danger that these projects are going to have to be built by 2030, that's their remit, and that—. Can you convince us that—? What Jessica Hooper said from Renewables UK is that we simply don't have the businesses to…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
That's what we want to know.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
Yes, but the challenge here, as we heard from RenewableUK, is yes, these things are going to be developed, but are they going to be using Welsh businesses to develop that pipeline, to develop the port, to develop the construction, or are they going to be…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
I don't need convincing. These are very significant developments.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
Can I move to Rob Stewart? We used to have something called the south Wales industrial cluster. It's gone very silent. That was a way of Swansea being part of a much bigger region that is beyond where it is thought the inward investment is working. Because we…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
My question is how are we going to get around this overcentralised system where we are at the end of the food chain—Wales as a whole, not just the local authority.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
But the UK Government holds the major purse strings.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 4
Ken Poole, you obviously took action to work directly with local businesses and universities, as you perceive them the bottom of the food chain compared with the DBT and the Welsh Government. I can see that that works to some extent, but when it comes to…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
Good. So—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
Yes. Certainly, we had very strong evidence last week from CSconnected, that they were attracted in by the skills, the 'world-class skills', he said, from both Swansea and Cardiff universities. So, how are we going to get the people who've come in because…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
You're obviously not a fan.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
Okay. Fine. Professor Munday, perhaps you have a view on that.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
So, taking the example of Jones Bros Civil Engineering, obviously a very important multinational player, what role have they played in enabling other businesses to grow around them in north Wales?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
Okay. So, what is the role, then, of clusters more broadly, just moving away slightly from the steel conundrum?
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
Is it happening fast enough, though? I mean, we're going to need the steel quite quickly. These contracts have been awarded last week.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
Okay. We'll come on to semiconductors in a minute. If we need to get the steel made in Wales in order to make this a coherent step forward, rather than just somebody using our seas and all the benefit going to somewhere else.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
Thank you. Janis, how important are clusters as a mechanism for bringing these things together? I mean, just accept—. I mean, push back against Jessica if you disagree, but it sounds like a plan.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
—the floating wind off Pembrokeshire.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
The announcement around Awel y Môr and—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
Okay. So, we're not going to pursue the biodiversity versus industry here; we haven't got time, unfortunately. But there was a major policy decision made last week, announced by Ed Miliband. So, mega offshore wind, enough to heat a million homes. What are…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
Okay—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
Inward Investment: Panel 3
I want to go back to Jessica, first of all, because the picture you paint is very disturbing in terms of us not getting the investment we need in renewables. As somebody who was involved in the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024, which has now been implemented…
, Plenary
Debate on the Health and Social Care Committee Report, 'Prevention of ill health—obesity'
I just wanted to—. The 'Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales' document is an important one, but I don't think there's any mention of the role of ultra-processed ingredients in food, and I wondered if you've had any discussion with your Cabinet colleagues about…
