, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
I'll bring Andrew Gwatkin in on this, but our ability to properly scrutinise these is somewhat hampered, but it's really about what can happen in the future. And so it's what can happen in the future if you do see a significant increase not just in the…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Okay. So, I've tried to be clear and upfront about this, so I'll happily just restate this as briefly as I can. There are opportunities in new international free trade agreements; I wouldn't say that there are zero opportunities. So, in areas like some of our…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
No, I think that's a fundamental misunderstanding of how this works. We'd have had the £375 million available through the whole of this period, and how we profile that would be a matter for us. What we’ve actually got within the shared prosperity fund is a…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Yes, as is usual, there is still the roll-over from the previous funding period. That's from the funds we previously had, as it were, from the 2014-20 programme. But the new funds that should have been in place from this year—and we have shown how we'd be…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Well, we have the story of Robert Jenrick, the now former Secretary of State, who didn't respond to a single letter that I sent. He never thought it worth corresponding with the Welsh Government on this issue. The correspondence we did have from junior…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Okay, so, as I've set out, and, as is I think widely accepted, our share, if we were still within the European Union, in Wales would be £375 million a year. The current announcement on the community renewal fund is £47 million for Wales within this year. And…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
I think there are a couple of things that are worth restating. The first is that there have been unambiguous pledges on Wales not losing out on funds. And the pledge from the Government was that—. The view was that the former European funds were overly…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
So, the contract is, if you like, a gateway to funding. So, you need to be prepared to sign up to the contract and the values we want to see before you get through the gate on funding. And then with the calls to action that are part of the funding application…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
I think that's been really helpful. It's been helpful in the sense of the practical point there that we want you to sign up to this before you get public money, to understand what the principles are because this is part of it. But, also, it's the point that I…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Yes, you're right, and interestingly, we have the economic contracts, and then, there are calls to action, and the two things are separate, but there is a relationship. So, the contract is about who we spend money with and the sort of values that we're…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Yes, I've seen Duncan enter the call, so when we come to that, I'm sure Duncan will be able to assist if there are technical questions beyond my technical and detailed knowledge.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Those are definitely asks that USDAW have made in the conversations and the correspondence, and you'd expect them to, wouldn't you, because they're interested in their members having a good experience at work as well as good terms and conditions. Actually…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Actually, once we'd had a conversation on a strategy for tourism and hospitality, the retail sector made clear they'd want to have a similar conversation on a similar scale, and actually it's been really positive to have both businesses and employers…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Okay. So, you're right, we published 'Let's Shape the Future' in March of this year, and actually, we've had a few more bumps in the road since then, but we have been working with partners to—. The plan was produced by Visit Wales and the Welsh Government and…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Good morning.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Yes. We weren't informed of the announcement and I don't think that the British Business Bank had much notice of the announcement either. The challenge now is, like I say, it's broadly good news that there is recognition of a specific fund to invest in Welsh…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Well, it should be good news. It's a little disappointing that there wasn't a conversation and consultation with us or even direct conversations between the British Business Bank and the Development Bank of Wales. But, to be fair, I think that the British…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Yes. Yes, not too far away; you won't have to wait too long.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
No, I'm expecting to have a recovery fund, with some announcements being made before we get to the end of the budget round, as well as what we're going to do in the next year as well. There's a challenge about supporting businesses in this part of the…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
We're going to have criterion for the support we have, it goes alongside our economic contract, and I'll set that out for you in more detail when I come to make a written or an oral statement depending on business in the Chamber.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Well, when we're looking at how we support businesses to develop and recover, we're working with local authorities. So, I'll be making some announcements about that alongside local government, because, as you know, one of the key factors in supporting…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Yes. So, that's the challenge, to double that, but it's also about shifting the economy, to keep more wealth within Wales in what are generally successful businesses.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
I can't remember the exact figure. I gave the figure in the debate. I think it's 60-odd businesses that we define as worker-owned businesses in Wales at present, but if I've got that wrong I'll come back to the committee. But the number—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Well, actually, I'm looking forward to a conversation with the Wales Co-operative Centre, because we do provide specialist support to co-operative and social enterprise businesses, and the support we already provide through Business Wales alongside that…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
Well, what I can't do is I can't say, 'This is what we will do,' but we're still looking at the conditions we're going to face when we get to April, because part of the challenge is that we need to get through this next period of time—it's a key trading…
