, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I need to be careful here, because I'm not the Minister who makes direct choices around QR funding, but I've got lead responsibility around innovation in the Government. So, we know that it's been a really challenging environment. When we had the Reid review…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
So, the starting point is we will not in this Senedd term get to 125,000 new apprenticeship starts. The financial position means that is impossible. If we hadn't had the extraordinary budget position we're in, then I think we could have made real progress…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, part of the reason why the education Minister asked Sharron Lusher, the former principal of Pembrokeshire College, to lead a review on vocational qualifications was to look at where we'd got to, the reality that there is a difference in approach…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
You've actually got to have a strategy that sets out where you see your biggest opportunities, what the Government will do as a partner in that, how the Government proposes to act, and how that then brings in and enables stakeholders to make a difference as…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
But I think that's a misunderstanding of what your strategy is for. The strategy isn't saying that we're going to have seven new policies to launch. You've actually—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
No, I think what's definitely new and what has changed is the reality of the economy around us and where we see opportunities for Wales—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, actually, we've got fewer priorities than the mission had before. We've also had to take account of the shifts that have taken place in the last couple of years. When we exited the pandemic, lots of people were concerned, generally, about a really…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
What's new is we've had to refocus down to four priorities. We've had to think about the way the economy—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Okay. We'd be very happy to do that.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Yes. I think we can set out in a note—I'll ask Jo Salway to come in now—both about what's happened to the cuts to apprenticeship funding taking place in England and what that's meant for our budget, also what then happened with the levy and about the fact…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
So, the apprenticeship levy is a UK employment tax. So, every business over a certain scale in the private or the public sector has to pay it. That means that devolved public services, as well as businesses based in Wales, all pay the apprenticeship levy…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
There is no basis to claim that this Government has not been straight with people about the realities of our budget and the choices that we are trying to make, and having to make. I don't think it is fair at all to say that I or my officials have been…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
We've been—. We've been absolutely straight.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
If funding had kept pace, if the pledges that had been made about us not losing access to that money had been kept, I'm confident we could have delivered 125,000. I've already said to this committee that I don't think we'll be able to do that. That's the…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
One hundred and twenty-five thousand. And if—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
No, within this Senedd term, I still think we'll deliver as many apprenticeships as we did in the last Senedd term. So, our track record compares favourably with our neighbour in terms of the scale and the size of our apprenticeship offering. What it means is…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, actually, that brings us back neatly to European funding, because part of their concern is the cliff edge we now face in European funding, the fact that we don't get any of it—not just the fact that we're not going to get any of it in the Welsh…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
It's a very politely worded attempt to get me to pre-announce the budget that the finance Minister is going to publish, so I'll decline that opportunity to upset my good friend, the finance Minister. But you will see that, within every area of this department…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I think it was a really constructive event. We went to Thales in Ebbe Vale, which is a good example of how the Welsh Government investment can lever in additional private investment. Thales wouldn't have come to Ebbw Vale without the Welsh Government looking…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
So, it's about being an active industrial partner. So, of course, there are a range of other parts of the Government that contribute to this as well—taking forward the childcare offer, the extra work on creating new homes, also the work that's been done…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I think there's a difference between setting targets and actually setting out what our ambition is to achieve, and, actually, because there's a number of measures to make about the progress we are making. So, you know there are measures about the number of…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Bore da, Cadeirydd. I'm Vaughan Gething, Minister for Economy. I'll move from left to right for my officials to introduce themselves.
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Road freight transport strategy
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you to Members for tabling the motion for debate and for the contributions made so far. I welcome the opportunity to contribute myself on the Welsh freight and logistics sector. If it ever was needed, the pandemic made clear…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Road freight transport strategy
Formally.
, Plenary
Topical Questions
I'll try and deal with the points as they came. In terms of legal duties, there are legal duties around consultation ahead of redundancy, and there are specific circumstances where there is not a duty to consult. You point out the strength of the company in…
