, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Yes.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
We would anticipate that designation would be around the spring for the final designation, because we're going through the detail of the business plans and what that then means in terms of the impact for devolved and non-devolved reliefs and support. There…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, the UK Government are keen to publish and to do something this summer. It's complicated by the fact that the Scottish Parliament goes into recess at the end of June. Things are different in Scotland—aren't so many things? You can't always say, 'For…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
It's difficult, because on the one hand, it unlocks the political environment, and I referred to that earlier. So, on that front, that is genuinely positive. The difficulty comes with the definition of qualifying Northern Ireland goods. So, those are supposed…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
The UK Government suggested that they wanted to go live then, but in all of our practical conversations, we've been really clear that—to get ready, to get the information ready, so turning on pre notification, and we forced the issue there, and we've got some…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
It's worth pointing out that I'm also an honorary member of the British Veterinary Association; my father was a vet. Look, we continue to have discussions with the UK Government about the practical delivery of border control posts. And those are challenging…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I do think they take seriously what we have to say, but it doesn't mean they always agree. I do think, at the start, there was—. At decision-making level, I don't think there was the same appreciation and interest in what we had to say. I think there was a…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
No, because it depends on when those negotiations actually result in a deal, and the announcement we have at the time, and what changes from our current understanding of what's being negotiated and what actually ends up happening. There are risks and…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Yes. You can expect us to publish those, and, as well as publishing them, to write to the relevant committees. I think it's the constitution committee. I think LJCC are their current initials. So, Huw Irranca-Davies and his committee will get to run the rule…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, it's been of benefit that Nigel Huddleston has been a trade Minister before, and, since he's returned to that department, some stability is welcome—I think for UK Ministers as well as us. Minister Ghani has some interest in some of the trade deals…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
No, that's true. The current Government, for all of the disagreements that we have—
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
At official level, it's constructive. Information sharing has improved. At the start of this, when trade deals were first being done, and, again, Liz Truss, if you remember her, she was the international trade Minister—. It was harder at the start than it is…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
So, three broad aims underpin what we want Business Wales to be able to do: that's to build confidence, inspire individuals, entrepreneurs and others to reach their full potential—that means we need to work with stakeholders to do that—about addressing one of…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Yes. So, Duncan Hamer earlier referred to the fact that we've got £5 million in the pipeline. There's been a really significant start with one business that had a £1.2 million investment with 200 solar panels installed. They've got opportunities to not just…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Yes, it's a regular point we raise, and, actually, again yesterday, when I met with Minister Ghani, one of the points that I made was that the support that’s there at the moment is coming to an end soon. And actually, I’m sure you’ve heard very direct…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
This is regularly part of our conversations when we're with Tata. Though actually, their bigger concerns are all of the UK issues. Welsh Ministers have met with UK Ministers on 10 occasions since March last year to talk about Tata. We’ve met with senior…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
This was part of the conversation I had yesterday with Minister Ghani when I met her in Paris. There is a need to try to get some certainty, and there's more than one department in the UK Government that has an interest. There's, obviously, the Department for…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I will definitely be taking an interest.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
The education Minister is the lead Minister for the EMA and he makes the budget choices around it. I've got an obvious interest in the levels of retention and what it allows us to do. The, if you like, traditional offer that still equips most students is one…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
The starting point is that the Climate Change Committee has been broadly positive about where we are compared to the rest of the UK. So, every now and again, we should recognise we've done something relatively positive in Wales. But, also, the plan itself has…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
On the food sector, Lesley Griffiths is the lead Minister, and, actually, there's a capital scheme there that can provide up to 40 per cent of the capital cost. So, actually, when you're looking at how you help a business to both de-risk the future and invest…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I'll bring Duncan in for some more detail, but the first point I'd make—and it's a fair question, about, 'Are we in a position to have a mix of grant and loan, or to provide grants?'—is we do still provide grants to help businesses to develop for their…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I think it's a fair challenge and it's what we're trying to do. Our challenge always is, 'Can we move at the pace and the scale that we would all want to see when we're thinking about the future of the planet?' The Climate Change Committee is there to be a…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Yes, so, the starting point is Horizon Europe is even more important because of the shared prosperity fund challenges. You know, losing £1 billion is a big hole. A significant chunk of that was money we put into research and innovation in Wales, and there…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, we haven't had any really practical discussions with the UK Government where they've offered that bridging funding. So, we regularly discuss, whenever we talk about research and innovation, the reality that money has gone from the sector and there are…
