, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny - Minister for Economy
My name is Vaughan Gething, and I'm still the Welsh Government Minister for the economy.
, Plenary
Legislative Consent Motion on the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill
Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you to Huw Irranca-Davies, acting as the Chair of the Legislation and Justice Committee. I should say that I'm quite happy to hear the gentle and calming tones of Mr Irranca-Davies on many occasions in this Chamber, and there are…
, Plenary
Legislative Consent Motion on the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill
Thank you, Llywydd. I move the motion before us, and I'm recommending to Members of the Senedd that we consent to the legislative consent motion on the Bill. As Members will be aware, I did not recommend the Senedd should consent to the Bill as introduced in…
, Plenary
Motion to Suspend Standing Orders
Formally.
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Stronger, Fairer, Greener Wales: A Plan for Employability and Skills
Thank you. I do know a thing or two about the health service and investing in choices around our future workforce. Actually, it's one of the things we have consistently done. We've always, in my time as the Minister, but also Eluned Morgan as the new…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Stronger, Fairer, Greener Wales: A Plan for Employability and Skills
I'm very pleased that Jack Sargeant has highlighted our track record on delivering and, in fact, overachieving our pledge in the last Senedd term. We pledged 100,000 apprentices; we got to over 112,000. Of course, we had the ability to draw on European…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Stronger, Fairer, Greener Wales: A Plan for Employability and Skills
Thank you for the question. Yes, I am particularly interested, as indeed are our climate change Ministers, in supply chain opportunities for renewables in all their forms; there's much to offer in both north and south Wales on those opportunities for us. And…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Stronger, Fairer, Greener Wales: A Plan for Employability and Skills
I thank the Member for the questions. I'm not sure how far linked and how closely linked they are to the plan, but I'm happy to address the points that I think are being made. Because, again, in my past, when I've run equal pay claims, you very quickly get to…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Stronger, Fairer, Greener Wales: A Plan for Employability and Skills
Thank you for the questions and the comments. I recognise that work, and in particular good work, is often a protective factor for people's mental health. It isn't a guarantee, but I also know that poor work can have a really detrimental impact on people's…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Stronger, Fairer, Greener Wales: A Plan for Employability and Skills
And I'm pleased you mentioned Jobs Growth Wales+. It's a new programme, combining what we've learned from traineeships and the Jobs Growth Wales programme, to help people into work or to get them the skills they need to get into work in the first place. And…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Stronger, Fairer, Greener Wales: A Plan for Employability and Skills
Thank you for the series of questions. I will try to deal with as many of them as I can without testing the patience of the Deputy Presiding Officer. On to your starting points, when it comes to the part that the young person's guarantee will play, it's…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Stronger, Fairer, Greener Wales: A Plan for Employability and Skills
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's a pleasure to be back in the Chamber today. In the programme for government, we set out the actions that we will pursue over this Senedd term to help ensure that nobody is left behind, nobody is held back and everyone…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
So, in the longer term, you will be aware that we have already set out that there'll be rates relief next year. It will match the package on offer in England. You will also be aware that we're having conversations about how we support the future of the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
Financial support was available to retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism businesses, alongside the cultural recovery fund and the spectator support fund. To date, over £66.8 million has been offered through these funds. In addition, many businesses are…
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Questions to the Minister for Economy
Well, there's a range of strands within the young person's guarantee that may help, but there's a range of other challenges that businesses may face. So, for example, there's a job matching service in understanding how you match people to job opportunities…
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Questions to the Minister for Economy
The Welsh Government remains fully committed to supporting micro, small and medium enterprises in all parts of Wales. SMEs can access a wide range of information, advice and support through our Business Wales service and, of course, the Development Bank of…
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Questions to the Minister for Economy
—and be fast and free with phrases, but, look, I think he might want to pause and take some time on the subs bench while this issue is being decided by the grown ups. You see, when you look across Europe and north America, when you look at where a levy is a…
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Questions to the Minister for Economy
I know that Darren Millar regularly likes to get excited—
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Questions to the Minister for Economy
We are working with a wide range of partners to understand the potential economic impact of a visitor levy in Wales. It will be for local authorities to decide if they raise a levy on visitors. They will be empowered in local authorities to make their own…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
That's part of the reason why it's been so important to try to maintain the investment in not just skills, but also in the business support service that we provide through Business Wales, because we can provide a bespoke package of support, for either…
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Questions to the Minister for Economy
Thank you. We have a suite of business-support products available through the Business Wales service to support start-ups with a variety of subjects, from hiring staff to identifying appropriate finance. Providing start-up opportunities is also a key strand…
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Questions to the Minister for Economy
Well, some of the schemes that we're going to provide should bear fruit rather more immediately. For example, we've got the opportunity to carry on supporting young entrepreneurs through Big Ideas Wales—you can see those people starting up their businesses…
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Questions to the Minister for Economy
I'd be very happy to provide a further note to Members on this, because, actually, every time we have looked in the past, certainly in my membership of this place, we've actually found that apprenticeship outcomes for people in Wales compare very favourably…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
Yes. Well, we think we're going to lose about £1 billion up to the end of the financial year 2024, £1 billion that should have come to Wales to be spent in Wales, and, of course, previously, that Ministers here would have had responsibility for making those…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
We are investing £1.7 billion in the young person's guarantee over the next three years. Working Wales is the single gateway for access to the guarantee, including Jobs Growth Wales, Communities for Work Plus and apprenticeships. Working Wales is also…
