: What discussions has
the Minister had with the UK Government regarding regional
investment funding in Wales post-Brexit?
(Counsel General and
Brexit Minister): Llywydd, I understand that you've given
permission for questions 1, 4 and 5 to be grouped. I met with the
Secretary of State for Wales on 9 January and reiterated, as I
have with other UK Government Ministers, the Welsh Government's
position of, 'Not a penny less, not a power lost' for replacement
EU funds in Wales.
: Thanks for that
answer, Minister, but I think the two big questions regarding the
UK Shared Prosperity Fund are: will it match the money that Wales
currently receives from Europe, as the Brexiters promised?' and
'will it be devolved?' Has the UK Government deigned to share its
plans with Wales yet, or, for that matter, Scotland or Northern
Ireland?
: Well, I thank the
Member for that further question. The UK Government has committed
to replace the funds lost to Wales through European structural
funds. What we have asked for is for that to be quantified and
for it to be by way of adjustment to the block grant so that the
expenditure of that money, a hundred per cent of that money, is
in accordance with the devolution settlement and enables the
Welsh Government, as it does today, to deploy those funds in
Wales to the best advantage of the people of Wales and to do that
in a way that it can integrate with the other sources of regional
funding across Wales.
: Diolch, Llywydd. Whilst
the new Welsh Secretary, , last week stated that the
UK Shared Prosperity Fund, about which we've heard a fair amount
already would not, I quote,
'drive a coach and horses through the devolution settlement',
he has, unfortunately, not given a firm assurance as to whether
the Welsh Government would control this new fund. Any loss of
control over European funding, of course, would be a power grab.
This week, local government leaders in Wales have also expressed
concern about the uncertainty around the level of funding within
the fund, given its importance in terms of regeneration plans in
many parts of Wales. So, can I ask: have you spoken to the Welsh
Secretary since last week? What is your latest understanding of
the UK Government's proposal, and will you give a commitment to
ensure that the voice of local government leaders in Wales is
heard?
: I thank Dai Lloyd
for that question and I welcome him to his new role. I have
spoken briefly with the Secretary of State in relation to another
matter in the context of a larger meeting, but not specifically
about that point. We still await, as I mentioned in my earlier
question, details in relation to the acknowledgment, effectively,
that those funds are the subject of devolved powers. It's a very
simple point to agree and to acknowledge. The point simply is
that the equivalent sums currently received through Wales should
be passed on to the Welsh Government by way of an adjustment to
the block grant and at the full disposal of the Welsh Government
to be able to deploy those funds in the way the Member's question
implies, with other partners in Wales—so, with local government,
which is itself a significant investor in the jobs and
infrastructure that benefit from that sort of investment. And
that is the opportunity, certainly important from a devolution
point of view, but it's also important from the point of view of
being able to integrate that investment with other investments
that the Welsh Government makes.
