Speeches by Tufnell.

“Lauren, could you expand a bit on your implementation point with respect to the legislation that was most recently implemented by the Welsh Government? You talked about the key being implementation. I was wondering whether you could expand on that a little.”

“If you have an Act that has an emphasis on rehousing and you have covid on top of that, it would have played a part in pushing numbers into temporary accommodation. If you are not building enough homes, you exacerbate the problem with respect to the PRS. That is on top of the inability of local authorities to build mor…”

“That is what I was trying to get to. Lauren talked about implementation being the critical part of the new legislation that is coming through. It is really helpful to hear you outline which public bodies and measures might be in place in two years.”

“I am not disputing that.”

“Is that a compound effect?”

“I want to continue on the Welsh Government. Katie gave a detailed answer in respect of the 2014 Act, covid and the most recent legislation that has come out. We have touched on that quite a lot. The context to my question is the lack of availability and affordability in the private rented sector, which comes on top of …”

“Do you think the UK Government are compounding the effect? The Welsh Government might have a strategy for skills, but do you think there is an element in which the strategy presented by the UK Government is acting to create or accentuate these inequalities between different communities?”

“You have touched on semiconductors, which are a good example of an established economic centre, but if you look at a lot of the former industrial areas, particularly in those coalmining communities, there will be an absence of a skills base, which means that generally, in terms of the skill level required to enter thes…”

“I wanted to touch on the industrial strategy. You have talked about it a bit already. We have had evidence to this Committee in respect of some of the numbers around jobs. We have set out that we have eight high-growth or what have been known as frontier sectors. They are going to employ about 240,000 people, which is …”

“Secretary of State, can I ask a little bit more about the linking of the ETS scheme that you mentioned and the role that Nick Thomas-Symonds is playing? Wales has a long history of industry. In my constituency, in Pembrokeshire, we have an oil refinery and gas‑fired power station. This is enormously important. A…”

“3. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of increases in defence spending on Mid and South Pembrokeshire constituency.”

“I welcome the Government’s increased investment in the defence sector in Pembrokeshire; it represents a real opportunity for businesses and the local community, with good, well-paid jobs and strong local supply chains all strengthening our national security. Can the Minister set out what engagement he has had with the …”

“Do you think we are being too ambitious?”

“In terms of the amount of foreign direct investment or inward investment into Wales as a region, in the context of the UK.”

“If I may, I will explore one point. You have talked about, from an intellectual, philosophical basis, your support for devolution and the importance of those decisions being made locally. If you are acting as a concierge service for investment, Wales does have particular challenges. I think we have noted, certainly in …”

“I want to ask why Wales is lagging behind other regions in the UK in respect of FDI. There are obviously levers on a UK level that are being pulled. For instance, we had the Harrington review of FDI in 2023, and we have had evidence from the CBI in Wales talking about the importance of reducing the cost of business. Wh…”

“Organisations have done reports setting out a UK attractiveness level, but Wales does not—there seems to be a disconnect between what the Committee has found in our research through the inquiry and what you may be setting out in respect of information or what analysis you are doing on the ground.”

“Richard, do you have anything to add?”

“Yes. Effectively, you control the whole thing—all operations are within your purview, to an extent. The extent of that centralisation can create problems in the sense that it falls entirely on you as an organisation.”

“Do you think the WRU is over-centralising rugby in Wales? Does that create fundamental problems should you experience issues as an organisation in the future? How resilient does that make rugby in Wales?”