Speeches by Ranger.

“This is a quick-fire question for everyone. If you could ask for one change from Government to improve the promotion of Wales as an investment destination, what would it be? I think you have touched on it already, Mr Poole, but I will start with you.”

“I see that you have your hand up, Mr Poole. I will need to be brief—I am sorry.”

“Along a similar line, if you will indulge me, a report by Sport Wales highlighted that every £1 invested in Welsh sport generates £4.44 in social benefits. Speaking from direct experience, because I am the MP for Wrexham, we have seen huge investment in sport in Wrexham, which is giving benefits widely across our commu…”

“Mr Poole, may I follow up on your response to my colleague about skills? Is it across the board? Is it university? Is it schools? Is it how we approach it all together? Is the system reactive enough to get the skills that we need? Will you elaborate a bit on that?”

“Q5. The Wrexham and Flintshire investment zone is one of the flagship examples of how, when the Government talk about kick-starting economic growth, they mean it. This £160 million plan will breathe new life into the local economy and create 6,000 good local jobs, meaning that young people in Wrexham will be able to fi…”

“Thank you very much.”

“Investment in Wales by the UK Government demonstrates the strength of the Union. I was therefore delighted to see the UK Labour Government announce their plan for neighbourhoods, which will see a £100 million investment in Welsh communities, with £20 million of that going into my constituency, straight into vital local…”

“Although much of public service delivery is devolved, all four nations face a shared challenge of reforming these services in a tight fiscal environment. What can the nations learn from one another about reforming these services, and does the Minister agree that it is important that they do learn from one another?”

“6. What steps he is taking to strengthen co-operation with the devolved Administrations.”

“I would like to probe a bit into how the decision-making process works. When you are deciding which projects to prioritise, what are the criteria that we use? Is it demand-led? Is it GVA improvements? Is it housing? How does that work? In a cross-border context as well, because for me and anyone on the Borders that is …”

“You referred in your earlier answer to the transport commissions for north and south-east Wales, and obviously your own UCR. This is a little bit on the same question, really. Can the public be sure that those recommendations are going to be delivered?”

“Welcome, all, and thank you for coming today. I just want to probe a little bit further, Lord Hendy, on some of the comments you were just making. The Secretary of State for Transport has said that the Government should prioritise the proposals around the north and south Wales main lines and the Wrexham to Liverpool li…”

“Thank you very much.”

“It does. Thank you very much. Did you want to add anything to that, Mr Millington?”

“That is really good to hear. I represent Wrexham, so many of those are really important to the people in my constituency and close by as well. Finally, Lord Hendy, in north Wales, the Government have prioritised the north Wales main line and the Borderlands line that we have talked about, but the North Wales Transport …”

“You recently referred to the very out of date and spurious estimates for the electrification of the north Wales main line from the previous Government, and the fact that the announcement that they made about it therefore carried very little substance. Can you tell me a bit more about where you think the assessment of t…”

“If I could take the Bidston-Wrexham-Liverpool connection as an example, is the extra benefit there mainly to Liverpool in terms of economy, or is an assessment done of benefits along the whole route?”

“Anything to add, Ms Sheikh?”

“A slight change of tack here. With all the infrastructure that we have talked about today, we are looking at better services, better reliability and all those other things that we have spoken about today. I would be interested in your assessment would be of the part that open access operators have to play in that. Coul…”

“I have a broader question as well. Obviously, there is a lot of stuff planned here and great things happening. Do we have the breadth and depth of resource available in terms of people, skills and materials? Is that a concern in terms of being able to deliver these projects speedily or as quickly as possible?”