The Secretary of State for Wales (Jo Stevens)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) and the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) for proposing today’s debate, the Backbench Business Committee for granting it, and everyone who has taken part in it.
In preparation for closing the debate today, I reflected on last year’s Welsh affairs debate. Still then less than a year into the new Labour Government, I updated the House on some of my priorities for Wales, but also those across the Government. I spoke of our plans to end Tory austerity, with investment in Welsh public services and infrastructure; to seize the golden opportunity of Wales’s new green industrial revolution in floating offshore wind and new nuclear; to rectify historic under-investment in Welsh rail; to deliver an industrial strategy with key Welsh sectors at its core; and to do whatever it takes to protect Welsh steelworkers and build a strong future for Welsh steel. It is fair to say it has been a very busy year. The UK Government and the Welsh Labour Government have worked together to deliver huge change on every one of those priorities and more.
Take, for example, this Government’s announcements in the past week alone. On Tuesday, we launched a new £11 million fund to help businesses affected by the steel transition at Port Talbot, to create new jobs and attract investment. Some £122 million has now been allocated by the transition board. I promised that the Government would do whatever it took to protect Welsh steelworkers and we will always keep that promise.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister, the Transport Secretary and I were at Transport for Wales’s headquarters, with the First Minister and the Welsh Transport Minister, Ken Skates, to announce a generational commitment by the UK Government to deliver our long-term plan for Welsh rail as quickly as possible, building on the nearly £445 million announced last year. After years of under-investment by previous Conservative Governments, this is a plan to deliver the rail network Wales deserves, with up to £14 billion of projects in every corner of our country: seven new stations, including the first new station in north Wales for many decades; extra capacity; and more and faster trains, transforming the experience of passengers. That commitment will unlock 12,000 jobs in rail and our industrial parks, better connecting people with the tens of thousands of well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.
On Thursday I was at Cardiff castle with the Defence Secretary to sign the new £50 million defence growth deal for Wales, with the Welsh Government. That will back our growing Welsh defence sector, drive innovation and create even more high-skilled jobs, using our increased defence spending as an engine for economic growth.
Jo Stevens
No, I am going to carry on, because I do not have much time left.
Just before Christmas, we announced one of the biggest public investments in Welsh history: the siting of the UK’s first fleet of small modular nuclear reactors at Wylfa, creating 3,000 direct jobs and thousands more in the supply chain. After a decade of inaction from the Conservatives and the inability of Plaid Cymru to agree among themselves whether they support nuclear or not, I am beyond proud that this Labour Government have made that game-changing commitment to Ynys Môn and the whole of north Wales. We have secured the most successful auction round in European history, backing the Awel y Môr offshore wind farm in north Wales, and the first floating offshore wind project in the Celtic sea, Erebus, to support thousands of jobs in our renewable energy industries.
On tackling the cost of living, which lots of hon. Members mentioned, our relentless focus saw wages rise faster in the first 10 months of this Government than in 10 years of Conservative rule. Interest rates have been cut six times, meaning significant savings in mortgage payments for Welsh households and businesses. The lifting of the two-child limit will benefit 69,000 children in Wales. Well over a quarter of a million families in Wales—320,000 of them, in fact—will benefit from the first ever sustained real-terms increase in the universal credit standard allowance, which will help many working families.
Our support for communities in every part of Wales includes over half a billion pounds for the new local growth fund to create jobs and put more money in people’s pockets; £143 million for the Welsh Government to ensure that coal tips remain safe, supporting families living in the shadow of the tips; and bringing economic growth and employment opportunities to some of the most deprived communities in Wales. There have been a lot of mentions of Pride in Place funding: with £280 million for 14 communities, as well as at least £1.5 million for every single one of the 22 local authorities in Wales through the Pride in Place impact fund, we are putting decision making about communities in the hands of communities. In addition, this year all our Welsh police forces will receive a real-terms funding increase to help them keep our streets safe.
As we have heard, Labour is the party of devolution: we delivered it, we have protected it and we are enhancing it. We have updated the Welsh fiscal framework and worked with the Welsh Labour Government on the future of water regulation and devolution. We are devolving employment support funding and delivering in partnership our economic trailblazers and city and growth deals. We have restored the Welsh Government’s decision-making role over the local growth fund. Just two weeks ago, I announced plans to devolve new powers for the Senedd to create a vacant land tax to encourage house building.
Hon. Members across the House will know that the ultimate proof of that successful partnership between our two Governments is seen in the nearly £6 billion of additional spending power that the UK Labour Government are providing to the Welsh Labour Government. Through the largest funding settlement in real terms since devolution began, we have ended Tory and Liberal Democrat austerity, making sure that Wales is funded properly and fairly, and enabling the Welsh Government to invest in our NHS and schools and across our public services.
We are now less than three months away from the Senedd election, at which Wales faces an important choice. Together, the UK and Welsh Labour Governments are strengthening public services, building new infra- structure, creating new jobs, increasing wages and tackling the cost of living. We can continue to build the next chapter of Wales’s future with two Labour Governments focused entirely on the real and pressing priorities of the people of Wales, or that future can be put at risk with the division and destruction of Reform, or distraction and separation from nationalists. We on the Labour Benches will continue to campaign in the months ahead to secure the next chapter of Wales’s future with Welsh Labour.
We had some fantastic contributions to the debate. The Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones), gave a wide-ranging speech covering the Welsh cakes made by the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies), churches, choirs, the NHS, Pride in Place and pride in work. My hon. Friend the Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare (Gerald Jones) spoke about his campaign for fair petrol pricing in his constituency. To me, the higher prices he referred to appear completely unjustifiable. I wish him lots of luck with that good campaign.
My hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) talked about how Newport is definitely on the up. It is Wales’s fastest growing and youngest city, in large part thanks to the dynamic leadership of its Labour council, its MPs and its MSs. My hon. Friends the Members for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith) and for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden) spoke about the impact of the UK Government’s child poverty strategy measures and policies on tackling the cost of living.
My constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Mr Barros-Curtis), spoke powerfully about his ten-minute rule Bill and the right to have birth, marriage and death certificates issued bilingually, as well as about the Pride in Place programme in Ely and Caerau. My hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) talked about the incredible community response to the floods in her constituency caused by Storm Claudia. It was a real privilege to meet many of her constituents when I visited straight after the floods.
My hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) gave, as she said, a niche speech on flying ring toys and their impact on grey seals on the beautiful Gower coast. That campaign sounds like a good one; I would be happy to have a conversation with her after the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger), who always gets in a mention of the football club, also talked about north Wales joining forces with northern England to bid for the 2040 Olympics. That is an exciting prospect, befitting of north Wales’s ambition and sporting prowess and a great example of the potential of collaboration across the borders of our Union.
I thank all hon. Members who have contributed to the debate. All of us here are committed to serving our constituents, and we are dedicated to the continuing success of Wales. This week, on the 10th anniversary of Wales Week London—I know that many hon. Members across the House will have been to its events this week and will do so next week; it is a fantastic platform for promoting Wales not just across the United Kingdom but globally—I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, all hon. Members and everyone across Wales a very happy St David’s day on Sunday.