Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Cheryl Gillan and Andrew Griffiths

Wednesday 2nd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Gillan]

I am ashamed that the shadow Secretary of State for Wales has wasted his two questions and resorted to trivia. Unlike him, I take this matter very seriously. The letter that I received from his wife actually made more sense than his questions at the Dispatch Box today.

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

2. What discussions she has had with the Welsh Assembly Government and other stakeholders on steps to attract inward investment into Wales.

[The Secretary of State for Wales (Mrs Cheryl Gillan)]

I have had various discussions with the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister on attracting inward investment to Wales. I have also discussed the matter with ministerial colleagues, including the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Government’s trade adviser, my right hon. Friend Lord Brittan. This afternoon, I shall facilitate a meeting between the First Minister, the Deputy First Minister and my hon. Friend Lord Green, the Trade Minister, on the same issue.

[Andrew Griffiths]

The Secretary of State will know that Wales is heavily reliant on a small number of very large companies: 1.8% of the companies in Wales account for 69% of turnover, and the number of new businesses established between 2004 and 2009 fell by 28%. What meetings is she having with the Welsh Assembly Government on support for small and medium-sized enterprises in Wales?

[Mrs Gillan]

My hon. Friend is quite right about the figures on the private sector in Wales. Indeed, the shadow Secretary of State has often said that he thought the private sector in Wales was too small, but he failed to address that issue while he was in government. I have continual meetings with the Welsh Assembly Government on these matters, and we are particularly committed to encouraging business confidence through the measures that we are taking for small businesses and others. I know, from meeting businesses in Wales, that the cancellation of the job tax proposed by Labour went down particularly well with the business community.