Oral Answers to Questions

Christian Wakeford Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Christian Wakeford (Bury South) (Con)]

7. What comparative assessment he has made of the effect of covid-19 lockdown policies in Wales and England on their respective economies.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (David T. C. Davies)]

There is no doubt that covid will have an enormous and detrimental impact on the Welsh economy. The Government are doing everything they can to support business and individuals through the pandemic and to ensure that the economy recovers as quickly as possible. I am confident that our policies are the right ones to defeat this virus and to save jobs in Wales.

[Christian Wakeford]

I thank the Minister for that response. Although our efforts are rightly focused on tackling the coronavirus pandemic, we also need to continue building on our cross-border economic activity; that is now more important than ever. What initiatives has the Department put in place to strengthen the economic links between Wales and the north-west of England?

[David T. C. Davies]

It is heartening that the Welsh Government have adopted a number of UK-wide programmes, such as the UK-wide coronavirus testing portal. A UK-wide, Union approach is key as we move to the next phase, and it is disappointing that sometimes the Welsh Government have taken a little time to come on board with UK-wide schemes. On testing, England has tested around two and a half times per head more people than Wales. I look forward to closer co-operation in future.