Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on ensuring an adequate level of funding for Welsh language free-to-air television channel S4C.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
I have regular discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport about a wide range of issues including broadcasting matters and the funding settlement for S4C. Furthermore, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and I have had a number of constructive discussions about the licence fee settlement for S4C with the Minister of State for Media and Data.
S4C is the only Welsh language TV channel in the world and the UK Government understands this incredibly distinctive position.
DCMS has received S4C’s submission of need and negotiations are ongoing.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Trade and Investment Hub on producing economic impact assessments of trade deals proposed by the UK Government.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
I work closely with my colleagues in the Department for International Trade to ensure that businesses and consumers across Wales feel the benefits of our world-class Free Trade Agreements and take advantage of new opportunities as we unlock access to new markets. The Government carried out preliminary scoping assessments for each FTA negotiation with a full impact assessment published prior to implementation.
The Trade and Investment Hubs are central to promoting British exports from all parts of the UK, to help level up the country and build back better. The hub in Cardiff will be home to export and investment specialists who will provide businesses with expert support and advice to maximise export potential, boost trade in new markets overseas, and help businesses feed directly into the free trade agreements programme.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what metrics the Government plans to use to measure success on the commitment to levelling up in the recently published Plan for Wales.
Answered by Simon Hart - Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip)
Levelling up is at the heart of the Government’s agenda and the commitments in the Plan for Wales to build back better and drive jobs, growth and prosperity. This includes making £27 billion available through the Levelling Up Fund, UK Community Renewal Fund and UK infrastructure Bank as well as investment in critical broadband, mobile and transport connectivity.
At Spending Review 2020, all Departments agreed provisional priority outcomes across all of the UK, along with metrics for measuring progress against these outcomes. The full list can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2020-documents.
The Government will be looking at additional mechanisms for measuring progress on its levelling up ambitions as part of the forthcoming Levelling Up White Paper.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he is having with the Secretary of State for Transport on providing additional charging facilities for electric vehicles in Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The 10-Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution published in November last year confirmed, among other things, a funding package for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Though this policy area is generally devolved to the Welsh Government, a number of schemes such as the On-Street Residential Charging Scheme, Electric Vehicle Home Charging Scheme and Workplace Charging Scheme apply to Wales. A total of £275m was committed for these schemes.
Investing in electric vehicle charging infrastructure is an important part of the UK Government’s plan to accelerate the transition to zero emission vehicles.
The UK Government has committed to investing £582m in Plug-in Vehicle Grants to incentivise take-up of zero or ultra-low emission vehicles, and nearly £500m to be spent in the next four years on the development and mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries and other strategic technologies as part of its commitment to a £1 billion Automotive Transformation Fund.
The UK Government intends to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 and for all cars and vans to be 100% zero emission at the tailpipe from 2035.
The Welsh Government is currently consulting on an electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy.
I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport about a wide range of matters, including the decarbonisation of transport.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what plans his Office has to assist the Welsh Government with the rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure in Wales.
Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales
The 10-Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution published in November last year confirmed, among other things, a funding package for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Though this policy area is generally devolved to the Welsh Government, a number of schemes such as the On-Street Residential Charging Scheme, Electric Vehicle Home Charging Scheme and Workplace Charging Scheme apply to Wales.
A total of £275m was committed for these schemes, which will supplement and support the Welsh Government’s efforts in this area. The Welsh Government is currently consulting on a strategy for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Officials from the Wales Office and Office for Low Emission Vehicles have had a number of discussions with the Welsh Government about electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Wales.