Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Liz Saville Roberts Excerpts

Monday 20th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC)]

Diolch yn fawr iawn, Madam Ddirprwy Lefarydd. May I say that it really is a pleasure to see you back here? It makes something different about this place.

Communities across Wales are experiencing the biggest fall in living standards since records began. People will have looked to the Budget for a long-term economic plan to fix the structural issues impoverishing our economy, yet with incomes still set to be lower than their pre-pandemic levels by 2028, this Budget clearly does not go far enough. The UK Government must go further with investment in research and innovation, and must recognise the importance of our universities in unlocking Wales’s economic potential.

Universities attract investment, ensure that our industries have access to skilled graduates, and provide the foundation for the research ecosystems that enable innovation. In response to the covid pandemic, for example, Bangor University developed a much-praised process for testing waste water for the virus, which could detect the emergence of new variants, and it is now exploring other ways in which waste water can be used to improve people’s health and guide future healthcare policy. Yet Bangor tells me it is concerned that it was not able to bid successfully to provide that service in England, even though it is still doing so for the Welsh Government. It is a matter of concern if there is a two-system approach to university investments from this Government.

Despite the many such examples of research excellence, the Budget failed to address the looming cliff edge that Welsh universities face. In April, 60 research projects and 1,000 skilled jobs across Wales will be put at risk when EU structural funding comes to an end. Once they are lost, there is a real risk that most of those research projects will not return and progress towards both net zero and skills targets will be hindered. Welsh universities desperately need £71 million in bridge funding to enable those projects to continue for 12 months and to provide time to develop a more strategic approach to future funding. Ensuring that the UK Government do not overlook research excellence in Wales when initiating new contracts or national facilities will be critical to enabling Wales to continue to deliver the impacts of world-class research and to support the industries of the future.

One of those industries, of course, is renewable energy, which has the potential to create well-paid jobs, reduce our dependence on hydrocarbons and guarantee energy security. With significant generation opportunities along the Welsh coastline in both marine renewables and offshore wind, Wales has real potential to become a world leader in the manufacture of components and in exporting skills and expertise to a growing global market.

The development of marine energy is currently being hindered by the slow route to market for projects. Contracts for difference could play a key role in the development of this technology, so I was disappointed to learn that ringfenced support for tidal stream has been halved from £20 million in the last round to £10 million in the latest. With pre-consented demonstration zones in Wales, such as Morlais in Ynys Môn, depending on securing funding through the scheme to deploy, will the Government explain their rationale for halving the support and set out what steps they are taking to support Wales’s first mover advantage in this technology?

I would like to set out how the nuclear licensed site at Trawsfynydd, which is entirely in public ownership, could be best used in future. Proposals for a national medical isotope centre in Trawsfynydd, known as Project ARTHUR, could be central to the UK Government’s aim of becoming a science and innovation superpower. Despite the importance of medical isotopes as a key pillar of cancer care and as a diagnostic tool, there are real fears about the security of supply because many of the isotope-producing reactors across the globe will be decommissioned in the next decade.

We therefore face the nightmare scenario of having to ration radioisotopes. We cannot leave it to the market to sort this out. It is about more than the rewards from long-term economic growth and long-term security; it necessitates action now. Bangor University argues strongly that securing an accessible supply of radioisotopes for the UK must be at the heart of expanding UK research and development capabilities in this field. Will the Minister therefore update the House as to what progress has been made on the medical radionuclide innovation programme, and on what recent discussions they have had with the Welsh Government about bringing Project ARTHUR to fruition?

Finally, Trawsfynydd is widely recognised as the lead location for the first SMR in the UK, not least because it has the UK’s first site-specific development body up and running in the form of Welsh Government-supported Cwmni Egino. Identifying technologies by the end of this year is therefore critical, as is acknowledging the need to hit the ground running with projects that actually have a chance of being ready for approval within the decade.

There have been many fine words about the need for nuclear to play its part in the energy mix, but since I became a Member of Parliament in 2015 we have been going round in circles discussing the need to move ahead. We have sites identified; Trawsfynydd is the most advanced in terms of decommissioning and is a publicly owned site. With Cwmni Egino as a lead method of bringing forward development, will the Minister consider it—certainly for Traws and possibly also for Wylfa—as being ahead of the game in comparison with Great British Nuclear and a perfect model for innovation? Bringing forward this activity is so critical to the economic development of north-west Wales. I am sure that the Minister will mention GBN in her wind-up, so will she acknowledge that Cwmni Egino and Trawsfynydd are key to successful strategic planning towards net zero?