Wales: European Structural Funds

Lord Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 5th February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Jones (Lab)]

My Lords, it is good to follow the committed speech of the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Gower. He knows Wales well; his voice will be strong. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, for obtaining this timely debate, and support the general thrust of his remarks. I also welcome the Minister, with her Welsh root, and it is nice to see the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, in his place.

Wise and caring words have been spoken in this debate. Some £2.6 billion of European money came to Wales in the six-year cycle from 2014 to 2020, as the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, intimated. Wales needed that money, and will need it in future years; one hopes it will come from the shared prosperity fund. The miners and steelworkers of Wales made huge contributions to the defeat of the Kaiser and Mr Hitler in the two world wars of the 20th century. Now, our coal industry has gone and, shrunken but still mighty, only Port Talbot remains of our steel production. In the 1980s, the bedrock manufacturing industry of Wales took one big beating. Over the years, structural funds have helped to reorder the Wales economy. The Welsh Assembly has, I think, deployed the funds well. In Kenneth Skates we have a good and careful Minister—a positive force—giving a strong lead on the economy and transport. Wales has helped herself with quite some pride.

In the age of austerity in Wales, European Union funds were often transferred to the depleted and declining core funding budget. What is the future of the Welsh small business? Will the tourist budget cope? Structural funds have helped the Welsh agricultural budget but now we need to ask: what is the future of the heroic hill farmer—those gritty shepherds, her and him, in the lovely landscape of Wales, who always battle climate and contour? Will Wales get a fair deal when she bids to Her Majesty’s Government? That is the crucial question. My worry is that Whitehall’s approach to the regions differs from the Welsh Assembly’s approach to its own regions. Will Her Majesty’s Government bypass the Government in Wales? One hopes not, and we make our claim to the Minister tonight.

Her Majesty’s Government need to acknowledge the Welsh way. It is a special case. I note that Manchester University’s National Graphene Institute received structural funds to the tune of £23 million. The north-east Wales aerospace plant at Broughton Airbus employs 6,000 skilled workers who use graphene in their wing production. There we have an instance, and there are many such instances in north-east Wales and Merseyside, of a cross-border economy. We need major funding for connectivity, for youth employment and attainment, for urban development and for energy efficiency, so we look to an equitable share of the shared prosperity fund. The Mersey/Dee Alliance is the local government voice for Britain’s unique cross-border economy. A better infrastructure is the objective of the Mersey/Dee Alliance. I refer to the register of interests as I am its president.

Surely we could ask the ubiquitous and conscientious Northern Powerhouse Minister, Mr Jake Berry, to be Wales’s ally in its rightful claim for this new money. I know that Mr Berry has often met the Welsh principals in these matters. Will Her Majesty’s Government help to push forward the north Wales growth bid? The prosperity fund might respond in that respect.

I am moving to my conclusion. I would say that London is the greatest city in the world; it is well governed, rich and powerful. But has it put the UK economy out of balance? Losing structural funding will add to that debilitating national imbalance. On our exit from the EU, will Wales get the fair deal that it has earned? The Welsh Assembly has a good track record since its vesting day. It has proved an Assembly of safe hands. The transfer of power from Whitehall to Cardiff was seamless and went well. The advent of austerity, post the 2008 crash, hit Wales very hard. My conclusion is that the end of structural funding should not lead to the impoverishment of Wales.