Oral Answers to Questions

Matt Bishop Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Jo Stevens]

I am very sorry to hear about the experience of the hon. Gentleman’s constituent. Yesterday, the Welsh Government announced £610 million additional funding for the Welsh NHS and for social care. I hope that his colleagues in the Senedd will vote for the Welsh Government Budget so that we can see that investment go into the NHS to deliver the improvements in waiting times that we all want to see.

[Matt Bishop (Forest of Dean) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to strengthen the Union.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Dame Nia Griffith)]

We are working in close partnership with the Welsh Government to grow our economy and unleash Wales’s potential. This has already delivered tangible results, including securing more than £1 billion investment and hundreds of jobs for north Wales, a better deal for steelworkers at Port Talbot, and a record budget settlement for the Welsh Government to spend on public services, including providing funding to keep coal tips safe, which the previous Government did not do.

[Matt Bishop]

I was pleased to hear the Secretary of State announce the Welsh economic growth advisory group. Will she explain how the resetting of relationships between the Welsh and UK Governments is strengthening Wales’s position in the UK industrial strategy, and also improving access to vital services and relationships over the border in the Forest of Dean?

[Dame Nia Griffith]

The Secretary of State was very pleased to chair the first meeting of the advisory group last week. The group will work with us to inform the UK Government’s industrial strategy to ensure that we build on Wales’s proud industrial heritage and develop the jobs and industries of the future. This is the first time that representatives from both Governments, from business, education and industry groups and from the unions have come together to shape cross-Government UK policy, proving the difference that two Governments working together for Wales can make.