What steps will the Minister take to ensure that the teething problems in the delivery of the levelling-up fund, identified in the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee's report Post-EU Regional Development Funding, are dealt with?
The Welsh Government has been denied a role in the design, implementation and management of post-EU funding schemes by the UK Government.
The problems associated with these funds were foreseeable and have been raised by Welsh Ministers consistently over a number of years.
Many of the issues identified in the report would have been avoided if the UK Government had respected the work undertaken in Wales and allowed the Welsh Government to manage full replacement funding through the Framework for Regional Investment, which was developed with Welsh partners and the OECD and based on commitments that Brexit would involve no loss of funding or devolved powers.
We are frequently meeting local government and our Welsh partners to ensure that we avoid duplication of provision as far as possible, particularly in skills and business support, caused by the UK Government fragmenting the funding landscape in Wales.
Regular meetings of the Strategic Forum for Regional Investment in Wales, chaired by Huw Irranca-Davies MS, continue to be held to share information and lessons learned among Welsh partners.