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Enterprise and Business Committee |
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Meeting Venue: |
Committee Room 3 - Senedd |
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Meeting date: |
Thursday, 20 March 2014 |
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Meeting time: |
09.00 - 15.45 |
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This meeting can be viewed on Senedd
TV at: |
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Concise Minutes: |
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Assembly Members: |
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William Graham AM (Chair) Mick Antoniw AM Andrew RT Davies AM Keith Davies AM Rhun ap Iorwerth AM Julie James AM Eluned Parrott AM Joyce Watson AM |
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Witnesses: |
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Edwina Hart AM, Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, Minister for Economy, Science and Transport Jane Hutt AM, Minister for Finance Lord Nick Bourne, Collective Enterprise Zone Boards Jeff Andrews, Welsh Government Tracey Burke, Welsh Government Jeff Collins, Director of Transport, Welsh Government Elaina Gray, Creative Europe Natasha Hale, MEDIA Antennae UK Rob Halford, Head of Planning and Strategy, WEFO Anne Howells, Aberystwyth University Dr. David Llewellyn, Independent consultant Jane McMillan, Acting Director Programme Management and Finance Division, WEFO Dr Liz Mills, Independent Policy Analyst Damien O'Brien, Director of European Programmes, WEFO Gethin Scourfield, Fiction Factory Films Ruth Sinclair-Jones, British Council |
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Committee Staff: |
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Siân Phipps (Clerk) Claire Morris (Second Clerk) Olga Lewis (Deputy Clerk) Gregg Jones (Official) Andrew Minnis (Researcher) Ben Stokes (Researcher) |
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Transcript
View the meeting transcript.
1 Introductions, apologies and substitutions
1.1 Apologies were received from David Rees AM, Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM and Byron Davies AM. Andrew RT Davies AM substituted for Byron Davies AM for Items 4 and 5.
2 Inquiry into EU funding opportunities 2014-2020 (session 5) (09.15-10.00)
2.1. The Committee took evidence from Ruth Sinclair-Jones, Director, UK National Agency, Erasmus+, British Council and Natasha Hale, Head of Sectors, MEDIA Antennae UK.
2.2. The British Council Agreed to provide detailed information on the performance of organisations from Wales in the Lifelong Learning Programme and Youth Programmes.
2.3 MEDIA Antennae UK agreed to provide data on Welsh participation in media programme and the support they provided (events etc.)
3 Inquiry into EU funding opportunities 2014-2020 (session 6) (10.00-10.50)
3.1. The Committee took evidence from Elaina Gray, Business Development Director, Chapter Arts Centre and Gethin Scourfield, Producer, Fiction Factory Films.
4 Enterprise Zones (11.00-11.45)
4.1 The Committee took evidence from Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, Welsh Government Edwina Hart AM. The Minister was supported by Tracey Burke, Director, Strategy. Lord Bourne, Chair of the Collective Enterprise Zone Boards also attended the session.
4.2 The Minister agreed to provide:
- a note (and regular future updates) on the progress of providing superfast broadband to enterprise zones under the Superfast Cymru programme;
- A note on how the provision of superfast broadband will be addressed (and the broadband technologies to be used) in the areas unsuitable for the Superfast Cymru programme;
- the figures on the number of businesses covered by the longitudinal long-term survey and what proportion of the total number of businesses on enterprise zones these figures constituted;
- a Note on the number of business rate support applications approved by zone and, once finalised, the information on the proportion of the committed £20 million budget allocation actually spent on business rate support reflecting the take-up rates;
- as part of the regular update, an analysis and a breakdown of how individual enterprise zones are performing in terms of jobs created, assisted and safeguarded and other relevant KPIs (in as far as commercial sensitivities allow it).
5 Cardiff Airport (11.45-12.30)
5.1 The Committee took evidence from Minister for Economy, Science and Transport, Welsh Government Edwina Hart AM. The Minister was supported by James Price, Director General Economy, Science and Transport, Welsh Government and Jeff Collins, Project Manager, Director, Welsh Government.
5.2 The Minister agreed to provide:
- A note on the Regional Air Connectivity Fund announced in the budget and the interplay between this and new guidance on State Aid;
- A note on State Aid in the context of projected passenger growth at the airport;
- A note on Welsh Government official travel through Cardiff Airport;
- A note on evening runway use at the Cardiff Airport - St Athan Enterprise Zone.
6 Inquiry into EU funding opportunities 2014-2020 (session 7) (13.20-14.00)
6.1. The Committee took evidence from Anne Howells, European Development Officer, University of Aberystwyth; Dr Liz Mills, Independent Policy Analyst and Dr. David Llewellyn, Independent consultant.
7 Inquiry into EU funding opportunities 2014-2020 (14.00-14.45)
7.1 The Committee took evidence from Minister for Finance Jane Hutt AM. The Minister was supported Damien O'Brien, Chief Executive, WEFO; Jeff Andrews, Specialist Policy Adviser and Jane McMillan, Head of Programme Management, European Structural Fund.
7.2 The Minister agreed to provide:
- Additional information on the performance of the European Investment Bank in Wales.
8 EU Structural Funds update (14.45-15.30)
8.1 The Committee took evidence from Minister for Finance Jane Hutt AM. The Minister was supported by Damien O'Brien, Chief Executive, WEFO, Jeff Andrews, Specialist Policy Adviser and Rob Halford, Head of Planning & Strategy.
9 Papers to note
9.1 The Committee noted the following supporting documents:
EBC(4)-08-14(p.7) - Additional information from UKTI.
EBC(4)-08-14(p.8) – Additional information from UKTI (FDI Capability Development Support Programme).
EBC(4)-08-14(p.9) – Additional information from UKTI (Data Points)
Minutes of the previous meeting.