Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether his Department has made an estimate of the average number of flights each (a) day, (b) week, (c) month and (d) year between Cardiff International Airport and destinations in countries that are signatories to the Open Skies agreement.
Answered by Alun Cairns
By Open Skies agreement, we have understood the question to refer to the recently agreed Open Skies agreement with the US, which will replace the existing EU aviation agreement with the US. The deal ensures that planes flying from the UK will continue to have the same access they currently have to the US, ensuring the UK maintains its place as one of the world’s leading aviation hubs.
Currently there are no direct scheduled passenger services that run between the US and Cardiff Airport.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps the Government is taking to support the Welsh Government to increase sports tourism in Wales.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Whilst Tourism is primarily a devolved matter in Wales, the UK Government supports sports tourism throughout the UK at every opportunity, including through Visit Britain and the ‘Great’ campaign. The UK Government also provides support for major international sporting events such as the UEFA Champions League Final, which was held in Cardiff in 2017, and we continue strongly to support bids to host other sporting competitions.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many (a) discussions and (b) meetings he has had with the Welsh Government on the draft Withdrawal Agreement for the UK leaving the EU since the announcement (i) of that draft Agreement (ii) that the Welsh Government does not support the draft Agreement.
Answered by Alun Cairns
I have regular discussions with the Welsh Government on EU exit including at meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee (EU Negotiations) which has met twice in the past two weeks; 13 November and 19 November. These meetings have provided an opportunity to discuss the draft Withdrawal Agreement and outline Political Declaration with the devolved administrations on a multilateral basis.
The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office have also held several discussions with the First Ministers and Cabinet Ministers from the devolved administrations since the draft Withdrawal Agreement was announced.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 191441, whether those amounts are lower or higher than the amount that those areas have received in the same period from the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Examples of where the Industrial Strategy is already delivering for Wales are in addition to EU funding.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 191441, whether those specific priorities will differ from the priorities that have informed the allocation of funding from the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund in Wales.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Future decisions on funding will form part of the 2019 Spending Review.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 191441, whether the Government plans to allocate more or less than £2.1 billion from the Shared Prosperity Fund to Wales between 2021 and 2027.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Future decisions on funding will form part of the 2019 Spending Review.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 191441, whether he has estimated the current level of funding that Wales receives from the European Regional Development Fund, European Social Fund, Horizon 2020, Rural Development Funding and the Wales-Ireland Co-operation scheme.
Answered by Alun Cairns
The current UK Partnership Agreement for 2014-2020 European Structural Investment Funds programmes was approved by the EU in February 2018. For Wales, the European Regional Development Fund amount is €1,409,422,319, for European Social Fund the amount is €1,007,867,040.
The Wales-Ireland Co-operation scheme is a joint funding pot of €79,198,450, available for all Irish and Welsh beneficiaries to drawdown from and is not separated by Member State.
From January 2014 to November 2018, entities located in Wales have been awarded Horizon 2020 funding of €102,332,792.
For the Common Agricultural Policy funding for 2014-2020, Wales will receive a pillar 1 (direct payment) allocation of around €2,245million, and pillar 2 (rural development) allocation of around €355million.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 191441 on UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Wales, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on the Welsh economy and regional development of a lower level of Shared Prosperity Fund funding than that received under the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund in Wales.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Future decisions on funding will form part of the 2019 Spending Review, but in the meantime the draft Withdrawal Agreement states that the UK would continue to participate in 2014-2020 programmes until they close. Further, due to the Government’s guarantee for EU-funded programmes, UK organisations, including those in Wales, will receive funding in the unlikely event that the Withdrawal Agreement is not ratified.
The UK’s exit from the EU provides us with an opportunity to reconsider how funding for growth across the UK is designed and delivered. Our manifesto committed to creating a UK Shared Prosperity Fund, of which the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government published further details in a Written Ministerial Statement on 24 July.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether there will be any reduction in support for the Welsh economy as a result of the transition from the European Regional Development Fund and European Structural Funds to the Shared Prosperity Fund.
Answered by Alun Cairns
Through the Industrial Strategy we are already delivering for Wales, from £36 million for the UK’s Active Building Centre in Swansea to the £120 million commitment for the North Wales Growth Deal. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund provides the UK with an enormous opportunity to redefine the way we invest our own money in line with the specific priorities that are unique to the people, communities and businesses across all nations of our Union.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what specific and technical guidance has been provided to (a) charities, (b) local authorities and (c) the Welsh Government on how to apply for money under the funding guarantee for ERDF programmes in the event no deal being reached with the EU.
Answered by Alun Cairns
I have regular meetings with Welsh local authority leaders, charities, and Welsh Government ministers where a range of issues are discussed, including the impact of EU exit.
The Government firmly believes it is in the interests of both the EU and the UK to strike a deal. That remains the goal on both sides and we are confident that this will be achieved. But it is the job of a responsible Government to prepare for all scenarios, so we have already carried out very significant ‘no deal’ preparations for the unlikely event that we reach March 2019 without agreeing a deal.
We have already published over 100 technical notices so that businesses and citizens have time to prepare in the event of a 'no deal' scenario. These are available on gov.uk in a centralised location that is easy for people to access and use.
Specifically guidance on European Regional Development Funding in a 'no deal' can be found here: