<p>Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders</p>

Part of 2. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:45 pm on 4 July 2017.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 1:45, 4 July 2017

Can I, before I answer the question, offer my sympathies as well to the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, and, indeed, his group, and the family, fiancée, friends and colleagues of Ben Davies? It was a tragic event that we saw in Greece. So, first of all, could I express my sympathies with regard to what happened to Ben? We all rely on our staff and it was a deeply tragic incident for such a young man.

The simple answer to this question is ‘£100 million’. We’re going to put £100 million into the technology park. We’ve talked to businesses to assess the level of demand, bearing in mind, of course, that this formed part of the circuit scheme, the technology park. It was something that was mooted as part of that scheme. We feel that it can be taken forward, and, having taken soundings from businesses on the need to invest, of course, in skills, this is something that we can support. One of the issues that we have faced in the Heads of the Valleys for some years is investors saying that there are no buildings for them to go into. Now, speculative building is not something we want to encourage, but this is based on what businesses themselves have been saying to us. On that basis, we’re confident the jobs can be created.

Minister

Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.

Conservatives

The Conservatives are a centre-right political party in the UK, founded in the 1830s. They are also known as the Tory party.

With a lower-case ‘c’, ‘conservative’ is an adjective which implies a dislike of change, and a preference for traditional values.