Lee Waters: The investment we have made and continue to make in digital infrastructure means that residents across mid Wales will be able to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by a digital society.
Lee Waters: Thank you for the question. You've raised a really important issue. It is not restricted just to mid Wales—this is as much an issue in Llanelli as it is Montgomeryshire. This is one of the reasons why the Welsh Government is working with the Scottish Government and the Royal Society of Arts on the development of a community bank, because we recognise the importance that banking facilities...
Lee Waters: Yes. The foundational economy has an important role to play in our wider approach to economic development.
Lee Waters: Thank you. I have been careful to avoid terms like 'transformation' and 'step change' in relation to the foundational economy. I think the foundational economy will help. It will make things better. It'll keep money—existing money—within those communities and stop it leaking out. And it'll allow us to harness the power of public spending in particular to improve the fabric of those...
Lee Waters: The work of the taskforce will be measured using a range of key indicators, such as employment data and those relating to impacts on health and well-being. Evaluation of key commitments taken forward by the taskforce and their impact on people across the Valleys will also contribute to evaluation.
Lee Waters: Well, by taking the approach that I just mentioned of taking a thematic approach and looking at how we can scale up existing best practice, and also focusing on the foundational economy as part of the Valleys taskforce, I hope we can spread the benefits beyond just the hubs, but right up into all tips of the Valleys and across the broadest breadth of the Valleys. So, for example, through the...
Lee Waters: Thank you. The report provides a solid foundation upon which the Welsh and UK Governments, and the regional partners, can move forward quickly with the delivery of the city deal. We will work closely with the leaders of each local authority to consider how the recommendations can be implemented.
Lee Waters: Thank you for those questions. A number of them, I think, are best directed towards the city region. This, after all, is a local project. This is not a project the Welsh Government has sponsored. This is a project that's come from the region, and the Welsh Government and the UK Government, jointly, are funding this, and they've put in place a series of assurances that the money is going to be...
Lee Waters: Thank you for those questions. I'll try to answer them in turn. I think, in many ways, the Member's comments compound the problem we've been seeing, in that there's been a very different perception of the way the city deal is being run depending on which part of the M4 you're coming from. So, the Member's repeating many of the things I've heard said from the city deal end, which is a...
Lee Waters: Yes, indeed. In terms of providing all support necessary, we really want this to succeed. The UK Government want this to succeed. Members here want it to succeed. The local authorities want it to succeed. In some ways, it's not been necessarily set up to succeed in the structures that we've put in place, in the insistence of the five-case business model, which the local authorities have...
Lee Waters: Diolch yn fawr. Thank you to everybody who's taken part for the constructive nature of the contributions, and a particular thanks to the committee for the considered and diligent work they undertook on their inquiry and for their report. I know there was some particularly noteworthy contributions to the work of the committee from people who are no longer members of the committee, so I think...
Lee Waters: I would.
Lee Waters: Well, I think the fact that the report has been accepted in full suggests that I was convinced by the analysis and the evidence I heard by the committee, and, to be fair, I don't think anything the Minister said at the time—Julie James—when she gave evidence to us, is different from what the Government is saying now. I'm more than happy to admit when I have changed my mind or changed my...
Lee Waters: Missed you last week.
Lee Waters: Thank you. Yes, I visited Blaenau Gwent last week to meet with the council to discuss their priorities for the Valleys taskforce. I'm expecting them to submit proposals for Parc Bryn Bach though the Valleys regional park this week.
Lee Waters: Thank you. I can assure my colleague that I'm continuing the work that he began to make sure that we make the most of the Heads of the Valleys road. I discussed this with the leader of the council last week, and I've been grateful to him for the conversations that we've had around it too. the work that he commissioned from the University of South Wales has reported, and it's been a valuable...
Lee Waters: Well, we are certainly reviewing the work of the taskforce. My colleague Alun Davies published a delivery plan just before Christmas that captures the range of activities going on across Government in the Valleys taskforce area. As a result of that, a great deal of work has been taking place and progress is being made. So, for example, the work in developing the metro has been heavily...
Lee Waters: Oh, get hold of yourself.
Lee Waters: Thank you very much. I'm delighted to be invited by so many Members to be shouted at by their constituents in village halls across Wales. I've already had the pleasure in Carmarthenshire, and in the next couple of weeks I'm going to Breconshire, where I shall also meet very frustrated people, and I completely understand their frustration. The Minister for housing very generously recounted...
Lee Waters: Now, unfortunately, the UK Government have not taken the view of treating broadband as a key utility. I agree with what Paul Davies said: in modern times, we expect the ability to connect quickly to a fast online service to be able to reach the services that we all now take for granted. That is why there should be a genuine universal service obligation. Just as Royal Mail has to deliver a...
