11. 7. Statement: Update on the Ministerial Taskforce for the Valleys

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:26 pm on 1 November 2016.

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Photo of Hefin David Hefin David Labour 6:26, 1 November 2016

I’ve considered carefully some of the comments that have been made today, and, listening to Jeremy Miles, it’s not just the western Valleys, but the northern Valleys that are important too. Communities like Deri, Brithdir, Tir-phil, Pontlottyn and Rhymney actually exist in my friend’s Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency—Dawn Bowden’s constituency—but people in Bargoed will be far more familiar with those communities than they would be with those in the south of my constituency in Caerphilly, such as Llanbradach or Ystrad Mynach; they would connect closely with those. The other thing, of course, is that people in Bargoed, Tir-phil and so on would feel less affinity with the Rhondda and Blaenau Gwent. It reflects the linear nature of the communities. One of the success of the Manchester city region is that it was a concentric area. What specific things are you going to do to connect this linear set of communities? It’s a real challenge, and I think it’s one of the things that the city deal will find most difficult. Perhaps you could provide some specifics on that.

My second question: I notice you’ve got academics on the ministerial task group, which is really important, but just because academics are on there doesn’t necessarily mean that the universities themselves are fully engaged. So, how are you going to tie in the universities to make commitments to this programme?

Finally, I’ve set up a cross-party group on small and medium-sized enterprises, where we’re specifically thinking about how we can generate business in the northern Valleys. So, the Conservative Member for South Wales East, Oscar Asghar, is very welcome to join that cross-party group if he’d like to focus on the private sector in the northern Valleys.