I’m sure that kind invitation has been heard by the Member.

Can I say that the Member for Caerphilly makes some very, very important points about the nature of the Valleys as well? One thing that unites all of us, in our different ways, from the Valleys of south Wales is that we have an acute sense of place, and the place is important to us. How we look out on the world is determined by the point at which we were born, where we live. My view, looking across to the Rhymney valley or elsewhere from Tredegar, will be a very, very different view from the point of view of people in Williamstown looking over the hill back at us. And I accept that. I accept the challenge that that gives us, but I would also argue that that gives us a very real strength as well. One of the great cultural triumphs, if you like, of the Valleys is our ability to recognise the importance of place and how place can drive quality of life and what we want to achieve. So, I certainly will be aware of that.

But, the challenges facing the northern Valleys of south Wales are particular. If we look at the numbers and the statistical analysis that we’ve received on economic activities, we will see that, in the southern parts of the Valleys, we’ve seen some real growth, we’ve seen an increase in jobs and we’ve seen an increase in prosperity. And there is a point at which those increases in prosperity stop, where we see some really very difficult and deep-seated issues. They tend to be in the communities of the northern Valleys and I think we do need to take a very clear-sighted look at that. The conversation I had earlier today with the Cabinet Secretary for the economy was very much focused on how we reorder our economic priorities to ensure that we use all the different policy levers available to us as a Government to ensure that we do and are able to prioritise economic development in the areas that need it most. And the communities of the northern Valleys are communities that certainly need that focus.

In terms of the wider issues on the city deal, I think it’s important that the conversation I had with the Cabinet Secretary responsible very much emphasised the importance of the city deal, as in what Cardiff can do to support the Valleys and how we can bridge the gap between Cardiff and the Valleys to ensure that we do create a more cohesive economic region and at the same time recognise that universities can and should be a key part of an industrial policy that helps to sustain and invest in sustainable growth. I hope that all the institutions of further and higher education will be focused on that, and the role of Government is to sustain that, to bring that together to enable us to have the sort of economic impact that we want to see.