We now move to the short debate. If Members are leaving the Chamber, can you do so quietly and quickly, please? Thank you. We now move to the short debate and I call on Nick Ramsay to speak on the topic he has chosen. Nick.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’ve agreed to allow Jenny Rathbone, Hefin David and David Melding to contribute a minute each to this debate. 15 March 2016 was an historic day for Wales: the day the Cardiff capital city region deal was finally struck by the First Minister, the UK Government and representatives of the 10 participating local authorities. Since that day, local authorities across the region have ratified the scheme—Cardiff back in January.

So, what exactly is all the fuss about? Well, ‘city region’ is a term in use since the early 1950s by urban planners to describe an urban area with multiple administrative districts. The Cardiff capital region comprises 10 local authorities: Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen and the Vale of Glamorgan. It is the largest city region in Wales, and accounts for half of the total economic output of the Welsh economy, 49 per cent of total employment, and has over 38,000 active businesses. The city deal also provides an opportunity to continue tackling the area’s barriers to economic growth by improving transport connectivity, increasing skill levels still further, supporting people into work, and giving businesses the support they need to innovate and grow.

I believe this project has great potential, but let us not be under any illusions about the challenges ahead. Gross value added is lower than in all but one of the English Core City regions. There are also connectivity issues across the region that make it more difficult for people in the Valleys, for instance, to access economic opportunities.

If I can turn to the key elements of the deal, and, at its heart, the development of a 20-year £1.2 billion investment fund, which will be invested in a wide range of projects, as we know, the UK and Welsh Governments are each contributing £500 million towards this fund. The local authorities involved in the Cardiff capital region will contribute a minimum of £120 million over the 20-year period of the fund. A key priority, is, of course, the delivery of the south-east Wales metro, and, unsurprisingly, a proportion of the investment fund focuses on both phases of the wider metro scheme, the delivery of the Valleys lines electrification programme, and the delivery of the wider south-east Wales metro scheme beyond that.

Can I, once again, make a plea for all parts of the city region to benefit from the metro scheme, including outlying rural areas such as Monmouth, which have regularly appeared and disappeared on various metro maps over the years during the last Assembly and into this one, which I have raised many times with Ministers in this Chamber? As I’ve said before, a public transport hub at the Celtic Manor could help deliver this, but, however, it needs to happen so that everyone feels included. And, yes, whilst light rail and trams are the best solution for some routes now and in the future, where the infrastructure is there, we should not underestimate the important role of buses, particularly in providing connections from hubs to rural areas.

But it’s not just about the metro, important though that is. The rest of the investment fund will be used to take forward a wide range of projects that support economic growth across the Cardiff capital region, which will be decided upon by a new regional cabinet. That will include further transport schemes, investment to unlock housing and employment sites, and the development of research and innovation facilities.

So, what assurances are there underpinning all of this? Well, encouraging collaboration between local authorities has not always been too successful in the past. The local authorities involved have committed to an assurance framework for this investment fund, and at the heart of this is that the schemes represent good value for money and are underpinned by a robust business case. We will be watching closely to ensure that this happens, because the next five-year tranche of funding will only be unlocked if the UK and Welsh Governments are satisfied that the investments to date have met key objectives and contributed to national growth. And we should remember that this is not a blank cheque. There is risk involved; the local authorities involved are aware of that. If initial funding does not lead to progress, then the future costs will fall on local authority budgets. That is part of the deal. So, this isn’t a panacea; there are hard-headed economics involved.

What of the future? Well, the devolution of business rates income could provide funding for the city deal. We could look at allowing for an infrastructure supplement, allow local authorities to use alternative finance sources, or there could be removal of the conditions around some specific Welsh Government grants to allow funding to be pooled at the regional level. I’m sure that the Cabinet Secretary will have his own thoughts and proposals on some of these areas.

I’m pleased that there is a commitment to look again at a single integrated ticketing platform for public transport across the region, as considered by the previous Assembly’s enterprise committee, when I was the Chair. In the words of Professor Stuart Cole, who was a witness to our inquiry in that committee, it is a devilishly difficult thing to achieve, but the holy grail of public transport planning, and completely in tandem with the spirit of the metro.

Turning to infrastructure, we hear a lot of talk about the arc of innovation that runs along the M4 corridor. That’s great, but I think we also need to look outside of that to supporting projects outside of the M4 corridor in other parts of the region—in rural areas and areas like the Heads of the Valleys—and look at the enormous potential of projects like the Circuit of Wales, as recognised by the leader of Monmouthshire County Council, Peter Fox, recently rewarded with an honour for his work on the city deal project. By the way, I am pleased that the Welsh Government has now given the company involved, HVDC, a deadline to demonstrate that it has the necessary funding to move that forward. I think that’s a healthy development.

I think, above all, we need clarity in the city region area. We also need close relationships with the region’s three universities, which can help underpin the potential development of an internationally competitive compound semiconductor cluster that many believe will put the UK at the heart of an emerging global growth technology.

Of course, it’s clear that the Cardiff capital region needs an outstanding digital infrastructure, not always achieved in the past. It needs 4G and 5G technologies, and also increased Wi-Fi services across public transport. They’re becoming increasingly important.

Can I also just say a little about the development of green infrastructure in the capital region? Because that has a role to play in relation to the well-being of future generations Act brought forward by the Welsh Government and approved by this Assembly. Green infrastructure provides a number of opportunities and advantages if it is embedded in the city region project. GI should not just be identified, but it needs to be engineered into our villages, towns and cities. It needs to involve communities and the private sector. This is a way to ensure that work is not done in silos—and how important it is to break through those silos in a project like the city deal project.

In conclusion, Deputy Presiding Officer, although much work has been done over the last few years to strike the deal, we are, in reality, just at the start of this journey. It will not be an easy journey, but I do believe that it is a necessary one and one that will, in the end, prove worthwhile for all the partners involved. In the wake of the vote to leave the EU, it is particularly important that the component parts of the capital region work well together to maximise their assets and advantages. We’re stronger together than we are apart.

I will close this short debate—or my part of it, anyway—with the vision for the Cardiff capital region set out in the city deal, which is to

‘work together to improve the lives of people in all our communities. We will maximise opportunity for all and ensure we secure sustainable economic growth for future generations.’

This city deal provides local partners with further powers and tools to realise this vision. It is now, of course, up to the signatories of the deal to ensure that this happens.

Cities are widely recognised by the policy wonks as the engine of economic growth, and connectivity between cities and their hinterlands is a key ingredient of spreading that economic success to the whole region, not just those at the centre. We have to acknowledge that the Valleys were the original engine of Cardiff’s past growth, and therefore we have a responsibility to ensure that the Valleys benefit from Cardiff’s current growth. We can see from the examples of both Manchester and Stuttgart that successful large-scale regeneration through expansion of the knowledge sector has to be underpinned by a metropolitan rapid transit network. At the moment, 80 per cent of the nearly 80,000 people who commute into Cardiff come by car. It’s unsustainable now and getting worse by the day. It was, frankly, embarrassing when young people at the recent mock COP seminar last Friday said, ‘Why can’t we have the modern integrated transport system they have in Ireland?’, to which I had no answer. Why indeed? It’s a matter of urgency to get on with the metro, without which new businesses and new talent will not come to this region.

I report to the Chamber that I was at Caerphilly council last night as a member, on one of my last appearances there, and I voted to support the city deal, and the whole council did as well. I’d say to Nick Ramsay: I’m sure you remember the south-east Wales shared service model, which constituted the same 10 local authorities but failed to emerge, simply sharing payroll, training and HR. This, therefore, is an example of something that’s gone much further than that, and has been much more successful. I think we should owe every leader of those authorities, and every chief executive, a debt of thanks and gratitude. I think that is cross-party.

The city deal, as Jenny Rathbone’s already indicated, needs to go beyond Cardiff, otherwise it’s no deal at all. I’d like to contextualise that: it’s not just the Heads of the Valleys, but the northern Valleys, which includes an area that’s actually bigger than that, which stretches across the northern Valleys areas. The success of Manchester lies partly in the fact that it’s a concentric region. Well, the problem with the Valleys is that they are spokes moving out from the Cardiff area, which presents us with another challenge—and a challenge that can be overcome, I think, if we work collectively together.

Finally, Welsh ICE is based in my constituency. It’s in Caerphilly Business Park. I think it’s a fine example of the kind of thing the city deal can achieve in the northern Valleys. We see Welsh ICE as a hub of business growth and development. Why not scatter Welsh ICE—that kind of model—across the northern Valleys? It’s not just job creation, but business growth and creation, too. I think we can achieve it.

Like Jenny Rathbone, I’m very concerned about congestion in our cities, particularly Cardiff, and the sheer inefficiency with which we allow current traffic flows. Obviously, we need to do more in terms of public transport. We need to build on what we have and ensure that other schemes are there to get people off the roads. Not driving single journeys with just one passenger would improve the flow of traffic dramatically. Car-sharing schemes via the larger employers, but also through the net, the wonderful new technology we have, should be encouraged, as should special lanes for cars that are shared to use. That also will improve the urban environment and give us other options in terms of designating some roads for pedestrians and cyclists.

We really need to think in a very comprehensive way about how we manage traffic flows. It’s got to be done at peak level. Otherwise, the current gridlock will just get worse and worse.

Thank you very much. I call the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to reply to the debate. Mark Drakeford.

Diolch yn fawr, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Can I begin by thanking Nick Ramsay for taking the opportunity of a short debate to highlight the current state of progress in relation to the Cardiff capital city deal? His contribution, I thought, was thoughtful, wide ranging, optimistic but realistic about the challenges that we face. City deals have the potential to make a lasting impact, and that’s why commitment to making the Cardiff capital city deal a success is so important.

Now, one of the defining features of the deal in this Chamber has been the strong cross-party support that there has been for it. We’ve seen some of that again today. The partners involved have shown ambition, vision and hard work in getting this far forward, but it’s only with continuing support, and continuing political support, that we can be confident that the deal can deliver on its promise.

Dirprwy Lywydd, the promise is substantial, because the deal has an investment fund for the region of £1.2 billion over a 20-year period. It is the biggest per-capita city deal of any of those agreed by the UK Government to date. It’s bigger than the Glasgow deal and it’s bigger than the six main English city region deals as well. It aims to provide local partners with the powers and the resources to unlock significant economic growth across the Cardiff capital region, and that’s a theme in what we’ve heard this afternoon. It’s absolutely important that that growth happens right across the region, through developing stronger and more effective leadership and enabling 10 local authorities to unify decision making, pool resources and work more effectively with local businesses. It’s a deal that seeks to build on the region’s sectoral strengths, its high skill base, its three successful universities, and to provide an opportunity to continue to tackle the area’s barriers to economic growth by improving transport connectivity, increasing skill levels, supporting people into work and giving businesses the support they need to innovate and to grow.

Over its lifetime, the Cardiff capital region city deal is expected to deliver up to 25,000 new jobs and leverage an additional £4 billion worth of private sector investment. As we’ve heard loud and clear this afternoon, a key priority for that investment will be the delivery of the south-east Wales metro, including Valleys lines electrification. The deal sees the metro at the centre of a significant programme of infrastructure development with £734 million ring-fenced for its delivery. That’s made up of £503 million from the Welsh Government, £125 million from the UK Government and, of course, £106 million from the European Union, through ERDF.

Beyond the metro, the deal sees a further £495 million, made up of £375 million from the UK Government and £120 million from local authorities themselves, available to prioritise in line with the goals of the deal.

All this has been made possible by the ambition of local authorities themselves and a step change in their willingness and ability to come together for regional collaboration, but also by the strong collaboration with and between the Welsh Government and the UK Government coming together to make all this possible. All parties are working to put in place the necessary governance arrangements early in this year to enable project activity to commence. That is why, of course, as you’ve heard this afternoon, the local authorities across the city deal are voting to make those governance arrangements a reality, and I congratulate Hefin on the part that he played in making that happen just yesterday.

A great deal has happened, Dirprwy Lywydd, since the 10 months that have elapsed from the time that the First Minister and others signed the deal. The partnerships are working, as you know, on the procurement of the metro and it’s absolutely right, as others have said, that the metro will play this key part in moving people right across the region and moving people to Cardiff, but not just that—moving people from Cardiff to other parts of the region and between parts of the region as well.

As Nick Ramsay said, we have to take a more imaginative idea of what the metro will be like than is sometimes described in public debate. And David Melding was right too when he pointed to the fact that transport challenges in the Cardiff capital region will need solutions beyond the metro. That’s why it is so important that, as well as establishing a joint Cabinet in shadow form, that a shadow regional transport authority has already been established as part of this deal and has been working actively, meeting together, in order to plan for the future.

Now, while the ratification of the deal is extremely important in terms of its governance arrangements, it’s important because it marks the move to the next stage and that next stage is about delivering, through the authorities and their partners, on the projects that will make a difference right across south Wales.

The deal has always been driven by the clear ambition for economic growth through investing in infrastructure, innovation, skills and business. The competitive commission set up by the deal, led by Greg Clark—or the other Greg Clark, as I suppose we should refer to him—published its report in December last and it identified as a strength of the deal that there are so many people, organisations and businesses that want to make sustainable economic growth across the south of Wales a reality and that want to play a part in making that happen.

It’s vitally important, therefore, that the capital region works closely with its partners and stakeholders in developing the programme of projects. The governance arrangements support the specific involvement of business representatives, but I expect the city deal to engage widely in making sure that all those who have a part to play feel that they have a genuine opportunity to make that contribution.

Much has been made this afternoon, Dirprwy Lywydd, of the economic opportunities of the city deal, particularly the financial boost to the region. There’s real importance as well, in my mind, in the important step of giving local authorities the opportunity to make this happen and in developing that cross-border working between the 10 local authorities coming together for the benefit of the wider region that they represent. As was said in the Chamber yesterday when we debated the White Paper on local government reform, the achievements of the Cardiff capital deal have been very influential in designing that wider regional working for the future.

Today’s debate has focused on the Cardiff capital city deal. I don’t want to end my comments without recognising the work that is being undertaken elsewhere in Wales. Discussions in the Swansea bay city region are well advanced, and I’m confident that we have the makings of a deal that can be supported by all partners. The North Wales Economic Ambition Board’s work is at an earlier stage of development, but it has real commitment from the partners around that table, and we continue to work with them to explore how a growth deal could help to deliver their ambitions for that part of north Wales and maximise links with regions across the border in England.

The path that the Cardiff capital city deal is treading today sets the example for what we want to see delivered across the whole of Wales. We will work with local partners and we will work with the UK Government, so long as we have that shared agenda of maximising our combined interest and unlocking further economic growth for all parts of our nation. Thank you.

Thank you very much. That brings today’s proceedings to a close.

The meeting ended at 18:03.