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.