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.