3. Urgent Question: S4C’s New Headquarters in Carmarthen

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:44 pm on 7 February 2017.

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Photo of Mr Simon Thomas Mr Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru 2:44, 7 February 2017

(Translated)

That was exactly the point, Minister. What we want to see in west Wales is investment and a prosperous future for our young people, so that the children currently going to Llangennech school to get a Welsh-medium education will know that there are also good jobs available for them in west Wales. We want to see from Government the same kind of flexibility towards funding this project as you have shown towards funding and dealing with the Circuit of Wales proposal in Blaenau Gwent. There is a fiscal approach that you could take, and you’ve just confirmed that you could review this scheme to reprofile the financial investment so that the risk to the taxpayer is as low as possible, whilst still allowing the project to progress. Will you confirm two things therefore? First of all, will you confirm that the advice that you’ve received from the creative industries sector panel, in your view, is entirely unbiased advice? You said that the advice was given in good faith, and I accept that, but I would like to hear from you on the record that you accept that it is totally unbiased.

The second question, I think it was last week or the week before that you discussed with a number of Assembly Members the city deal for the Swansea bay region. That was during a meeting with a number of us, and I was grateful for that, and the Egin was discussed at that meeting in the context of a wider package. You were eager that we as Assembly Members would argue for the whole package and would not, in your words, ‘cherry-pick’ different elements of it. Likewise, will you accept that the city deal package includes Yr Egin, and therefore I very much hope that, next week, once you have carried out the necessary due diligence of any such scheme, you will support the scheme so that the city deal as a wider package is also supported by the Westminster Government.