Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 14 March 2017.
Leader of the house, though you wouldn’t believe it, there was quite a degree of consensus last week during the debate on the foundational economy, which has already been mentioned by Simon Thomas, and it was agreed unanimously in the Chamber that indigenous small businesses connect with each other in a way that doesn’t happen in large firms. Networks of social capital need to be extended beyond local social contexts, it was agreed. It was further agreed that the geography of the south Wales Valleys has been a barrier to this in the past. Would the leader of the house therefore accept that for Government investment focused in this area to be successful, the northern Valleys should be seen as interdependent communities, linking east and west, and not simply spokes linking into a city hub?