Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 15 March 2017.
Could we stay with the White Paper, Llywydd, and the recommendation on the regional map for Wales? It’s 20 years—I almost can’t believe it—since I was commissioned, along with Professor Kevin Morgan, by the Secretary of State at that time, Ron Davies, to redesign the regional map for Wales in terms of NUTS II, to create a Valleys and west Wales region, and an east Wales region, in order to engage with the most deprived areas and, in so doing, obtain Objective 1 status for Wales. This map does the opposite: it engages disadvantaged areas and the most prosperous areas. So, could I ask the Cabinet Secretary whether this is the map that he will use in discussing the future for any continuity in terms of regional funds? Also, is it the assisted areas map for Wales?