Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:40 pm on 21 March 2017.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I first of all wish you many happy returns, First Minister? As someone who’s got many years to go before I hit the milestone of 50, I look forward to maybe you telling me what it’s like. [Laughter.] But I wish you all the best on your birthday today, and I’d also like to send best wishes to the Cabinet Secretary for rural affairs who, obviously, is convalescing at the moment, and hopefully she’ll be back with us as soon as possible.
Yesterday, First Minister, the Swansea city deal was signed by both Governments and, obviously, the partners who worked to build up that deal—the local authorities and, importantly, businesses who were involved in creating the combination of projects that, hopefully, will lift GVA and employability skills levels and the prospects for the Swansea city region. I specifically mention ‘region’, because it’s not just Swansea we’re looking at here. It has, though, not unreasonably, been put to people that this doesn’t bear much of a resemblance to what Sir Terry Matthews was talking about when he initially, as the chair of the city region board, brought this forward some 12 months ago, and that the concept has moved away from people and more to buildings. Do you share that view, and the view that, actually, the deal before us could potentially be a ‘build it for people to come’, rather than investing in the people of the region?