6. When will the Welsh Government make a decision on funding the Circuit of Wales track? OAQ(5)0155(EI)

We will make a decision on funding once we have all the submission detail; once the rigorous process of due diligence has been completed to our satisfaction and once the proposal has been considered by the Cabinet.

The Circuit of Wales, of course, is not asking for direct funding, as the £425 million is private investment. What they’re looking for is a guarantee—that’s what the project is awaiting. And, having exerted extreme pressure on the Circuit of Wales to come up with a commitment within two weeks, what confidence can the Cabinet Secretary give to those investors and enthusiastic supporters of the project, that a decision will be made imminently because every day leads to, I think, a weakening of that confidence that this project will go ahead?

Can I thank the Member for her question? And, of course, that extreme pressure that was applied did result in the formal proposal coming forward. The developers of the Circuit of Wales were not able to provide the information required to allow the due diligence process to commence until the end of last week. And it’s also regrettable that the information is currently incomplete. However, my officials and the appointed external advisors have commenced the due diligence process on the basis of the information provided, and, of course, subject to the company responding in a timely manner to any further enquiries. We then expect to able to report to Cabinet by mid-May.

Further to this question, we all recognise the eagerness of people, especially in Blaenau Gwent, for the decision on the Circuit of Wales project, particularly when you consider the claims made about the number of jobs it will create in the area. Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm that this pressure will not result in decision making being taken until the most vigorous assessment of the viability and economic benefit of this project has been completed? Thank you.

Yes, I can. The number of jobs promised by the project developers will be thoroughly scrutinised by the consultants that are carrying out the due diligence process. The fit-and-proper-person tests began this week. There is a market appraisal being carried out by consultants who are looking at the potential job gains from the project, as well as the viability of the project as a whole in the current marketplace. I think it’s absolutely essential that the people of the Valleys, and, in particular, in Ebbw Vale, have a clear understanding and appreciation of the potential of this project, alongside, and potentially in addition to, other major schemes that are being forward by investors across the Valleys region, including but not exclusively limited to the Caerau Park investment, the Trago Mills investment at Merthyr Tydfil, and also the potential for a major planetarium in Hirwaun. All of these projects have huge potential, individually and collectively.

Seven weeks ago, at that dispatch box, on 8 February, the Cabinet Secretary told the Senedd that the due diligence process would take between four to six weeks. Now, if there’s been a problem with a lack of complete information, why hasn’t the Government done what the private sector would do in these kind of situations, in projects which are far larger than this, which is to get everyone in a room—their auditors, Grant Thornton, the company, their funders et cetera, and the Welsh Government—so that we can actually sort this out? In relation to the date that he’s now given us of mid-May, what assessment has the Welsh Government made of the risk that poses to the financial viability of this project, given that that lengthens the requirement for bridge finance?

I need to be absolutely clear: we will not bypass due diligence for any decision. And it’s in the interests of the Circuit of Wales developers to ensure that we move as speedily for the consultants, carrying out due diligence, as they did for me when I set that time frame of two weeks to bring forward a formal proposal.

In terms of bringing them all into the room, this is precisely what we have been asking for, and we have been applying immense pressure. We have been applying immense pressure to the developers to provide the information that is required of them by the consultants. With that information, due diligence can be completed. It is in the interests of the developers to bring forward that information so that the people of Ebbw Vale and the Valleys know whether this is a viable project.

Can I support what Adam Price has just said? It’s not so much due diligence that we’re dealing with here but due dilatoriness, I think, because the Circuit of Wales developers have wanted this meeting around the table for some time, and they’ve not been given it. The limited nature of the guarantee that is being sought here is, I think, an important element in consideration. Because the guarantee itself is for funding on only 50 cent of the funding costs, but will be secured on 100 per cent of the assets, and it will not kick in anyway until those assets have been built, and there’s something physical that can form a security. I appreciate that the Cabinet Secretary has to go through a process of due diligence, but will he please get on with it?

We already did. That was the whole point of setting the two-week limit on bringing forward the formal proposal. Since that time, the Circuit of Wales developers have known precisely what information is required in the data room and they know precisely how to provide that information. It is for them to bring forward the information to conclude this matter, to give confidence to the people of Ebbw Vale and to prove that this is a viable project for Wales.