Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’d like to begin by thanking Members for their contributions today, and also for giving me an opportunity to respond. I’d like to reiterate this Welsh Government’s absolute determination to spread prosperity to every part of Wales, including to the south Wales Valleys. It’s our aspiration to create prosperity for all.

Now, as Members will be aware, we are currently undertaking work to refresh our economic strategy to develop the economy of each region of Wales more fully, and so today’s debate is indeed very timely. In Steffan Lewis’s measured contribution, he essentially, I believe, presented the justification for the vision that I’ve already outlined for our new regionally-focused, place-based approach to economic development. I think it’s important in this debate to recognise both the challenges, but also, crucially, the strengths of the economy of the Valleys, in order for us to develop that strategy effectively, and, in looking at the data, to understand exactly where our collective efforts should be targeted.

Now, whilst gross value added per capita is below the Welsh average in both the central Valleys and the Gwent Valleys, productivity in the central Valleys is the highest in Wales, whilst, in the Gwent Valleys, productivity is the same as the Welsh average. So, it’s clear—absolutely clear—that the people of the Valleys work hard. But they don’t necessarily get the return they deserve for that hard work.

Economic inactivity and the work we are doing as a Welsh Government through our new employability programme is crucial to addressing the structural problems in Valleys communities, and in many more post-industrial communities across Wales. Unemployment in most south Wales Valleys local authorities has fallen faster than the Welsh average over the last year. In that time the unemployment rate fell in both Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil, down by 2.8 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively, but we all know that progression in work for those who have a job is still a major problem, as is the quantity of quality work available to people. All too often we’ve seen good, skilled, well-paid work replaced by poorer quality casual work, with little security and no certainty for the future. This casualised economy is not the future that any of us want for communities in the Valleys. We must be mindful, though, that the Valleys is not a single homogenous area blighted by the same problems across all communities. In some areas, we have seen economic renewal, encouraging employment figures and improvements in skills, educational attainment, health and well-being. Earnings in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Caerphilly are close to or above the Welsh average, and the employment rate of 16 to 64-year-olds in Wales is on the up, growing fastest in west Wales and the Valleys.

These very latest statistics are encouraging, showing an improving employment rate, particularly in west Wales and the Valleys. In the last Assembly term, the Government supported or created nearly 150,000 jobs across the supply chain. Many of these were of supply chains of many sectors, and, across Valleys communities, many thousands of people secured work as a consequence of our interventions. One only needs to look at the likes of General Dynamics to see the faith that employers now have in skilled workers across Valleys communities. But we also know that gains, as I said earlier, in economic growth in recent years have not fallen equally across Wales, the UK, or indeed the world. Many communities in the Heads of the Valleys do not feel part of the growth story that we have seen across the country and the world. So, as a Government, we are working relentlessly to ensure the right economic conditions to create and safeguard sustainable jobs throughout the Valleys and across Wales continues—better jobs closer to home in all parts of Wales.

Last year, we established the Valleys taskforce to help drive growth and economic prosperity across the area. The taskforce provides a real opportunity to support a strengths-based approach and to draw upon opportunities in a shifting climate to develop and grow the economy of the Valleys. The taskforce has a very clear mandate to engage with the communities it serves and to bring forward an ambitious plan, which it is doing in July. This will include setting a target of creating 10,000 jobs in the Valleys. But we also need to make sure that people living in Valleys communities have the skills required to compete for these jobs. This is why the employability programme is also crucially important. The taskforce will be working closely with city deal leaders to ensure that we maximise opportunities for people in the Valleys, and we will maintain our programme of investment, including the dualling of the A465, the biggest road project currently being delivered today—stopped by Plaid Cymru, but being delivered by Labour.

The south Wales metro, as Members have identified, will be a crucial catalyst for investment, and we’ll be working with our local partners to ensure the benefits from economic growth are tied closely to the development of the metro.