Part of 2. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 19 July 2017.
I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his answer. I’m sure he would agree with me that the industrial and manufacturing heritage of the Valleys is not something that should be confined to its past, but should be central to its future as well. We’ve got particular challenges facing us in terms of research and development and productivity, and I hope he won’t underestimate the potential for Welsh Government to make meaningful interventions that can transform the economic prospects of that region. Last month, the Scottish Government announced that it was going to create a national manufacturing institute in Scotland, based on the very successful advanced manufacturing centre in Sheffield. The one in Sheffield has 100 private partners plus, and it supports very highly skilled and highly paid jobs in that region. So, now that he’s got a little bit more time to tinker with his economic strategy over the summer, I wonder if he will look into the merits of creating a niche manufacturing institute, and of course that that should be located in the south Wales Valleys.