1. How will the Cabinet Secretary assess the progress being made in relation to delivering the Swansea Bay city deal? (OAQ51240)

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Work continues with the Swansea bay city region and the UK Government to develop and agree an implementation, monitoring and evaluation plan to oversee detail of the deal.

Well, thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. Now, last month, in an answer to Jeremy Miles, you highlighted that, as long as the 11 projects were in preparation, not all business cases had to be prepared before they could start working. But there’s an issue still with the governance aspects of the city deal. Now, earlier this month—on 4 October—a paper to the cabinet scrutiny for Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council highlighted the concerns over the governance issues. Where are we with the governance issues, and when will you actually make a deadline by which they have to agree the governance issues, because there are projects that are ready to go, they’re waiting for this process to be at that point where governance is in place and we can actually ensure that these are going ahead properly?

Well, I thank David Rees for that question. Dirprwy Lywydd, just to confirm that, following my last questions, officials of the Welsh Government, and the UK Government, wrote jointly to the component authorities of the city deal, confirming on 12 October that neither Government will require all 11 business cases to be approved before funds can begin to flow. There are, however, a set of steps that need to be taken in order to allow that to happen. They’re relatively simple in nature but, for the record, I’ll just mention them briefly, Dirprwy Lywydd.

The first thing is that governance documents do need to be agreed by the full councils of the four authorities, and then by both Governments. That will allow the current joint committee to come out of its shadow form and to be fully appointed as a joint committee responsible for finance, staffing and legal decisions in delivery of the deal. That will allow business cases to come forward and, once approved, for funding to flow. I am very keen that the deal moves on from talking about the deal itself to the delivery phase. I was encouraged by the statement put out by the shadow joint committee, the leaders of the four authorities meeting together on 16 October, when they said that they were more determined than ever to see the deal turned into practical action on the ground, and there is now a clear process set out by which they can ensure that that happens.

Well, I’m concerned about governance and the delays that uncertainty about it might be causing at the moment. And I was very encouraged by your own comments last year, when you told me that, once the deal is agreed and funding secured—which you’ve just confirmed now—then the board should be representative of businesses in the region. And you assured me that you would include this important requirement in the discussions that you have with the board. Now, I understand that it seems to be a bit nearer than we were last time we spoke, but there is some disquiet still that private enterprise isn’t adequately represented in the shadow board, and I’m wondering how your representations to the board on this important point have moved matters on.

Well, I thank Suzy Davies for that. Just to give a tiny bit more detail, then, Dirprwy Lywydd, the way that governance arrangements are currently envisaged is that there will be a joint cabinet of the four leaders. In the end, because this is public money and money that belongs to local authorities as well as to the two Governments, those decisions must be made by elected individuals. But I have agreed with the Secretary of State that there should be an economic strategy board that will provide direct advice to that cabinet. The economic strategy board will be chaired by a private sector business representative, and we’re in discussions with the Secretary of State’s office as to how we can make sure that that person is appointed, and the people who will support them in that work.

Further to the governance issues, what discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had relating to financial contributions and return involving the four authorities? Councils may have to borrow around £360 million, which, in these times of austerity, is a major challenge. So, what discussions have you had about that? And also as regards the city deal, what discussions have you had as regards the need to be working cross-sectorally, with local government, and not just with the private sector but also with, particularly, the health sector, because there are major health innovations happening locally, and we’d like to see both sectors talking to one another?

Dirprwy Lywydd, just to take up the second point first, because Dai Lloyd is absolutely right—it is very important that the range of interests that have a direct contribution to make to the city deal are represented around the table when those decisions are being made. That clearly involves the local authorities themselves and their private sector partners, but the university is a very important player in all of this—has been from the beginning—and the university health board is as well. And part of the reason why governance arrangements take a little while sometimes to be agreed is that we have to make sure that we have all those component parts in place and that every part is confident that it can make the contribution that it wants to make.

As to the financial arrangements, these were confirmed in the original deal document. There’s £1.3 billion worth of additional investment coming to the Swansea Bay city region area as a result of the deal. The Welsh Government will provide £125 million of capital. The UK Government will provide £115 million. Then there are contributions from local authorities and from private sector interests as well. It is important that local authorities understand that they will have to use their borrowing powers in some instances in order to make their contribution, but all of that was, I believe, Dirprwy Lywydd, well understood when the deal was originally agreed back in March.