4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the future role of enterprise zones in Wales? OAQ51283

Yes. The enterprise zone programme has a strong track record of delivery with over 10,000 jobs having been supported across the eight zones in Wales, and we do remain committed to supporting the programme, which has served as a catalyst for development and investment.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. In July, your Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure made a statement on enterprise zones in which he stated that the enterprise zone programme, 

'continues to contribute to the Welsh Government’s objectives in our Programme for Government',  and I fully support that. Last month, in a letter to me, he stated that the strategy for the Port Talbot waterfront enterprise zone—and I quote—

'is based around established employment sites in the area which have significant capacity for supporting further business investment.' 

He goes on to say that the Welsh Government is

'continuing to build on the world class advanced manufacturing skills in the area to create jobs and employment.'

Now, I fully support that ambition and the direction of economic growth for Port Talbot and want to see it come to fruition, particularly as the long-term future of the steelworks is still unclear without having the detail yet for that ThyssenKrupp/Tata joint venture and with the relining of blast furnace No. 5 not being made quite specific yet. But First Minister, as you know, the enterprise zone in Port Talbot actually includes Baglan industrial park with its associated covenant, which says it's to be used for industrial purposes. Therefore, can I ask you to listen not just to my voice but to the voices of over 8,500 of my constituents and reject approaches by the Ministry of Justice to use that land for a prison and instead stick to the Welsh Government's plans to use all the land within the enterprise zone to support business investment that delivers economic growth and job creation based upon the skills base within Port Talbot? I can tell you a prison will not do that.

My friend the Member for Aberavon has been a staunch advocate for the views—I have seen them—of many in his constituency who oppose the prison. What I can say to him is that, as a Government, we have written a letter to the Ministry of Justice. We have sought urgent clarification in terms of a number of questions that we have asked. I've not yet seen a response, but the response to that letter will inform our further consideration in terms of how the land might be used.

First Minister, since the creation of the Ebbw Vale enterprise zone, £94.6 million has been spent to create, safeguard or assist just 390 jobs. Those are figures published by the Welsh Government. So, that's a cost of around £0.25 million per job. Given that the key plank of enterprise zones is job creation, these figures indicate to me that there's a huge level of investment that has not been good value for money. Can Wales afford another five years of investment on this kind of scale for the kind of return that I've highlighted?

Well, I have to say to the Member that enterprise zones take time to come to full fruition. A huge amount of investment has gone into the Ebbw Vale area. We see, of course, what has happened on the old steelworks site, we're seeing the dualling of the A465, which will help Ebbw Vale and the surrounding communities, and, of course, he will know that we are investing a substantial sum in developing a technology park in the area. The thing with enterprise zones is that they have to be judged in the long term rather than the short.

Turning back to the Port Talbot waterfront enterprise zone, plainly, as David Rees has outlined, local people do not want a superprison on that site and, as the landowner, the Welsh Government can prevent it. So, the question people are asking is: 'What are you doing to stop the sale of this land to the Ministry of Justice?'

Well, I refer back to the answer I gave to the Member for Aberavon, and that is that we have written to the MoJ with a number of questions. I've not seen that response. The response to those questions will form a part of our future consideration. They revolve around what the plans are for the site in terms of the type of prison. They revolve around what the future then is for Swansea and Cardiff prisons. We've asked those questions, we are not in a position to proceed further with this until we get answers to those questions, and those answers must be satisfactory.

First Minister, enterprise zones should be a fantastic way of regenerating some of Wales's most deprived regions, but the reality is somewhat different. Some of the zones are working well, attracting private investment and rejuvenating their local economy. Others are simply operating because of Government funding, and support a handful of jobs. First Minister, if the enterprise zones were truly successful, there wouldn't be the land available to build a prison in one of the zones. What does your Government plan to do differently to ensure that all enterprise zones attract private sector and infrastructure investment into their respective regions and create new jobs for local people?

Well, they do, but, of course, some will grow more quickly than others. There will be some parts of Wales that, because of their location and their geography, will find it easier than other enterprise zones. But that's what an enterprise zone is designed to do—to overcome some of those difficulties. As I said earlier on, we must judge enterprise zones on what they deliver in the longer term, because, of course, much investment is put into infrastructure, investment is often put in for training and it's through the development of that investment that we then see jobs being created in the longer term.

Question 5 [OAQ51260] was withdrawn.

Question 6—Gareth Bennett.