Former Industrial Areas

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:36 pm on 22 November 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 1:36, 22 November 2017

Presiding Officer, I could make a cheap party political comment in response to the Member's question, given that a Plaid Cymru member did hold the economy and transport portfolio for many years, but I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to say that there is an absolute determination to invest right across the length and breadth of Wales. And the Member is right to point to the aspirations and the targets contained within the Valleys taskforce work, which will aim to create jobs for 7,000 people who are currently deprived of the opportunity to secure quality, well-paid work. But the Member's not right to suggest that her part of Wales has been deprived of opportunity and investment. In recent times, more than 1,000 jobs have been created as a consequence of Welsh Government support in the former industrial areas of the Valleys. I can list a number of companies that we have been able to support directly. For the Rhondda valley, I can include SPC, for example. Wider, where there would be opportunity for people from the Rhondda to get employment, there were jobs created at Code Serve Ltd, at Monitize, at Tenneco-Walker. Jobs are being created at TVR, General Dynamics UK.

Of course, there is more to do, and that's why we are implementing the action plan that stems from the work of the Valleys taskforce. That's why we've reconfigured my department to ensure that we place a place-based approached at the heart of economic development. I'm able to tell the Member today that we've appointed a new regional deputy director for the region to make sure that we share the wealth more fairly across Wales. With 'Prosperity for All', we have two objectives for this Government: a cross-government approach that will seek to raise levels of wealth and well-being in the aggregate, but also to reduce inequality in both.