Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 22 November 2017.
Despite the hundreds of millions of pounds that have been invested in the zones, the economy of Wales, I would say, continues to lag behind most other parts of the UK. GVA per head in Wales in 2015 was £18,000, at the bottom of the league table of home nations for GVA per head and it has been at that bottom position for the past 20 consecutive years. In addition, weekly average earnings in Wales are £43 lower than in Scotland, despite it being in exactly the same place 20 years ago. So, can I ask, Cabinet Secretary: do you accept that the economic data on the performance of the Welsh economy in recent years further underlines the failure of the enterprise zones as the data clearly demonstrates that the zones have failed to boost the performance of the Welsh economy?