Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. 'Our Valleys, Our Future' is an exciting opportunity to embrace, but the documents are a stark admission that previous programmes, some of which have been initiated by the Welsh Government, have either failed or fallen short. Even the chair of the ministerial taskforce for the south Wales Valleys says in the initial document this summer, and I quote:

'If we are to succeed where other programmes have fallen by the wayside, local communities and local people must be at the heart of the taskforce's work.'

'Our Valleys, Our Future' highlights a point that I regularly hear from my constituents. On page 9, it says that those consulted at the time said that there aren't enough job opportunities within the reach of Valleys communities, that there are too many zero-hours contracts, and too much temporary and agency work. Our coal and steel industries have decreased significantly, manufacturing too, and a lack of alternative is not replacing them. As a person who was born and lived for many years in the Rhondda valley, infrastructure and public transport are such that it is impossible to get from A to B in a reasonable amount of time. This makes it difficult to work outside of these areas. With people having to travel to city for work—Cardiff, Swansea—it's almost impossible if you don't have a car.

Why are we in this situation? I have said in this Chamber many times before that the UK and Wales is not a low-tax environment. In Neath Port Talbot, in my region, council tax rises every year, but council services are in decline. For example, the collection of refuse has now become fortnightly. VAT increases have further stifled consumption and have made life difficult for small businesses. I receive constant complaints from small businesses concerning business rates within my region and the stifling effect that this has on entrepreneurship. It may be that the larger or multinational firms that have a tendency to employ agency staff and locate themselves in major cities can survive this environment, but local, home-grown small businesses—like those in the Valleys—cannot, and it is these local, home-grown small businesses that are most likely to permanently employ local residents.

People taking over a business in Bridgend were amazed to see that collection of waste was a separate payment to business rates. Previously, business rates included this service. Now, it has become, in their words, another add-on, and an expensive one at that, involving several thousands of pounds per annum more on top of their business rates. In response to this situation, the Welsh Government's solution is, bizarrely, to explore even more options to tax people—the discussion about the tourist tax being one of the most recently discussed ideas. Within my region, I have two tourist areas, Gower and Porthcawl, and I am very concerned about this. That idea is contrary to the views of those who work in the industry, including the CEO of the Celtic Manor hotel and some in the British Hospitality Association. So, at one level, the Welsh Government says that it hears local residents' concerns about work uncertainty and the lack of job opportunities and zero-hours contracts, but then another of its arms smothers the best solutions that we have to these concerns by stifling entrepreneurship and small business with more tax.

The same is also true for business rates. We've discussed that topic before in this Chamber and noted that the FSB state that the non-domestic rates system, as it stands, is an unfair and regressive tax that takes no account of a firm's ability to pay. In that debate, not a single Labour backbencher spoke in defence of the Welsh Government. So, again, reform of business rates could revive local businesses and entrepreneurship, and address the concerns of those people in the Valleys. So, can we please, all together, seize this opportunity?

Another method that might help redress the problem of a lack of well-paid jobs in the Valleys would be to place a statutory duty on local councils to promote economic development. This proposal has been endorsed by the FSB. This policy may be preferable to top-down initiatives, as it would enable those who know their local area best to have real input into the kinds of businesses and jobs that they would like to attract there.

In terms of the elements that affect my region of South Wales West, I can say the following: I welcomed the proposal in the summer that part of the focus of the hub in Neath will be on digital and industrial development. Wales cannot function on residential developments alone, and the digital economy may be the key to the jobs of the future. However—