7. Debate on the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee report: City Deals and the Regional Economies of Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:36 pm on 24 January 2018.

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Photo of Russell George Russell George Conservative 5:36, 24 January 2018

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I thank all Members for taking part in this debate today, especially Members who are not members of the committee? It's always welcome to have contributions from Members who didn't take part in our committee as well.

I'll comment on a few of the items that were mentioned today. Hefin David and Dai Lloyd, particularly, talked about getting the collaboration right and getting the right deals, and, of course, made points about the goals being set by the local areas and that being a particularly important matter for all the city deals. For me, I think that's very much what I would agree with, and it seems that the Welsh and UK Governments would agree with that position as well. Of course, Dai Lloyd, Hefin David and, indeed, Jenny Rathbone also talked about the need for working together, and it got me thinking, as all three spoke, that it's pretty amazing that 10 local authorities can— . It's difficult to get two local authorities working together, but 10 local authorities working together—of different political colours—and coming together with a joint plan, but also having the UK Government and the Welsh Government sat around the table as well, all agreeing a plan together and signing that plan—that, of course, I think, is what politics should be about, and that's what I think the public want to see.

Mark Isherwood, as you would expect, also talked about the north Wales growth bid and the need to link and work with the Northern Powerhouse. And, of course, the North Wales Economic Ambition Board has submitted its bid and we hope that we'll soon be able to talk about a third deal for Wales, followed by a fourth deal after that. 

Can I thank David Rowlands for his contribution and for widening out the debate to other thought-provoking areas as well? And Dawn Bowden also, of course, in her contribution, talked about other areas that the committee perhaps could look at in the future—that's how I took what Dawn's contribution made to the debate. I have to say, it was a very tight remit that we had. It's a big issue to look at all the growth deals and the potential for a mid Wales growth deal, so our remit was tight, to a certain extent. But some of the issues that you mentioned, Dawn—I think there's scope in there for further work that we can do as a committee.

I'm coming on now to talk about the fuzzy boundaries. Suzy Davies talked about this and about markers on the map, and she gave the example of the potential difficulties for places like Bridgend in this regard. And, of course, Suzy made a point about local authorities being able to make this decision and take note of these matters for themselves. I'm hoping that we can persuade the Cabinet Secretary to change his position on the fuzzy boundaries recommendation. Vikki Howells made the point that she had raised this, of course, with the First Minister in First Minister's questions, and that he was very much supportive of a fuzzy boundaries model. So, we have got an ally around the Cabinet table, but we've also got other allies as well, because I should say we've got Hannah Blythyn and Jeremy Miles, who also were part of this committee, and I should thank them for their part and their work with the committee. But, of course, they're also very keen on and very supportive of this particular recommendation as well. So, we've got at least three allies around the Cabinet table. On a serious note, I hope that the logic that we've provided with regard to our fuzzy boundaries will, perhaps, change the Cabinet Secretary's mind at some point as well. 

I'm also pleased—