Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 7 February 2018.
This is largely a question for the Cabinet Secretary who leads on the city deals in the south, which is Mark Drakeford, the finance Secretary. But working to ensure that each of the projects delivers on the aims that they were meant to deliver on, that they do create jobs that we aspire to see created in those regions, and particularly within the Swansea bay area, it's absolutely essential that each of the projects is deliverable and that they deliver to the aspirations that the communities that are represented by the local authorities hope to see delivered.
Now, in terms of the chief regional officers, I should have added as well that these roles could evolve in the future. This is the first time that we've had a structure where we have individuals that can become single points of contact for local government, for businesses and for stakeholder organisations. And, over time, I see the chief regional officers becoming increasingly important in terms of being able to ensure that each of the regions works in a collective way and also in a complementary way, so that we can avoid unnecessary and damaging competition within the regions in Wales.