Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 7 February 2018.
Can I thank Suzy Davies for her question? I think it's important to revisit this issue. My problem was largely with the wording, the 'fuzzy' boundaries, and the implications that that could have for the governance structures that are already in place. My vision for the chief regional officers is that they will be the voices of Government in the regions, but also, crucially, the voice of the regions in Government, able to influence Welsh Ministers, not just within my department, but across Government, on what it is that each of those regions requires in order to become more productive and to generate a greater degree of prosperity.
In the first instance, they'll be pulling together business plans across each of the regions—business plans that will be developed in partnership with the city and growth deal stakeholders and with local government across each region and with a wider degree of stakeholder engagement that will include representative bodies such as the Confederation of British Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Institute of Directors and trade union partners as well. So, by developing a regional business plan that will examine what the pipeline of opportunities is right across the patch, we'll then be able to ensure that all initiatives across Government, whether it be city and growth deals, whether it be the development of infrastructure, whether it be the development of hospitals and schools and skills training provision, can all be aligned to meet those strong regional projects that are going to develop a future economy in Wales.