5. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on how the Valleys taskforce supports other economic developments in south-east Wales? OAQ51801

The taskforce is delivering a co-ordinated approach to economic development across the Valleys, particularly through strategic hubs and supporting entrepreneurship. It will also ensure people in the Valleys benefit from economic development across the whole of south-east Wales by working with the city deals and maximising opportunities from major infrastructure projects.

How effective does he judge the working between the city deals and the Valleys taskforce, particularly the city deal board and the Valleys taskforce board, and what improvements would he introduce to enhance that collaborative working?

I'm grateful to my friend from Caerphilly for that taxing question. Can I say that the Valleys taskforce exists in order to shape the policies and approach of the Welsh Government? It doesn't exist as an independent entity away from Government, and, as such, it seeks to work closely with both the city deals in south Wales, in both the capital region and in Swansea, and it seeks to ensure that we reduce complexity. One of the challenges that I think we have to face is to ensure greater coherence in policy development and policy delivery, whilst ensuring that we reduce complexity and increase simplicity in how we work together. At the moment, I am confident that we do have the structures in place that ensure that we are able to work effectively together and to maximise the impact of each other without falling into a trap of duplicating each other's ambitions, visions and policies. But I do believe that we do need to ensure that we do have greater simplicity in the future.

Cabinet Secretary, from 2012, the Welsh Government has spent £94 million on the Ebbw Vale enterprise zone to create just 175 jobs that are full-time. How will the Valleys taskforce support and improve the performance of the Ebbw Vale enterprise zone, please?

Presiding Officer, you're aware that I'm the Member for Blaenau Gwent and I have a direct interest in this matter. I will say to the Member that there's a great deal of work taking place within Blaenau Gwent between Welsh Government and the local authority there, and working with the enterprise zone and the enterprise zone board and others with an interest in investing in the economy of the Heads of the Valleys. We have both represented the area for the same period of time—myself and the Conservative Member—and I have not seen him at any of those meetings or taking part in any of those activities. Perhaps if he took a greater interest in the whole of his region, he would be able to answer the question himself.

I think most of us Valleys AMs, Cabinet Secretary, are very supportive of the strategic hub—I was trying to think of the words there—in the plan. I think identifying opportunities to invest in the social and economic conditions in communities like the upper Rhymney valley and in your own constituency of Blaenau Gwent forms an important consideration of the public sector partners on the city region board. I've said before that no-one should object to us investing regionally in projects in Newport and in Cardiff and some of the big conurbations, but I'm sure you'd agree with me that the real success is going to come when we see real, sustainable growth and success in places like the upper Rhymney valley.

Can I say, Presiding Officer, that I absolutely agree with the Member for Merthyr? I know how active she has been—Merthyr and Rhymney, I should say, of course, or I'll get into terrible trouble. I know how active she has been in promoting that area, and I know the work that she has done in ensuring that this is on the agenda of the Valleys taskforce and the wider Welsh Government.

The Member is aware that we will be holding a seminar next month on how we do maximise the benefits of the A465 dualling project to ensure that we are able to create the greatest possible impact across the whole of the Heads of the Valleys from Brynmawr across to Hirwaun, to ensure that we don't simply spend the money dualling the Heads of the Valleys road, but that we actually invest that in economic development. I think it's important that we maximise the work done in the strategic hubs in Merthyr and in Ebbw Vale to ensure that we're able to create a new economic region, if you like, across the whole of the Heads of the Valleys, and that that is something on which this Government works with local government, businesses and others to support and sustain.