Rail and Metro Services

Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 4 July 2018.

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Photo of Dawn Bowden Dawn Bowden Labour 1:37, 4 July 2018

Thank you for that information, which sets out the clear benefits as we deliver the 2016 manifesto commitment in this regard. In the recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, entitled 'Effective housing for people on low incomes in the Welsh Valleys', there was a recommendation—it was recommendation 3 in fact—to improve access to employment. And the report states that employment-related initiatives can only be effective if they lead to decent, sustainable employment, and, in certain parts of Valleys, which I believe must include places like the upper Rhymney valley, that will require significant economic renewal. Now, given that there are only limited opportunities to directly intervene for the economic well-being of these communities, it seems to me that when the Welsh Government holds the levers of economic power, as with investment in the rail franchise and metro, we must make sure that our more isolated communities, like the upper Rhymney valley, are the direct beneficiaries of these projects. Can I therefore ask you, Cabinet Secretary, what you will do to ensure that this happens?