4. Statement by the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd: Update on the Welsh Mutual Investment Model

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:41 pm on 5 February 2019.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 3:41, 5 February 2019

Thank you very much for raising those questions this afternoon, and thank you very much also for your support for our position on the European Investment Bank, because it is clearly a really important source of both funding and expertise for us here in Wales. It's provided us with a key role, really, in supporting long-term investment to improve social housing here in Wales, education, energy, infrastructure, transport and water infrastructure. It's included backing investment by Welsh Water, for example, right across the country, including Stebonheath Primary School in Llanelli, where the RainScape project is helping to reduce sewage overflow into the Bristol channel. It also helped to fund the second Severn crossing and the A55 dual carriageway from Chester to Holyhead, as well as new roads in south and west Glamorgan, Dyfed and Gwent, and the Member talked about the importance of investing in that infrastructure. 

Recent European Investment Bank lending has supported education investment in Wales, including backing the new Swansea University bay campus, and cutting heating costs at Bangor University, for example, and has also provided support for our social housing programme, providing new homes and also improving existing properties, working with 10 different housing associations right across Wales. And, of course, the EIB has also backed key investment at Ford in Bridgend as well. So, clearly, it's an important source of finance, but also an important source of expertise too. And those additional benefits of expertise have very much come to the fore through the work that we've been doing to develop the south-Wales metro project, for example, which has very, very strongly benefited from the commercial expertise, which has informed the procurement process, whilst other previous investments in Wales have also benefited from the best practice that the EIB has been able to identify for us as well. 

In terms of the specific projects, I can provide an update on the A465. As you know, the public local inquiry concluded at the end of May 2018. I mentioned in my statement that the Minister has agreed to make the orders. So, a decision to proceed with the next stage now of procurement will be taken in the coming weeks, and an update will be forthcoming from the economy and transport Minister in respect of that. 

With regard to the Velindre project, the current status is that Velindre University NHS Trust is developing a suite of outline business cases for the delivery of the new Velindre Cancer Centre on the Northern Meadows site in Whitchurch, and Welsh Government is supporting the trust to deliver this major project to ensure that appropriate monitoring for that is in place. Work is being prioritised to secure site access at the moment, and there are some detailed negotiations going on with a range of third parties to make sure that can happen, and in parallel, then, the enabling works business case is being developed, pending the conclusion of those negotiations. The latest plan reports a completion date at the end of 2023, with an opening due in the first half of 2024.

Again, we are at an early stage with the mutual investment model in terms of its approach to supporting our twenty-first century schools programme, and Kirsty Williams does intend to issue a further statement on this issue shortly.

You referred to transparency, and that's one of the benefits of the mutual investment model— transparency will be key—also access to information for Assembly Members, and I'm really keen that we do take all opportunities to provide good information to Assembly Members on this, and there will be specific reporting requirements to Welsh Government as a shareholder and also as a client as well. Those specific details will be set out in the project agreements that are agreed with our partners in terms of delivering on these projects. 

In terms of capital equipment, I think it is the right decision not to use the mutual investment model for that, but clearly there are other options in terms of how we would fund that. It's just a question, really, of finding the most appropriate source of funding for the kind of things that we wish to procure.