Supporters of devolution in the late 1990s claimed that the relative failure of the Welsh economy could only be addressed by tailor-made solutions created here in Wales. Sadly, under successive Welsh Labour administrations, that has not proven to be the case. The Welsh economy has underperformed over the past 20 years and has failed to catch up with the UK economy as a whole. As a result, Wales remains the poorest country in the United Kingdom. Not only has the Welsh Government failed to significantly close the GVA gap between Wales and England, it has failed to tackle the regional economic inequality that still exists in Wales.

The contrast is stark. Wales is economically divided between north, south, east and west, urban, rural and whichever way you want to think of. In my own region of South Wales East, the division in clear. In 2017, GVA per head was less than £15,000 in the Gwent Valleys. In Newport, the figure was over £23,000 per head. It is a fact that, if you compare the GVA per head of all the local authorities in the United Kingdom, Blaenau Gwent is in the bottom five. Earnings in Wales have remained the lowest in the whole of the United Kingdom. Again, taking Blaenau Gwent as an example, more than 30 per cent of workers in the borough are paid less than the voluntary living wage.

I recognise that the Welsh Government has introduced a number of initiatives to try to address the problem of regional inequality. They have all had grand titles: 'A Winning Wales', 'Wales: a Vibrant Economy', 'Economic Renewal: a New Direction', but they all fell by the wayside and failed to deliver the transformation the Welsh economy needs.

This failure is exemplified by the poor returns received by the Welsh Government policy of enterprise zones. Since the creation of these zones in 2012, £221 million of public money has been allocated to support this policy. In Ebbw Vale alone, nearly £95 million has been spent to create, safeguard or assist just 390 jobs. In spite of the injection of large sums of public money, enterprise zones have failed to meet their key objectives.

Deputy Presiding Officer, they were meant to build the capacity of specific sectors of the Welsh economy and attract funds to those designated areas, but they have failed to make any significant impact on economic growth. Previous Welsh Government strategies have pledged to explore and exploit the job-creation potential of major infrastructure investment. However, one such project with the potential to deliver huge benefits to the economy remains kicked into the long grass. The M4 relief road is currently bogged down in a combination of Welsh Government dithering and indecision of approach.

This Welsh Government has lost its purpose and sense of direction. No wonder Alun Davies AM, who is not here at the moment, said, in his words—it's a quote—

'moving away from that commitment to reform and…looking at the lowest common denominator.'

Deputy Presiding Officer, Wales needs an economic strategy for growth, one that makes clear proposals and sets targets so that progress towards those goals can be measured. Unless the Welsh Government does this, the Welsh economy will continue to underperform and we will continue to languish at the bottom of the economic league. 

Economic equality is not only in money and development, but also in education, employment, earning, income, poverty and wealth in Wales. The number of people living under the poverty level is much higher in Wales than any other devolved nation in the United Kingdom. Similarly, for poverty amongst children it's the worst area of the United Kingdom. Wealth distribution—the richest people in Wales, 10 per cent, their earnings are below £100,000. So, Deputy Presiding Officer, I think there are a lot of things this Government needs to do before we can say that equality in Wales has been achieved—equality of wealth distribution among Welsh people. Thank you.