6. Will the Minister make a statement on budget allocations to the economy and transport portfolio to support economic development in the valleys? OAQ53732

Within the economy and transport portfolio, the Minister is prioritising investment to support economic development in the Valleys through a variety of measures, such as the Valleys taskforce priorities, Tech Valleys and a number of transport projects.

We are at the moment enjoying historic record levels of investment to support and sustain the economy in the Valleys of south Wales. There's nearly £0.5 billion being spent around my constituency alone in dualling the A465 Heads of the Valleys road. But what's important is that we're able to maximise the value of these investments and we're able to have the maximum economic impact and create jobs and opportunities for people, particularly across the Heads of the Valleys. Would it be possible for the Minister and the Government to provide the National Assembly with a schedule of investments taking place? The Valleys taskforce has produced a delivery plan including strategic hubs and the Valleys regional park. It would be useful for all of us were we to have an update on the expenditure against those ambitions and targets and also to understand whether the Welsh Government intends to continue to maintain this level of investment.  

Thank you for raising that. Of course, the 2019-20 budget includes spending of £25 million over two years to develop the seven strategic hubs in the Valleys taskforce area—which of course you announced, so you'll be very, very familiar with—to create employment and investment opportunities. We've also allocated £7 million of capital over two years, so £3.5 million in each of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 years, to support the development of the Valleys regional park. This will be used to support the development of the discovery gateways across the Valleys and to deliver ambitions set out in the Valleys regional park prospectus, which was published in October 2018. I know it's the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport's intention to bring forward a statement to the Assembly, which will encapsulate the Tech Valleys, the foundational economy and the Valleys taskforce work, and I'll ask him to bear in mind your comments this afternoon when he does that. 

It may well be that that statement's going to answer my question but I'm going to ask you just in case, because I was encouraged to hear from First Cymru that a prime example of co-ordinated bus timetables across counties could be found with the Maesteg-Cymmer service, where there are connections for onward journeys that are managed at Cymmer but start in a different county. The company's developed software recently to tell them of traffic delays so that they can contact drivers if one of the buses in that set-up is delayed and then other connecting buses can wait. The same company is talking about developing software to enable travellers to use one ticket in the Swansea valley and into Swansea even though more than one operator may be working on the particular route. I think we'd agree that mobility and connectivity is going to be pretty critical in regenerating Valleys economies and technologies enabling that. So, can you tell us a little bit more about how Welsh Government is using the budget allocation outside Tech Valleys, for general economic development, to speak with tech companies and persuade them that it's worth while setting up or expanding within the Valleys areas to become part of the circular economy in those areas, not just the foundational economy? Thank you. 

I'll certainly ask my colleague who is best placed to provide you with a fuller update on the work that he's undertaking there. I know that the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport is extremely ambitious for the Tech Valleys and is pursuing a number of ideas that could bring together some very exciting approaches to technology and to the digital agenda within that area. I'm also very keen to explore what more we can do to harness the potential of digital to ensure that transport does become more accessible for people. I'll make sure that you have a fuller response to that.FootnoteLink 

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