Trefnydd, a report recently presented to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council's Cabinet has threatened to withdraw from the Swansea bay city deal if sufficient progress isn't made over the coming months. Members will see parallels here with a similar threat to the education consortium, ERW, from the very same authority. Nevertheless, the loss of a local authority from the city deal, with the resulting uncertainty and upheaval, would clearly be unwelcome, particularly given recent difficulties. The report, written by the council's chief executive, Steve Phillips, also talks about remodelling three of the four projects that it currently leads on as part of that city deal.

Personally, I fail to see why any local authority would wish to reject UK and Welsh Government funding that could help economic growth within their locality. Clearly, as a regional Assembly Member, I would want to see Neath Port Talbot capitalising on the city deal funding available, so that it can try and tackle the hugely challenging set of economic circumstances that it faces. With Neath Port Talbot due to make a final decision on their city deal membership by the end of this year, will the Minister or Deputy Minister provide an update in terms of the work that they are doing with Neath Port Talbot on this matter? I would also look to the Welsh Government to confirm that if Neath Port Talbot were to withdraw from the city deal, other local authorities within the region would then be able to access the funding that was due to benefit Neath Port Talbot.