6. Will the Minister make a statement on the progress of the Valleys Taskforce as it affects Blaenau Gwent? OAQ53792

Thank you. Yes, I visited Blaenau Gwent last week to meet with the council to discuss their priorities for the Valleys taskforce. I'm expecting them to submit proposals for Parc Bryn Bach though the Valleys regional park this week.

It's good to hear that the Minister has visited Blaenau Gwent and is pursuing the work that the Valleys taskforce has laid out in its objectives. He will be aware from our conversations that one of the disappointments I had as Minister for this area was that we weren't able to complete the work on a strategic economic plan for the Heads of the Valleys. He will be aware that the Bevan Foundation and others have demonstrated the need for a specifically tailored economic plan for the Heads of the Valleys, stretching from Hirwaun across to Brynmawr, and it is important, because there are particular issues that affect those communities. We also know that the dualling of the A465 is an economic tool to pursue and to create conditions for economic investment in those communities. I would be grateful if the Minister could update us on the work that he's undertaking in creating a plan for jobs and economic development in those communities in the Heads of the Valleys.

Thank you. I can assure my colleague that I'm continuing the work that he began to make sure that we make the most of the Heads of the Valleys road. I discussed this with the leader of the council last week, and I've been grateful to him for the conversations that we've had around it too. the work that he commissioned from the University of South Wales has reported, and it's been a valuable start. We've set up a working group as part of the taskforce to see if we can develop that further, and are now, through a working group, looking at further data to enhance that, and we will be developing a plan. Moreover, we are committed to looking in particular at the northern Valleys to see how we can address the conditions there, and I'm talking to council leaders about their views about not focusing all the money that we have allocated into the hubs, which predominantly sit in the southern part of the Valleys, and instead seeing how we can take a more thematic approach to allow councils themselves to address priority areas, to spread that funding right throughout the Valleys, not just in the hubs. And I'll be updating Members soon, I hope, with progress, once I finish meeting all of the council leaders.

Has the Minister seen the need to make any improvements at the Valleys taskforce since he took over as the Minister?

Well, we are certainly reviewing the work of the taskforce. My colleague Alun Davies published a delivery plan just before Christmas that captures the range of activities going on across Government in the Valleys taskforce area. As a result of that, a great deal of work has been taking place and progress is being made. So, for example, the work in developing the metro has been heavily informed by the strategic hub in Caerphilly, for example. There's now work going on with the council to create an integrated transport hub there that simply wouldn't have happened had it not been for the creation of the Valleys taskforce. As I said, we are looking to try and take a more thematic approach. As a result of that, we may well be looking to reshape some of the membership of the Valleys taskforce to make sure that we've got the right skills there to take that work forward.