Tech Valleys

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 18 June 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:37, 18 June 2019

Llywydd, I thank the Member for that question. I want to thank him for all the work that he did in bringing the programme to fruition and for the way in which, week after week, he makes sure that the interests of his constituents are always raised here on the floor of the National Assembly. And his constituents will, I think, be glad to know that there is already progress—tangible progress—that they will be able to see across the range of strands that make up that complex programme. He will know of the plan to bring TVR to Ebbw Vale. The Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport recently met with senior executives. The company confirmed real progress in finding new equity investment to support pre-production vehicle development, and the tender process is now complete for refurbishment of the building in Rassau, which is TVR's preferred location for full car production. At the same time, planning permissions are now secured for both the Rhyd y Blew and Lime Avenue sites in Ebbw Vale, with building work to commence this year in both cases. Thales, and the National Digital Exploitation Centre—Thales have already moved to their project office in Ebbw Vale. Bids are now in for the £7 million discovery gateways fund for the Valleys park programme, and decisions on funding are expected imminently. And I know that Alun Davies will be especially interested in the new £1.5 million investment that we have agreed in shared apprenticeships in the Tech Valley area—a vote of confidence not simply in the Heads of the Valleys, but in young people in that area, and our determination to make sure that they have a successful future.