Economic Development in the Heads of the Valleys

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 10 July 2019.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 2:18, 10 July 2019

Thank you for the question. The Member is right to point out the very significant investment the Welsh Government has made in the Heads of the Valleys through the dualling of the road. She also notes there have been community benefits delivered as part of the delivery of the scheme, including apprenticeships and training, employment of local people, spend with local companies, engagement with local schools and supporting community groups and events. But she's also right to point out that building roads in itself does not guarantee a positive economic return to an area. We need to use it as a platform to develop beyond that. This is a conversation I've been having with her and with other Members from the Heads of the Valleys areas through the group that we've set up to shadow the Valleys taskforce, and, as a result of that, I am going to be setting up a sub-group of the Valleys taskforce to look specifically at how the dualling of the road can be leveraged to make sure that there are benefits flowing for the whole region. There is huge potential, as the Member has noted previously, from tourism, from food production, giving arteries into both the midlands and the south Wales economies. So, I think there is much that can be done to build on the very significant investment that we've made, and I'm keen to work with her and colleagues to make sure that we do the best that we can with that.