Economic Priorities for Aberavon

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 22 October 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:10, 22 October 2019

I thank the Member for that question. It is indeed because of the efforts that the Welsh Government, local authorities and businesses in his constituency have made that full-time workers in Aberavon have the highest gross weekly earnings in the whole of Wales. We want to make sure that we do everything we can to continue to provide a range of opportunities where those very highly skilled people can develop their skills for new opportunities and deploy their skills in existing ways.

I look forward to working with Neath Port Talbot council on the programmes for which they are responsible within the Swansea city deal. We're in the very final stages of seeing them submit the business case for the Homes as Power Stations project. That will be £0.5 billion-worth of investment in the Swansea Bay city deal area, led by Neath Port Talbot council. Soon after that business case is submitted, we look forward to receiving detailed proposals for the Swansea Bay technology centre, to be based at the Baglan Energy Park, again led by Neath Port Talbot council and absolutely aimed at creating technological possibilities for the future, where the high-skill people who made up that local economy will be able to look forward to a future in which their skills can be further developed and put to good productive use.