Part of 4. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his European Transition Minister responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 12:51 pm on 15 July 2020.
Janet Finch-Saunders
Conservative
12:51,
15 July 2020
Counsel General, earlier this year, the Secretary of State for Wales stated that,
'the collaborative approach I take with the Welsh Government over the distribution of the fund should ensure that it goes to the places where it is most needed, and is not—as some might argue has been the case in the past—blown on vanity projects.'
I welcome a collaborative approach and that the Secretary of State does not wish to see taxpayers' money wasted. Examples of ineffective spending of EU funding, of course, include Ebbw Vale's £2.3 million cable car, £3.5 million on a Bangor business park, and £77.3 million on dualling the Heads of the Valleys road. What measures—[Interruption.] Do you want to answer? What measures are you considering in co-operation with the UK Government to ensure that the shared prosperity fund sees money allocated to watertight projects so that serious problems and ineffective spending are not encountered, as they have been so frequently in the past?
