8. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government: Town Centres: Securing their future

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:43 pm on 29 September 2020.

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Photo of Hannah Blythyn Hannah Blythyn Labour 4:43, 29 September 2020

Can I thank the Member for a number of questions and points that he made in response to the statement there? I'll try my best to endeavour to cover them as fully as I can. In respect of any consequentials, the Member was right, we did not receive any additional funding, but the £90 million that we've put in to our transforming towns by far dwarfs any consequentials that we get from the UK Government, and we are very much committed to supporting our town centres, as I outlined in this statement and prior to this. And although the transforming towns is a £90 million loan, this is not the only investment that is going into our towns; there's investment from across Government, from tourism, from Local Places for Nature and from a huge amount of things, not to mention the business support that has been enabled through the economic resilience fund.

The Member referred to FSB Cymru and their report and the comments they've made, and I made clear in my statement that I don't believe Government alone has all the answers, all the suggestions, for how we rise to the challenge. And I very much welcome that FSB Cymru, along with other partners and stakeholders, are part of the ministerial action group that is helping with taking us forward in terms of, actually, how we address a number of priority challenges within Wales when it comes to our town centres. That engagement with communities is part of it, because, actually, for something to succeed, the community needs to be part of shaping that and to continue and take it forward. One of the means I'm looking to do is actually making sure that community and town councils, who are often embedded in the local communities through various roles that they play, are actually able to access and have greater influence in terms of the local authority and in accessing support for their towns themselves.

I did mention in the statement, if the Member recalls, about a communication campaign, and this would be looking at a pilot in a number of areas, in geographically spread areas right across Wales, on actually how we better pilot ways of engaging with people to not only talk about the investment that has happened, but make sure they shape any investment in the future.

The Member specifically referred to towns in north Wales such as Rhyl and Wrexham, and, to all Members, I am more than happy to supply a more detailed exhibition map in terms of what investment is going into those towns and across Wales.