Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. It is a pleasure to be able to respond to the debate this afternoon. I'd obviously like to thank Alun Davies for bringing forward this debate, and also thank Dawn Bowden for contributing to it. Because there is no doubt that the last few months have been some of the saddest and most challenging that any of us can remember. And while we look at the work of combating coronavirus, which is not at an end, we must also focus on the future and on the work of the recovery, and in particular as to how we can give areas across the Heads of the Valleys the hope and the opportunity of a new economic future—a break with the past, a greener, fairer and more prosperous future.

As Alun has so eloquently made clear, the legacy of deindustrialisation across the Heads of the Valleys over the last 40 years has been significant, but we must overcome it. It left a mark on the environment, it left a mark on the health of the people of the area, and it requires a complex set of interventions to address. We don't have time this afternoon to run through all of them, but I'd like to just touch on a number that Ministers and Welsh Government are leading on, to help to shape that brighter, sustainable and fairer tomorrow for people in communities such as Blaenau Gwent and across the Heads of the Valleys.

The first and perhaps the most important is the opportunity that we have to re-energise and redesign many of the town centres and high streets that we have across the Valleys, to bring back pride in those towns. Often, they've felt too remote from centres of intense urban activity, they've felt too far away and left behind from the fruits of growth during the course of globalisation. We need to rebalance the way that the economy works in Wales, and across the UK, and in so doing we must promote the interests of towns.

COVID is a tragic event, but it's accelerating a significant shift in the way that we live, the way that we work, and the way that we structure our lives. And the growing use of digital technology and of more flexible working, away from large urban centres, does open up the opportunity for us to put new footfall and, by definition, new energy back into the hearts of many of our smaller Valleys communities. And that's why we've agreed the 'town centre first' approach right across Government. And the starting point for all Government policy is now: can this be done in the town centre? Can this building, can this function, can this new service be done on a high street or a town-centre location—from further education to care, from remote working to new forms of supported living, from Welsh Government activities being decentralised and deconcentrated into towns within the Valleys, from local government activities being located on the high street and in town centres? The opportunities are only limited by our own imagination and willingness to change. And we only need to look at some of our recent new further education buildings that have done so much to help re-energise areas in which they are located.

But, of course, I recognise equally that this is only one part of the answer. The story and the rich history of the Valleys, and the ongoing strength of the regional economy, lies in production, in the manufacturing, the development of high-quality, industrial goods, products and services, as can be seen in sectors like automotive and advance manufacturing, which have been so important in the communities that Alun Davies and Dawn Bowden represent and serve. And that's why our Tech Valleys programme, and its commitment to investing in new digital technologies to create a sustainable regional economy, is so vitally important, as Alun said. A £100 million of Welsh Government commitment to Tech Valleys over 10 years will create 1,500 sustainable jobs, and we remain absolutely committed to providing the expertise and the capacity needed for it to succeed.

Through the investment made by companies such as Thales, we're already seeing the potential of new opportunities arising from the fourth industrial revolution and from cutting-edge industries, such as 5G battery technology and research into future autonomous vehicles. But as I've mentioned, many of the challenges facing the Heads of the Valleys are not simple in nature and so require responses that are themselves highly sophisticated and wide-ranging—things that go much wider than simply the economic portfolio, again, as Alun said, taking into account the need to align economic development with spatial planning with transport policy and delivery.

To build a resilient, green and fairer economy of the future in the Heads of the Valleys requires interventions across the gamut of transport, housing, regeneration and health. And, acting Deputy Presiding Officer, of course, infrastructure is key to the success of any regional economy, alongside skills. In June of this year, we announced the appointment of Future Valleys as the preferred bidder for the next stage of work on the transformational long-term plan to dual the A465. And construction, I'm pleased to say, will start in earnest in early 2021. We expect that project to deliver £400 million of direct spend in Wales, with gross value added generated for the wider Welsh economy at over £670 million, with £170 million spending within the local supply chain. 

And, of course, metro is another piece of infrastructure that can support the Heads of the Valleys economy, with upgrades of the Ebbw Vale and Maesteg lines very much part of our planning work. And we have to ensure that those services for trains are ultimately delivered for those areas that lie outside what we describe as core Valleys lines at the moment. These investments are going to be critical as the Heads of the Valleys economy recovers from challenges of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic over the next few years.

I read with interest Alun Davies's promotion of the Valleys development agency, not least because I was determined to create a place-based decentralised approach to economic development when we published the economic action plan. And part of that plan saw challenge and guidance from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development with regard to how to best deliver regional economic development—how to create the right institutions and vehicles to ensure that you have strong and powerful regional economies. And, of course, in its recent report, the OECD promoted the creation of regional development agencies, which align perfectly with Alun's argument and which I'm very, very sympathetic to.

I'll leave my contribution there, but suffice it to say that both myself and every Minister in the Welsh Government remains fundamentally committed to supporting the Heads of the Valleys to succeed. It's played a pivotal and rich role in shaping our history and it can play a central role in our proud and vibrant future—a brighter and a greener and a fairer future that can support individuals in communities right across the region. Thank you.