4. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport: Update on the Valleys Taskforce

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:27 pm on 8 December 2020.

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Photo of David Rowlands David Rowlands UKIP 4:27, 8 December 2020

I have no doubt whatsoever that the Deputy Minister charged with the task of reinvigorating the former mining communities of the south Wales Valleys is a truly committed individual, with a real desire to succeed where others have patently failed. My worry is the sheer number of organisations and bodies tasked with instigating and developing the programmes of the Valleys taskforce. First, we have, of course, the Welsh Government itself, then local authorities and their LEAs. We then have the Cardiff capital region and the Swansea bay city deals—not to mention the Blaenau Gwent enterprise zone, the Valleys regional park project, and the Taff Vale scheme. To this we can add local health boards, public services boards, Transport for Wales, and, last but not least, we have the third sector bodies, together with a large number of private sector partners. One has to ask the question: how are these disparate bodies going to combine to produce the desired outcomes? Given that the desired outcome is to create at least 7,000 skilled new jobs across the Valleys region, how are we going to monitor whether these are truly new, productive jobs, as opposed to administrative jobs? I remember the figures for the Merthyr Tydfil Communities First project. Out of the £1.5 million allocated, £1.25 million went on just that—administrative jobs. Will the Deputy Minister outline what measures he is putting in place to make sure this does not happen to this comprehensive project? If we look very briefly at some details—