6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's approach to recovery from COVID-19 in Blaenau Gwent? OQ56514

I thank the Member for the question. We will use all our efforts and energies to create a stronger, fairer and greener Wales, where no-one is held back or left behind. Climate change, green jobs and recovery from the long and terrible pandemic will be at the heart of our new programme for government.

I'm grateful to the First Minister for that, and grateful for the way in which he has led the Welsh Government's response to COVID over the last year or so. And there are many aspects to recovery from COVID, which the First Minister's already described. But, today, I would like again to focus on the future of our town centres. First Minister, John Griffiths spoke earlier today on the future of Newport and our cities, but our towns face a very different challenge to our cities. And I would like to hear from yourself, if possible, how you will be able to address the immediate situation in supporting businesses and persuading people to use their local town centres. But, then, secondly, in the longer term, town centres, as you've already said this afternoon, were under pressure long before COVID, and we've seen towns such as Abertillery or Ebbw Vale, Tredegar or Brynmawr, suffer over a number of years. How is the Welsh Government going to work in the longer term, as well as the immediate term, to create a renaissance for our towns and our town centres?

Llywydd, I thank Alun Davies for that important question. He will know that the Transforming Towns programme of this Government has provided £110 million worth of investment in Welsh towns in the last 12 months alone. That's reinforced by the 'town centre first' principle that the Cabinet adopted during the last term, making it clear that when major investments from the public purse, whether that is in education, health or public services are being considered, town centres should be the first consideration for all decisions on the location of workplaces and services. And there are some very good examples of that in the Member's own constituency. The importance of community pharmacies—they're on the high street in every town right across Wales, and supported significantly by this Welsh Government, drawing people into town centres, providing an anchor store that others can grow around. 

We've put a lot of recent money into recycling centres in the middle of towns. The circular economy fund has supported the development of a new reuse shop in Ebbw Vale itself, and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has provided the first ever online repair directory in Wales, highlighting opportunities that exist within towns in the borough for people to reuse and re-equip themselves for use in the future.

I'm very glad that we've been able to provide over £200,000 to support free access to town centre WiFi, in Ebbw Vale, in Brynmawr, in Abertillery and in Blaenau, because that is an example of the longer term investment to which Alun Davies referred. We need to make sure that the infrastructure is there on the high street for commercial operations to be able to operate in contemporary circumstances, and you can see that already happening in those towns in the Member's constituency. 

And, finally, I know that he has taken a strong personal interest in the Welsh Government's plans for co-working hubs beyond the cities. Many residents in his constituency will travel to work beyond the boundaries of the borough. Now, we are investing £100,000 to create a co-working hub at Parc Bryn Bach in Tredegar, and that's just one example of those co-working hubs we're creating across Valleys communities so that people will be able to work remotely, continue to work from home for part of the week, and then, at other points, come to a centre where they can meet other people, use shared facilities, spend their money in the town centres and in the places where they live and work, and again that is part of a longer term plan that this Government has for the reinvention of those town centres so that there are better jobs, closer to home and people are able to live and work in the communities that matter the most to them.