The Recovery of Rural Towns

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:08 pm on 2 November 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:08, 2 November 2021

(Translated)

Well, Llywydd, we do give priority to supporting rural towns to overcome the impact of coronavirus and face the challenges that are to come. We use a number of the powers that we already have. There is funding available through the LEADER programme, and that invests in rural towns—Llanybydder is the latest one to use the funding available through the LEADER programme. And through the RDP, £10 million is being invested in the economy of rural areas. And also, there are a great number of possibilities coming from the Transforming Towns programme, for example. We are working with Carmarthenshire County Council, although I know the Member is very well aware of what's happening in Carmarthenshire with the 10 Towns initiative. And we have put money into programmes in Ceredigion and in Llandeilo, for example, to create new possibilities in the centre of those towns, to attract businesses in and to give people more shopping options and so on. And so, those are just a few examples of what we want to do in collaboration and in partnership with others who reside in the rural areas. On the whole, I am confident that there will be a successful future for the towns that are so important to those people who reside in those areas.