The North Wales Economy

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:52 pm on 27 April 2022.

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Photo of Sam Rowlands Sam Rowlands Conservative 2:52, 27 April 2022

Thank you, Minister, and I welcome the fact that you have those conversations with the Minister for Economy. I'm sure that you agree with me that it's really important that north Wales does receive its fair share compared to other parts of Wales. But, we do continue to see a divide between north and south Wales, which is sad to see. An example of that is GVA. We see, for example, that Ynys Môn has around half of the GVA per head of down here in Cardiff. We see a health board that unfortunately continues to lag behind, especially in really important areas such as A&E waiting times. We see underinvestment, in my view, in transport. An example of that is the north Wales metro, which is earmarked for £50 million, versus south Wales, which has £750 million earmarked down here. Many people I speak to in north Wales, Minister, do feel that there is a gap between what is invested in south Wales versus what is invested and the opportunities in north Wales. So, Minister, why do people in north Wales feel that there is that gap, and what is the Welsh Government going to do to change that?