Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:19 pm on 4 October 2022.
I’m grateful to you, Minister, for the statement. I'm also grateful for your continuing commitment to Tech Valleys and your previous commitments to the programme and its budget over future years. The macro situation we’re facing in Blaenau Gwent and elsewhere is far more difficult than it has been in the past. We’ve seen a disastrous Brexit that has locked us out of significant markets, and where the UK Government seems more interested in the money markets of the City of London than either agriculture or the regional economies anywhere in the United Kingdom. We’ve also seen levelling up dumped by the new Prime Minister, and we’ve seen incompetent handling of the economy that means that any business wanting to invest is going to be borrowing at far higher levels, and at far higher rates than even a few weeks ago. So, it's incumbent upon the Welsh Government to take action to protect regional economies like that in the Heads of the Valleys. Will the Minister commit to creating a delivery mechanism in the Heads of the Valleys to ensure that we can direct funding and bring together different programmes to have the greatest possible impact in investing in our economy? I welcomed the Secretary of State for Wales to Ebbw Vale over the summer, and I'd be very happy to welcome him again to the Heads of the Valleys and to Blaenau Gwent to work with him and work with others, with local authority leaders and yourself, to ensure that we have all the abilities brought together to invest in the future of our communities.