(Title Image: WWF Blog)
This week’s short debate came from Alun Davies MS (Lab, Blaenau Gwent). While Vikki Howells MS (Lab, Cynon Valley) has previous called for a Minister for the Valleys in a short debate, Alun proposed another solution.
Fundamental change needed in the Valleys
Having once led a valleys-based initiative himself, Alun Davies said such programmes – whilst often well-intentioned – ended up being PR exercises in place of real change. When leading the valleys taskforce he had a tiny budget, a small number of staff and a disjointed relationship with other departments.
Outside of Rhondda Cynon Taf, he believes none of the valleys local authorities has the capacity to deliver real change. Since the abolition of the Welsh Development Agency, different policy levers lie with different ministers and it was time for that to change to bring some coherence.
“I believe we need a Valleys development authority. I believe we need to bring together local government….with the Welsh Government. I believe we need to involve the businesses in the Valleys and the communities of the Valleys. We need to do that on a statutory basis, with statutory powers and the ability to direct development into the future. We need to be able to do that at arm’s length from Government, where a Minister will set the priorities and will set the objectives, but where the authority itself will be responsible for delivering.”
– Alun Davies MS
Dawn Bowden MS (Lab, Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney) accepted not enough has been done to turn around the deep-rooted issues in the valleys, but was not yet at the point of supporting a WDA-style body and would instead prefer to learn lessons from the experience of bodies like city regions.
We need to bring pride back to the valleys
Noting the scale of deindustrialisation and other major economic problems which have hit the valleys over the last 40 years, Economy & Transport Minister, Ken Skates (Lab, Clwyd South), said the key would be to re-energise valleys towns so people regain a sense of pride in their communities again.
He was sympathetic to the idea, not strictly ruling it out and hinting that it may be taken forward in some form:
“I read with interest Alun Davies’ promotion of the Valleys development agency, not least because I was determined to create a place-based decentralised approach to economic development when we published the economic action plan. And part of that plan saw challenge and guidance from the OECD with regard to how to best deliver regional economic development….And, of course, in its recent report, the OECD promoted the creation of regional development agencies, which align perfectly with Alun’s argument and which I’m very, very sympathetic to.”
– Economy & Transport Minister, Ken Skates
