Growth deals 'failing to deliver' for Wales

SERIOUS concerns have been raised about the performance of growth deals, which over the long-term promise to leverage hundreds of million of pounds in private sector investment and create tens of thousands of new jobs.

- SION BARRY

A Senedd committee has highlighted issues with the performance of the deals and their failure to deliver on some of the promises.

With joint funding from the UK and Welsh Governments, Wales has two city deals for the Swansea Bay and Cardiff Capital city regions.

There is also a growth deal covering the six local authorities of north Wales, under the banner of Ambition North Wales, as well an emerging deal for mid Wales. The deals for north Wales and the Cardiff Capital Region come under their statutory bodies, via their respective corporate joint committees.

A report from the Senedd's cross-party Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee says the North Wales Growth Deal is significantly behind target on job creation and leveraged private sector investment.

It added that the decision of Great British Nuclear not to pursue Trawsfynydd as a site for small modular nuclear reactors has had a major impact, with the project originally accounting for 12.5% of job targets and 40% of investment goals.

Ambition North Wales reported to the committee only 35 jobs created to date and just £1.8m in private sector investment. The committee said it was “disappointed” to learn that Ambition North Wales was having to seek clarity from the Westminster and Cardiff Bay governments on whether they would still receive the full £240m. It calls for the position to be urgently clarified.

In response, Ambition North Wales said at the time of giving evidence to the committee in June only one of its projects was operational with six now in delivery.

It said that when factoring in construction roles, the number of jobs created and supported is now far higher.

The committee's report also raises concerns over one of the city deal projects for the Cardiff Capital Region with plans to redevelop the former RWE coal-powered energy plant at Aberthaw in the Vale of Glamorgan.