£1bn Growth Deal has only created 35 jobs

THE £1bn North Wales Growth Deal has so far only created 35 jobs as its operations director admits it is “significantly behind forecasts”.

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The Growth Deal - managed by Ambition North Wales - was signed in 2020, backed by joint funding of £240m from Welsh and UK governments.

It was designed to work alongside private sector investment and kick-start various developments across the region. Its objectives included creating up to 4,200 new jobs by 2036, support an uplift of £2bn-2.4bn for the economy over that same period, and deliver total investment of up to £1.1bn. Projects ranged from unlocking sites like Parc Bryn Cegin to future proofing Holyhead port and bringing 5G to major road and rail routes.

But up to this point it has delivered a total investment of £16.6 million, of which £15.3 million is growth deal investment, with just £1.3m from the private sector.

North Wales Senedd member Sam Rowlands said that is “a very, very poor record, to say the least” and that it is “letting people down in North Wales”.

Hedd Vaughan-Evans, operations director at Ambition North Wales, said that the Deal had been impacted by Covid, inflation and the collapse of hopes to revive nuclear at Trawsfynydd. He admitted they were well behind on the original forecasts which were “rife with optimism bias”.

But he added that they hope to see a “significant increase” in that figure over the next few years, as more and more projects move into delivery.

When asked whether the Growth Deal was on “track” Mr Vaughan-Evans told the Senedd’s Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee: “Significantly behind the original forecasts’ would be the honest answer. I think, on reflection, the original forecasts at the time of signing the deal were rife with optimism bias in terms of how mature some of the projects were and how quickly they would come into delivery.

“That issue has been exacerbated by some of the issues that have already been mentioned around Covid and the delays that caused and the subsequent cost inflation crisis that we're all dealing with.