North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood, who has repeatedly raised questions about the progress of the North Wales Growth Deal as Shadow Minister for North Wales, has asked the Welsh Government why it did not share news that representatives of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board had now joined the Welsh and UK Governments to sign the ‘heads of terms’ and agree on the seven programmes that will form the Deal from 2020 onwards.
Speaking in the Welsh Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Isherwood said that he heard of the progress from a local newspaper and asked the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, who was answering questions on behalf of the Minister for Economy and Transport, why Assembly Members had not been told.
He said:
“On 28 October, the Minister for Economy and Transport issued a Written Statement on the North Wales Metro. Within that, much of the content was actually taken from the North Wales Economic Ambition Board's Growth Vision and Growth Bid documents - from Integrated Travel Zones to the Wrexham to Bidston route to road and rail infrastructure. ‘Heads of terms’ on the Growth Deal were due for agreement by the end of February, then deferred to July, then to October or November, and, once agreed, we understand that it will take four to six months to finalise the business cases ahead of any spades in the ground.
“However, yesterday, our local paper reported that representatives of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board joined the Welsh and UK Governments to sign the heads of terms and agree on the seven programmes that will form the deal from 2020 onwards, and the Chair of the Board said: ‘Our next steps will be to begin implementing the priority projects and leverage funding from the private sector in key areas', expected to reach a total investment of £1 billion.
“Why has the Welsh Government not shared this fantastic progress with us after all these months of delay, when it has been raised time and time again here? And how will the Welsh Government ensure that we will now be briefed on those priority programmes as they go forward, when they're likely to begin, and how they will be delivered?”
In his response, the Deputy Minister, Lee Waters AM, said:
“I'm not entirely sure what to make of that question, really. The delay in the signing of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board was a result of delays by the UK Government. He then seemed to criticise us for adopting policies that the North Wales Ambition Board had advocated in its plan. He normally criticises us for not collaborating sufficiently with the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, so I'm not entirely sure of the point he was trying to get at there. We now have a way forward with the Ambition Board, and it's for them to work as a region.”
Speaking outside the Chamber, Mr Isherwood, said:
“This was a disgraceful response from an unprincipled Labour Welsh Government. In its March 2016 Budget, the UK Government announced that it was ‘opening the door’ to a Growth Deal for North Wales. Although almost everything mentioned in the Written Statement on the ‘North Wales Metro’ issued by Economy and Transport Minister Ken Skates on 28th October was lifted from the North Wales Economic Ambition Board’s Growth Vision and Growth Bid Documents, neither the North Wales Economic Ambition Board nor the North Wales Growth Deal got a mention. Both UK and Welsh Governments had to agree the Deal’s priority programmes and presumably both will have to sign off the finalised business case”.
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