Councils set to agree reports on plans for £1.2bn City Deal
A HUGE deal which will bring £1.2bn of investment to South East Wales is set to be agreed by two of the region’s biggest councils.
Rhondda Cynon Taff’s full council and Cardiff’s cabinet will this week approve respective reports regarding the City Deal.
Ten local authorities, the Welsh Government and the UK Government are all involved in the scheme.
The authorities are Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Torfaen and the Vale of Glamorgan. Each council will approve its own report and RCT and Cardiff are both due to meet on Wednesday this week.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council leader Andrew Morgan said: “This is an important part of the City Deal process.
“The 10 authorities have worked extremely closely over the past 16 months to get the City Deal to this position, but support for the City Deal from those authorities’ members is critical if we are to collectively take this hugely exciting deal forward. Together we can bring about an economic and social step-change in the Cardiff Capital Region through improved transport, supporting innovation, an improved digital network, developing skills, supporting enterprise and business growth, and through housing development and regeneration.”
Cardiff council leader Phil Bale said: “This report not only lays out just how the City Deal will work, it also points towards a step change in collaboration in the areas of economic development, skills and training, regeneration, strategic planning, housing and transport.
“Wales will have seen nothing on this scale before. This report points towards a fundamental shift in how councils do busi- ness together. Of course there have been partnership arrangements in the past but this is taking things to an entirely new level.
“By agreeing this report we will fire the starting gun on a Welsh local government revolution.”
It shows how the local authorities involved will work together to manage the spend, create jobs and improve transport across the region.
Under the City Deal, all 10 authorities will contribute both in terms of finance and ideas.
Each local authority will make a contribution based on their population as recorded in 2015.
Cardiff will contribute £50m of a total £211m over 25 years and in turn, Westminster will release £375m. A Joint Cabinet of the 10 local authority leaders will be set up and they will have responsibility of running the City Deal. Each cabinet member will have one vote and a majority vote will carry any decision.
Cardiff council will take the role of “accountable body” to “support the administration of the deal”.
Each local authority will be able to put forward ideas which the cabinet will vote on. A regional economic strategy will be prepared and an assurance framework will put ideas through robust testing.
The Joint Cabinet will ensure that a programme of projects is developed that delivers maximum returns for the city-region.
The first role will be to propose the regional economic strategy and programme to the 10 councils for approval.
If councils decide against approval, they will still be locked into a fiveyear agreement, which will allow further negotiation and collaboration.