Local politicians press UK’s Regional Growth Minister over funding for deprived areas
UK REGIONAL Growth Minister Luke Hall visited a deprived South Wales town last week following a decision to exclude it from a list of priority areas likely to receive postBrexit regional aid funding.
As part of the West Wales and the Valleys region, Bargoed and the rest of Caerphilly county borough qualified for top-level EU funding.
Since Brexit, however, the borough has been excluded from the priority areas list drawn up by the UK Government’s Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government because it is supposedly too wealthy.
Bridgend county borough has been excluded on the same basis.
Yet local politicians like Caerphilly Labour MP Wayne David say the criteria for inclusion on the list are not transparent.
He found it inexplicable when Caerphilly was left off it and invited Mr Hall, who has a responsibility for the Community Renewal Fund, to visit Bargoed to discuss the issue.
The Welsh Government has accused Westminster of grabbing powers over economic development in Wales by insisting on assessing projects and allocating funds itself.
When the UK was an EU member state, these functions were carried out by the Welsh Government.
Part of Bargoed ranks as the 29th most deprived community in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation, seen as the definitive guide to the nation’s poverty. Altogether there are 1,909 communities in the index.
Mr Hall spent an hour in the town, where he was shown round by Mr David, Caerphilly council leader Cllr Philippa Marsden and Cllr Howard Llewellyn, the Mayor of Bargoed Town Council.
Mr David said: “We took him to see an optician in the town, a carpet dealer and we showed him the library, which is in a very historic and beautifully restored former chapel.
“Six years ago the town got a new bus station and the main street was semi-pedestrianised in a £3.7m scheme funded by the European Commission.
“We also took the Minister to see the Emporium, formerly a shopping centre originally built in the early 1900s and known locally as Aladdin’s Cave, with lots of small units but now largely derelict.
“There is a plan to restore it and turn it into a hub for small and medium-sized businesses, which would further help the town, which has a lot of poverty.
“We made the point to Mr Hall that a lot has been achieved with European funding in the past, but that a lot more could be done in terms of regenerating the town, and we would like that to continue in the future.
“A lot of young people locally with get-up-and-go currently find themselves having to leave the town and seek work elsewhere. We’d like more local job opportunities to be available in the future.”
Asked how Mr Hall had responded to the points that had been made to him, Mr David said: “He didn’t say an awful lot, but he listened to what we were saying and I’d like to think he understood the points we made about the need for further regeneration.”
Mr Hall, the Minister for Regional Growth and Local Government, represents the Gloucestershire seat of Thornbury and Yate.
After his visit, he said: “I was pleased to visit Bargoed to see first hand how they are building back better from the pandemic with their ambitious regeneration plans and projects for the high street.
“I toured the beautiful Bargoed Library in the Hanbury Chapel and had productive discussions with local leaders about levelling up and was interested to hear their feedback on the process of applying to the new funds on offer to communities in Wales and across the UK.
“The UK Community Renewal Fund was open to all places on a competitive basis, including Caerphilly, and I’m delighted that the council ran a call for proposals and has submitted bids.”