WelshTory leader urges London to bypass Cardiff with cash for poor areas
WELSH Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies has antagonised Carwyn Jones by suggesting that future funding for poor parts of Wales should be sent directly from Whitehall to local communities, bypassing the Welsh Government.
Ironically, Mr Davies’ comments coincide with confirmation from the Treasury that it will provide a “full lifetime guarantee” to EU-funded projects administered by the Welsh Government – a development interpreted by Mr Jones as a vote of confidence in his administration’s stewardship of EU aid money.
Mr Davies told the Western Mail the Welsh Government should not have a fourth chance to “fail” with very large sums of public money.
West Wales and the Valleys – a region covering two-thirds of the nation’s area – is currently benefiting from a third successive seven-year period of top-level EU aid. But the funding will dry up after the UK leaves the EU.
Mr Davies argues that the UK government should not trust the Welsh Government with the money it will allocate to replace the lost EU funds.
He states: “What should follow the EU schemes, upon which so much British tax revenue has been spent? Having voted to take back control, for the first time in more than 40 years we have an opportunity to rip up the rule book and start again – and to radically rethink the ways in which we support our communities.
“The Welsh Labour Government has abjectly failed to make the most of successive rounds of EU structural funding, and the next generation of schemes which follow our exit from the EU must be better targeted and deliver positive outcomes.
“As my colleague Alun Cairns observed in his conference speech this week, we cannot blithely accept failure for our poorest communities. Frankly, it should be no surprise to anyone at all that pro-Brexit feeling was at its strongest in the very areas said to have ‘benefited’ most from EU money.
“Things have to change. This is not business as usual, and outcomes must take the lead – not egos. If that means doing things in a different way to get results, then so be it.
“I have been clear from the start that Wales must not lose out financially from Brexit, but that doesn’t mean that the money needs to go to the Welsh Government. I want to see a new generation of regeneration projects which empower local communities directly, putting them in the driving seat – not Labour ministers.
“The Welsh Government has had three opportunities to make structural funds work and the poorest parts of Wales remain as poor as ever. They shouldn’t be given a fourth opportunity to fail the people again.”
Asserting that he is not coming from an anti-devolution perspective, Mr Davies said: “Let’s be clear, I am not advocating a reversal of the devolved settlement or calling for power to be clawed back by Westminster. Instead, as a staunch supporter of the localism agenda I would like the government to explore ways to build capacity in local communities so that they can take the lead on regeneration projects instead of a Welsh Government which has repeatedly failed them.”
A spokesman for First Minister Carwyn Jones said: “What the Tories are proposing is incredibly vague – but at the heart of it is a clear desire to move away from the devolutionary principle, which received a welcome boost from the Treasury only yesterday.
“The Tories have been trumpeting the growth of employment in Wales all week – and yet in the same breath they’re trashing European-funded programmes like Jobs Growth Wales and apprenticeship programmes that have made a massive impact, and which have been supported by Europe.
“The leader of the Tories in Wales made a meal of his speech yesterday, and now he’s making a dog’s dinner of a policy announcement with little or no evidence to back his claims.”
Earlier Mr Jones himself welcomed confirmation from the Treasury that it will provide a “full lifetime guarantee” for EU aid schemes in Wales – all of which are administered by the Welsh Government’s Welsh European Funding Office.
The First Minister said: “I welcome the Chancellor’s confirmation that the Treasury will provide a full lifetime guarantee for all structural and investment projects approved before the UK leaves the EU.
“I have been calling for this guarantee since the referendum result in June. It is the only correct and logical decision, allowing continuity for Welsh communities, businesses and investors while arrangements are made for the longer term.
“EU funds are an important source of investment for Wales and we will continue to make the most of every penny we receive from Europe. We will also make a strong and positive case for Wales to get its fair share of funding after the UK exits the EU, as promised in the referendum campaign.
“The Treasury has confirmed that, in keeping with the devolution settlement, it will be for the Welsh Government to continue to determine how EU funds are spent in Wales, in line with our priorities.”
Mr Davies also argued that Brexit presents an opportunity to re-imagine the kind of support that we offer farmers – and we must take that chance.
He said: “As a farmer myself, I want to see the industry freed from the shackles of red tape and regulation, with a new UK-wide framework to replace CAP.”