A first step on the road to prosperity
CONFIRMATION of the Swansea Bay City Deal is undoubtedly good news, and we hope politicians are right when they express the view that the economy of south-west Wales will be transformed by it.
Yet while people from all parties are hailing the announcement as a major boost, it’s appropriate that the tone of celebration is tempered with a modicum of caution.
What’s good about the Deal is that it brings together 11 projects across the region in energy, “smart manufacturing”, innovation and life science.
They range from wellness and life sciences villages in Llanelli to Swansea’s waterfront digital district, a marine energy centre in Milford Haven and a creative and digital hub in Carmarthen that will include a new S4C headquarters.
Another project involves improving the region’s broadband and mobile connectivity – something that should have been delivered years ago.
All the investments should help to bring more prosperity to a part of Wales that undoubtedly needs some new economic stimulus.
Our concern is that no tier of government should take the view that the City Deal alone will result in the region’s problems being solved in one fell swoop.
When west Wales and the Valleys – which includes the City Deal region – was awarded £1.2bn in European aid money at the turn of the century, we heard the same kind of hyperbolic claims that we are hearing now – the economy in Wales’ poorest region would be transformed, with many highly skilled, highly paid jobs created.
Nearly two decades later and the region is on its third successive round of top-level EU funding, for which it still qualifies because most of those living in it remain relatively poor in comparison with their counterparts in the EU as a whole.
We sincerely hope the City Deal projects do better in terms of raising the levels of prosperity in south-west Wales. It has to be remembered, however, that the £1.3bn investment will be spread over 15 years. Equally, as in the rest of Wales, it would be foolish to ignore the economic challenges that lie ahead.
Although First Minister Carwyn Jones is talking about the City Deal as a transformative injection of investment, the announcement is unlikely to have diminished his concerns about a hard Brexit.
Both before last year’s EU referendum and since, he has warned how leaving the European Single Market will be “disastrous” for the Welsh economy – and that warning includes the south-west of the country. Although Mr Jones will doubtless shake Theresa May’s hand and thank her for her cooperation over the City Deal, there are still enormous clouds over the prospects for Wales’ future prosperity.
For the moment, however, it would be churlish not to welcome the good news. May there be many more announcements along similar lines, beginning perhaps with a commitment to extend rail electrification as far as Swansea, the hub of this City Deal. The Western Mail newspaper is published by Media Wales a subsidiary company of Trinity Mirror PLC, which is a member of IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. The entire contents of The Western Mail are the copyright of Media Wales Ltd. It is an offence to copy any of its contents in any way without the company’s permission. If you require a licence to copy parts of it in any way or form, write to the Head of Finance at Six Park Street. The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2014 was 78.5%