Action plan for Valleys repeats past mistakes, claims Plaid
AN ACTION plan devised by a Welsh Government commissioned taskforce, that aims to create 7,000 new jobs in the Valleys, will fail unless it is backed up with £300m of funding, says Plaid Cymru.
The Taskforce for the Valleys, chaired by Local Government and Public Services Secretary Alun Davies, recently provided an updated version of its action plan to support some of the most deprived communities in the UK.
In a statement Mr Davies said: “We have set the ambitious target of helping 7,000 unemployed or economically-inactive people living in the Valleys into work through creating thousands of new, fair, secure and sustainable jobs in the Valleys by 2021.
“As part of achieving this stretching target we identified six locations for strategic hubs across the South Wales Valleys in the original action plan. These will be areas where we focus public investment, which in turn attracts private sector investment and the creation of new jobs and opportunities.
“Since we published the action plan – and as a result of ongoing conversations with the public and key partners – a seventh strategic hub in northern Bridgend has been identified.”
However, Plaid’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, Adam Price, described the taskforce’s action plan as a blueprint to “repeat the mistakes of the past”.
He added: “It makes no attempt to learn from the failures of past failed strategies.
“The plan overlooks large swathes of the Valleys, including the western valleys. This should be an overarching regional plan that takes into account geography and sectoral trends in a holistic fashion, but this plan is ad hoc at best.
“Without an overarching regional plan that takes geography and sectorial opportunities into account, this is little more than 68 action points, with only one measurable target.
“It’s clear why some people will be sceptical of the target of creating 7,000 jobs when no budget has been allocated to achieving the goal.
Mr Price added: “If it’s serious about achieving it, I would reasonably expect an investment of around £300m. Based on other Welsh Government programmes, we could expect much more.
“In fact, the Government’s last failed plan – the Ebbw Vale enterprise zone – had a budget allocation of £94m and only created 175 jobs. Based on previous form, I’m not hopeful that this new plan will achieve its goal.”