Half a billion pounds growth fund announced for Wales
The UK Government has announced new funding worth half a billion pounds to “create jobs and grow productivity” across Wales.
The Local Growth Fund replaces money that used to come from the European Union.
Decisions about how the money will be spent will return to Wales, honouring the UK Government’s manifesto commitment to restore decision-making on money that previously came from the EU.
The Welsh and UK Governments say they have agreed a framework which will set priorities and processes for allocating the funds, with a delivery plan developed and led by the Welsh Government.
Consultation
Local authorities and other partners will have a key role in deciding how the funding is spent.
Later this month, the Welsh Government will consult on the best way to use the funding through a consultation.
The Welsh Government says it is keen to understand how it can best support people into work and help people gain new skills and qualifications to progress into higher paid jobs, so that a larger proportion of the population is employed.
The cash could also be used to help grow Welsh businesses and boost investment in research and innovation, in areas such as health and bio-tech, financial technology, low carbon energy and AI.
It also hoped the funding will address the issues that are holding back growth, such as the need for key sites and premises, renewable and low-carbon energy generation, energy efficiency, and low-carbon transport.
‘Barriers’
First Minister Eluned Morgan said: “Our new Local Growth Fund for Wales is a significant opportunity to support businesses and social enterprises to grow, export and innovate – particularly in high-growth sectors such as AI, cybersecurity and digital transformation.
“By tackling barriers like access to finance and encouraging investment in research and development, we can help build a more competitive and resilient Welsh economy.
“Supporting people into work and helping them progress is vital to reducing economic inactivity. By aligning skills development with the needs of our regional economies, we can ensure people across Wales are well placed for the jobs of the future.
“We’re keen to see a strong focus on green infrastructure, energy efficiency and local regeneration. We will encourage investment in renewable energy, low-carbon transport, and heritage. Tourism will be supported in a way that helps our communities thrive.
“I’m very pleased that, following agreement with the UK Government, decisions on the priorities in this fund will be made here by the Welsh Government.”
Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens said: “This more than half a billion pound investment from the UK Government is key to driving economic growth in Wales, helping to grow businesses and get more people into good well-paid jobs.
“Decisions about how this money is spent are best made by people in Wales and we are working with the Welsh Government to achieve our shared priority of delivering growth, prosperity and opportunity across the country.”
Reduction
The Welsh Conservatives say the local funding growth model is a reduction in funding compared with the previous post-EU funding model.
Under the Shared Prosperity Fund, the UK Conservative Government allocated £585 million to Wales over three years.
Under the new model, Wales will receive £547 million over three years – £38 million less.
Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Energy, Samuel Kurtz said: “Under Labour, Wales was promised more funding, not tens of millions of pounds less.
“The Welsh Labour Government getting to hold the purse strings does not fill me with hope, as they routinely waste taxpayers’ money on vanity projects like the creation of more politicians or on non-devolved areas like their pointless overseas embassies and Ugandan tree planting.
“This funding should be used to support struggling Welsh businesses who have had to contend with Labour Governments at both ends of the M4 hitting them with higher taxes.”
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Is the money dependent on Labour being re-elected or is it a Starmer promise, that then won’t materialise in the event that Labour are toast.
Let’s be honest Labour in Wales have a terrible track record of using similar funds on vanity and not gone anywhere projects in the past do you really think they would deliver this time around.
Quite right. It will be cloaked in the usual bureaucratic processes and the jam spread thinly.
The reason this is just a rerun of the Cons efforts is that unelected mandarins in Whitehall not London Labour are designing these initiatives that are designed to achieve nothing at all that might jeopardize London’s status as generous benefactor to the grateful cap doffing natives in the colonies.
How about a full growth fund called INDEPENDENCE?
That would involve the British empire having to act with a level of integrity and decency……..Not their thing!
The level of cognative dissonance here is crazy
A pound per citizen per week will barely move the dial. So to see any growth at all it must be spent on projects and initiatives that will permanently lift GDP, not more flower pots and cycle lanes. Of the four contributors to GDP, only two have the potential to be transformational. Trying to boost consumer spending isn’t going to work because no-one has any money. And any direct growth from using this cash to boost government spending will stop when the funding stops. That leaves business investment and net exports. Supporting companies to diversify and grow their export business… Read more »
My word, very well said!
She means £££££££ to subsidise employable which immediately terminates when the subsidy runs out as it inevitably will in a socialist economy.
Just remember 1998 on the inception of the Sennedd Labour promised that they would reduce council tax by halving the number of Local Authorities. Yeh that never happened and now we see yet another increase of shiny bottom politicians in the Sennedd, another 36 at a cost of at least £1m per year plus their backroom staff at least treble that amount. Please whilst steelworkers have been thrown under the bus and jobs going left right and centre who in Wales is going to be able to afford their Council Tax, bearing in mind we are classed as one of… Read more »