Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami grills Welsh Secretary on funding for North Wales
The Labour MP for Alyn & Deeside, Mark Tami, has asked the Conservative Welsh Minister about the UK Government’s funding for and commitment to the North Wales Growth Deal.
Mr Tami is pressing for more funding for the project which is designed to improve infrastructure across the region, bringing about better transport links and broadband connections and improving North Wales’ competitiveness as a place to start and grow a business and creating new jobs.
The Growth Deal is a partnership between the six local authorities, the two colleges, two universities and private sector with money committed by both the Welsh Government and UK Government.
However, Mr Tami has described the UK Government funding commitment on offer as “not the deal that North Wales deserves”.
The funding being offered by Boris Johnson’s government, spread across all of North Wales, is enough to build just four miles of new road to motorway standard.
When Mr Tami asked whether the Conservatives will improve their offer to North Wales after the election, Welsh Minister David Davies replied: “All growth deal projects will be rigorously scrutinised to ensure value for money, but at the end of the day, if the right hon.
Gentleman wants to criticise the Government for putting hundreds of millions of pounds into the north Wales economy, then I plead guilty and I am absolutely delighted to be a part of the Government who are doing it.”
The UK government will invest £120m, with the Welsh Government contribution and the private sector taking the total value to £1bn.
Speaking later, Mark Tami said: “The funding for the Growth Deal is welcome but in terms of the damage done to our communities by austerity over the last ten years, it won’t touch the sides.
“If the UK government is serious about supporting North Wales then they need to provide decent funding to rebuild infrastructure, but also to properly fund the Welsh Government to run public services across the region.
“Over the last ten years Wales’ funding has been cut by the Tories and the cost of that is measured in potholes, NHS waiting times and struggling social care.
“Without decent funding North Wales can’t grow, and on this performance it seems Boris Johnson’s government have no intention of rolling back austerity.”
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