The city deal is a hugely complicated project that will require a lot of work by officials to make it a success. There are a long list of concerns, although who would expect any differently from such a multifaceted proposal. Truthfully, the levels of investment in the region are phenomenal and are potentially transformational. As the world transitions away from industry because of automation, the economy is moving towards being a knowledge or a smart economy. Success in the future will be about developing the next big idea, turning it into a useful product or service and marketing it as such. It is clear to me that this is exactly what the project team have in mind. I can see that the city deal proposal has also benefitted from the input of the private sector. The involvement of multinational firms such as Fujitsu and Cisco show that the proposals are built on strong foundations. If the city region can be made a success, it could trigger a new industrial revolution in out bit of South ...
So, last week the Welsh Government finally decided that they were unwilling to guarantee any losses culminating from the proposed Circuit of Wales up to a value of £200 million. The ground for refusal was based around two main factors; That HM Treasury would add the figure to the Welsh Government's debt and subsequently make adjustments to the block grant, reducing capital funding for projects such as new hospitals, schools and houses. That the promise of 6,000 jobs was vastly overstated and that the likely number of direct jobs culminating from the project would be as little as 100. I think it is fair to say that the Welsh Government made the right decision. There is no reasonable way that the Welsh Government could have agreed to taking on such a large liability without being able to leverage it against an asset. Anyone who says differently just does not understand public finance (or any other kind of finance for that matter). However, the Welsh Government have also announced a ...
Swansea Bay City Region Logo On Wednesday 25 January Carmarthenshire County Council agreed to delegate authority to the Leader of the Council to sign the Swansea Bay City Region deal based on a 'Heads of Terms' document presented to the meeting . The city region proposal presents what can only be described as a very exciting vision for the future of the region, which includes Carmarthen, Pembroke, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot counties. It's fair to say that a while ago the city deal was waning until it was picked up again by Cllr. Rob Stewart, Leader of Swansea City Council and Mark James, Chief Executive of Carmarthenshire County Council. At the moment, these two figures seem to be driving the project forward, supported by the other partner authorities. There is also a 'with Brexit, the city deal is the only game in town' attitude towards the proposal. The Swansea Bay City Deal focuses on four main sectors for both urban and rural areas across the region; digital...
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