Welsh Conservatives would locate more government departments in North Wales and commit to boosting ‘Union highways’ says Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies.
Mr Davies today revealed that if elected into Government in May’s Senedd vote the Tories would create a new version of the Welsh Development Agency based in North Wales - bringing together the Development Bank of Wales and Business Wales in the new organisation.
He said the Welsh Revenue Authority - Wales’s version of the Treasury - would also be moved to North Wales with the two moves bringing 200 additional jobs.
Welsh Government currently has a North Wales HQ in Llandudno Junction and the Development Bank of Wales headquarters in Wrexham.
Mr Davies added that the ‘Union highways’ plan would mean investment in the A55 and rail services to England.
Writing for Business Live, he said: “For many people in North Wales, Cardiff Bay can be as distant as Westminster or as Brussels ever was.
“And who can blame you? 22 years of Labour Government ‘down south’ has delivered diddly squat for communities and businesses in North Wales.
“The region’s public services have been mismanaged, major infrastructure investment non-existent, and well-paid jobs few and far between.
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“Welsh Conservatives want to change that as part of our agenda to bounce back after the pandemic and build a better Wales, for the whole of Wales. The Senedd election in May is the most important in Wales for a generation. The pandemic has put Wales at a crossroads – and as the vaccine rolls out, the election will decide which road we take.”
Spelling out his aims, he said: “First and foremost we’d provide firms in all sectors with a roadmap to recovery, which has been so sorely lacking from Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay.
“Where possible and where data allows, we’d work on a joined-up approach with the 海角视频 Government on reopening, as we understand and acknowledge how fluid travel, work and social life is across Offa’s Dyke for so many.
“Once that’s been implemented we will have a relentless focus on economic recovery. We will deliver a ‘Jobs First Wales’.
“At the heart of our recovery plan will be the biggest road building programme in a generation, which will see much-needed upgrades to the A55 so it’s easier to do business, get to work or see family and friends.
'Union highways'
“Our ‘Union Highways’ will improve connectivity right across the North, and we will also increase funding to improve rail connectivity between the north coast of Wales and England. We will work with the 海角视频 Government delivering its Levelling Up Fund so we can create more stable, better paid jobs by supporting businesses rather than strangling them with diktats and bureaucracy.
“And we will invest in green industry and help our tourism sector recover with a promise that we will not implement any new taxes on firms and we’ll stop Labour’s tourism tax.”
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On locating departments in the north, he added: “Last month, Welsh Conservatives outlined our plan to bring back the best of the Welsh Development Agency as well as bringing together the Development Bank of Wales and Business Wales.
“Our aim would be to create a more nimble, agile, and dynamic business entity – a one-stop shop – to respond to the needs of firms large and small after the pandemic.
“Its reintroduction would give firms in North Wales a much-needed cutting edge, and would build capacity in a creaking economy in desperate need of a turbo-charge. And I can announce today that this body will not be another Cardiff-centric entity.
“This department will be located in North Wales, delivering quality jobs and support for the North Wales economy.
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“Too often, Labour have seen devolution solely through the prism of delivering for its Valleys heartlands or wasting £250m on its pet projects such as Cardiff Airport. As such, families and firms in North Wales have been an after-thought.
“So we won’t stop levelling up there.
“We will move the recently established Welsh Revenue Authority in South Wales – the Welsh Government’s version of the Treasury – to North Wales to ensure the voice of communities from Anglesey to Wrexham are heard loud and clear.
“By bringing back the best of the Welsh Development Agency (WDA), abolished by Labour in 2006, and establishing both this and the Welsh Treasury in North Wales we will put local priorities and local people from across our area at the heart of the Welsh Government, as well as creating good quality, well-paid jobs for local people.
“Only the Welsh Conservatives will break out of the Bay bubble, end Labour’s obsession with Cardiff, level up our country and deliver for our people and communities in North Wales.”