COUNCIL chiefs have been “continually disappointed” by an ongoing lack of day-to-day funding support for the mid Wales growth deal from the Welsh and UK Governments.
The Senedd’s economy committee took evidence from mid Wales representatives, including Jake Berriman, joint chair of the growing mid Wales board, on June 4.
Cllr Berriman said: “It is a theme… if we do compare ourselves with the Cardiff region… that has had large amounts of capital upfront – that, obviously, provides a clear investment revenue option for them to draw down and to provide support for projects.
“Whereas, the 4% that we’re able to draw down on the limited funding that is given to us in annual tranches makes that more difficult.”
Bryan Davies, his fellow joint chair and the Plaid Cymru leader of Ceredigion Council, told the committee: “I’ll always speak up for rural areas where the proper funding isn’t there.”
Carwyn Jones-Evans, senior officer for the growing mid Wales partnership, said around £18.5m of public funding has been secured to date for the deal, which was signed in 2022.
Pressed on progress for an inquiry on city and growth deals, Cllr Berriman said: “Progress is as good as we might have expected, things have slowed somewhat generally economically.
“The private sector finds it more difficult and, therefore, it’s more difficult for us to engage positively and proactively with them. We’ve had to flex our approach.”
Cllr Berriman, the Liberal Democrat leader of Powys Council, was pleased by progress on the Elan Valley lakes project and the launch of a mid-Wales commercial property fund.
Cllr Davies told Senedd Members: “If I’m brutally honest, I’d love it if things moved a little bit quicker but we’ve got to jump through hoops and over hurdles because it’s public money. But we are definitely going in the right direction.”
Cllr Davies said: “With regards to sponsors – the private sector – the way things are… we’ve got to be mindful that perhaps they need to see some of these projects coming through.”
Mr Jones-Evans told the committee: “The last two times I was at the committee we’ve been saying we’re at the door of delivery. It’s actually pleasing to say to the committee today that… we have got projects that are starting to deliver now… that does build confidence.”
Pressed about problem projects, he said: “We recently undertook a health check… there are a few projects that are in yellow and a couple… in the red category.”
He declined to go into the details of specific projects but told the committee: “In general, public-sector finances and private-sector confidence have shifted in the past two years.”
Gesturing with his hands, Mr Jones-Evans added: “The ambition four-five years ago was up there [but] the level of funding and what we can deliver might be somewhere down there.”
He told Senedd Members none of the projects have “stopped and completely died” so far.
He explained that the two councils contribute about £100,000 each every year towards the running costs of the growth deal, topping up around £360,000 from central government.
Cllr Davies said: “I would be more worried if all the projects were in green because it shows that we are scrutinising properly.”
Mr Jones-Evans added: “Levelling up funding was the big capital fund available to us in recent years and we’re not aware, currently, of any other big capital funds on the horizon.
“There are ongoing conversations with Welsh and UK Government colleagues… but budgets generally are smaller than what they’ve been. Funding is less readily available which does cause concern for a lot of organisations delivering these projects.”
Cllr Berriman said: “I will admit, reading the targets around gross value added for instance,… I will honestly say that looks like a stretch. We would need to see a compounded annual growth rate of 6 to 7% to achieve those figures, and that is an ask given where we’re at.”
