The ‘Regional Investment in Wales after Brexit’ event follows the publication of the Welsh Government paper of the same name published in December. 

The paper proposes a new, simplified and less bureaucratic way of supporting Welsh communities and driving economic development. It calls for every penny of the £370m that Wales currently receives from the EU each year in structural funds to be replaced by the UK government and added to the Welsh Government’s annual budget.

The paper rejects the idea of a Westminster-controlled UK Prosperity Fund and calls for regional investment decisions to continue to be made in Wales. The proposals include:

• simplifying the rules, administration and systems for regional investment funds
• developing plans for the regions of Wales led by partnerships involving local authorities, businesses and communities in those areas
• regional investment focussed on places where it is needed

The event will be an opportunity to discuss the proposals about the future approach to regional investment once our current European Structural and Investment programmes come to an end.

Mark Drakeford said:

“The publication of the ‘Regional Investment in Wales after Brexit’ paper was very much the beginning of a process where we want to work with as many people, organisations and businesses as possible in this process to help inform a new approach to regional investment policy that will maximise the potential of every part of Wales.”

This event is the second of 2 public engagement events on regional investment after Brexit. The first event took place in Bangor University last week (18 January) where Lesley Griffiths AM, the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, addressed a forum of business and council leaders based in North Wales.

Mark Drakeford added,

“Our intention is not simply to replace existing EU programmes by other means. This is an opportunity to think differently and work differently in ways which link polices together across portfolios and organisations.

“This will mean even closer alignment to approaches for local government reform, the regionalisation of economic development policy, and other Welsh Government priorities identified in ‘Prosperity for All’.”

Led by Newport Council and supported by £1.3m of EU funding, the Journey2Work initiative will provide specialist support to long-term unemployed people over 25 in Newport, Monmouthshire and Cardiff.

The project will provide mentoring, training and financial support for travel costs and work clothes as well as volunteering opportunities to people who face significant barriers to securing work.

Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said:

“Supporting disadvantaged and vulnerable people to gain new skills will help them to take the next steps into employment. I am pleased EU funds are being invested to increase learning, tackle poverty and support a more inclusive society in Wales.”

Councillor Gail Giles, Newport Council’s cabinet member for education and skills added:

“Providing the right support to people to help them into work is so important – not just for individuals but for our wider communities. I am delighted money is being invested in this project and that Newport is able to lead on this initiative.”

The project is being delivered in partnership with Monmouthshire Housing Association and Cardiff Council and will work with people living in social housing.

To mark this significant milestone, First Minister Carwyn Jones and Education Secretary Kirsty Williams visited Ysgol Penmaes in Brecon on Monday. 

This forward-looking school provides high quality specialist education for pupils aged 3-19 with a wide range of learning difficulties.   

During the visit the First Minister and Education Secretary were given a tour of the school by Head Teacher, Julie Kay and they also spoke with staff and pupils to hear their views on how they feel this Bill will help them. 

The wide-ranging legislation contains eleven main aims and will be backed up by an ambitious wider programme of reforms, measures, subordinate legislation and an Additional Learning Needs Code, which will sit alongside the Bill.

Speaking ahead of the Bill gaining Royal Assent and highlighting why this legislation is so important, the First Minister said:

“Nearly a quarter of learners in Wales will experience some form of additional learning need (ALN) during their early years or education and this Bill places them at the very heart of our new system.

“Ysgol Penmaes is a great example of a school that puts children and young people’s needs first and it is only right that the legislative system which underpins the school’s approach continues to be fit for purpose. 

“This new Bill will pave the way for a radical new approach, driving improvements in standards to ensure all learners are supported to meet their full potential. Essentially it brings the entire legislative framework into a 21st Century enabling us to effectively support learners with ALN through their education journey.” 

Education Secretary, Kirsty Williams added: 

“It was brilliant to meet with staff and pupils at Ysgol Penmaes on Monday and see how this school is supporting young people with additional learning needs to get the very best from their education.

“I welcome the fact this new system supports 0-25 year olds and places children and young people at the very heart of that support.

“For learners to have their own individual plan that they have been involved in producing and that is based around what is important to them is very positive; it will especially help our learners in ensuring the process is more seamless and supportive of their needs when they reach the point of transition and move to their post-school provision.”

At an official Sealing Ceremony held today (January 24) in Cardiff, the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill became an Act of the Assembly.

The Bill aims to protect the stock of social housing in Wales from further reduction, ensuring it is available to provide safe, secure and affordable housing for people who are unable to buy or rent a home of their own. It complements other actions being taken by the Welsh Government to increase the supply of housing.

Minister for Housing and Regeneration Rebecca Evans AM said: 

“Between 1981 and 2016, over 139,000 local authority and housing association homes were sold off under the Right to Buy.

“We know this has led to many people, including many vulnerable people, waiting longer to access a home that they can afford.  This legislation will give social landlords more confidence to invest in new housing, by removing the risk of these homes being sold after only a few years.

“We are committed to creating 20,000 more affordable homes by 2021, and we are supporting social landlords to help us to achieve this.

“We will shortly be publishing more information for tenants which will be circulated by their landlords, to better explain what this Act means for them.

“By protecting the stock of social housing in Wales, we are ensuring it is available for the long term to provide safe, secure and affordable homes for the people of Wales.”

This Bill was introduced last March, following a White Paper consultation in 2015, and now passed, abolishes all variations of the Right to Buy, including the Preserved Right to Buy and the Right to Acquire.

Right to Buy will finally be abolished on the 26 January 2019 for existing properties, one year after Royal Assent. But to encourage investment in new homes, the rights will end for homes that are new to the social housing stock, and therefore have no existing tenants, two months after Royal Assent, on the 24th of March 2018.

The report found there is “enough excellence across Welsh education to support improvement and help reduce variability” and that there is a “spirit of cooperation” with the teaching profession in developing a new curriculum.

The report also welcomes:

• The establishment of a National Academy of Educational Leadership;
• A “more systematic approach” to how pupils learn, apply and practise their literacy and numeracy across the curriculum;
• Major changes in how professional learning is organised; 
• Improvements in attendance and behaviour;
• Strengths in learner wellbeing, care, support and guidance, and learning environment; and
• Strengthened links between higher and further education.

Welcoming the report, Kirsty Williams said:

“Our national mission for education seeks to raise standards, reduce the attainment gap and deliver an education system that is a source of national pride and enjoys public confidence.

“It is clear from reading this report that there is sustained momentum in Welsh education; a culture of self-improvement that is embedded in the system and, most importantly, owned by those working in the profession.

“I am heartened to see the Chief Inspector welcoming the steps we have taken to drive up standards and support improvement in our schools – particularly our efforts to work with the teaching profession in developing the new curriculum.

“The report notes our efforts to reduce the attainment gap, but we know there is no room for complacency. That’s why we’re doubling the Pupil Development Grant for our youngest learners, so that every child has the opportunity to reach their potential.

“By continuing to work together, I am confident that we can achieve our national mission and deliver an education system that is a source of national pride and public confidence.”