Investing in infrastructure in Wales
22 Apr 2014 03:22 PM
David Jones: "We are building a stronger, more resilient economy
across all regions and a range of industries in
Wales"
The UK government fully
recognises the importance of upgrading infrastructure to create the right
conditions to support thousands of new jobs and businesses across
Wales.
By targeting public investment
in infrastructure where needed, while harnessing private sector delivery, we
are making Wales more globally competitive, giving businesses the tools to
reach new markets and customers around the world.
This is not about short term
intervention to create short term, unsustainable jobs; we are building a
stronger, more resilient economy across all regions and a range of industries
in Wales.
In doing so, we are helping
provide economic security to millions of hardworking people and their families,
and I am pleased to say that our long-term economic
plan is delivering strongly for Wales.
Nuclear power
North Wales, for example, will
benefit significantly from the multi-billion pound investment from Hitachi at
Wylfa Newydd - the biggest single piece of new Welsh infrastructure for over 50
years.
We have committed to working
with Horizon and Hitachi to help support the financing of the new nuclear power
station, which will create thousands of jobs from construction to operation and
will provide excellent opportunities for Welsh businesses to be part of the
supply chain.
North Wales will also benefit
from our £250 million investment in a new prison in Wrexham, which will create 1,000 new jobs during its
operation and provide significant opportunities for local businesses during the
construction phase.
Broadband
And with every £1 invested
in broadband delivering economic benefits of around £20, we are committed
to ensuring that Wales has the modern digital infrastructure needed for a
prosperous economy.
Through Broadband Delivery UK,
we have invested almost £70 million in theSuperfast Cymru
project - a partnership between the UK and Welsh governments and BT -
which is on track to deliver superfast broadband to 96% of homes and businesses
in Wales by spring 2016.
Moreover, as part of our
£150 million super-connected city scheme, we have invested £10.2
million in Cardiff and £6 million in Newport, to deliver wifi-enabled
city centres, to boost business and tourism, with free access in public
buildings and broadband connection
vouchers for small and medium-sized enterprises.
HS2
In addition to our commitment to
more investment in Welsh rail infrastructure, we are also determined to ensure
that Wales derives the maximum possible benefit from HS2, which will
provide greater capacity for our railways, help businesses to expand and
improve connectivity across Britain, to ensure that we remain competitive in
the global race.
We have also extended the Welsh
Government’s borrowing powers to fund the much-needed improvement of the
M4 at Newport in recognition of the importance of the M4 to the economy of
south Wales.
Budget 2014
The Budget created the right conditions for the next stage of the
recovery, making it easier for businesses to export and invest; but there is of
course much more to do, and we must never be complacent about the challenges we
face.
The biggest risk to recovery
would be to abandon our long-term economic plan, which is creating a stronger,
more competitive Britain and delivering a brighter and more secure future for
the people of Wales.