New infrastructure investment reaches almost £3bn says Jane Hutt

30 Jun 2014 04:08 PM

The Welsh Government’s capital investments and innovative finance schemes, which have been announced since the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP) was published in 2012, have now reached almost £3bn and will create around 50,000 jobs during construction, Finance Minister Jane Hutt said yesterday. 

Speaking to the Wales Policy Forum conference on infrastructure the Minister highlighted the commitment the Welsh Government has made to supporting the economic recovery and public services in Wales, through investment in both social and economic infrastructure

Alongside the publication of the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan’s 2014 Annual Report, the Minister has announced an additional £250million boost for the innovative Housing Finance Grant to build an extra 2,000 homes in the Social housing sector.  

This further builds on the £1bn of initiatives announced in May and means in total, innovative funding investments announced since the launch of the Plan will create around 30,000 jobs during the construction phases.

Jane Hutt said:

"Since I published the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan in 2012, I have been very clear about the contribution that investment in our infrastructure can make to support economic growth and protect and boost jobs.  

"Despite the Welsh economy showing early signs of recovery we are still facing challenges.  We have to maximise the impact of every pound we spend and look to boost our investments wherever possible.  

"Our approach to boosting investment in Welsh infrastructure has a distinctive and dual focus.  We are investing traditional capital while also creating new innovative finance schemes to create jobs and deliver public services.

"The WIIP annual report also contains an updated pipeline of projects that will be delivered over the coming years.  This has helped to provide clarity, transparency and certainty of investments in Wales.

"Last year, we included for the first time, both National and Local Government infrastructure investments. This year, we have gone one step further and included rail and energy data in line with our ‘Energy Wales Delivery Plan’ commitment.

"This is another milestone in support of our ambition to develop a single point of information, providing a full infrastructure investment picture for Wales. The pipeline now details over 320 schemes across the public and private sectors with an investment value in excess of £34bn.

"We are determined to do everything we can to boost growth and jobs in Wales.  The actions we have taken over the last year are a clear demonstration of our commitment to deliver this goal."

Links

Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan