City Regions - call for evidence
6 Mar 2012 11:49 AM
Business Minister Edwina Hart has urged people to participate in a call for evidence from the expert group considering the potential role of city regions in delivering more jobs and greater prosperity in Wales.
The City Regions Task and Finish Group, established by Business Minister Edwina Hart and chaired by Dr Elizabeth Haywood, has set out the evidence gathered to date on city regions and launched a report online.
In a written statement recently (Monday March 5) Mrs Hart emphasised the importance of obtaining wider views and contributions that would form part of the group’s analysis and findings.
“Today a call for evidence and a supporting report will be launched on-line and I encourage people to contribute and participate and raise awareness of this exercise.
“The work of the group is continuing and I look forward to the final report and conclusions which will inform our future approach.”
The online report contains a series of questions to assist respondents in providing evidence and their responses will be considered in preparing the final report which will contain recommendations for the Welsh Government.
Dr Haywood, director of the South East Wales Economic Forum, said the evidence gathering would continue until Wednesday April 18 and would be supported by focus groups held around Wales.
“The paper published on line relates to the first part of our remit – the evidence for supporting city regions - and we have looked at both UK and international research and want comments from interested parties on our findings,” she said.
”The report also touches on other aspects of our remit, such as the key issues we believe need to be addressed if a city region is to be successful in Wales, including cultural connectivity and skills.
“We will be looking in more detail at these during the consultation period, and welcome input on these topics also. We hope to attract an excellent response.”
Related Links
City Regions task and finish group biographies