North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called on the Welsh Government to detail provision for rail infrastructure in the agreed programmes that will form the basis of the North Wales Growth Deal.
Questioning the Minister for Health and Social Services, who was answering questions on behalf of the First Minister in the Welsh Parliament yesterday, Mr Isherwood emphasised the need to improve rail infrastructure not only in the north-east and cross-border, but also across North Wales.
Speaking in the Chamber, he said:
“In the March 2016 Budget, the UK Government announced that it was ‘opening the door’ to a Growth Deal for North Wales, and that would embrace the Growth Track 360 document from the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, with ambitious proposals for rail infrastructure across the region. The Welsh Government says it's developing a high-quality and integrated transport system across North Wales. At the beginning of this month, the two Governments—UK and Welsh Governments—together with the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, signed the ‘Heads of Terms’ and agreed seven programmes that will form the basis of the North Wales Growth Deal from next year, including strategic transport. What provision thus far has therefore been agreed for those programmes to prioritise rail, not just in the north-east and cross-border, although critical, but across the region, to Gwynedd and Anglesey too?”
The Minister Vaughan Gething AM replied: “We are pleased to be working together with partners, not just the UK Government - of course, we part-fund the North Wales Growth Deal - but working together with the North Wales Economic Ambition Board. I think this Government has a track record to be proud of in terms of wanting to promote North Wales for its economic activity and, indeed, investing in transport infrastructure”.
Mr Isherwood added: “He may have only been a stand-in, but it is deeply concerning that he was unable or unwilling to answer my question, despite the extensive briefing notes he had been given”.