Investing in infrastructure in Wales
David Jones: "We are building a stronger, more resilient economy across all regions and a range of industries in Wales"
Secretary of State David Jones MP
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 the Superfast 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.
Read the National Infrastructure Plan, which sets out the government’s plan for the next decade and beyond.