04/06/2014 The Wales Report

Will the creation of city regions help spread wealth around Wales?

With four months to go until the Scottish referendum on

independence, could today's Queen's Speech have been the last ever to

And why are so few Welsh students applying to

Good evening and welcome to the Wales Report.

The latest figures show the Welsh economy is lagging

behind the rest of the UK, so what can be done to reverse the decline?

The Welsh Government thinks that the creation of city regions is key.

Such a scheme, they say, will make sure that the benefits

of economic growth, usually centered around a city,

can be spread out across a wider area, boosting several communities.

So far two city regions have been created, the Swansea Bay Region

and the Cardiff Capital Region, which is headed by Welsh Rugby

We'll be speaking to him in a moment.

But first, our economic correspondent Sarah Dickins takes

With Wales getting steadily lurk in period to the UK average city

regions have been hailed as a way of kick-starting the economy. --

getting steadily Puller compares to the UK average.

There is a strong argument that as the world changes and emerging

markets manufacture what we used to make, wheels need to seek more

knowledge intensive jobs. -- Wales needs to seek more knowledge

intensive jobs. The former head of CB I Wales was

asked to find out if a city region policy would work. None of our

cities punch their weight, let alone above their weight.

The Cardiff Capital Region spread out from Newport to Bridgend and up

to the heads of the valleys. It is proposed that our transport network

be built to connect people with new jobs and opportunities. This easier

has high and employment. For more than 20 years initiatives have tried

to create jobs. Communities were based on coal, which is long gone.

If they feel to get communities like this to drop local rivalries the

project will be weakened. How do you get a capital city to thrive without

people living here feeling left behind? There are some people with

real expertise behind this. There is the danger that we rely on the

trickle-down effect. That does not work. If we are to adopt the city

region approach it must be on a different model. For city regions to

work strong leadership is vital. Different councils and to political

parties have two pooled together. But is there a figurehead? We need a

person who will help to deliver it. We do not have a Boris or a cane as

they do in Manchester or London. -- in Ken.

It is a different arguments to persuade people who live outside the

city region that their lives will be better if more money is spent miles

and miles away in Cardiff. Joining me now is Roger Lewis, the

chair of the Cardiff Capital Region. What difference should the people

feel of the city region is a success? They need to feel that

there is a future for them, that there is an equality of opportunity.

At the heart of what we are trying to achieve with the Cardiff Capital

Region is something that is transformational, that will give a

real economic benefits to everyone. But when it comes to jobs and money

surely those will be concentrated in the capital. That will not trickle

down. We are trying to achieve collectivity. We need to link up the

ten authorities throughout the region. At the heart of that

proposition is the Metro project which was referred to within the

film. That Metro project is transformational. It'll make a

fundamental difference to the region. The latest estimate is that

it will cost ?5 billion. Where is the money going to come from? The

total cost is an eye watering sum of money. But we have to start

somewhere. Considerable work has been undertaken by the Welsh

Government and by some local authorities. We are presenting that

work to the minister later in the year. There is a sense of journey

and destination as to how we can source the money. I am confident it

will happen because it has to happen. The money would come from

central Government and also the local authorities. But money is

tight. The key thing is unity of purpose. We are working with

Government. I was with their Minister of Finance today. Working

with the Welsh Government, also with Europe, also with London.

Many people see the needs to be a minister dedicated to this if it is

to work. Our strength is that we are small. It is also a weakness. We

have a unity of purpose. There is a unity of purpose in Government. It

is important to emphasise the nature of the project is that it must

survive the political cycles. That means we have two had ties to remove

it from the political arena. What is the model? Vancouver has been

suggested. Edinburgh, Manchester. What is the model? How do you break

down tribalism? There are lots of great models. Stuttgart as the

exemplar. That has huge support from European funding. In the UK the best

model is Manchester. To address the tribalism point, around the table we

have four of the leaders of ten of the authorities and we are regularly

talking to the other authorities. If you live in Cardiff live in

Cardiff, if you live in the valleys you live in the valleys. What

difference will we see data di? There will be an overarching --

there will be an overarching strategic approach. The ten

authorities will come together to align their strategies. We have two.

We need to figure out where people work and where people live and where

people play. We need to plan that on a regional basis. We need to make

sure that people are truly connected. Economic growth is never

equally distributed, so we need to give people the equality of

opportunity to connect with that growth. It has been said that we

need charismatic leaders. Are you that charismatic leader? No. I am

the cheer of the board. We are not doing this for political ambition.

We are doing less because we want to make a difference. When we feel we

have got the governance right, when are metal project is right, we as a

board needs to ask if we are the right people to take this forward.

We may well step back and make sure there is a leader, statutorily

authority, that can drive us forward. This is not paid. You are

doing it in your spear time. -- in your free time. I have no particular

mission. We need to do the right thing for Wales. If we do not step

forward heaven help us all. We all debts two wheels. This is time to

pay it back. Thank you for joining us.

Earlier today the Queen delivered her annual speech to Parliament,

setting out its legislative agenda for the coming year.

Headlines were made by policy announcements on pension

reform, tax-free childcare and performance reviews for MPs.

But today could be the last time the Queen's Speech lists legislation

With the Scottish referendum on independence now only 16 weeks away,

And how will the result, whether a yes or no to independence,

Joining us now are two Welsh leaders on either side of the debate.

From Westminster is the Shadow Secretary of State

for Wales, Labour's Owen Smith and here in the studio I'm joined by

the Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood. Whatever the result in the

referendum, the status quo will have to change, won't it? Yes because all

parties have committed themselves to change it. Other parties in Scotland

want further change other than the Scottish Nationalist party. You

other party offering released devolution because the curve --

conservatives have overtaken you, haven't they? If you take a narrow

perspective on tax, and even then, it is very unlikely that rates will

shift by more than 15p. There would be a -5% starting rate if Labour

come to power so there is not that much between us. There is a clear

recognition there is dire for -- desire for greater autonomy in

Scotland and Wales and England and we are committed to that.

Whatever the result there will be an impact, won't they? It is a matter

for us in Wales to decide how much we can be involved. It is essential

that we make sure we are part of that debate. Aren't we pretty much

ignored in Scotland? We not as involved as we should be and there

is an opportunity for a rebalancing of power throughout the United

Kingdom, economically, socially and politically. It is an opportunity

for Wales to take powers we need to transform our economy. We have a

government in Cardiff Bay who are turning down opportunities to have

control over the levers that can affect our economy.

Owen Smith, when you talk to people involved in the negotiations in

Scotland they say our voices not heard. There is talk of a veto on

the pound in Scotland but that is cuckoo land as we are not stuck in,

are we? It is properly Owen Jones's fault, isn't it?

I don't think that is true. The debate in Scotland as to whether it

wants to be independent is essentially a question for Scotland

so there is no prospect of Wales having an equal voice in that

debate, nor England. But the impact on the rest of the UK is potentially

massive. What would it look like? Of course it is but it is massive for

England and English people but English people do not have a say. It

is a slightly false premise. I have been to Scotland on two or three

occasions and have spoken on a platform with Gordon Brown and we

held a Labour Party shadow cabinet a few weeks ago. The notion that Wales

is not being listened to is not true. They are keen to hear Welsh

voices in Scotland, but they don't want to hear an unreal view from

Wales as Plaid Cymru suggest. We are not in favour of an independent

Wales. It is looking like a "no" vote. What

would that do to nationalism in Scotland and here in Wales?

If you are right, it is likely it will be a narrow margin and I should

imagine there will be an appetite on the part of people in Scotland to

take more autonomy and Maude decisions. Independence won't

necessarily be off the agenda. If it is close, people might still want to

make sure it remains on the agenda. But if the SNP can't get it through,

surely it is pie in the sky here? Of course they are going all out for

a win and there is a long time before the vote takes place and

momentum is on their side. They are running a positive campaign compared

to the "no" campaign. What I would say to people like Owain Smith is,

what other benefits for Scotland for being part of the union? That been

spelt out, nor for Wales. You want to Scotland to go but where

would that leave Wales? Just part of England?

That is the question people here will need to seriously consider and

we have to make sure we have a strong voice in the negotiations.

Couldn't Wales be subsumed? Or you could take the view that the

power could be dispersed across Britain and there is the opportunity

to rebalance. The sacking of everything towards London will be

relocated to Edinburgh and that opens up opportunities for Wales, I

think. The latest phase with John Smith and

Tony Blair and the whole idea was to stem support for the SNP but that

has backfired. That is a miserably ten -- misrepresentation of the

history. The whole point of devolution was about decentralising

power and amplifying the voice of Wales at Westminster whilst giving

us more local accountability and autonomy and control over power and

the levers of power in Wales, which is what it has done. Health,

education and local government, all these things that are determined in

Wales. Now we talk about going further so that Wales is more on the

same sort of fitting as Scotland in respect -- in respect of powers and

the model of powers and that has been consistent through Labour 's

policy on devolution. What other benefits for Wales? Being part of a

shared market, a shared society, shared history and a shared future.

There practical benefits. Let me bring this to a close. With one

quick question to each of you. When will the people of Wales get to vote

on independence, if at all? It is different -- difficult as we

are on a different stage of the journey but I would like to see is

get to the point where there is a temp one macro that can build

institutions -- Plaid Cymru government. Why should we have a

vote on it when nine or 10% were in favour. Plaid Cymru are the fourth

most popular party in Wales and support is declining. They are not

the answer and nobody in Wales once independence.

Thank you. We have to leave it. The number of Welsh students who

apply to study at Oxford and Cambridge Universities

is in decline. Figures show that four of the ten

areas in the UK with the lowest application rates are here in Wales.

Why? Well, a year ago, the Labour MP and

former welsh secretary, Paul Murphy, was asked to look into the fall

in numbers and his report is due to But, what are the benefits of an

Oxbridge education and should we be Yes, says 20-year-old Shelby Holmes

from Towyn in North Wales, who is in her second year studying

English Literature at Oxford. I do fairgrounds with my parents for

some of the year. We used to do a fair in Oxford and it is a really

nice place. I liked the vibe of the city. When I thought of applying I

thought, I like Oxford. At the bottom of the Trinity lawns there

are gates and we walked past. I looked in and they said, you won't

get in there, love. For me to get in, it was... My mother was barely

literate so to go from that to going to Oxford doing English literature,

it was so weird for them. There was a precedent in other schools. Oxford

and Cambridge, we always send one or two. But for us, there was no one I

knew personally from the school or anyone I had ever met who had been.

I didn't know what I was expecting. Misconceptions pull people back. You

come to this very impressive building that has stood here for

hundreds of years and you kind of thing, what am I doing here? I think

that most of the people who come here feel like they are not good

enough or they are just good enough. It is a long time before you finally

realise that, no, I worked really hard for this and put the effort in

and I really wanted and I got it. They wouldn't let me in if I

couldn't do the work. There is a reputation about Oxford being

quintessentially English but it is really open for everyone. More Welsh

people should come and study because it seems like there are not many of

us here. We have Russian people, Chinese and Indian people, why not

Welsh people? What I would say to a seven year is -- 17-year-old who is

not really sure but thinking about it, it is just a normal University

for normal people who really like their subject and who really want to

learn more about the subject. If you feel passionate about it and you

want to do more with your subject, then apply. You haven't lost

anything by applying. You can't let the misconceptions put you off. We

are just a group of normal kids at university.

Joining me is the Oxbridge ambassador for Wales. Why are there

so few applications from Wales? They are not always as inspirational

as Shelby and a lot of people haven't got the confidence to go.

They have misconceptions about what Oxford and Cambridge are about. That

they are full of people from public schools punting on the rivers. In

the interview, it was pretty clear that it is very different from that.

Part of my job has been to try to persuade young people in Wales that

the old-fashioned images of Oxford and Cambridge are very much

old-fashioned and that it is an up-to-date University, both of them,

and two of the best universities on the planet.

It seems that there are two issues - confidence and attainment. What does

it say about our education system? A lot of it boils down to the fact

that the two universities require very special techniques for

interview and in Oxford's case, a separate aptitude test. In many

ways, youngsters have to be made aware of the different entrance

processes. It is not the very fact that there are people who haven't

got high A-level qualifications, sometimes we have found schools

where they have high A-level qualifications but they still are

not getting in. Part of my role is to find out why not.

We know that children from about this high are primed for Oxbridge

and they stay behind after school. Do you want to see that happening

here? There is a case for looking

specially at our most able and talented children. Most schools and

tertiary colleges in Wales have a system where they give special

attention to the most able students by giving them extra lessons and

various talks from visiting professors and dons from the

universities and by stressing, as far as they can... The reality is we

do have very, very clever young people in Wales, but very often they

are not stretching themselves as far as they could do. Often, it is the

question of giving them the information and knowledge of how to

apply to these universities. The other issue is brain drain. Why

should they go? Some would argue, let us keep them in Swansea or

Cardiff Aberystwyth. Encouraging them to go is a bad thing. What

would you say to that? Firstly, there is nothing wrong with

Welsh universities. The reality is only 50% of the intake of Welsh

universities come from Welsh people. About 50% of Welsh students go

outsize -- outside Wales and that will not change. My view is that

there are two outstanding universities, two of the best on

earth, so we shouldn't deny the opportunity to our brightest

children to go to them. That isn't to say bright students don't go to

Welsh universities. Of course they do. How can the Minister get more

students into Oxbridge? I will present my report in a few

weeks time. I have spoken to the education minister about these

issues and I will have positive representations to make as part of

the overall policy to make sure we raise standards in Wales. Is anyone

getting it right at the moment in Wales?

Yes, Gower College near Swansea and the school near Newport. Lots of

others. They are doing excellent work and I hope the best practice

from those places will spread to other places as well.

As a former student there, what would be your one word of

encouragement to anyone thinking about it?

It stretches you enormously and if you have a passion for your subject

you can go to one of those two universities.

That is it for tonight. Thanks for watching.