:00:00. > :00:00.Many thousands will be affected by the end of the
:00:00. > :00:08.Child Support Agency, but will those most in need be the biggest losers?
:00:09. > :00:14.The tax credit shambles - after this week's defeat in the House of Lords,
:00:15. > :00:16.how will the chancellor manage to lessen the impact on families?
:00:17. > :00:20.And is the Welsh Government doing as much as it can to boost employment
:00:21. > :00:39.Good evening and welcome to The Wales Report.
:00:40. > :00:42.For the past 20 years, many thousands of single-parent
:00:43. > :00:44.households in Wales have depended on the help of the Child Support
:00:45. > :00:49.The agency is now being replaced with the Child Maintenance Service,
:00:50. > :00:54.It operates with a different set of rules for new claimants.
:00:55. > :00:56.The focus is on encouraging parents to settle
:00:57. > :00:59.things amicably without outside involvement and for many there would
:01:00. > :01:04.There are fears already that the changes will discourage the poorest
:01:05. > :01:24.single parents from applying, as Felicity Evans explains.
:01:25. > :01:30.For more than 20 years, the Child Support Agency has been making all
:01:31. > :01:35.be wrong headlines. Successive other months have tried and failed to make
:01:36. > :01:40.it work. Many single parents and their ex-partners have found the
:01:41. > :01:47.system inefficient, inaccurate and unjust. Jane has been struggling
:01:48. > :01:51.with the CSA 's 44-macro years her ex-husband has exploited loopholes
:01:52. > :02:00.and has often failed to pay maintenance for their two children.
:02:01. > :02:06.The whole process is appalling. At 1.I was ?1800 in arrears with my
:02:07. > :02:11.rent. I was receiving solicitors letters and I have had to borrow
:02:12. > :02:15.money from family. It is embarrassing. I don't want to place
:02:16. > :02:20.the children in the riddle. I told them very little. Children in
:02:21. > :02:26.single-parent families are almost twice as likely to live in poverty
:02:27. > :02:35.as they in two-parent households. It is important that the nonresident
:02:36. > :02:44.parents pay their fair share. The UK Government says that by 2018 the CSA
:02:45. > :02:48.will cease to exist. The question is will things get better for estranged
:02:49. > :02:53.couples and their children. This is how it will work. Anyone currently
:02:54. > :02:57.receiving payments from the CSA will have their case close. They will
:02:58. > :03:06.have to start again in the new system by ringing a helpline. They
:03:07. > :03:13.will be in college to reach a new arrangement, but if they can't, they
:03:14. > :03:16.will be charged to use the new service. Nearly a third of potential
:03:17. > :03:20.applicants that they would be put off of applying because of the fee,
:03:21. > :03:25.but the government believes that many will change their mind. But
:03:26. > :03:30.gingerbread, a charity that campaign to single-parent families, are
:03:31. > :03:34.concerned. It will be a stretch for single parent families, especially
:03:35. > :03:38.with a welfare cuts and tax credit cuts. Money is tight for a lot of
:03:39. > :03:44.families. We are not totally convinced that many he would have
:03:45. > :03:48.applied are making their own arrangements, but if they are and
:03:49. > :03:54.they are satisfied that is fine. We are worried that people will be put
:03:55. > :03:58.off by the fee. But for Jane the emotional upheaval of having her
:03:59. > :04:03.existing case closed in going back to square one is a horrible
:04:04. > :04:07.prospect. After a very long four-year period of fighting the
:04:08. > :04:13.CSA, how it has affected my mental health, it has put pressure on my
:04:14. > :04:16.family. I feel aggrieved that after four years my case will be closed
:04:17. > :04:20.down. It is disheartening and I really don't know if I have the
:04:21. > :04:27.capacity of the fight in me any more to continue assuming this. But the
:04:28. > :04:32.concerns don't end there. Even if you pay the CMS to come up with a
:04:33. > :04:35.payment schedule, it will not enforce the payments unless you
:04:36. > :04:48.asked them to, and then there will be more fees. This is for bad
:04:49. > :04:53.payers. It is wrong that the receiving parent will lose 4% of
:04:54. > :04:58.maintenance because the paying parent is a bad payer. It is an
:04:59. > :05:02.unfair price that the children are having to pay. Is this a
:05:03. > :05:08.money-saving exercise for the government? Yes. The civil service
:05:09. > :05:12.have been open to the Public Accounts Committee about the fact
:05:13. > :05:16.that in some ways it is a win win for them. If charges put off people
:05:17. > :05:21.applying to the new system, they save money because it means fewer
:05:22. > :05:24.staff and it is cheaper to run. At the same time, they have got fees
:05:25. > :05:31.and they are banking on getting money over the next few years from
:05:32. > :05:35.the fees and quite frankly, we have been told that they could not run
:05:36. > :05:38.the system if they don't get the fees. The danger is that they are
:05:39. > :05:42.just looking at the bottom line and they are not looking at what is
:05:43. > :05:46.going to happen to children. Our fear is that a lot of parents will
:05:47. > :05:54.come under strong pressure to make their own arrangements. Those will
:05:55. > :05:58.fail, they will not be encouraged to think about maintenance. There is no
:05:59. > :06:02.promotion of the new statutory service and more and more Georgian
:06:03. > :06:10.will grow up without getting that parental support which can make a
:06:11. > :06:18.difference. The cost savings over the next ten years will reap over
:06:19. > :06:25.1000 ?600 million, but the setup costs are over 400 million. We did
:06:26. > :06:28.ask for an interview with the secretary of state or a minister,
:06:29. > :06:32.but they said no. In a statement they said that children benefit when
:06:33. > :06:36.their parents work together to support them and it makes sense that
:06:37. > :06:47.we encourage families to come to their own financial arrangements.
:06:48. > :06:54.In the week that the proposed cuts to tax credits and the impact on
:06:55. > :06:58.poor working families have dominated debate at Westminster, the UK
:06:59. > :07:01.Government's forms of child maintenance have received little
:07:02. > :07:05.attention. But as let's start dropping onto the dorm outs of
:07:06. > :07:10.single-parent families in Wales, those who support them feared the
:07:11. > :07:16.new plans may failed the most vulnerable. I have seen families in
:07:17. > :07:20.tears over the Eurocrat ik nightmare they have been going through and I
:07:21. > :07:23.am not confident that that bureaucratic nightmare will not
:07:24. > :07:27.exist with the new system. Because the CSA is being closed down
:07:28. > :07:33.gradually, it will take time to find out how much take up there will be
:07:34. > :07:37.of the new system. But after four years of struggling through the old
:07:38. > :07:43.one, how much faith does Jane have in the new one? I don't know how the
:07:44. > :07:47.CMS will improve this situation for parents like myself. The whole
:07:48. > :07:54.system is placing the onus on the parent with care to chase the
:07:55. > :07:59.ex-partner for payment. This is about parents refusing to pay for
:08:00. > :08:02.their children and that is why the CSA has been here, but they have
:08:03. > :08:08.failed and I can't see any difference whatsoever with the CMS.
:08:09. > :08:17.Remember, you can join in the discussion online.
:08:18. > :08:19.I'm joined now by the family law specialist Lorraine Watts,
:08:20. > :08:22.an associate with the Wendy Hopkins Family Law Practice in Cardiff.
:08:23. > :08:32.Thank you for joining us. Our people like to be concerned and even
:08:33. > :08:38.pessimistic about the changes? If you are a new claimants, you are OK.
:08:39. > :08:44.Things are improving. It is taking a shorter amount of time. The fact
:08:45. > :08:49.that the new system means they go straight to revenues and customs for
:08:50. > :08:53.information makes things better. It is people who are dealing with the
:08:54. > :08:57.CSA and you need to reapply who will have the rough end of the stick.
:08:58. > :09:02.Important to clarify because a lot of people will not lead the system
:09:03. > :09:05.in detail. When you talk about the case being closed and having to
:09:06. > :09:11.reapply, does that mean if you have dealt with the CSA for many years
:09:12. > :09:15.and you have an arrangement in place, that comes to an end and you
:09:16. > :09:20.have to start a new one? That is what they are saying. They will
:09:21. > :09:28.receive letters saying their case is closed and they need to reapply.
:09:29. > :09:37.Surely that will cause chaos? For some people, like the lady in your
:09:38. > :09:43.video clip, they have them through the mill. Even if the new system is
:09:44. > :09:48.better, the thought of it puts people off, even though in reality
:09:49. > :09:52.it might be better. We mentioned earlier that people have too pay a
:09:53. > :09:58.fee to access this new system. It is around ?20, which for lots of people
:09:59. > :10:09.watching may not sound very much, but what impact will it have? If you
:10:10. > :10:12.are on a low income, ?20 is a lock. For those people they don't know how
:10:13. > :10:18.long the process will take, what the outcome will be and how long it will
:10:19. > :10:24.take to recoup that ?20 because if the paying parent has a low income
:10:25. > :10:28.as well, it could take weeks. There is the cost of getting into the
:10:29. > :10:31.system and then there is potentially the problem is someone not
:10:32. > :10:36.cooperating. How about new system help you? Will it be more effective
:10:37. > :10:41.than the Child Support Agency which is disappearing? I think the
:10:42. > :10:46.enforcement will be the same. There is only so much they can do. They
:10:47. > :10:52.already collect payment at source, it will show in your payslip. It
:10:53. > :10:57.might encourage people to pay directly. The fact there will be a
:10:58. > :11:02.fee of 20% added on top if you don't pay usually the mother directly. It
:11:03. > :11:12.is a shame that there will be a 4% deduction to the recipients's money
:11:13. > :11:16.as well. Could it not be argued that that 4% deduction will have a
:11:17. > :11:22.negative impact on the child? It will be in a the child there is no
:11:23. > :11:29.good for it, apart from someone going through the system just to
:11:30. > :11:32.cross the other person 20%. That is not my experience. People just want
:11:33. > :11:35.to receive their money every month on time and get on with their lives.
:11:36. > :11:39.Thank you for talking to us. So this was the week,
:11:40. > :11:42.if George Osborne's enemies are to be believed, when the Chancellor's
:11:43. > :11:44.confident march towards Number Ten The House of Lords decided
:11:45. > :11:48.the Chancellor's plans to cut tax credits needed serious revision,
:11:49. > :11:52.and it inflicted a very damaging But the Chancellor
:11:53. > :11:59.wasn't slow to respond. He railed
:12:00. > :12:01.against the unelected nature of the Upper House, not that there's any
:12:02. > :12:04.plan in sight to change that, and promised to look again at ways of
:12:05. > :12:17.lessening the impact of the cuts. Unelected Labour peers have voted
:12:18. > :12:23.down this bill. That raises constitutional issues that we will
:12:24. > :12:25.deal with. We will continue to reform tax credits and save the
:12:26. > :12:34.money necessary for Britain to live within its within its means.
:12:35. > :12:35.The Conservative voice at Westminster.
:12:36. > :12:37.But the Conservative voice here in Wales was striking a rather
:12:38. > :12:44.different note, urging caution and a more moderate approach.
:12:45. > :12:52.What we need to do is make sure we leave no one behind. The plans for
:12:53. > :12:53.next April could do that. I believe that modifications are needed and
:12:54. > :12:58.the Chancellor is in listening mode. And what do the chancellor's
:12:59. > :13:02.Westminster colleagues make of it? With me is the Conservative MP David
:13:03. > :13:12.Davies, chair of the Lots of people are saying we are in
:13:13. > :13:19.some kind of constitutional crisis, but surely the House of Lords is
:13:20. > :13:25.just doing its job? There job is to ask government to look again, but
:13:26. > :13:32.not to throw out any measures, or financial measures. That has been
:13:33. > :13:35.the convention for at least a hundred years. They have overstepped
:13:36. > :13:38.the mark by doing this and they have to remember that members of
:13:39. > :13:43.Parliament have won elections. Members of the house of lords have
:13:44. > :13:49.not. The will of elected politicians has to be the one that prevails. But
:13:50. > :13:53.they haven't thrown anything out. They have asked for a pause and for
:13:54. > :13:58.some things to be looked at again. They have delayed it in such a way
:13:59. > :14:02.to make it difficult to implement it in its original format. There was
:14:03. > :14:08.concern over how tax credit reductions were being brought in,
:14:09. > :14:14.albeit that they were being brought in with an increase in with an
:14:15. > :14:17.increasing threshold for paying tax. However, unelected members of the
:14:18. > :14:20.House of Lords have decided they are being to start blowing out bits of
:14:21. > :14:25.government legislation they do not like. I have just been speaking to a
:14:26. > :14:30.senior Conservative member of the House of Lords and he said the
:14:31. > :14:33.reality is that Labour and Liberal Democrat members in particular are
:14:34. > :14:37.angry that they lost the election. They don't see why they lost it so
:14:38. > :14:40.badly and they are going to use the in-built majority in the House of
:14:41. > :14:45.Lords to throw out anything they can.
:14:46. > :14:51.Could it be they think the measure is unfair to people on low incomes
:14:52. > :14:55.who are asked to show a burden that is not acceptable? We are going back
:14:56. > :14:59.to the issue of tax credits. I think it was absolutely clear George
:15:00. > :15:01.Osborne was going to come up with a transitional arrangement in the
:15:02. > :15:06.Autumn Statement. What form should that take? What plans should come in
:15:07. > :15:12.for people in your constituency? What is your message to them? I am a
:15:13. > :15:16.humble backbencher and select committee chair, I do not sit in the
:15:17. > :15:20.Treasury select cannot say what form it would take. It was an open secret
:15:21. > :15:25.there would be a transitional arrangement brought in by the Autumn
:15:26. > :15:29.Statement. We all know that. The Government are doing is right. We
:15:30. > :15:32.are elected on balance the books come cannot have benefits ready out
:15:33. > :15:36.of control. It is very well to well to Labour to say they are against it
:15:37. > :15:41.but they also say they want to try and balance the books, maybe, I hope
:15:42. > :15:46.you'll be asking them how they would balance the books. What services
:15:47. > :15:49.they would cut? They are not in Government, you are in Government.
:15:50. > :15:57.Yes, we have a duty to try and balance the books. We believe it is
:15:58. > :16:01.wrong to spend more money than we can make. It is a projected surplus
:16:02. > :16:07.of ?7 billion by the end of the Parliament. This measure is to save
:16:08. > :16:11.?4 billion. You don't need to take this tax credit cut measure in order
:16:12. > :16:17.to still have a surplus in your budget. What is it about? By the end
:16:18. > :16:21.of the Parliament, the keywords, and we were aiming to do it early for
:16:22. > :16:25.that we have not yet so -- succeeded at the gods -- size for borrowing
:16:26. > :16:30.too much then the Kadcyla 's for not spending enough. We are going about
:16:31. > :16:36.this in a sensible and reasonable fashion. And then they criticise
:16:37. > :16:39.others. The destination we are seeking is why I support but there
:16:40. > :16:44.were concerns, of course, that perhaps some B would lose out too
:16:45. > :16:50.much too quickly. All of us are members and we are also elected,
:16:51. > :16:55.including George Osborne. You are being clear, you say you also shared
:16:56. > :17:01.his concerns? I had concerns, but all of us who are elected members of
:17:02. > :17:05.Parliament will be in touch with our constituents all the time come
:17:06. > :17:11.including everyone in number 11, including George Osborne. We are all
:17:12. > :17:15.it can to me that -- and have to face are elected every five year is
:17:16. > :17:18.and we are always listening and willing to make changes. Do you
:17:19. > :17:23.think Mr Osborne has mishandled this? Lots of people are saying he
:17:24. > :17:27.has handled this rather badly. What is your perspective? I think he has
:17:28. > :17:32.handled it perfectly well. He, like all other MPs, noses comport -- it
:17:33. > :17:38.is important that we treat everyone fairly. We asked Google for their
:17:39. > :17:42.support and that is not the case rabbit of the House of Lords, who do
:17:43. > :17:49.not face election, there are 850 of them. Smack for members of the house
:17:50. > :17:54.of lords. Using their in-built majority for the Labour Party to
:17:55. > :17:57.throw out legislation in a completely unfair fashion. It will
:17:58. > :18:02.have to be addressed. It will either be addressed through major reform or
:18:03. > :18:06.three huge increase in the number of Conservative members of lords being
:18:07. > :18:10.appointed or some people are saying that we have a Welsh Assembly that
:18:11. > :18:13.does not have a second Chamber or a Scottish parliament that does not
:18:14. > :18:17.have a second Chamber and a brother Larry 's assembly, what is the point
:18:18. > :18:21.of these people in your carry on like that? Ayew advocating abolition
:18:22. > :18:24.of the eyes of lords? No, I say to the question that people are asking
:18:25. > :18:31.and I hear it floated in the key rings. What is their purpose? In the
:18:32. > :18:38.tea rooms. I know there are answers, I am a huge supporter of the jitters
:18:39. > :18:44.quote the smack of the status quo. But it is upsetting and undermining
:18:45. > :18:51.the status quo the weather behaving. To an B blues job is to oversee
:18:52. > :18:54.things and ask to make minor amendments docking of legislation
:18:55. > :18:57.makes me question never stop that always respected the democratic
:18:58. > :19:01.mandate of the House of Commons that has allowed bills to pass, even with
:19:02. > :19:04.an in-built majority from another political party that has not agreed
:19:05. > :19:06.with the bill being passed. That has been the case for the last century
:19:07. > :19:09.and that ended this week. Thank you. Wales has three of the 10 least
:19:10. > :19:12.wealthy parts of the United Kingdom according to the first-ever
:19:13. > :19:14.prosperity index published by the Legatum Institute, a public policy
:19:15. > :19:18.think tank which measured average income per person
:19:19. > :19:23.along with how happy people felt. The methodology has been questioned
:19:24. > :19:27.by some Welsh Labour MPs. People living
:19:28. > :19:29.in Anglesey have the lowest incomes while the Gwent valleys and
:19:30. > :19:32.South West Wales are also near And wait for it -
:19:33. > :19:39.Wales is also the least happy of the Little wonder the Wales TUC is
:19:40. > :19:46.calling on the Welsh Government to do more to boost employment in areas
:19:47. > :19:49.outside the cities, where private They say that new European rules
:19:50. > :19:57.allow ministers to be more focused in the way they award contracts,
:19:58. > :20:00.and they say the South Wales Dr Jean Jenkins from
:20:01. > :20:20.Cardiff Business School has been to When you come to a valleys town, the
:20:21. > :20:25.sense of people's identity and relationship to their community is
:20:26. > :20:28.palpable. In the past, this has been portrayed as a feeling, an
:20:29. > :20:33.unwillingness to step outside the community and look for work. People
:20:34. > :20:38.need to get on their bikes, said Norman Tebbit, a sentiment echoed in
:20:39. > :20:42.comments made more recently by Iain Duncan Smith. Go to Cardiff, that is
:20:43. > :20:46.where the workers. The reality is that workers from the South Wales
:20:47. > :20:51.valleys to travel outside their locality to work. But travelling any
:20:52. > :20:57.distance to work is only viable if the work is reliable, hours are
:20:58. > :21:02.predictable, rates of pay are good at transport is accessible. Look at
:21:03. > :21:05.disadvantaged workers in the valleys communities and listen to the
:21:06. > :21:10.practical difficulties that they face. These conditions clearly do
:21:11. > :21:14.not apply to the sort of lower wage in unpredictable work they are most
:21:15. > :21:20.likely to be offered in the low skilled Labour market.
:21:21. > :21:30.The reverend Jeff only knows too well how difficult life can be for
:21:31. > :21:34.his parishioners here when they don't have reliable work. There is
:21:35. > :21:39.still an element of hope, an element of purpose. But there is also a
:21:40. > :21:43.thorough dejection on occasions when we have seen initiative after
:21:44. > :21:47.initiative that seems to have failed. The latest thing is if you
:21:48. > :21:52.want a job, the Jobcentre will say you are prepared to travel at least
:21:53. > :21:57.90 minutes each way to work. That is nonsense if you have children in
:21:58. > :22:03.school, if you need to go for job interviews, that needs to be worked
:22:04. > :22:08.in. People need quality jobs that will pay and feed a family at a
:22:09. > :22:15.reasonable level and are not an hour or an hour and a half away. We have
:22:16. > :22:19.relied on the private sector to remedy the situation for decades. It
:22:20. > :22:23.has failed. The market will not address the employment problems of
:22:24. > :22:27.the valley communities and while regeneration projects like this one
:22:28. > :22:34.in bank Square are welcome, this alone will not be enough. So, what
:22:35. > :22:38.is to be done? New powers over public the Kirmond were granted to
:22:39. > :22:42.the Welsh Government in August of this year. -- public procurement.
:22:43. > :22:48.This offers the option to bring better, secure jobs said
:22:49. > :22:53.disadvantaged workers by reserve in public contracts for organisations
:22:54. > :22:58.with this mission at their heart. In recent decades, private sector
:22:59. > :23:02.employment has increasingly offered unpredictable work at low pay. Which
:23:03. > :23:07.is no basis for life planning or even a sound basis of hope. In the
:23:08. > :23:10.interests of the entire Welsh economy, it is surely time to change
:23:11. > :23:14.the direction of travel for the valleys communities.
:23:15. > :23:18.I'm joined now by Shelim Hussain - founder and director
:23:19. > :23:26.of Cwmbran-based Euro Foods - and Alex Bevan from the Wales TUC.
:23:27. > :23:36.Was that overly depressing? I found it a bit depressing. I have a
:23:37. > :23:44.business in Newport for the last 24 years and now I can offer me,
:23:45. > :23:50.watching this was very depressing. I don't think it is that bad. That is
:23:51. > :23:54.the crucial part. What is it about the environment you are conducting
:23:55. > :23:59.business in at the moment that you think is actually rather good? What
:24:00. > :24:06.you need for a thriving economy like the valleys is businesses going,
:24:07. > :24:12.private businesses going and making it happen. Every time I speak to any
:24:13. > :24:16.ministers or anybody from the Government, I say, we don't need
:24:17. > :24:23.hand-outs or grants, we need infrastructure. You make
:24:24. > :24:29.infrastructure and give us the ability to do business and business
:24:30. > :24:34.will thrive. Business goes all over the world looking for places to do
:24:35. > :24:40.business with a can have a reliable and skilled Labour. Crucial point
:24:41. > :24:44.about infrastructure. When we talk about infrastructure, we think of
:24:45. > :24:49.not just the way people communicate with the way people travel. What is
:24:50. > :24:55.your perspective on what Shirley was just saying that we concentrate on
:24:56. > :25:01.hand-outs too much? Firstly, I think the change in the struggles to home
:25:02. > :25:08.campaign, pushing for that in how we use that and new powers is different
:25:09. > :25:15.to pushing for a new scheme. Different to what might be called a
:25:16. > :25:18.hand-out or grant. It will take his -- should begin to be seen to
:25:19. > :25:23.producing better employments of poverty and disadvantage is a temper
:25:24. > :25:28.situation for people. If we can direct more public investment into
:25:29. > :25:33.directly hitting the problems were those people who are disadvantaged,
:25:34. > :25:39.young adults with qualifications, people with disabilities, that is a
:25:40. > :25:43.better foundation for what happens the next stage for the valleys
:25:44. > :25:46.economy. How confident are you the Welsh Government has the drive and
:25:47. > :25:53.political will to use these powers in a way that will bring results
:25:54. > :25:55.fairly swiftly? We think there are significant opportunities to do
:25:56. > :26:01.something quickly on this. We met with the Welsh Government, freshman
:26:02. > :26:05.try finance minister last week. They will establish a task force to look
:26:06. > :26:12.at how they can make the best use of these new powers. What we have said
:26:13. > :26:17.with that is we need pilot projects to test the concept and show can
:26:18. > :26:20.work because we have shown a coherent and practical plan in this
:26:21. > :26:25.work was done we have something to identify areas of funding by the
:26:26. > :26:29.European structural funds, infrastructure budget and big pot of
:26:30. > :26:31.procurement spend. We have said there are three areas of spending
:26:32. > :26:39.that will happen anyway, this is committed spending, not new. This is
:26:40. > :26:43.spending that will happen anyway, let's use it tackle the problem is
:26:44. > :26:47.all in one place. When you talk much infrastructure, think about your
:26:48. > :26:51.business. We want to know how you operate as a business, what is the
:26:52. > :26:55.infrastructure spending that would make a measurable difference to the
:26:56. > :27:02.way you conduct business? The roads and highways communications fully
:27:03. > :27:05.staffed get to work, railways, proper bus links, sometimes it takes
:27:06. > :27:15.longer to get some of the valley towns and go to London. That is
:27:16. > :27:18.really frustrating. I again say that Government can put money into the
:27:19. > :27:22.valleys and has tried to do it in the past, it has not worked. The
:27:23. > :27:29.solution is the private sector. Make the infrastructure, deliver the
:27:30. > :27:34.structure, and you can give business tax breaks. If a business goes to
:27:35. > :27:43.the Vale, why should they play ?300 rates on units? To make ?300,000
:27:44. > :27:47.rates. They will take a bite of unemployed and those people will
:27:48. > :27:49.take -- pay taxes, the environment business friendly fist of people
:27:50. > :27:55.will watch and say, hang on, there were problems with the private firms
:27:56. > :27:59.being notoriously reluctant to go there. They are happy to go to
:28:00. > :28:05.Cardiff or Newport, they're not been happy to go into the valley areas,
:28:06. > :28:10.that is the problem. I want to send products to Birmingham. If I want to
:28:11. > :28:14.do that, go to the Vale Comey to come to Cardiff and then go to
:28:15. > :28:20.Birmingham. It is a 4 are journey. Give a road link since the valleys
:28:21. > :28:23.and you will see these towns thrive. Final point, when you look
:28:24. > :28:27.at the range of infrastructure that is needed, you have mentioned the
:28:28. > :28:33.fact that there are spending options that were not there before. How soon
:28:34. > :28:41.can we see a place like Eval Vale benefiting? Infrastructure takes
:28:42. > :28:44.time. We support the development of much better infrastructure for many
:28:45. > :28:49.of the same reasons. People are able to access better work and able to
:28:50. > :28:54.live in the communities that they call home. In the central valleys it
:28:55. > :29:05.is home visit and 40,000 people. One fifth of the Welsh population. -- to
:29:06. > :29:08.640 people as. What has changed in the meantime is the world economy
:29:09. > :29:13.for well that the impact directly on that. With globalisation and
:29:14. > :29:17.deindustrialisation, recession and austerity, or they have wreaked
:29:18. > :29:22.havoc in the Labour market in these areas. Infrastructure on its own
:29:23. > :29:26.will be too late and too little. We need the investment and we want it
:29:27. > :29:30.and we want good pay and good jobs. While you are there, we can do this
:29:31. > :29:35.now, start to use secure employment as a foundation for the rest of the
:29:36. > :29:40.regeneration. Support people with individual schemes that are
:29:41. > :29:44.existing, with those schemes be better if the person had a good
:29:45. > :29:47.employment relationship as a foundation for what happens next and
:29:48. > :29:50.hopefully that changes the reputation for investment as well
:29:51. > :29:51.for the valley communities. Thank you.
:29:52. > :29:53.That's it for tonight - we'll be back next week.
:29:54. > :30:02.And remember you can get in touch by email - the address is
:30:03. > :30:07.Diolch am eich cwmni, nos da, good night.