Levelling up or short-changing Wales? Politicians react to UK Government plans
The Welsh and UK Governments have both said they would be willing to work together to improve people’s life chances in every part of the UK, but they have continued to make accusations against each other.
Launching the Levelling Up White Paper which sets out plans to improve the lives of harder-hit areas of the UK, the Secretary of State in charge, Michael Gove, urged devolved governments to join forces in the effort.
His cabinet colleague, the Welsh Secretary Simon Hart rejected Welsh Government claims that Wales is missing out on money and said, “I would love it if they would change the record.”
However, the Welsh Government’s Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething, said funding attached to the Levelling Up agenda would see Wales shortchanged by £1bn over the coming years.
Plaid Cymru also highlighted what it claimed were broken promises, saying that "the gulf between the promises of 2016 and 2019 and the reality of this paper couldn’t be wider."
I asked the Welsh Secretary if the apparent lack of detail and funding commitments showed that the fizz had gone out of Levelling Up.
Simon Hart said “you won't be surprised that my answer will be an emphatic no. I think it's quite the opposite.”
But he acknowledged that perhaps the White Paper had been built up too much ahead of its publication, when it had, he said, always been part of the overall project.
“I think there's probably been a degree of expectation about what this White Paper would contain, which could probably never be met because I think if people thought this was going to be a long list of projects, which are going to be done in their area, then that was never going to be the purpose of this.
“The purpose of this exercise was to attempt to explain what we were hoping to achieve and the concept behind Levelling Up, and to try and get under the skin of what was needed to make, as I've often put it, the life chances of people in Machynlleth the same as they might be in Maidenhead.”
Both the Labour Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru say there is a shortfall in funding.
Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said, “The manifesto pledge from the Conservative Party in 2019. was crystal clear: every nation in the UK will have at least as much from EU structural funds.
“Now, that simply isn't the case. The spending review didn't do that. We're very, very clear that over the next three or four years, Wales would have lost out around about a billion pounds.
“And they're not even attempting to say those aren't the figures anymore. So we'll have a billion pounds less.”
That was echoed by Plaid Cymru’s Treasury spokesperson, Ben Lake MP.
"The gulf between the promises of 2016 and 2019 and the reality of this paper couldn’t be wider. With no new funding announced today, people are right to be sceptical of these plans.”
The accusation was rejected by Simon Hart who said that, “I absolutely, fundamentally reject today as I did last month and the month before and last year the year before Welsh government claims that somehow Wales is not doing as well out of these arrangements as it should.
“I absolutely think that is wrong. And I would love it if they would change the record.”
Ben Lake also set out why Plaid Cymru sees the Levelling Up agenda as a power grab, undermining devolution in the UK.
"There is welcome recognition in this paper of the importance of devolution, albeit for regions of England. While the paper gives more powers and resources to English regions, the UK Government continues to undermine Welsh devolution and roll back Wales' powers.
"Wales needs greater powers and funding, not for power's sake, but to address the chronic under-performance of our economy. We have to ask ourselves why Scotland’s government, even when it doesn’t want it, can get more support and investment from Westminster than Wales."
Simon Hart rejected claims of a power grab, insisting that the process was actually giving power away - to local authorities.
“When we awarded the money for the Montgomeryshire Canal project, a great project in mid-Wales, Powys County Council said it's the first time ever that they've been able to qualify for this kind of funding.
“They could never do it under the EU arrangements. But for the first time ever, they've been able to - 21 out of 22 local authorities have had a bite of this cake, whether it's levelling up or community renewal. I don't think it's ever been done before.
“In the past, everything stopped in Cardiff. That's not devolution. Devolution is involving people in every quarter of Wales, in the decision making process about finding solutions and funding solutions to the particular challenges of their area.”
Despite the war of words, there was some softening by both UK and Welsh Governments.
Simply the fact that Michael Gove had stated so clearly his willingness to work with the devolved administrations was welcomed by Vaughan Gething.
He said, “I don't particularly want to spend my time in politics arguing whether the UK Government is aggressively trying to strip powers away from the Welsh Government.
“That's what's happened up to this point. If that isn't the approach that is going to be taken now, and there's genuine decision-making that involves Welsh Government, we're not simply treated as a consultee or a bag carrier then, yes, that is obviously a positive step forward.
“But we still need to see the ways of working are real."
He said he hoped the Welsh Government “would want to enthusiastically link arms in attempting to deliver” the improvements proposed.
“I would be very surprised if Welsh Government don't enthusiastically come to the table and say, yeah, we want to be part of this. How can we help and how can we make sure that any challenges which we may have, can be ironed out?”