UK and Welsh ministers' infrastructure hopes

Both UK and Welsh Governments will set out the sort of transport and other big projects they think would benefit Wales in the future. In a speech in Cardiff, the Welsh Secretary David Jones will list his 'key priorities for infrastructure development with a view to boosting the Welsh economy.'

At the same conference, the Welsh Finance Minister Jane Hutt will say that the Welsh Government's investment in infrastructure has reached almost £3bn since it launched a new plan in 2012.

The UK Government still holds the purse strings of course which is why Jane Hutt will make much of the fact that some of that £3bn has been raised without Westminster's help, from 'innovative finance schemes.'

The two governments share control of infrastructure, with ministers in Cardiff responsible for roads, bridges, tunnels and water supply and Whitehall in overall charge of rail, power supplies, aviation and shipping.

So will they present competing visions of the future or plans that are complimentary and co-operative?

The precedents aren't hopeful. Ministers from the two governments continue to argue over paying the cost of electrifying the main rail line from Swansea to London and the Valleys Lines.

The UK Government insists that the Welsh Government agreed to share some of the bill. The First Minister has repeatedly said that since rail isn't devolved the whole cost should be borne by the government at the other end of the M4.

And the M4 itself, or improving the section around Newport, is another infrastructure project where there's controversy and disagreement about funding and what form it should take. Fasten your seatbelts.