At the Growing Mid Wales Board meeting held on 28 March, key documents have been approved, moving the Mid Wales Growth Deal a step closer to unlocking £110m combined funding from both the UK and Welsh Government.
The updated Strategic Portfolio Business Case, which is the overarching document detailing how the Growth Deal Portfolio will be delivered and meet its objectives, will now be submitted to both Governments along with vital supporting documents so that they can consider issuing the first tranche of funding for the Mid Wales Growth Deal.
Part of this process has included an independent assurance review which was undertaken in February. The purpose of the review was to provide UK and Welsh Governments with confidence that the Growth Deal has the right arrangements to begin delivering.
In a joint statement, Leader of Powys County Council, Councillor James Gibson-Watt and Leader of Ceredigion County Council, Councillor Bryan Davies said: “We are very pleased that the Mid Wales Growth Deal was given an extremely positive Amber-Green rating, praising and recognising the hard work achieved over the last year.
“Both the review, and the wider work undertaken around the key documents demonstrate that we are ready to receive the Growth Deal funding, subject to both Governments reviewing and agreeing.
“There is still a significant amount of work ahead, the Growth Deal project proposals and programmes are progressing with their business cases, but if both Governments agree, we will have reached a huge milestone on getting the funding to start flowing to Mid Wales.
“To complete these processes, there has been significant engagement and input from various groups and stakeholders particularly our Economic Advisory Group from the private sector, and we thank them all for their partnership working and continued commitment to ensure we deliver the best possible outcomes for our region.”
The Leaders added “It has been a difficult journey, and the economic climate will continue to give us new challenges to see these plans take hold. However, we are pleased that we are progressing through the requirements as fast as we can.”
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