£340m North Wales Growth Bid ‘set to be unveiled this Spring’

Proposals for the Growth Deal for North Wales will be finalised by Spring next year – and could bring hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment to the area.

The news has been revealed by Wrexham MP Ian Lucas, who has helped build the case for the Growth Deal in Parliament as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Mersey-Dee North Wales Region. He met with Wales Office and other Ministers, North Wales MPs, the heads of two of the councils involved in the bid and a group of other interested stakeholders in Whitehall on Monday.

At the meeting, Wales Office Minister Guto Bebb and Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry were updated on the detailed work that has been put into the Growth Bid by the North Wales Economic Ambition Board. The board, made up of local authorities, businesses, tourism bodies and others, has been drawing up the detailed proposals and policy which form the backbone of the Bid, assisted by the All Party Parliamentary Group and a recently-established All Party Assembly group.

The work has “progressed well”, and a Growth Bid is expected to be put forward by April of next year. Once approved by Ministers, the bid could see investment of around £340 million in the region.

Mr Lucas said: “There has been a great deal of hard work involved to get to this point, but it was clear that the goal is in sight.

“The Growth Bid is set to be unveiled in the Spring, and it is clear North Wales is ready to go. When Ministers match the commitment shown by North Wales’ councils, businesses and politicians with the investment our area requires, we will have secured a major prize.

“I’ll keep working to make sure that we reach that goal – in Westminster and in North Wales.”