Written Statement - Centrally Retained Capital

I am today announcing the details of the Centrally Retained Capital (CRC) Fund allocations for 2012/13 and 2013/14 which I referred to in my Statement on the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan yesterday.  The allocations commit an additional £43.6m CRC in 2012/13 and £43.7m in 2013/14 across 16 projects.  This investment in Welsh infrastructure demonstrates our continued commitment to supporting the economic recovery in Wales; protecting and improving frontline services and protecting the vulnerable in society.

These allocations provide cross-sector support and ensure continued investment in infrastructure in all regions of Wales.   This investment will provide both a short term stimulus and assist to provide the long term conditions for growth. 

The projects are:

£32m has been allocated to education projects:

• Anglesey – Ysgol y Bont project will receive £7.5m to construct a new state of the art green school on the site of the Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni Secondary School and Plas Arthur leisure centre site in Anglesey;
• £4.05m has been allocated to the Gateway to the Valleys project which will recreate a new school in Tondu that will rationalise and replace two other secondary schools in the area;
• £14m has been allocated to the rationalisation of the secondary school estate in Carmarthenshire with extension, refurbishment and new build of secondary schools in the Dinefwr region;
• £3m has been allocated to the Merthyr Learning Quarter which will bring 6th forms from Merthyr Tydfil’s four secondary schools and the Greenfield special school together with Merthyr Tydfil College, the University of Glamorgan and the Universities Heads of Valleys Institute;
• £3.5m has been allocated to the new North Wales Welsh Medium School in Wrexham.

£16.6m has been allocated to health projects, supporting our commitment to improving patient access and services:

• £2.72m has been allocated to the Wrexham Ambulance Resource Centre;
• £7.9m has been allocated to the creation of a Locality Health and Wellbeing Centre at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary site;
• £6m has also been made available to the all-Wales Flying Start Programme to provide the capital support needed to implement this important Programme for Government initiative.

£11.7m has been allocated to transport projects, supporting the delivery of the National Transport Plan:

• The National Traffic Data Collection Network project has been allocated £7m which will see the installation of permanent traffic data collection equipment across the strategic roads of Wales to assist their management;
• The M4 J32 Coryton project has received £2.1m to improve the current layout at the junction by providing a direct link road from the slip road to the A470 to improve traffic flow, safety and congestion;
• £2.6m has been allocated to the Welsh National Winter Maintenance Resilience project which will entail improvements to adverse weather resilience throughout Wales and facilitates support to local authorities through the provision of appropriately located strategic salt storage facilities;

£10m has been allocated to support the roll-out of residential and business access to Next Generation Broadband, supporting this key Welsh Government commitment.

£15m has been allocated to support the supply, choice and quality of housing in Wales:

• £10m has been allocated to the West Rhyl Housing Regeneration project;
• £5m has been allocated to the pan Wales Recyclable Loans Fund for Homes Scheme which will bring empty properties back into use;

£2m has been allocated to Flood & Coastal Erosion Management projects, to reduce the risks to vulnerable homes and businesses in the Colwyn Bay and Borth regions of North & West Wales.

It is important to also note that four of the projects approved under Phase 1 of the CRC Fund will continue into Phase 2, including online services for rural payments and A470 improvements.

The capital funding allocated to these 16 projects supports our priorities in our Programme for Government, supports our Budget for Growth and Jobs and provides a major stimulus for the Welsh construction industry.