<p>Better Jobs Closer to Home</p>

Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 21 March 2017.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 1:55, 21 March 2017

Well, firstly, the commercial pilots are starting to test the interventions to see how they can be as effective as they can be. We’re looking to implement a specific strategy, both regionally in the northern Valleys, and across the whole of Wales. There is a ministerial taskforce that’s been set up cross-Government in order to address some of these issues. The challenge for us is that there are differences within the Valleys themselves in terms of performance. We know that Merthyr is doing particularly well in terms of attracting investment. That is not reflected in every Valleys community. So, what we’re looking to do is ensure that we can even out economic development and improvement over the course of the next few years, rather than seeing some parts of the Valleys do well and others less well—commercial interventions and pilot projects apart. Of that, the taskforce is another limb of that.

Minister

Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.