Update Re Progress On The Location Strategy

I am  updating you with progress on the Location Strategy.

In May my colleague the First Minister announced that the location for the new Assembly Government office in North Wales would be the former Hotpoint site at Llandudno Junction, subject to finalising contracts.  Heads of Terms have been agreed for the land purchase at the preferred site. Commercial negotiations are also under way for a site for the Mid Wales office in the Aberystwyth area.  I will inform Members of the exact site when those negotiations are completed. With advice from the Design Commission for Wales we have improved the design of the Merthyr Tydfil office. Although this has meant a slight delay, work is still on track. Subject to final planning permission we will be on site early next year and the building will be completed and occupied by summer 2006.

These  new offices will  provide the means for decentralisation from Cardiff and  offer an opportunity to relocate staff from their existing accommodation as well as accommodate new functions absorbed by the Assembly. This reinforces the aims set out in “Making the Connections: Delivering Better Services in Wales” to provide better opportunities for ensuring that Government services are closer to the people, more joined up and more responsive to regional variations.

The functions to move to the Merthyr office are unchanged.. These were announced in March 2003, and are:

Communities Directorate
Community Safety Unit
Housing Directorate
Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO)
South Wales Office of the Rent Officer Service
Voluntary Sector Division

I am receiving much support from the local authorities that are working with us on these moves.  

Much work is being done to identify the specific functions that will be based in both the North and Mid Wales offices. I can  confirm that the main focus of the North Wales office will be those parts of Education and Lifelong Learning and Economic Development and Transport, most closely related to the work of ELWa, WDA and WTB, and Countryside and Rural functions for Mid Wales. Both offices will include a “first stop shop” facility for the public to access information and advice from any part of the Assembly. The decision to merge the ASPBs with Welsh Assembly Government Departments presents a better opportunity to provide that area based focus.  

Further consultations with staff and partnership bodies are under way to refine work on identifying specific areas of work to transfer to Mid and North Wales. I plan to make a further announcement in January.