COUNCILLORS have been told that they will receive a presentation at the next Full Powys Council meeting, to explain the next stages of the £55 million Mid Wales Growth Deal.

At a meeting of the Economy, Residents, Communities and Governance Scrutiny Committee on Monday, January 13, Powys County Council’s (PCC) senior staff were asked for an update.

Leader of the Liberal Democrat/Green group, Cllr James Gibson-Watt (Glasbury) said: “What is the current time table?

“When is something on the Mid Wales Growth deal likely to come forward?”

Cllr Jeremy Pugh (Action for Powys – Builth Wells) said: “When they think of something?”

Scrutiny manager and head of democratic services, Wyn Richards, said: “As I understand it, you will be getting a full presentation on the Growth Deal at Council on (Thursday) January 23 as a starting point.

“We are trying too set up a joint working group with Ceredigion (County Council) to look at the Growth Deal.”

Corporate director of economy and environment, Nigel Brinn, added: “Clearly the dust has just settled on the last election and we are going forward.

“We have the commitment from Westminster.

“There is work being done to get Cardiff (The Welsh Government) on board, we are going to put the documentation together as quick as we can this year,

Mr Brinn added that there were still meetings going on with Westminster and Welsh Government bureaucrats to go through the details of the funding mechanism.

“I would not say it’s the most complicated I’ve been involved with but it’s the biggest number and we should expect that scrutiny and challenge,” said Mr Brinn.

In October 2019 the UK Government announced a £55 million injection of funding, spread over 15 years for the Mid Wales Growth Deal.

The growth deal which will be shared between Powys and Ceredigion Council’s is supposed to drive future economic growth through investment in skills, innovation, connectivity and more productive jobs supporting prosperous and bilingual communities in Mid Wales.

While many politicians were delighted with the announcement, others were sceptical pointing to the initial figure mooted of £200 million for the deal.

At the outset in 2017 there had been expectations that £100 million would come from Westminster and £100 milion from the Welsh Government.

It is now hoped that The Welsh Government will match the £55 million which was described by PCC leader Cllr Rosemarie Harris (Independent – Llangynidr) as the “start of the funding.”

It has been suggested in evidence given in Parliament that areas outside of Powys and Ceredigion could play a part in the Growth Deal and that it should not be confined to “lines on a map.”

It is now expected that the legal framework for the deal will be in place by March.