Extra jobs & housing funding announced to help Welsh economy

The Welsh Labour Government’s focus on delivering growth and jobs at the toughest of times has received a further boost with the announcement of almost £47m of extra capital funding to meet economic and infrastructure needs.

The extra funding is included in the Welsh Labour Government’s Final Budget for 2013-14. The extra funding includes an additional £30m for a second phase of the Economic Growth Fund and £16.7m for the use of public sector land for housing. This brings the total additional capital investment in the Final Budget to £220m. The Draft Budget included £175m of capital funding.

The first phase of the Wales Economic Growth Fund was a great success in creating and safeguarding jobs across Wales. More than £30million has been allocated to around 120 business projects across Wales, with the potential to create around 1800 new jobs and safeguard some 1600 others. The additional funding will enable the Welsh Labour Government to relaunch the Fund to provide much-needed financial support to even more businesses around Wales, allowing them to grow and expand at a time when traditional avenues of finance are not readily available.

This extra housing funding will enable around 1,800 new homes to be built across Wales. During construction of the houses a potential 300 jobs will be created, which means new homes for individuals, couples and families but also a much needed boost for the construction industry.