UK Government minister visits Bargoed after priority funding snub

A UK Government minister paid a visit to Bargoed on Tuesday morning as questions remain over Caerphilly County Borough’s exclusion from a list of priority areas for new funding.

The Shared Prosperity Fund will be introduced next year and is set to replace EU funding that Wales has lost because of Brexit. A precursor to that is the £220m Community Renewal Fund and the UK Government has identified 100 priority areas – with Caerphilly County Borough missing out.

The fear is that while Caerphilly County Borough Council can still apply to the Community Renewal Fund it could miss out on the Shared Prosperity Fund because it has not been deemed a priority.

The funding is intended to replace the money that would have been received through the European Union before Brexit.

In June, Caerphilly’s Labour Member of Parliament, Wayne David, invited UK Government Minister Luke Hall to visit Bargoed “to see for himself” why the funding was needed in the area.

Conservative Mr Hall, who is the Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government, accepted the invitation, and was met by Mr David, Caerphilly County Borough Council leader Philippa Marsden and Bargoed Town Mayor Howard Llewellyn on Tuesday, August 10.

During the visit, Mr Hall was shown around Hanbury Road and High Street, visiting a number of local businesses to listen to their concerns.

Alongside Mr David, Cllr Marsden and Cllr Llewellyn, the minister visited Bargoed Town Hall, Bargoed Sight Centre, the library, Chisolm’s Home Furnishers and the New Continental Cafe.

After the visit, Mr Hall said he was was “pleased to see first-hand how they are building back better from the pandemic with their ambitious regeneration plans and projects for the high street”.

He added: “I had productive discussions with local leaders about levelling up and was interested to hear their feedback on the process of applying to the new funds on offer to communities in Wales and across the UK.

“The UK Community Renewal Fund was open to all places on a competitive basis, including Caerphilly – and I’m delighted that the council ran a call for proposals and has submitted bids.”

Mr David said: “I hope he realises that although many good things have happened in Bargoed in recent years, there’s still a heck of a lot to do.

“Regeneration will only happen if there’s ongoing support from central government, the local authority and the Welsh Government.

“Bargoed really needs central government to ensure that that EU money that came to this area is replaced with central government grants, and hopefully this visit will demonstrate the need to support communities like Bargoed.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Marsden said she hopes Mr Hall “gained an insight into what our town centres are like on the ground and how investment could create an even better town centre”.

She said: “Not being in the 100 priority areas is disappointing. The criteria was completely wrong – it didn’t make sense to me.”

Cllr Marsden added: “It was important for us to showcase the opportunities we can create as part of our ambitious Place Shaping plans if we are able to access funds from both UK and Welsh Governments.

“We will continue to strive to ensure our communities are not forgotten – we owe it to our resident to ensure Caerphilly County is a part of the conversation at the highest levels.”

In April, Cllr Marsden, alongside Mr David, Islwyn MP Chris Evans and Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney MP Gerald Jones, wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to raise her concerns over Caerphilly not being included as a priority.

Caerphilly’s exclusion has also drawn fierce criticism from Plaid Cymru Senedd Members Delyth Jewell and Peredur Owen Griffiths – who both represent the South Wales East region, as well as the council’s Independent group leader Cllr Kevin Etheridge.

Caerphilly Observer sent a Freedom of Information request to the UK Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, asking how Caerphilly County Borough was scored against the criteria for the new funding.

The UK Government responded to this request in June, saying it would not provide the answer because “it is going to be published and it is reasonable not to make it available until then”.

The government did not state when Caerphilly’s scoring would be released, and said “it is not in the public interest to disclose this information at this time”.

Caerphilly Observer has appealed this.

“Even a small amount would make a difference to us”

Anthony Strinati, company director at the New Continental Cafe, said: “It’s encouraging that they’re coming to Bargoed and looking at what we have to contend with every day.

“Hopefully they’ll be able to put a bit of funding in to regenerate Bargoed. Even a small amount would make a difference to us.”

Anne Chisolm-Jones, director of family-owned Chisolm’s Home Furnishings, said: “It’s good to see someone coming out and seeing for themselves what the town looks like.”

She called for more to be done to make buildings like the Emporium “more attractive and economically viable”.

Her colleague, cousin Andrew Tugwell, said: “There’s a lot of vacant shops popping up. We need a wider variety of stores to give people more choice.

“It can be frustrating trading in the town sometimes. We need a mixture of independent and big chain stores.”