The City Deal
A visionary programme agreed in 2016 between the UK Government, the Welsh Government and the ten local authorities of South East Wales.
The Cardiff Capital Region City Deal is a unique programme of collaborative working, passionately committed to being the catalyst for regional growth and sustainable success.
Comprising a dedicated team, headed up by Director Kellie Beirne, and a ring-fenced £1.2bn investment fund, it is one of the CCR’s primary mechanisms for implementing its growth ambitions and strategic priorities.
The deal represents the joint commitments made by the ten local authorities of the Cardiff Capital Region, the UK Government and the Welsh Government to unlock £1.2bn of collective investment. It is designed to build on the region’s sectoral strengths, its high skill base and three successful universities and accelerate economic growth and productivity through a series of considered targeted investments in skills, infrastructure, innovation-led scalable projects and priority industry sectors and businesses.
Over its lifetime of 20 years the desired outcomes from its programmes of intervention (£734m of which is ring-fenced for Metro developments with the remaining £495m available through a wider investment fund) are to have delivered 25,000 new jobs, generated an additional £4bn of private sector investment into the region and increased GVA by 5%.
City Deal Long Term Targets
(includes Metro and Wider Investment fund)
25,000
New Jobs
+5%
Gross Value Added
£4bn
Private Sector Investment
The £1.23 billion Cardiff Capital Region City Deal Investment is funded by:
The approach being followed to the deployment of the £495m Wider Investment Fund is a complete departure from the silod infrastructure and sectoral programmes of the past. Against a set of guiding principles that include taking an evergreen approach to our investment funds and co-investment, the aim of our investments is to improve both;
- the business environment within the CCR, creating rich ecosystems that stretch and support the development of key sectors in the economy.
- our comparative performance against other cities and regions within the UK and internationally.
Our ultimate goal is to aim to make the CCR the most investible region within the UK.
South Wales Metro
The South Wales Metro is an integrated public transport network that will make it easier for people to travel across the Cardiff Capital Region, transforming rail and bus services. Metro is all about making it more convenient to use public transport so that’s it’s easier to get to work or school, to get to your hospital appointment or to simply get out and about in the evenings and weekends.
The infrastructure development necessary to cater for the new faster, greener trains will include electrifying about 170km of track, creating new stations, upgrading most stations and associated signalling and upgrading the Core Valleys Lines to Aberdare, Coryton, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney and Treherbert.
Such extensive infrastructure development is a long and complex process and is expected to take about 5 years but when it is finished passengers should be able to get from the Heads of the Valleys into Cardiff in just 50 minutes. Such vastly improved connectivity across the region will enable more jobs, more investment and a better standard of living for all.
The programme is funded through contributions from Welsh Government, UK Government, EU funds and a ring-fenced contribution of £734m from the CCR City Deal. The programme is being managed by Transport for Wales and selected contractors.
For more information on the programme please see:
For a map of the proposed Metro please see:
Latest news from the region
- 2 June 2023
