Next Steps for the Valleys: what the report means for Blaenau Gwent
A 2025 report set out the jobs gap in the Valleys and ten practical priorities to close it. Here's what it means for Ebbw Vale.
Jonathan Millard
11/10/20261 min read
In November 2025, Industrial Communities Alliance Wales published "Next Steps for the Valleys". It's worth reading, because it sets out in black and white what many of us live with every day.
What it found
• There are just 46 jobs for every 100 people of working age in the Valleys.
• Almost one in five people aged 16 to 64 is out of work and on benefits.
• Large numbers of people have to commute out of the area to work.
• Manufacturing still provides 34,000 jobs in the Valleys, one in six of the total.
These aren't just numbers. They're the young people who tell me they'll have to "go and work away".
We've had big promises before. The Circuit of Wales, the TVR plant and the Ciner glass factory were all meant to bring jobs to this area, and none of them did.
The report's ten priorities are practical, and I'll be backing them locally:
• Keep regeneration funding flowing.
• Protect manufacturing jobs.
• Bring back regional investment aid.
• Build business sites and premises.
• Deliver apprenticeships that work.
• Make the most of the dualled Heads of the Valleys road.
• Build on the strengths of our towns, including Ebbw Vale.
• Look after the fabric of smaller places.
• Speed up train and bus journeys to Cardiff, Swansea and Newport.
• Balance investment along the M4 with investment in the Valleys.
I don't care whose idea a good plan is. If it brings jobs closer to home for Ebbw Vale South, I'll back it.
Cllr Jonathan Millard, Unaligned Independent Councillor - Ebbw Vale South
