Clwyd West MS and Shadow North Wales Minister Darren Millar has reacted to news that workers who live in one area of North Wales earn £3,500 less per year than the UK average. 

Low pay and insecure work in Arfon are some of the main drivers, making the cost of living impact more acute, a think-tank report has found.

The Bevan Foundation research is the first in-depth study into the issue in the area which includes Bangor and Caernarfon.

Commenting, Darren said: 

“Once again, we see that North Wales is being left behind. The Labour Government in Cardiff Bay are too busy with their vanity projects than tackling the real issues that people are facing across North Wales. It’s clear more than ever that more needs to be done to encourage opportunities for employers and employees in North Wales.”

“The Welsh Conservatives have a plan for North Wales, it involves upgrading our dilapidated transport infrastructure, improving educational outcomes, managing our NHS properly and bridging the North-South divide. It’s extremely disappointing that the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay continues to neglect the people of North Wales.”

Welsh Conservative Shadow Economy Minister, Paul Davies MS said:

“After 25 years of Labour, record unemployment and areas left behind, we must question what plans the Labour Government have to improve things, because at the moment they seem more focussed on their extreme ideology and vanity projects, such as introducing a default 20mph speed limit, and bringing more politicians to Cardiff Bay, than they are on the more important issues impacting Wales.

“There is no excuse for one area of Wales to be lagging behind the rest. With Wales’ economy already struggling due to recent closures of large scale employers, the Labour Government need to urgently get a grip on this, and work with businesses in order to help them grow and create job opportunities.”