³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

The massive transformation of the former steelworks site at Ebbw Vale - The Works - is a classic example of public spending that it is hoped will draw in private cash and jobs.

In the build up to this year's Budget, there have been many calls on Chancellor George Osborne to invest in large infrastructure projects.

The Works is a £300m project funded by the Welsh government, Blaenau Gwent council and private firms, which it is hoped will regenerate the area, increase skills amongst the local workforce and raise health and wellbeing.

There is a new ultra-modern further education campus for Coleg Gwent with 2,500 students and a new comprehensive school opens in September.

A new primary school is being built taking children from three years old and it is hoped that a business hub will attract new companies both large and small.

There is also a new sports centre being built and as the valley heads south, a new hospital.

Added to that there will be more than 700 new homes built.

The project is still under construction but already it makes a bold statement along the valley where thousands of steelworkers used to be employed.

The theory is that significant public investment can help to make the conditions right for the private sector to grow.

Certainly skills has been a problem for the Welsh economy.

The Office for National Statistics' latest report on the differences between Wales and other regions of the UK shows that 12% of 16-to-24-year-olds in Wales have no qualifications.

It also showed that while the value of what we produce in Wales has stayed broadly the same since 2007 - before the financial crisis - other parts of the UK have grown considerably.

So has the investment in The Works had an effect in the private sector in Ebbw Vale?

Jean Fry Thomas, director of estate agents Bidmead Cook and Fry-Thomas, thinks so.

She says it has given a new confidence to the town, house sales are up significantly and she believes success breeds success.

Jon Parsons, Blaenau Gwent's director of environment and regeneration, says the private sector has already benefited as a result of public spending at The Works.

He says an extra 2,000 people have been employed and 100 businesses have been used on the site so far.

He said: "This project is really, really exciting for the area."

He added: "When the site closed we looked at this as a regeneration opportunity, but as the vision has altered this has become very much about raising aspiration, raising skills and giving our young people the skills they need to develop the economy into the future."