The leader of Neath Port Talbot Council says the local authority is likely to lose one of its Swansea Bay City Deal projects once a review has been undertaken.
Rob Jones said officers were currently working on the revised projects which will soon go before council and the City Deal’s joint committee for approval.
Neath Port Talbot is one of the four local authorities that make up the Swansea Bay City Region, with the others being Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Pembrokeshire.
The £1.3bn City Deal, funded by the UK and Welsh Governments, as well as the borrowing powers of the local authorities, also includes planned match funding for projects supported from the private sector.
Up until now the council has had four projects in the pipeline with its most advanced one - the Homes as Power Stations project - still awaiting a business case approval by Welsh Government and UK Government.
Now, in a move to “inject new life” into the deal, the council is reviewing its remaining three projects.
Councillor Jones said he suspected the Factory of the Future project could be morphed into the Steel Science project so the local authority ended up having two large projects as opposed to three.
He said: “These projects were basically decided six years ago - we have to question whether they’re still relevant and fit for purpose which is why we are looking at renewing them.
“It shows we have a commitment to the City Deal but it must be productive - that means all partners, including both governments.”
In April, the local authority threatened to pull out of the City Deal over a growing frustration over the lack of progress on projects.
Councillor Jones said the final decision to either stay or leave would probably be taken around Christmas time.
In June, Mr Jones and the council’s chief executive Steven Phillips were asked to attend the City Deal joint scrutiny committee.
Mr Jones said: “We were questioned for over two hours in relation to our position.
“I explained that I’m all for regional working and I’m all for the push for delivery of the City Deal projects but it has to be a productive partnership.
“We have put in a lot of commitment in terms of resources and hours, rather than on a pound-for-pound financial basis, and there’s only so much you can sustain going forward.
“I’m getting really frustrated - the deal was signed two years ago and we haven’t had one project approved.
“It’s making it more and more difficult to sustain the momentum of the City Deal.”
He added: “The majority were very positive and fully understood when I explained our position.
“There was one councillor who talked about the proposition of losing tens of millions of pounds if we didn’t commit totally to the City Deal - I explained I’m not losing anything because I haven’t got anything at this moment in time.
“They talked about top slicing £1.3bn to pay for a project or managing director but you can’t top slice 1.5% of nothing - that’s the frustration.
“There is £32m sitting on a desk in Welsh Government - it’s £16m per year over the lifetime of the City Deal - that money needs to be released.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We remain committed to the Swansea Bay City Deal and stand ready to release funding to a programme of projects which demonstrate confidently that they are fit for purpose and can provide value for public money.”
