Those 'big' ideas we had, have run out! Over to you...

Is it time for a change of coalition in time to embrace a new UK government?

Rhodri Morgan's legacy: The failure of a government department

While we hear news that the number of unemployed people in Wales has gone up by 24,000 - the largest rise of any part of the UK [There are now 130,000 jobless in Wales. The unemployment rate is 9.1%] and the only regions with a worse figure are the North-East of England and the West Midlands, the Welsh Assembly Government's business promotion arm is showing muscle fatigue of the worst kind.

International Business Wales (part of the Welsh Assembly Government) has been targeting the wrong companies in the wrong marketplace and must be overhauled, Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said yesterday.

Two major reports yesterday dealt a blow to IBW’s reputation as a champion of Welsh business overseas.

A study by independent inward investment expert Glenn Massey highlighted areas where it was delivering poor value for money and warned:

1. The IBW brand is not strong or well recognised.
2. Clearly, the performance of IBW and its predecessor over the past 10 years has at best been mixed.
3. Wales has spent more than £3m a year on overseas offices but out of the 12 UK regions came last in the rankings for safeguarding jobs.
4. In 2008-09, the number of new jobs created by foreign direct investment was the lowest ever recorded for Wales.
   

The report also reveals that the member of staff stationed in IBW’s Munich office cannot speak German.

A major concern it highlights is that IBW has no responsibility to encourage the 500-plus foreign-owned companies in Wales to reinvest in the nation.

Conservative Shadow Minister for the Economy David Melding AM said:

The report into the effectiveness of IBW is disturbing and raises serious questions about whether the organisation is delivering value for money. The Assembly Government needs to review its programmes regularly and not only in response to a crisis as it did in this case over expenses. It is clear we have underperformed on inward investment compared to other parts of the UK. We were once the market leader.

How many of the Assembly Government’s programmes are underperforming badly?
That is the question ministers must now answer.

A picture paints a thousand words

Welsh Economic Summit

Welsh Assembly Government met business and union leaders in a yesterday between 9 and 12, with 15 mins for coffee.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said the summit was "remarkable" and showed Wales was "stepping up to the plate".

There was me thinking that they've had the responsibility for doing something for some time, after all, to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

Welsh business not confident in Assembly Government

Since we grow deeper and deeper into despair as the weeks roll on, it seems that the Welsh Assembly Government has taken on board the ideas of a Welsh Conservative, Dylan Jones-Evans in his review of 2007, as highlighted by a renowned commentator on the Welsh economy.

Dylan Jones-Evans (29 December 2007)

Finally, we have a new Minister for Economic Development whose party has always supported the notion of creating a strong indigenous business base in Wales.

As discussed, the challenges he faces in turning round the Welsh economy are enormous but by encouraging enterprise and innovation, especially within our academic and private sectors, he could start delivering the type of change that has been sorely needed here in Wales.

In particular, I would urge him to consider calling an economic summit in early 2008 to bring new ideas to the table from the successful entrepreneurs and businesspeople we have here in Wales. At worst, it would be a wasted few hours for those attending but, at best, there could be the emergence of a whole new approach that finally turns around the fortunes of the Welsh economy.

The Welsh Assembly Government announced on the 8th October 2008 that it would be holding an All-Wales economic summit to discuss the present financial crisis and its impact on the Welsh economy. The meeting, which will take place next Thursday, will be chaired by First Minister Rhodri Morgan and attended by Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones with responsibility for the economy and transport plus Secretary of State for Wales Paul Murphy.

If there was ever proof that this Assembly Government is seen as reactive rather than proactive, then this is a prime example.

First Minister:

I have convened the economic summit meeting next Thursday because I want to hear at first hand from businesses on how the current financial crisis is having an impact on them. The aim is to discuss in detail the challenges that are facing us as a result of the credit crunch and to examine how we can respond further to its impact on Wales.

Deputy First Minister:

The Assembly Government is already taking wide-ranging action. In the draft budget announced on Wednesday, more than £290m has been allocated to fund the Flexible Support for Business programme – to provide businesses in Wales with more effective and straightforward access to Assembly Government backing. We have also recently introduced a £7m package of rate relief to help smaller businesses.
We will also be announcing a series of measures over the coming weeks to help individuals and companies deal with the current economic challenges.

But we want to make use of next week’s summit to bring together the widest possible range of views and experiences and to explore in detail every single possibility that we in Wales may be able to reinforce or add to measures to help our businesses overcome the challenges they are now facing.

I happen to agree with Valleys Mam when she sees Ieyan Wyn Jones as looking "all cliches and no substance" and "... it really made me realise what an uniformed, blinkered team we have at the top of WAG. They really have to step up their game."

I couldn't have summed it up better myself, and it makes a change from pointing out the incompetence of top officials.

Moving on to the heading of this post 'Welsh businesses not confident in Assembly Government' it appears that businesses in Wales are now accusing the government of stifling the business end of the economy. The fact that reserves [rainy-day money] is now being spent on areas already 'provided for' in the coalition agenda isn't going down well in the business community. The Assembly Government only has one pot. For reserves, read, money that has been held back over time from worthy areas that are devolved in case the proverbial hits the fan.

When it comes to the economy and business, it's clear from the following that confidence in the Assembly Government is not full to the brim in Wales.

European funding is being taken by the Welsh Assembly Government and kept for itself.

The West Wales Business Initiative is calling for a full investigation into the Assembly’s use of European aid money.

On Tuesday, its representatives will present a petition backed by more than 40 companies asking the Assembly’s petitions committee to instigate an inquiry.

The Assembly Government’s Welsh European Funding Office website shows that of £127.7m allocated under the Convergence programme so far, £102.1m has gone directly to the Assembly itself.

A further £17.4m has gone to local authorities while the voluntary sector has had £5.5m. Only two private sector projects with grants totalling £2.8m have been approved – one by a subsidiary of Corus to redevelop the former steelworks site at Ebbw Vale, and another to create a centre of excellence for Welsh food in the Conwy Valley.

In a letter to businesses seeking support for the petition, West Wales Business Initiative secretary Wyn Price said little, if any of the new funds would reach “the sharp, business end of the economy.”

He said,“An example of what is happening is in Carmarthenshire, where the local authority is in control of Convergence Fund monies allocated to economic development and, in particular, the funds for the building of new factories,which are in short supply.

“The question is why the local authority has the power to determine private sector applications, while at the same time submitting its own plans to develop a new large industrial estate that it will then rent out to the private sector at so-called market rates.

“They have already limited the access to these funds by designating just one area of Carmarthenshire as a strategic priority, Cross Hands, where co-incidentally, it intends to develop the new estate.

"This effectively means that no direct benefit is derived by productive businesses. It does benefit the council which will derive future income to supplement its rapidly inflated size."

Since writing this post on the weekend, Dylan Jones-Evans has returned to blogging - if only for a day - to post his Western Mail article "The Assembly and saving the Welsh economy" in response to the current economic crisis.

Running the risk of being accused of being a Tory blogger by Nationalist bloggers - yet again [laugh] - at least Professor Dylan Jones-Evans is thinking outside the box, which is more than can be said of our Assembly Government.