IT was with great sadness that I read this week’s report that Bangor-based DeepStream Technologies, once chosen as a technology pioneer by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, gave up its battle for survival and went into administration yesterday.
According to reports, this was not done by the company, but by one of its major creditors who seem to have decided that they would be better off getting back a small proportion of the money owed to them rather than supporting the development of the company.
Established in 2003, DeepStream Technologies had designed a range of smart sensors that would enable the next generation of energy efficiency devices to be developed for a range of uses both in the business and consumer markets.
They were essentially tapping into the zeitgeist of clean technologies and carbon off-setting, and were recognised as being at the forefront of their field for doing so.
For example, under the leadership of its chief executive Mark Crosier the company was ranked second in the Guardian’s CleanTech 100 – a listing of the 100 leading European cleantech companies – and was selected as one of just 23 companies on the UK Clean Tech Start-Up Company Index 2008.
It is exactly the type of high technology innovative company that is desperately needed in Wales and, as Rhodri Morgan himself said, had the potential to show that “companies can make it in Wales, and make it big”.
Clearly, there are some questions to be asked about how and why a company like this could go under, especially when there is, allegedly, vast amounts of Government finance available for supporting such innovative businesses through the recession.
Take, for example, the much lauded £15m Jeremie Fund that our politicians have been shouting about from the rooftops for the last few months.
As the Deputy First Minister himself wrote recently
“the Jeremie Fund will be of great value in helping Welsh businesses to ride out the recession… which delivers on the promise we made in the One Wales programme of Government to use ‘all the tools available to us’ to enable Welsh businesses to flourish and expand, including exploring options for seeking an agreement with the European Investment Bank. It will enable Finance Wales plc, a commercial funding provider owned by the Welsh Assembly Government, to make debt and equity investments to small and medium-sized businesses throughout Wales.”
Many will now be asking whether the failure of DeepStream Technologies, for whatever reasons, poses serious questions as to Jeremie’s fitness for purpose in supporting knowledge-based businesses in Wales to ride out the recession.
For example, if such financial support is available, then why wasn’t it used to save this company? Was DeepsStream Technologies encouraged to apply for such support by the Welsh Assembly Government? If so, were the owners turned down and what were the reasons for this? If WAG knew they were in trouble, what steps were taken to see by Finance Wales to support them? Did Finance Wales have any discussions whatsoever with DeepStream about their problems?
As anyone involved in the knowledge-based sector will tell you, great economic rewards only come after high technology firms have burnt through a lot of money in taking intellectual property to the marketplace.
There is a lot of risk associated with this but there is also the potential to create the next Google or Microsoft. Like similar technology-based businesses globally, Deepstream were struggling to raise such funds in the open market during this recession.
However, that is when government should step in – when the market has failed – and for some reason that just did not happen, despite Wales having the unique advantage of £150m being available from Europe.
Apart from the one-trick pony that is the Pro-Act scheme, if there was ever a sign that Wales is being seriously hit by this recession and WAG being unable (or unwilling) to do anything about it, then this is it.
If DeepStream Technologies can go under, a company recognised globally for its technologies and innovation, then what hope is there for the rest of Welsh business?
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Taking things for granted.
We seem to take far too much for granted these days, as this clip shows.
I shall never complain again!
I shall never complain again!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
David Cameron and the National Assembly for Wales
“I believe there is only one way out of this national crisis we face. We need a massive, sweeping, radical redistribution of power. From the state to citizens; from the government to parliament; from Whitehall to communities; from Brussels to Britain; from judges to the people; from bureaucracy to democracy. Through decentralisation, transparency and accountability, we must take power away from the political elite and hand it to the man and woman in the street.”
I have just read the groundbreaking speech by David Cameron today in which he defines the "Post-Bureaucratic Age" of smaller and more accountable government and sets the real agenda for change within the UK.
It certainly captures the mood of the moment across the country and sets out a clear and defining contrast with the Labour Party and its supporters.
For Wales, there are a number of mixed messages. For example, despite the promise of greater devolution from the UK central government, there is no indication that this will be through the existing bodies alone. Indeed, there are a number of statements that will send shivers through the corridors of power in Cardiff Bay.
"Could we let individuals, neighbourhoods and communities take control? How far can we push power down?"
i.e. if local government is going to get more powers, will this mean more devolution downwards to councils from bodies such as the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament? Rather than increased powers from the UK Government to devolved bodies, will we also see further decentralisation from the devolved bodies to local authorities?
"So at the election we will include proposals in our manifesto to ask the Boundary Commission to reduce the House of Commons, initially by ten per cent.And while they're at it, to get rid of the unfair distortions in the system today, so that every constituency is the same size in each of the nations of the UK".
If the number of MPs is to be reduced by a minimum of 10 per cent (and possibly more in Wales where the constituencies are far smaller than for the rest of the UK), will this mean that a greater number of AMs will be chosen through PR from regional lists in 2015, possibly changing the power structure of Welsh politics forever.
Alternatively, will it mean a potential reduction in the overall number of Assembly Members (and similarly across other devolved bodies?)
Certainly, this is a historic speech that could set the constitutional agenda for the next parliament and beyond.
As always, the devil will be in the policy detail but the question remains as to where Wales fits into all this and how this radical agenda for change will be applied here ?
Monday, May 25, 2009
Food for thought?
Interesting story in the Western Mail about the call, from the Taxpayers Alliance, to take food off Assembly Members' expenses.
According to the report,
"In 2007-08 four AMs – all members of Plaid Cymru – claimed more than £3,000 for meals and subsistence. South Wales East’s Jocelyn Davies claimed £3,586.05, followed by Ceredigion’s Elin Jones (£3,187.60), Mid & West Wales AM Nerys Evans (£3,003.70) and Carmarthen East and Dinefwr’s Rhodri Glyn Thomas (£3,303.13).
As the Assembly sits for only 30 weeks of the year on average, and that Assembly members are normally in Cardiff for only three nights of the week, this equates to around £109 per week or around £35 per night.
With all four currently charge the taxpayer for second homes in Cardiff (presumably with kitchens), you would wonder what they are actually eating every night, especially as the average weekly bill for households (i.e. the whole family) in the UK is £48.10. i.e. £12.80 is spent on meat, £3.70 on fresh vegetables, £3.00 on fresh fruit, and £4.00 on non-alcoholic drinks.
This equates to £7 per day, or a fifth of what these four AMs were spending every night.
They are not the only ones and members from all political parties have been claiming for meals at the taxpayers' expense.
Whereas the restaurants in Cardiff Bay will no doubt suffer as a result, perhaps the Assembly would be so kind as to include cookery lessons as part of their induction for all AMs after the next election.
According to the report,
"In 2007-08 four AMs – all members of Plaid Cymru – claimed more than £3,000 for meals and subsistence. South Wales East’s Jocelyn Davies claimed £3,586.05, followed by Ceredigion’s Elin Jones (£3,187.60), Mid & West Wales AM Nerys Evans (£3,003.70) and Carmarthen East and Dinefwr’s Rhodri Glyn Thomas (£3,303.13).
As the Assembly sits for only 30 weeks of the year on average, and that Assembly members are normally in Cardiff for only three nights of the week, this equates to around £109 per week or around £35 per night.
With all four currently charge the taxpayer for second homes in Cardiff (presumably with kitchens), you would wonder what they are actually eating every night, especially as the average weekly bill for households (i.e. the whole family) in the UK is £48.10. i.e. £12.80 is spent on meat, £3.70 on fresh vegetables, £3.00 on fresh fruit, and £4.00 on non-alcoholic drinks.
This equates to £7 per day, or a fifth of what these four AMs were spending every night.
They are not the only ones and members from all political parties have been claiming for meals at the taxpayers' expense.
Whereas the restaurants in Cardiff Bay will no doubt suffer as a result, perhaps the Assembly would be so kind as to include cookery lessons as part of their induction for all AMs after the next election.
Cleaning up politics
In an attempt to clean up up the political mess that has engulfed all parties, David Cameron is to open up the Conservative Party's list of candidates to anyone who wants to join.
This is a long overdue move that will help to modernise the Conservative Party, get rid of the so-called 'party grandees' who expected a seat for life, and I hope other parties will follow suit.
Politics should be about public service, not just about getting your expected due reward because you have been a member of a political party since you were three years old.
Ironically, this process of open selection in politics could have started at the creation of the National Assembly for Wales when Kevin Morgan, Chairman of the Yes campaign, asked for the "brightest and the best" to be attracted to the new devolved body.
He again expressed his frustration that talented people had not been able to gain nominations for winnable seats because they were not “party insiders”.
"Speaking at a conference to mark the forthcoming 10th anniversary of devolution Professor Morgan, who chaired the Yes campaign, said he interviewed skilled men and women from across “health, education, the arts, the professions” on behalf of the Labour party but they were rejected. “That for me is the reason for the biggest disappointment of all, namely the low calibre of AMs,” he added."
Unfortunately, the party machines got their way and it didn't happen and those who had been loyal party servants got the pick of the best seats. By and large, nothing has much has changed since and the same process continues regardless.
Hopefully, this move by Cameron will herald a new revolution in politics, at both an Assembly and Westminster level, a revolution that will bring us the politicians we need and deserve to get this nation out of the mess it is in.
This is a long overdue move that will help to modernise the Conservative Party, get rid of the so-called 'party grandees' who expected a seat for life, and I hope other parties will follow suit.
Politics should be about public service, not just about getting your expected due reward because you have been a member of a political party since you were three years old.
Ironically, this process of open selection in politics could have started at the creation of the National Assembly for Wales when Kevin Morgan, Chairman of the Yes campaign, asked for the "brightest and the best" to be attracted to the new devolved body.
He again expressed his frustration that talented people had not been able to gain nominations for winnable seats because they were not “party insiders”.
"Speaking at a conference to mark the forthcoming 10th anniversary of devolution Professor Morgan, who chaired the Yes campaign, said he interviewed skilled men and women from across “health, education, the arts, the professions” on behalf of the Labour party but they were rejected. “That for me is the reason for the biggest disappointment of all, namely the low calibre of AMs,” he added."
Unfortunately, the party machines got their way and it didn't happen and those who had been loyal party servants got the pick of the best seats. By and large, nothing has much has changed since and the same process continues regardless.
Hopefully, this move by Cameron will herald a new revolution in politics, at both an Assembly and Westminster level, a revolution that will bring us the politicians we need and deserve to get this nation out of the mess it is in.
Friday, May 22, 2009
A confused Welsh Labour Party?
Just found this pearl of wisdom on the Welsh Labour website, Aneurin Glyndwr
"With the European elections just around the corner, let's remind ourselves exactly what a victory for the Tories would mean. David Cameron's policy of isolation in Europe and promise to abolish Regional Development Agencies would be a double blow to British business. RDAs drive their regional economies forward, pulling together European investment and identifying local priorities to deliver for business. Independent auditors recently found that, overall, every pound invested by Regional Development Agencies grows the local economy by four times that."
So it would seem that the Labour Party believes that regional development agencies are good for the economy.
Therefore, such perfect logic from this website begs the question why did the Labour Party abolish the Welsh Development Agency in 2006?
Yet more proof that, as Huw Lewis has pointed out, it is time for Labour to focus on constructing a credible message for voters instead of experimenting on the internet.
"With the European elections just around the corner, let's remind ourselves exactly what a victory for the Tories would mean. David Cameron's policy of isolation in Europe and promise to abolish Regional Development Agencies would be a double blow to British business. RDAs drive their regional economies forward, pulling together European investment and identifying local priorities to deliver for business. Independent auditors recently found that, overall, every pound invested by Regional Development Agencies grows the local economy by four times that."
So it would seem that the Labour Party believes that regional development agencies are good for the economy.
Therefore, such perfect logic from this website begs the question why did the Labour Party abolish the Welsh Development Agency in 2006?
Yet more proof that, as Huw Lewis has pointed out, it is time for Labour to focus on constructing a credible message for voters instead of experimenting on the internet.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The challenge of public sector pensions
With the expenses scandal overwhelming the pages of almost every newspaper in the country, other important stories have been largely overshadowed.
One of those which would normally have made front page headlines was the publication of a report by the accountants PWC which showed how the gap between the public and private sectors has widened enormously during the last thirty years.
It showed that, over the course of a typical working career, a civil servant starting work in 1981 will have accumulated £340,000 more in net wealth by the time of their death than his or her counterpart working in the private sector. This is mainly due to the long term job security offered in the civil service and a far more generous pension scheme.
For example, whilst the private sector employee and his employer would have paid between 4 and 6 per cent of the salary into his pension, the report shows that the civil servant does far better, paying in only 1.5 per cent of salary over the course of his career, but retiring five years earlier on almost half of his final salary and receiving a tax-free lump sum of three times his annual pension.
Of course, some would argue that it is only right that those in the public sector should be given job security and increased pensions because they are earning less than those in the private sector.
Unfortunately, that is a myth that has been promulgated by those who do not wish to change the current status quo.
The government’s own statistics, taken from the 2008 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, show that the average weekly wage for public sector workers was £582.
In contrast, the average private sector worker earned £574 per week.
Indeed, as the recession bites, it would appear that whilst many working within the private sector have been forced to take pay cuts to save their jobs, those at the top of the public sector pay tree have continued to see their salaries increase by over 10 per cent between 2007 and 2008.
Within local authorities, the number of employees on more than £100,000 has increased by 25 per cent and it is estimated that sixteen chief executives of councils were actually paid more than the Prime Minister last year.
Given this, there are many who are now arguing that the generous pensions given to the public sector and paid for by the UK taxpayer must be brought into line with workers in the private sector, especially when the current cost of pensions accrued in the public sector has been estimated at over £1 trillion.
With an estimated black hole of £175 billion in the public finances this year, the next government will have took carefully at the role of the state and it is clear that the cost of public sector pensions will need to be examined in detail.
Certainly, with unemployment set to hit 3 million by 2010, the pain cannot be limited to the business sector and it is becoming clear to many that we cannot have a society where one group of workers is protected and cosseted whilst another faces shrinking pensions, wage cuts and an uncertain future.
One of those which would normally have made front page headlines was the publication of a report by the accountants PWC which showed how the gap between the public and private sectors has widened enormously during the last thirty years.
It showed that, over the course of a typical working career, a civil servant starting work in 1981 will have accumulated £340,000 more in net wealth by the time of their death than his or her counterpart working in the private sector. This is mainly due to the long term job security offered in the civil service and a far more generous pension scheme.
For example, whilst the private sector employee and his employer would have paid between 4 and 6 per cent of the salary into his pension, the report shows that the civil servant does far better, paying in only 1.5 per cent of salary over the course of his career, but retiring five years earlier on almost half of his final salary and receiving a tax-free lump sum of three times his annual pension.
Of course, some would argue that it is only right that those in the public sector should be given job security and increased pensions because they are earning less than those in the private sector.
Unfortunately, that is a myth that has been promulgated by those who do not wish to change the current status quo.
The government’s own statistics, taken from the 2008 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, show that the average weekly wage for public sector workers was £582.
In contrast, the average private sector worker earned £574 per week.
Indeed, as the recession bites, it would appear that whilst many working within the private sector have been forced to take pay cuts to save their jobs, those at the top of the public sector pay tree have continued to see their salaries increase by over 10 per cent between 2007 and 2008.
Within local authorities, the number of employees on more than £100,000 has increased by 25 per cent and it is estimated that sixteen chief executives of councils were actually paid more than the Prime Minister last year.
Given this, there are many who are now arguing that the generous pensions given to the public sector and paid for by the UK taxpayer must be brought into line with workers in the private sector, especially when the current cost of pensions accrued in the public sector has been estimated at over £1 trillion.
With an estimated black hole of £175 billion in the public finances this year, the next government will have took carefully at the role of the state and it is clear that the cost of public sector pensions will need to be examined in detail.
Certainly, with unemployment set to hit 3 million by 2010, the pain cannot be limited to the business sector and it is becoming clear to many that we cannot have a society where one group of workers is protected and cosseted whilst another faces shrinking pensions, wage cuts and an uncertain future.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Top Up Fees - the missing data?
The latest corrected statistics on the number of students at Welsh universities has just been released by the Welsh Assembly Government.
The report states that "Since 2001-02 the proportion of Welsh domiciled students studying in Wales has increased from 62 per cent to 66 per cent (in 2007-08).
Yet, interestingly, this fact is nowhere to be found within the recent Assembly commissioned report into university funding.
I wonder why?
The report states that "Since 2001-02 the proportion of Welsh domiciled students studying in Wales has increased from 62 per cent to 66 per cent (in 2007-08).
Yet, interestingly, this fact is nowhere to be found within the recent Assembly commissioned report into university funding.
I wonder why?
Monday, May 18, 2009
Time for General Election
At the European election launch today, David Cameron said:
"I think the scale of the problems facing Britain today - the recession, the debt crisis, and above all the political crisis - all point in one direction. I think there is now only one way of sorting out the mess, and that is for Parliament to be dissolved and for a General Election to be held right away."
About time too as the people of this country have waited too long to have their say on the state of this nation, the management of the economy and the way their Parliament has been dragged through the mud by the greed and avarice of MPs from all parties.
To emphasise the point, he has launched a national petition calling for a general election which can be signed here.
"I think the scale of the problems facing Britain today - the recession, the debt crisis, and above all the political crisis - all point in one direction. I think there is now only one way of sorting out the mess, and that is for Parliament to be dissolved and for a General Election to be held right away."
About time too as the people of this country have waited too long to have their say on the state of this nation, the management of the economy and the way their Parliament has been dragged through the mud by the greed and avarice of MPs from all parties.
To emphasise the point, he has launched a national petition calling for a general election which can be signed here.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Making skills work for the Welsh economy
Sometimes in life you are lucky to come into contact with individuals who can make a real difference to the world around them.
In my case, I was fortunate enough to work closely with one such individual for four years when I held the chair in entrepreneurship at the University of Glamorgan between 1996 and 2000.
Sir Adrian Webb, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan during my time there, was a visionary who created a new vision for higher education in Wales, a vision that became a shining example of how to create a new type of academic institution that took its role as critical actor in the Welsh economy seriously.
After retiring from the post, Adrian has supported many new initiatives, and currently holds the chairmanship of the Wales Employment and Skills Board.
This body was created to strengthen the voices of employers on skills in Wales, give expert advice to Welsh ministers, and help Wales to develop a high-skills economy with opportunities for everyone. Last week, it published a critical report that I believe has the potential to act as the blueprint for the development of the Welsh economy.
“Skills That Work for Wales – A Skills and Employment Strategy and Action Plan” is a groundbreaking analysis of what needs to be done to ensure that Wales gains a real competitive edge when we finally emerge out of recession.
Unlike other reports, it takes seriously the premise that if we improve skills within Wales we will have a more prosperous society, reduced inequality, more jobs and lower poverty.
In particular, business will be pleased to see the emphasis on basic skills, especially as a quarter of working age adults in Wales struggle with simple literacy and numeracy. The proposed reform of GCSEs so they place a greater emphasis on securing the basics in English, Welsh, mathematics and ICT is something that is long overdue and should be loudly welcomed by anyone looking to employ someone during the next 12 months.
I was struck by the message that improving skills is not merely an issue for Government alone, but must fully involve employers at every level.
As someone who has been involved in management education for more than 20 years, a “something for nothing” culture has developed in Wales where an increasing number of companies will not participate in programmes unless there is a grant available.
That is completely the wrong reason for undertaking training, and business should invest in the development of its people because it makes economic sense in terms of increased productivity, enhanced innovation and better financial return on investment.
One of the critical conclusions of the report was the importance of skills in the strategic development of businesses alongside other issues such as capital investment, innovation and workforce planning.
While recommending that different arms of Government should work more closely together, it is a shame that the report did not take the next step and propose that economic development and skill should be integrated under one super department within the Assembly to ensure real value for employers.
In particular, the higher education sector needs to review its role within the economy and adopt a wider skills-based approach to its agenda for supporting economic development and finally recognise that producing basic research may not be the only way it can influence the future of the Welsh economy.
Overall, this was an excellent report that recognised the weaknesses of the Welsh economy and, more importantly, put forward suggestions for its improvement.
And the response from the Welsh Assembly Government to this report? Predictably, it was yet another denial of the reality of the situation as a spokesperson said that “a lot of the recommendations made by Sir Adrian Webb and his team were already being implemented”.
If that is the case, why did the cross-party Education and Learning Committee within the National Assembly recommend that the Labour-Plaid Government should create better links between economic development and education, increase the level of business rate relief to Welsh firms and implement a manufacturing strategy.
Perhaps the same spokesperson could tell us why Wales continues to languish at the bottom of the UK prosperity league table, why the level of private sector research and development in Wales investment remains the lowest of any region, and why unemployment is the highest of any of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom?
Dafydd Wigley, President of Plaid Cymru, said recently on a political programme that he remembered one very senior civil servant in Wales stating he would rather make no decision than make the wrong decision.
My worry is that despite an excellent report by Sir Adrian and his team, little will be done to implement its recommendations and that doing nothing will be the safer option than doing something to make the economy of Wales move forward.
In my case, I was fortunate enough to work closely with one such individual for four years when I held the chair in entrepreneurship at the University of Glamorgan between 1996 and 2000.
Sir Adrian Webb, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan during my time there, was a visionary who created a new vision for higher education in Wales, a vision that became a shining example of how to create a new type of academic institution that took its role as critical actor in the Welsh economy seriously.
After retiring from the post, Adrian has supported many new initiatives, and currently holds the chairmanship of the Wales Employment and Skills Board.
This body was created to strengthen the voices of employers on skills in Wales, give expert advice to Welsh ministers, and help Wales to develop a high-skills economy with opportunities for everyone. Last week, it published a critical report that I believe has the potential to act as the blueprint for the development of the Welsh economy.
“Skills That Work for Wales – A Skills and Employment Strategy and Action Plan” is a groundbreaking analysis of what needs to be done to ensure that Wales gains a real competitive edge when we finally emerge out of recession.
Unlike other reports, it takes seriously the premise that if we improve skills within Wales we will have a more prosperous society, reduced inequality, more jobs and lower poverty.
In particular, business will be pleased to see the emphasis on basic skills, especially as a quarter of working age adults in Wales struggle with simple literacy and numeracy. The proposed reform of GCSEs so they place a greater emphasis on securing the basics in English, Welsh, mathematics and ICT is something that is long overdue and should be loudly welcomed by anyone looking to employ someone during the next 12 months.
I was struck by the message that improving skills is not merely an issue for Government alone, but must fully involve employers at every level.
As someone who has been involved in management education for more than 20 years, a “something for nothing” culture has developed in Wales where an increasing number of companies will not participate in programmes unless there is a grant available.
That is completely the wrong reason for undertaking training, and business should invest in the development of its people because it makes economic sense in terms of increased productivity, enhanced innovation and better financial return on investment.
One of the critical conclusions of the report was the importance of skills in the strategic development of businesses alongside other issues such as capital investment, innovation and workforce planning.
While recommending that different arms of Government should work more closely together, it is a shame that the report did not take the next step and propose that economic development and skill should be integrated under one super department within the Assembly to ensure real value for employers.
In particular, the higher education sector needs to review its role within the economy and adopt a wider skills-based approach to its agenda for supporting economic development and finally recognise that producing basic research may not be the only way it can influence the future of the Welsh economy.
Overall, this was an excellent report that recognised the weaknesses of the Welsh economy and, more importantly, put forward suggestions for its improvement.
And the response from the Welsh Assembly Government to this report? Predictably, it was yet another denial of the reality of the situation as a spokesperson said that “a lot of the recommendations made by Sir Adrian Webb and his team were already being implemented”.
If that is the case, why did the cross-party Education and Learning Committee within the National Assembly recommend that the Labour-Plaid Government should create better links between economic development and education, increase the level of business rate relief to Welsh firms and implement a manufacturing strategy.
Perhaps the same spokesperson could tell us why Wales continues to languish at the bottom of the UK prosperity league table, why the level of private sector research and development in Wales investment remains the lowest of any region, and why unemployment is the highest of any of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom?
Dafydd Wigley, President of Plaid Cymru, said recently on a political programme that he remembered one very senior civil servant in Wales stating he would rather make no decision than make the wrong decision.
My worry is that despite an excellent report by Sir Adrian and his team, little will be done to implement its recommendations and that doing nothing will be the safer option than doing something to make the economy of Wales move forward.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The Next Prime Minister
As today is my birthday, I am going to keep off the computer for the entire weekend.
In the meantime, here is a video of the next leader of this country.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Politicians and leadership
In these troubled times for our politicians, it is worth reading the latest entry on the management blog of the Financial Times
They define a leader as:
"Decisive. But even-handed. Confident. But not arrogant. A front runner. But also a team player. A leader. But a manager, too."
I wonder which of the political leaders in the UK currently live up to that description?
They define a leader as:
"Decisive. But even-handed. Confident. But not arrogant. A front runner. But also a team player. A leader. But a manager, too."
I wonder which of the political leaders in the UK currently live up to that description?
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The Welsh economy - a view from London?
A disappointing piece about the Welsh economy and devolution in the Financial Times today, despite the positive title.
Yes, I would be the first to criticise some of the approaches taken to the Welsh economy, especially the dominance of the public sector.
However, there have also been successes by small firms and large firms in Wales, something which national papers such as the FT are always slow to note.
That, more than anything else, shows the national pride in the business sector and yet it something that is not even alluded to in the article
It is shame that this was not a more balanced piece and, unfortunately, it says more about the London papers' isolation from all matters related to Wales rather than the reality of the situation.
Wales - National pride in spite of a dependent economy
May 14th 2009
A decade of limited devolution has dispelled some of the self-doubt that still infects Welsh national identity. The Cardiff assembly, which lacks the legislative powers of the Scottish parliament, has used its spending discretion to create policies modestly more socialist than those emanating from Westminster. This gradualism is appropriate. The Scots have a more institutionalised sense of their separateness from England. Welsh identity is something of a work in progress.
Such souvenir shop signifiers of Welshness as red dragons, daffodils and love spoons cloak considerable ambivalence. R.S. Thomas excoriated Wales as a land of "mouldering quarries and mines" inhabited by "an impotent people sick with inbreeding". Dylan Thomas dismissed it as "the land of my fathers. My fathers can keep it." But both poets were passionately attached to their homeland.
Gillian Clarke, National Poet of Wales, neatly defines the historic difference in England's relations with Scotland and Wales: "Wales was the first colony. We signed nothing. We were defeated." In 1282 Edward I conquered Wales, made vulnerable by its long land border and proximity to English heartlands. Scotland joined the Union voluntarily in 1707, arguably because it suited Scottish business.
Defeat, even that long ago, has "generated a potent sense of victimhood", according to John Osmond, director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs, a Cardiff think-tank. Vassal status meant Wales never developed separate legal, financial and academic institutions as Scotland did. "We have an ancient tradition of doffing our caps and thinking the English are the grown-ups," says Ms Clarke.
According to the poet, the assembly has made "a tremendous difference" to national identity. At first, many Welsh carped at the £67m ($102m, €75m) cost of "the beautiful Senedd building" but now the critics have fallen silent. "People do not feel cut off from the assembly [as they do from Westminster]. They have no problem tapping [first minister] Rhodri Morgan on the wrist at the Eisteddfod and asking him what he is going to do about this or that."
David Rosser, director of the CBI in Wales, agrees: "There is a much more positive sense of Welshness through having visible institutions and local politicians who can take decisions of consequence." Yet there is a price to pay, too, as political pressure mounts for companies to spend ever more on bilingual services.
The Welsh language returned from the brink of extinction, thanks largely to campaigning by the Welsh Language Society. Welsh is growing even as Gaelic retreats to strongholds in the west of Scotland. Paradoxically, Plaid Cymru, the party of Welsh nationalism, is relatively weak in the 60-seat assembly, while Scottish nationalists rule the roost in Holyrood. Plaid has 15 seats to Labour's 26.
A deeper sense of Welshness is all very well, but Wales has continued to lag behind England economically. Business people say the assembly has done little to change that. Professor James Foreman-Peck of Cardiff Business School has been dismayed by the way the recession has damaged Welsh manufacturing. "The country is dominated by state activity and state patronage via the Labour party," he says, adding sardonically, "as long as the English [taxpayers] keep paying for it, that is fine".
In reality, Geordies and the Cornish are similarly dependent on the tax revenues of south-east England. Devolution boosts national pride. But it can also highlight national weaknesses.
Yes, I would be the first to criticise some of the approaches taken to the Welsh economy, especially the dominance of the public sector.
However, there have also been successes by small firms and large firms in Wales, something which national papers such as the FT are always slow to note.
That, more than anything else, shows the national pride in the business sector and yet it something that is not even alluded to in the article
It is shame that this was not a more balanced piece and, unfortunately, it says more about the London papers' isolation from all matters related to Wales rather than the reality of the situation.
Wales - National pride in spite of a dependent economy
May 14th 2009
A decade of limited devolution has dispelled some of the self-doubt that still infects Welsh national identity. The Cardiff assembly, which lacks the legislative powers of the Scottish parliament, has used its spending discretion to create policies modestly more socialist than those emanating from Westminster. This gradualism is appropriate. The Scots have a more institutionalised sense of their separateness from England. Welsh identity is something of a work in progress.
Such souvenir shop signifiers of Welshness as red dragons, daffodils and love spoons cloak considerable ambivalence. R.S. Thomas excoriated Wales as a land of "mouldering quarries and mines" inhabited by "an impotent people sick with inbreeding". Dylan Thomas dismissed it as "the land of my fathers. My fathers can keep it." But both poets were passionately attached to their homeland.
Gillian Clarke, National Poet of Wales, neatly defines the historic difference in England's relations with Scotland and Wales: "Wales was the first colony. We signed nothing. We were defeated." In 1282 Edward I conquered Wales, made vulnerable by its long land border and proximity to English heartlands. Scotland joined the Union voluntarily in 1707, arguably because it suited Scottish business.
Defeat, even that long ago, has "generated a potent sense of victimhood", according to John Osmond, director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs, a Cardiff think-tank. Vassal status meant Wales never developed separate legal, financial and academic institutions as Scotland did. "We have an ancient tradition of doffing our caps and thinking the English are the grown-ups," says Ms Clarke.
According to the poet, the assembly has made "a tremendous difference" to national identity. At first, many Welsh carped at the £67m ($102m, €75m) cost of "the beautiful Senedd building" but now the critics have fallen silent. "People do not feel cut off from the assembly [as they do from Westminster]. They have no problem tapping [first minister] Rhodri Morgan on the wrist at the Eisteddfod and asking him what he is going to do about this or that."
David Rosser, director of the CBI in Wales, agrees: "There is a much more positive sense of Welshness through having visible institutions and local politicians who can take decisions of consequence." Yet there is a price to pay, too, as political pressure mounts for companies to spend ever more on bilingual services.
The Welsh language returned from the brink of extinction, thanks largely to campaigning by the Welsh Language Society. Welsh is growing even as Gaelic retreats to strongholds in the west of Scotland. Paradoxically, Plaid Cymru, the party of Welsh nationalism, is relatively weak in the 60-seat assembly, while Scottish nationalists rule the roost in Holyrood. Plaid has 15 seats to Labour's 26.
A deeper sense of Welshness is all very well, but Wales has continued to lag behind England economically. Business people say the assembly has done little to change that. Professor James Foreman-Peck of Cardiff Business School has been dismayed by the way the recession has damaged Welsh manufacturing. "The country is dominated by state activity and state patronage via the Labour party," he says, adding sardonically, "as long as the English [taxpayers] keep paying for it, that is fine".
In reality, Geordies and the Cornish are similarly dependent on the tax revenues of south-east England. Devolution boosts national pride. But it can also highlight national weaknesses.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Don't forget about unemployment
With much of yesterday's focus remaining on MP's expenses, it was easy to forget the latest unemployment figures which showed that 224,000 extra people were out of work in the UK during the period January-March 2009.
The current number now out of work in the UK stands at 2.22 million and it is widely expected to reach 3 million by the end of the year.
In Wales, 111,000 people (or 7.7 per cent of all working age adults) are out of work, and represents a rise of 44 per cent as compared to a year ago.
With small firms are still finding it difficult to keep workers on and even our most successful large businesses are still talking about job cuts, the question is how much more unemployment will rise during the next few months?
Are we potentially talking about 150,000 out of work in Wales by the end of the year?
I hope not but the statistics from yesterday could be an indication that things are going to get worse before they get better.
The current number now out of work in the UK stands at 2.22 million and it is widely expected to reach 3 million by the end of the year.
In Wales, 111,000 people (or 7.7 per cent of all working age adults) are out of work, and represents a rise of 44 per cent as compared to a year ago.
With small firms are still finding it difficult to keep workers on and even our most successful large businesses are still talking about job cuts, the question is how much more unemployment will rise during the next few months?
Are we potentially talking about 150,000 out of work in Wales by the end of the year?
I hope not but the statistics from yesterday could be an indication that things are going to get worse before they get better.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
MPs expenses - either apologise and repay the money or go
With further revelations in today's Daily Telegraph about the abuse of the expenses system by senior members of the Conservative Party, I believe that David Cameron has no option but to ask them to apologise and to pay back every single penny claimed for these extravagances.
If they do not, then he should instruct them that the party whip will be withdrawn immediately and they will not be standing for the party at the next general election.
Yes, all this was done within parliamentary rules and was approved by the House of Commons.
However, it clearly contravenes the spirit of the rationale for MPs expenses, namely to carry out their parliamentary duties.
They should now act like honourable men, admit that they had got it wrong and repay the money.
It is as simple as that.
This probably the defining moment in David Cameron's leadership of the Conservative Party and I believe, as someone who joined the party because of his promises for change, that he will act decisively over this matter and break with the past.
The one silver lining is that there will be a brand new set of MPs coming in at the next general election who will have been rightly appalled by the way that current members have abused the system and will ensure that this will never happen again.
If they do not, then he should instruct them that the party whip will be withdrawn immediately and they will not be standing for the party at the next general election.
Yes, all this was done within parliamentary rules and was approved by the House of Commons.
However, it clearly contravenes the spirit of the rationale for MPs expenses, namely to carry out their parliamentary duties.
They should now act like honourable men, admit that they had got it wrong and repay the money.
It is as simple as that.
This probably the defining moment in David Cameron's leadership of the Conservative Party and I believe, as someone who joined the party because of his promises for change, that he will act decisively over this matter and break with the past.
The one silver lining is that there will be a brand new set of MPs coming in at the next general election who will have been rightly appalled by the way that current members have abused the system and will ensure that this will never happen again.
Monday, May 11, 2009
MPs expenses - pay back the money
Like everyone else, I am appalled by the revelations regarding MPs expenses which were leaked by the Daily Telegraph.
From the Prime Minister downwards, it seems that MPs of all parties may have been taking advantage of the current arrangements by which expenses can be claimed.
However, it remains the case that the Labour Party has had twelve years in power to sort out the system and has done nothing whatsoever to stop the abuses of the system.
Consequently, the destruction of the public’s faith in our elected representatives has continued unabated.
While Gordon Brown has brought in stealth taxes for everyone else, it would seem that MPs of all parties have been avoiding payment and coining it in by claiming for everything possible from second homes to cleaners to barbecues.
The revelation that certain Cabinet members have tried to claim for items such as their children’s clothing at a time when the gap between the richest and the poorest in this country is at its highest is abhorrent in the extreme.
Blaming the system is not enough and politicians must take personal responsibility for their behaviour. After all, these are the same politicians who have used the power of the state to crack down hard on anyone who has ‘taken advantage’ of the benefit system in recent years.
Why do politicians get away with claiming stamp duty and avoiding capital gains tax on their second homes when everyone else in the country has to pay for this themselves?
If your average taxpayer had tried to get away with such a scam, then the Revenue would have rightly been down on them like a ton of bricks.
It is easy to say that the single driving motivation of politicians should be public service and yet these revelations seem to suggest that they are in it for the money and are concerned only with maximising their position for their own benefit.
Given the fortunes spent on individual household items such as curtains, furniture and electrical equipment, you would think that none of these pampered lot would have heard of DFS, IKEA or Argos.
In their warped opinion of their role in society, they seem to truly believe that they deserve only the best and it should be us paying for it.
They are spending a fortune on second homes in London when they should be spending the majority of their time in their constituencies representing the concerns of their voters. It is easy to forget that in the days before this current lot came in, it was normal for many MPs to share houses together in London.
The property boom has meant that they have come to see their second homes, which are there for their duties in Westminster and nothing else, as investment opportunities from which they make a significant amount of money when they leave Parliament. This is despite having the best pension scheme in the country which, again, is remunerated at a level which the ordinary citizen can only ever dream of.
Trust and transparency needs to return to public life and we need to clean out the stables of the House of Commons once and for all if politicians from all parties are to regain any of the people’s trust and confidence.
If we are to move forward, then I believe that the leaders of all four main parties have no alternative but to ask those who have abused the system to pay back every penny.
If they do not, then they should be assured that they will have the whip withdrawn immediately and will play no further role in public life within that party.
During the last twelve years, there has been an increasing abuse of power and position with politicians making excuses for their behaviour and hiding behind parliamentary rules whilst benefiting financially.
That time is over and the people of this country, who are experiencing the worst recession since the Second World War, deserve better from their elected politicians.
From the Prime Minister downwards, it seems that MPs of all parties may have been taking advantage of the current arrangements by which expenses can be claimed.
However, it remains the case that the Labour Party has had twelve years in power to sort out the system and has done nothing whatsoever to stop the abuses of the system.
Consequently, the destruction of the public’s faith in our elected representatives has continued unabated.
While Gordon Brown has brought in stealth taxes for everyone else, it would seem that MPs of all parties have been avoiding payment and coining it in by claiming for everything possible from second homes to cleaners to barbecues.
The revelation that certain Cabinet members have tried to claim for items such as their children’s clothing at a time when the gap between the richest and the poorest in this country is at its highest is abhorrent in the extreme.
Blaming the system is not enough and politicians must take personal responsibility for their behaviour. After all, these are the same politicians who have used the power of the state to crack down hard on anyone who has ‘taken advantage’ of the benefit system in recent years.
Why do politicians get away with claiming stamp duty and avoiding capital gains tax on their second homes when everyone else in the country has to pay for this themselves?
If your average taxpayer had tried to get away with such a scam, then the Revenue would have rightly been down on them like a ton of bricks.
It is easy to say that the single driving motivation of politicians should be public service and yet these revelations seem to suggest that they are in it for the money and are concerned only with maximising their position for their own benefit.
Given the fortunes spent on individual household items such as curtains, furniture and electrical equipment, you would think that none of these pampered lot would have heard of DFS, IKEA or Argos.
In their warped opinion of their role in society, they seem to truly believe that they deserve only the best and it should be us paying for it.
They are spending a fortune on second homes in London when they should be spending the majority of their time in their constituencies representing the concerns of their voters. It is easy to forget that in the days before this current lot came in, it was normal for many MPs to share houses together in London.
The property boom has meant that they have come to see their second homes, which are there for their duties in Westminster and nothing else, as investment opportunities from which they make a significant amount of money when they leave Parliament. This is despite having the best pension scheme in the country which, again, is remunerated at a level which the ordinary citizen can only ever dream of.
Trust and transparency needs to return to public life and we need to clean out the stables of the House of Commons once and for all if politicians from all parties are to regain any of the people’s trust and confidence.
If we are to move forward, then I believe that the leaders of all four main parties have no alternative but to ask those who have abused the system to pay back every penny.
If they do not, then they should be assured that they will have the whip withdrawn immediately and will play no further role in public life within that party.
During the last twelve years, there has been an increasing abuse of power and position with politicians making excuses for their behaviour and hiding behind parliamentary rules whilst benefiting financially.
That time is over and the people of this country, who are experiencing the worst recession since the Second World War, deserve better from their elected politicians.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Go East
Having spent the past week in the Far East on business, it quickly became obvious, even to an outsider, there is just as much confusion in the Asia Pacific region about how long recession will last as there is in Europe and the United States.
There are mixed messages from a range of indicators in the region.
For example, stock markets in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India rose considerably on Tuesday after the news there could be an unforeseen revival in manufacturing in China, thanks to the £400bn pumped into stimulating domestic demand by the Chinese government.
This news came after the publication of a totally unexpected increase in the Purchasing Managers’ Index in China for April, which went above 50 for the first time since July 2008 (in March it was 44.8). This implied manufacturing was actually expanding in the world’s third largest economy.
The good news didn’t last.
Next day, there was a depressing forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This indicated that economies across Asia still faced a long recovery over the next couple of years, with growth slowing to 1.3% in 2009, compared to 5.1% during the previous year.
Perhaps the one silver lining in this forecast is that despite this relative fall in prosperity, the performance of the Asia Pacific region still compares extremely well with the estimated annual decline of 4.3% for the UK economy in 2009 – the fastest fall since the Second World War. A similar decrease in prosperity is expected for the rest of the European Union.
It could be argued that Welsh firms looking to expand during the current recession should focus their efforts overseas, on the Asian markets.
Certainly, I have talked to a number of Welsh business owners on a Far East trade mission during the last seven days, and there is certainly confidence among these entrepreneurs that the business sector in Wales can, with the advantage of a weaker pound, make the most of export opportunities in countries such as China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Currently, the majority of exporting by Welsh firms remains concentrated in the USA and Europe. But those experiencing the fastest growth seem to be exporting to the Far East where there is a real impact being made by Welsh businesses.
For example, the value of exports to China has increased by 88.3% from 2007 to 2008 and now stands at £183m. Similarly, exports to Singapore increased by 147% and to Hong Kong by 79% over the same period.
Every export sector is important but one area in which an economy the size of Wales’ can work alongside other smaller economies such as Hong Kong’s or Singapore’s is in the development of the knowledge-based sector.
Both these Asian governments are pouring increasing sums into attracting both research operations and students to the region.
For example, the International Fellowships Programme offered by the Research Grants Council in Hong Kong plans to target top-flight international students to undertake their postgraduate studies at local universities.
In a strategy that is broadly similar to the Prince of Wales Scholarship Programme currently being offered by the University of Wales, a total of 135 PhD students will be recruited annually to Hong Kong from across the world to help develop knowledge potential. As a result, there is certainly scope for Welsh universities to work alongside institutions in Hong Kong to develop potential collaborative projects for students.
Similarly, EADS – the owner of Airbus – has recently announced long-term R&D partnerships in Singapore with the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). These will focus on the development of contract research between the two universities and various parts of the company.
For example, EADS and NTU have agreed to collaborate on aerospace topics.
The first project being launched is to develop a helicopter airspeed sensor for Eurocopter (another EADS company) and the NTU School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. This will improve a helicopter’s operations and enable it to operate accurately during the crucial phases of hover, take-off and landing.
Given that aerospace is a key sector for the Welsh economy and that EADS already has bases in both Broughton in Flintshire and in Newport, South Wales, there are clearly opportunities for partnerships with Singapore industry and academia that could be realised with further exploration.
The message is Asia is open for business.
The challenge for Welsh businesses and universities is to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them.
Labour Party hits new low
Following another disastrous week for Labour, the latest poll shows that the Labour party has slumped to its lowest level of support since opinion polls began.
The BPIX/Mail on Sunday poll shows the following
Conservatives - 45 per cent
Labour - 23 per cent
Lib Dems - 17 per cent
This is now a desperate position for any party and the worst showing for Labour since 1943.
Of course, desperate times call for desperate measures and as I have stated before, I expect the next election to be one of the dirtiest on record.
Damian McBride has temporarily left the building but many of his acolytes remain. In Wales, the website Aneurin Glyndwr has already set the tone for this and has little constructive to say in terms of policy since its creation, focusing instead on the class war against 'Toff Dave'.
Reflecting its leader's style of politics, this Labour website allows no comments, no discussion and remains a pravda-like series of propagandist press releases that do little for political debate in Wales and seems largely an online ego-trip for its creators.
Of course, refusal to allow any debate doesn't stop their shrinking coterie of supporters from attacking other blogs and during my stay away in Asia, their follower (s) posted the usual tripe on this website which I have had no option to delete, despite someone anonymous commentator trying to come to my defence.
If Welsh Labour really want a proper debate on policies, then they should open up their main website to discussion. I am sure that all of us from the other parties would welcome the opportunity to take part.
However, I ain't holding my breath.
The BPIX/Mail on Sunday poll shows the following
Conservatives - 45 per cent
Labour - 23 per cent
Lib Dems - 17 per cent
This is now a desperate position for any party and the worst showing for Labour since 1943.
Of course, desperate times call for desperate measures and as I have stated before, I expect the next election to be one of the dirtiest on record.
Damian McBride has temporarily left the building but many of his acolytes remain. In Wales, the website Aneurin Glyndwr has already set the tone for this and has little constructive to say in terms of policy since its creation, focusing instead on the class war against 'Toff Dave'.
Reflecting its leader's style of politics, this Labour website allows no comments, no discussion and remains a pravda-like series of propagandist press releases that do little for political debate in Wales and seems largely an online ego-trip for its creators.
Of course, refusal to allow any debate doesn't stop their shrinking coterie of supporters from attacking other blogs and during my stay away in Asia, their follower (s) posted the usual tripe on this website which I have had no option to delete, despite someone anonymous commentator trying to come to my defence.
If Welsh Labour really want a proper debate on policies, then they should open up their main website to discussion. I am sure that all of us from the other parties would welcome the opportunity to take part.
However, I ain't holding my breath.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Expenses - another week, another disaster for Labour
As another week draws to a close, it would seem that the Labour Government struggles from disaster to disaster after another day of sleaze and ill-informed policy development.
First of all, we have the spectacle of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet playing the expenses system for their own benefit, with Gordon Brown yesterday being forced to pay back a plumbing bill he had claimed for twice as well as paying his brother more than £6000 when they 'shared' a cleaner.
Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary - even claimed a new boiler because the water in his flat was 'too hot'.
As if this wasn't bad enough, this was followed by five Gurkhas being banned from the UK despite the agreement by the PM earlier this week to allow them to settle here.
Harriet Harman, in her own inimitable style, has also "provoked further outrage by accusing opponents of the Government's DNA database policy of putting themselves against justice".
Finally, as if that wasn't enough, the Guardian notes that "Britain under Gordon Brown is a more unequal country than at any time since modern records began in the early 1960s, after the incomes of the poor fell and those of the rich rose in the three years after the 2005 general election".
The whole edifice is crumbling and I am now even more convinced than I was at the beginning of the week that we need a new Government now.
How on earth can we deal with the state of the economy when no-one believes or has any confidence in the Prime Minister or his Cabinet?
Time to call an election.
First of all, we have the spectacle of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet playing the expenses system for their own benefit, with Gordon Brown yesterday being forced to pay back a plumbing bill he had claimed for twice as well as paying his brother more than £6000 when they 'shared' a cleaner.
Paul Murphy, the Welsh Secretary - even claimed a new boiler because the water in his flat was 'too hot'.
As if this wasn't bad enough, this was followed by five Gurkhas being banned from the UK despite the agreement by the PM earlier this week to allow them to settle here.
Harriet Harman, in her own inimitable style, has also "provoked further outrage by accusing opponents of the Government's DNA database policy of putting themselves against justice".
Finally, as if that wasn't enough, the Guardian notes that "Britain under Gordon Brown is a more unequal country than at any time since modern records began in the early 1960s, after the incomes of the poor fell and those of the rich rose in the three years after the 2005 general election".
The whole edifice is crumbling and I am now even more convinced than I was at the beginning of the week that we need a new Government now.
How on earth can we deal with the state of the economy when no-one believes or has any confidence in the Prime Minister or his Cabinet?
Time to call an election.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
ProAct rejected by leading industrial firm
Despite being thousands of miles away in Hong Kong, I have been trying to keep up with some of the news emerging from home, despite the seven hour time difference and a hectic schedule of meetings.
One that I picked up upon earlier today was this from the People Management website in which JCB is castigated for daring not to take part in the much vaunted ProAct scheme which has been heralded as the first wage subsidy scheme in the UK.
Two interesting points emerge from this story.
First of all, JCB said it had examined the scheme and had not applied because the wage subsidies are only paid for employees in training.
This meant that the two Welsh JCB factories could not take part because they are just-in-time suppliers to nine JCB factories in England. As a result, they could not set time aside for training as it would have an effect on the whole supply chain.
If this is the case with JCB, what is going on with the other companies who are being targeted for the ProAct scheme? As most are in the automotive sector supply chain, could this be having a knock on effect on the overall business with serious consequences down the line for the industry in Wales?
The second issue is that raised by a small South Wales company which is involved in the scheme which claims that the wage subsidy is not a key element and, to quote,
"is peanuts – £50 a day per person doesn’t cover wages for a skilled engineer".
However, the firm lauds the £2,000 per head to buy external training as a one-off opportunity for SMEs which has helped with developing new products and markets.
So, in effect, SMEs are using public money not to subsidise wages as the scheme was set up to do but to use it solely for providing additional training for staff.
Good luck to those firms that are doing this as they probably need all the help they can get. However, it does raise a very serious question of how many of the companies actually need the wage subsidy at all and whether they should be using this programme for training support, which is normally available through other sources, notably DCELLS.
It also raises quite serious political questions as to whether large companies such as JCB are being pressurised into applying for the grant and whether other companies are being given funding regardless of whether they need the wage subsidy or not?
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Gordon Brown - it's time to go
Last week was probably one of the worst for the Labour Party since it swept into power in 1997.
Still reeling from the widespread revelations that his own special advisor had been planning to smear leading members of the Conservative Party and their families, the Prime Minister was hit for six by a number of political defeats and personal criticisms.
First of all, he was embarrassed when, during a joint press conference, the Prime Minister of Poland chastised the UK Government for not controlling its debt and for its ineffective supervision of the banking sector. This followed an earlier criticism, this time from President Michelle Bachelet of Chile.
The South American leader said, during a visit by Gordon Brown last month, that his country was doing better than most because it had reduced its levels of debt during the boom years.
On arriving home, things did not get any better.
Having refused to back down over the highly emotive issue of settlement rights for those Gurkhas who had served this country brilliantly during the last fifty years, the Government was surprisingly defeated when MPs, including over twenty rebel Labour members, voted by 267 to 246 in favour of an opposition motion offering all Gurkhas equal right of residence in the UK.
The Prime Minister was then forced to abandon his reforms of MPs' expenses only five days after proposing, via YouTube, a controversial flat rate allowance for attending parliament to replace the current second home allowance.
Worst of all for the Labour Party, there were increasing signs of a growing civil war over its future direction.
Calls by Harriet Harman for colleagues to work together fell on deaf years as former home secretaries, in the form of David Blunkett and Charles Clarke, hit out, the former about a "void" within the heart of the Government and the latter stating he was "ashamed" of his own party.
Then at the end of the week, rumours began to circulate about a possible coup after the expected European election disaster, with some Labour MPs even talking openly about possible defection to the Liberal Democrats.
This disintegration of a government is a tragedy for this country as it is going through the worse recession for sixty years. We have a Prime Minister who is increasingly isolated from the real problems facing this nation and also seems out of touch with the concerns of his own supporters.
Given this, there is, in my opinion, only one honourable thing left for Gordon Brown to do and that is to call a general election immediately.
With unemployment rising inexorably towards three million, company insolvencies increasing and tens of thousands losing their homes, this country cannot afford to have a weak and indecisive leader of a tarnished government at this time of national crisis.
Whilst some in the Labour Party are arguing that all that is needed is a change at the top, I do not believe that this country would tolerate having another Prime Minister who had merely been picked by a political party rather than been tested through the ballot box.
Of course, if the voters believe that Gordon Brown’s management of the economy is sound, then he has nothing to fear and will be swept back into office on a wave of public support for his economic policies.
However, if he has lost the backing of the people of this country, as well as that of his own party, then the time has come for a new Government that can begin to change the UK’s fortunes for the better.
Either way is better than the current paralysis that is killing this country’s economy.
Still reeling from the widespread revelations that his own special advisor had been planning to smear leading members of the Conservative Party and their families, the Prime Minister was hit for six by a number of political defeats and personal criticisms.
First of all, he was embarrassed when, during a joint press conference, the Prime Minister of Poland chastised the UK Government for not controlling its debt and for its ineffective supervision of the banking sector. This followed an earlier criticism, this time from President Michelle Bachelet of Chile.
The South American leader said, during a visit by Gordon Brown last month, that his country was doing better than most because it had reduced its levels of debt during the boom years.
On arriving home, things did not get any better.
Having refused to back down over the highly emotive issue of settlement rights for those Gurkhas who had served this country brilliantly during the last fifty years, the Government was surprisingly defeated when MPs, including over twenty rebel Labour members, voted by 267 to 246 in favour of an opposition motion offering all Gurkhas equal right of residence in the UK.
The Prime Minister was then forced to abandon his reforms of MPs' expenses only five days after proposing, via YouTube, a controversial flat rate allowance for attending parliament to replace the current second home allowance.
Worst of all for the Labour Party, there were increasing signs of a growing civil war over its future direction.
Calls by Harriet Harman for colleagues to work together fell on deaf years as former home secretaries, in the form of David Blunkett and Charles Clarke, hit out, the former about a "void" within the heart of the Government and the latter stating he was "ashamed" of his own party.
Then at the end of the week, rumours began to circulate about a possible coup after the expected European election disaster, with some Labour MPs even talking openly about possible defection to the Liberal Democrats.
This disintegration of a government is a tragedy for this country as it is going through the worse recession for sixty years. We have a Prime Minister who is increasingly isolated from the real problems facing this nation and also seems out of touch with the concerns of his own supporters.
Given this, there is, in my opinion, only one honourable thing left for Gordon Brown to do and that is to call a general election immediately.
With unemployment rising inexorably towards three million, company insolvencies increasing and tens of thousands losing their homes, this country cannot afford to have a weak and indecisive leader of a tarnished government at this time of national crisis.
Whilst some in the Labour Party are arguing that all that is needed is a change at the top, I do not believe that this country would tolerate having another Prime Minister who had merely been picked by a political party rather than been tested through the ballot box.
Of course, if the voters believe that Gordon Brown’s management of the economy is sound, then he has nothing to fear and will be swept back into office on a wave of public support for his economic policies.
However, if he has lost the backing of the people of this country, as well as that of his own party, then the time has come for a new Government that can begin to change the UK’s fortunes for the better.
Either way is better than the current paralysis that is killing this country’s economy.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Making universities work to beat the recession
Whilst much of the focus has been on the negative aspects of the current recession and its impact on the business sector, it must not be forgotten that a strong knowledge base and the ability to exploit new technological and market opportunities are critical components in any plan to emerge successfully from the current economic crisis.
The higher education sector, in particular, has an important contribution to make to this process, especially as perception of universities as mere institutions of higher learning has, during the last decade, given way to a view that they are important engines of economic growth and development.
The key question is how programmes can be developed which create innovation-based strengths such as the ability to develop new products, access successfully new markets, apply new technology, incorporate best practice in the management of enterprises and develop skill levels across the full spectrum of the labour force, as these are what will lead to rapid economic recovery and, more importantly, sustained competitiveness.
It is generally agreed that one of the real policy challenges, not only in peripheral regions such as Wales, but across Europe, is how to create an indigenous knowledge-based sector that can create wealth and employment as found in areas such as Silicon Valley and around MIT in the USA. That is where universities have a vital role to play.
Some would argue that the university’s economic role should be limited to the creation of spin-offs and patents from academic research, especially as we hear stories about scientists creating hundreds of millions of pounds of income through the exploitation of a new technology. However, such stories, although inspirational, are few and far between.
Whilst not as glamorous as creating high technology firms, universities can play a valuable role in directly transferring both technological expertise and knowledge to local entrepreneurial ventures. Various studies have shown that consulting by academics and engineers can be the most versatile and cost-effective means of linking industry with the university sector.
This is because it is a relatively inexpensive, rapid and selective means of transferring information with few institutional tensions and it rarely involves extensive demands on university personnel and material resources. It is recognised as the most effective two-way channel between university and industry, often leading to other forms of co-operation. Academic scientists and engineers who engage in consulting acquire knowledge about the needs of industry and can therefore identify how these needs can be met by the university sector.
It is a win-win situation for both university and the business sector and it is not surprising that economic development agencies have created different vehicles to enable this to happen. The most successful programme of its type is ‘innovation vouchers’, a concept which began in Austria and which was recently recognised by the European Commission as one of the top ten “good practices” on how to make life easier for SMEs from all over Europe.
Its beauty is its simplicity – the innovation vouchers scheme is designed to help businesses to purchase academic expertise from universities to support innovation and business improvement. The voucher entitles businesses to purchase specialist consultancy up to a certain value, usually less than £5000. There is little bureaucracy as the voucher is easy to apply for, easy to spend and the costs to run it are relatively cheap.
Not surprisingly, other regional development agencies across Europe, including those in England, have adopted the scheme although it has yet to be implemented in Wales.
During the 1990s, I was director of a major transnational research project which examined links between universities and industry across seven European countries. Our conclusions at the time were that the key factor contributing to the success of the different initiatives was the acknowledgement and incorporation of mutually beneficial activities for all partners involved and an awareness of the economy in which they participate.
Often this isn’t easy because the evidence suggests that there this is due to a clash of two quite different organisational cultures. On one hand, the traditional culture within many academic institutions does not encourage the development of links with small-scale industry. On the other hand, there is a general reluctance by small firms to become involved in relationships with their local universities although large companies regularly access universities for external sources of technological expertise.
Clearly locally-based programmes such as innovation vouchers address this issue by enabling small companies to become comfortable with the knowledge and expertise that their local universities can offer them before potentially creating more in-depth relationships that can lead to substantial projects such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP).
Through working with small businesses that are desperate to grow and develop their technology and skill base, such programmes could enable the higher education sector to finally banish its image as a group of ivory towers that have little do with the business community.
More importantly, these initiatives, which bring the academic and the entrepreneur closer together, have the potential to maximise opportunities in enabling the university sector to support businesses and, more importantly, to assist them out of recession.
The higher education sector, in particular, has an important contribution to make to this process, especially as perception of universities as mere institutions of higher learning has, during the last decade, given way to a view that they are important engines of economic growth and development.
The key question is how programmes can be developed which create innovation-based strengths such as the ability to develop new products, access successfully new markets, apply new technology, incorporate best practice in the management of enterprises and develop skill levels across the full spectrum of the labour force, as these are what will lead to rapid economic recovery and, more importantly, sustained competitiveness.
It is generally agreed that one of the real policy challenges, not only in peripheral regions such as Wales, but across Europe, is how to create an indigenous knowledge-based sector that can create wealth and employment as found in areas such as Silicon Valley and around MIT in the USA. That is where universities have a vital role to play.
Some would argue that the university’s economic role should be limited to the creation of spin-offs and patents from academic research, especially as we hear stories about scientists creating hundreds of millions of pounds of income through the exploitation of a new technology. However, such stories, although inspirational, are few and far between.
Whilst not as glamorous as creating high technology firms, universities can play a valuable role in directly transferring both technological expertise and knowledge to local entrepreneurial ventures. Various studies have shown that consulting by academics and engineers can be the most versatile and cost-effective means of linking industry with the university sector.
This is because it is a relatively inexpensive, rapid and selective means of transferring information with few institutional tensions and it rarely involves extensive demands on university personnel and material resources. It is recognised as the most effective two-way channel between university and industry, often leading to other forms of co-operation. Academic scientists and engineers who engage in consulting acquire knowledge about the needs of industry and can therefore identify how these needs can be met by the university sector.
It is a win-win situation for both university and the business sector and it is not surprising that economic development agencies have created different vehicles to enable this to happen. The most successful programme of its type is ‘innovation vouchers’, a concept which began in Austria and which was recently recognised by the European Commission as one of the top ten “good practices” on how to make life easier for SMEs from all over Europe.
Its beauty is its simplicity – the innovation vouchers scheme is designed to help businesses to purchase academic expertise from universities to support innovation and business improvement. The voucher entitles businesses to purchase specialist consultancy up to a certain value, usually less than £5000. There is little bureaucracy as the voucher is easy to apply for, easy to spend and the costs to run it are relatively cheap.
Not surprisingly, other regional development agencies across Europe, including those in England, have adopted the scheme although it has yet to be implemented in Wales.
During the 1990s, I was director of a major transnational research project which examined links between universities and industry across seven European countries. Our conclusions at the time were that the key factor contributing to the success of the different initiatives was the acknowledgement and incorporation of mutually beneficial activities for all partners involved and an awareness of the economy in which they participate.
Often this isn’t easy because the evidence suggests that there this is due to a clash of two quite different organisational cultures. On one hand, the traditional culture within many academic institutions does not encourage the development of links with small-scale industry. On the other hand, there is a general reluctance by small firms to become involved in relationships with their local universities although large companies regularly access universities for external sources of technological expertise.
Clearly locally-based programmes such as innovation vouchers address this issue by enabling small companies to become comfortable with the knowledge and expertise that their local universities can offer them before potentially creating more in-depth relationships that can lead to substantial projects such as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP).
Through working with small businesses that are desperate to grow and develop their technology and skill base, such programmes could enable the higher education sector to finally banish its image as a group of ivory towers that have little do with the business community.
More importantly, these initiatives, which bring the academic and the entrepreneur closer together, have the potential to maximise opportunities in enabling the university sector to support businesses and, more importantly, to assist them out of recession.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)