PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

Last week, the public sector borrowing requirement for the UK was announced at a record £15 billion for September. On the same day, and seemingly oblivious to this news, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) announced that £120 million of taxpayers’ money was being spent on a number of public sector projects across the nation. Certainly, one cannot argue with funding of £8 million for a new children’s hospital for Wales, although why WAG has waited so long to support this critical project remains a mystery. However, one has to question whether, at a time when we should be doing everything to bolster our economy, any of the other projects receiving public money will really help to deal with worst recession since the Second World War? Is it really a priority for WAG to back projects such as £35 million for the Ebbw Vale Learning Works (which includes a sports, leisure and arts centre); £15 million on an arts and science centre at Bangor University; £3.5 million for the Glyn Vivian Art Gall...

Tonight, we celebrate the best of Welsh business at the annual Fast Growth 50 award dinner, which will be attended by 400 entrepreneurs and supporters. The official results will come out next Wednesday in the Western Mail and the Daily Post and I am pleased to say that there will be some real positive surprises in store for the Welsh economy. In the meantime, the Western Mail has published a taster of the results which, in the middle of a recession, are more important than ever as a sign of the entrepreneurial potential that could take us out of the economic downturn.

A very pertinent article appeared on BBC business on Monday which questioned the sectoral approach that many regional development agencies have undertaken to attract high technology jobs to a region. As a result, expanding businesses in other sectors were being excluded from support. Interestingly, the article also referred to the situation in Wales and suggested that the Welsh Assembly Government is using both domestic and European Union funding to build new business parks, even when existing developments are at best half-full, and at worst, completely empty. It quoted the example of the Bryn Cegin business park on the outskirts of Bangor that has received £9.5m of public subsidy and yet remains empty. According to a local chartered surveyor, "local businesses think it's a waste of money because it's empty ever since it was built and they think it's a waste of money because it's not for them". The article also refers to the situation 20 miles away in Holyhe...

Finally, some good news on the business rates front , especially after the thousands of words I have written on the subject over the last month. As I had predicted on Saturday , the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) has followed England and reduced the multiplier which helps to calculate business rates. However, this will still mean that 40,000 businesses across Wales are still facing an increase in their bills next April at a time when they need every penny they can get. Therefore, there is still much that needs to be done to deal with these higher bills and I remain concerned that the Assembly still denies that it does not have the power to delay the property revaluation exercise, which runs every five years, and so help those small firms which are facing increases in their rates. There is simply no reason why, under the powers it has through the Local Government Act, why it could not suspend the payments by companies which are being hit hard by the revaluation exercise for at least o...

Whilst I have had my suspicions, I had always wondered whether Pro-Act had been geared towards large firms or small firms. Finally, we have the answer, that to a roundabout reply given by John Griffiths to a written question from David Melding. According to the Deputy Minister, “a total of £5.7m has been committed to companies in Wales with under 250 employees. This is around 63% of the total companies who have been approved for ProAct and 32% of the funding.” In other words, 68 per cent of the funding allocated under Pro-Act has gone to companies employing more than 250 people i.e. over £12 million has gone to large firms - most of whom can afford to pay for the training themselves. Indeed, Corus has received £1.1. million to train workers which it admitted were not under threat of redundancy . Therefore, large firms in Wales have received over twice as much support as SMEs (small to medium enterprises) under the Assembly’s ‘flagship’ programme against the recession. Compare this wit...

The Times reports on the highly embarrassing situation regarding the Wales Rally. "The future of the rally — a fixture in the World Rally Championship for 65 years — was in doubt after the Welsh Assembly decided to pull out of its five-year contract to base the event in Cardiff. The decision was said to have cost the rally more than £2 million in sponsorship cash this year, forcing the MSA to step in with a financial package to ensure the race went ahead. But the rift was visible to spectators as banners were stripped of the former Wales Rally GB title and replaced with the simple Rally GB name. "Negotiations produced a face-saving deal for the Welsh authorities, which means the rally will be back in Cardiff next year. But that will be the last, with hopes high that it will find a new and more adventurous home in the North East. A delegation of authorities from Newcastle travelled to Cardiff on a fact-finding mission yesterday and they are understood to be keen to launch a n...

Last week, I wrote about the issue of revaluation and how it will hit many small businesses hard next year. Given that this is an issue that affects every part of Wales, I am astounded at how, despite eight economic summits, it has been ignored by the Welsh Assembly Government. In the middle of a recession, government should be reducing the financial burden on small firms, and an increase in business rates through revaluation is the last thing that the Welsh economy needs at this time. So what can be done? First of all, WAG could follow the lead shown by the Northern Ireland Executive and look to postpone the revaluation exercise for 12 months until the economy picks up again. This should be possible as all powers for business rates contained within the 1998 Local Government Act were transferred to Welsh ministers in 2006. So WAG should, according to the terms of the Act, be able to “include such supplementary, incidental, consequential or transitional provisions as appear to be neces...

On one of my favourite blogs, Mike Smithson of 'political betting' posed the question whether "officially moving out of recession would turn the tide for Labour". Unfortunately for Labour and for the UK as a whole, our economy contracted by 0.4% between July and September and it is the first time UK gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted for six consecutive quarters, since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955. And what is the Assembly Government doing? Well apart from the usual mantra about how ProAct is saving the Welsh economy, it would seem that there is total confusion about economic policy in Wales? For example, when 900 jobs are threatened at Bosch, what does Ieuan Wyn Jones do? He announces that "there had to be a radical shift from offering large grants to multi-national companies." All well and good but if that is the case, why did we then get the statement yesterday that " The First Minister and Deputy First Minister met Bos...

At the risk of being accused of being too 'Daily Mail' again with the title and posting, I thought it was worth highlighting this story about how International Business Wales (IBW) has been helping our very own undefeated Joe Calzaghe with his unique training system - the Calzaghe Counter-Punch-developed by the Newbridge boxer and his former coach Kevin Davies. According to the story from Reuters - which has yet to be picked up properly in the Welsh press - the invitation for a private preview was extended to Sugar Ray (who has a range of business interests in the USA) after he read about the Counter-Punch and wanted to size up its commercial potential in his home market. The Counter-Punch has already been widely recognized by the boxing fraternity in the UK as a leading fitness and boxing training system. Joe is promoting the equipment as a unique conditioning and cardio-workout system and is currently working with the IBW team to raise its profile overseas. This is a great st...

Good to know that WAG Ministers have got their priorities right during the worst recession since the Second World War. Today, the Finance Minister Andrew Davies announced £15 million of taxpayers funding for the arts and innovation centre at Bangor University which, according to the marketing blurb , " will include a replacement nightclub and Students’ Union for the University ". So there we have it. With 130,000 unemployed in Wales, WAG has decided to give millions of pounds of public funds for a nightclub in Bangor. You couldn't make it up even if you tried.

Could anyone believe that politicians, during the middle of the worst recession since the Second World War, would have the audacity to impose a tax increase on businesses across Wales? Yet, it would seem this is what has happened over the past couple of weeks, as 100,000 Welsh businesses have received notification from the Valuation Office Agency, an executive agency of HM Revenue & Customs, of the new rateable value of their business property . As a result of this change, many will be facing crippling increases in their business rates bills at a time when they can least afford it. This is because, every five years, the VOA carries out a revaluation of all rateable values in England and Wales, and the next one is due to come into effect on April 1, 2010. While this year’s business rates are based on valuations of 2003 property prices, business rates for next year will be based on an assessment of property values on April 1, 2008, and, as we all know, there was a boom in property pr...

Earlier this week, Glenn Massey produced his report into the performance of International Business Wales (IBW). This, of course, is quite separate to the forensic examination carried out by KPMG on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government into the expenditure of its international division. Rather than rushing to judgement, as most politicians did last week, I have taken time to read the Massey review , and perhaps if others had done the same, their comments would have been more tempered, especially towards hard working staff who were operating within the constraints imposed by politicians. Key points emerge from the report which shed some light on the approach that has been taken under two Economic Development Ministers – Andrew Davies and Ieuan Wyn Jones – towards foreign direct investment (FDI). The first, and probably the most important point is that staffing in IBW has been reduced from about 200 to 137 since 2005 – a cut of 32 per cent. Thirteen staff have been lost at the ‘frontli...

Having left Cardiff first thing this morning for various meetings in London, I haven't had the chance to catch up with any news until about half an hour ago. Of course, the biggest story of the day, at least for me, is that of rising unemployment in Wales, which has risen more than any other region for June-August 2009 . The headline data is that there are now 130,000 unemployed people in Wales, a rise of 24,000 on Mar-May 2009. This rise accounts for 29 per cent of the increase in unemployment across the UK and means that 45,000 more people are out of work as compared to a year ago – a rise of 53.1 per cent. Will it continue to rise? Probably, because figure this doesn’t even include the recent losses at Anglesey Aluminium, for example. Only a few months ago, we had government politicians lining up to claim that unemployment was falling in Wales and there was nothing to worry about because ProAct was the solution to all this country’s ills. As this blog has argued time and time ag...

A report came out yesterday which warned that a generation of young people face being left on the jobs "scrapheap ". Therefore, at a time when youth unemployment has risen to its highest levels for a couple of decades, why has the Welsh Assembly Government agreed with the European Commission to move 41 million euros of Convergence funding from supporting young people to pay for its ProAct Scheme? We know that at least a million pounds has gone to a large company that didn't even want the money in the first place? How much more has just gone to firms that basically didn't need it when it could have been spent on getting young people in education or training? Couldn't 41 million euros be buying extra university places, college courses and apprenticeships for the thousands of young people who have little or no future in Wales? Yet another example of how WAG simply haven't got a clue about real economic priorities and, worst still, how the Welsh press simply isn...

Having been stuck in meetings most of the day, I have only just read that Patrick Hannan passed away over the weekend . Betsan Powys gives an excellent eulogy to one of the foremost Welsh political commentators , and I can't do justice in the same way as one of his colleagues. Indeed, to give a measure of the man himself, read the piece he wrote recently to celebrate Cardiff University's 125th Anniversary. Nevertheless, I would like to say that Patrick always greeted me with friendship, even though mine was a passing acquaintance, and always had something thought provoking to say about the events of the day. A gentleman, scholar, and a voice of reason who shall be missed on our airwaves.

An announcement has been made that Gordon Brown is to give details of an initial round of sales of government assets that could raise £3 billion - including the Tote, the Dartford crossing, the channel tunnel rail link, and the Student Loan book. This forms part of plans to sell a ''portfolio of non-financial assets'' held by Whitehall and local authorities for some £16 billion. As we are in a very depressed market place, I doubt if the public will get the right price for these assets and the vultures will already be circling for a bargain. You also have to consider the Prime Minister's previous record regarding the disposal of other assets, such as gold, which is reputed to have cost the taxpayer billions of pounds . More like Steptoe and Son rather than a considered decision on the nation's financial future.

Cardiff Blogger has a great clip on how someone totally deserving got their come uppance by picking a fight with a black belt. Difficult to top that, but I think I have done it with the clip of the two yobs in Swansea who picked on a pair of drag queens and got a shock when the men turned out to be cagefighters out on a fancy dress stag night. Enjoy!

The post on Tuesday seems to have ignited some comments about the differences between North and South Wales. If those who have commented read the post carefully again, the aim of the article was to ask for fair play for those counties which have not received their fair share of European funding and to highlight the differences in European funding across the nation. I raised the same issue two and a half years ago at the beginning of the current round of Convergence Funding, when I wrote a detailed analysis of how the previous round of Objective 1 spending had been distributed during the period 2000-2006. It showed that instead of ensuring that all parts of West Wales and the Valleys fully benefits from European Structural Funding, the process has been more of a lottery with very little effort to ensure that funds are distributed equitably across the poorest regions of Wales. Due to the absence of any strategic allocations, the process became one of ‘first come first served’ which did n...

Yesterday, I drove over the Severn Bridge to attend the annual AURIL Conference in Bristol. AURIL - the Association for University Research and Industry Links - is the membership organisation for those within the university sector which are responsible for the so-called 'third mission' i.e. creating links with businesses and the wider world. It was well-organised event and the presentations were excellent, most notably the paper from Professor Alan Hughes of Cambridge University which provided some critical insights on how the relationship between government and industry should be managed. Hopefully, we can Professor Hughes over here soon to present his findings to Welsh politicians and policymakers. It was timely event to attend, following the report of the Assembly's Enterprise and Learning Committee into the Economic Contribution of Higher Education in Wales , which was launched at the University of Wales Newport on Wednesday. This was an excellent report, filled full of...

Many will have read about the announcement yesterday that Corus/Tata will be receiving over a million pounds from the Welsh Assembly Government under the ProAct scheme . What on earth is going on? Both WAG and Corus have essentially admitted that they are stretching the criteria by which the company qualifies for the funding, especially as the money will pay for training for workers in jobs that are not under threat. As a limited fund, every pound that is given to a large firm under Pro-Act means one pound less to a small firm. Therefore why give the money to a large multinational company that doesn’t qualify for the scheme and, more importantly, has recently received a £500 million loan from various banks? So far, ProAct has spent £17.3 million on helping 129 companies in Wales. How many of those supported were large firms who just took the money because it was available and how many were small firms in serious financial difficulties? How many more large firms have been treated ‘flex...

I have just caught up on the speech by David Cameron at the Conservative conference in Manchester this afternoon. From first reactions, the speech was well-received, steady but not spectacular, and should finally lay to rest the issue of what the Conservative Party stands for. Naturally, I am exceptionally pleased that David made his support for the UK's entrepreneurs absolutely clear as they will be the ones who lead this country out of recession, as they have done during the last two downturns in the 1980s and 1990s. They will need every backing they can get and I am sure that every potential and existing entrepreneur will take heart from his speech, as shown below.

Three weeks ago, this column pointed out that Anglesey remains the poorest county in the whole of the UK and suggested that the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) should adopt an exceptional approach in dealing with such an exceptional situation. I went on to propose that £100 million of European funds should be given to Anglesey over the next five years and that WAG should match that directly from its economic development budget. Since then, I am glad that the local authority has taken up this call for ‘special status’ for the island and has directly approached WAG for financial aid. Given this situation, many on the island would have been astounded that, on the same day that Anglesey Aluminium closed its doors, WAG was providing tens of millions of pounds for regeneration in another part of Wales. Last Wednesday, a £38 million project to transform and revitalise Swansea's city centre and its waterfront was approved for funding by the Assembly. This follows the approval for other Eur...

Sir James Dyson, one of the UK's most successful innovative entrepreneurs, has been appointed the Conservative Party's new 'technology tsar' and has called for better support for scientists and engineers. Sir James told the Conservative conference in Manchester that scientists needed better financial support and a change in culture to encourage science and technology. He went on to say that: "For every engineer trained in Britain, China trained 22 and Iran and the Philippines produced twice as many as Britain. Britain has 58,000 engineering vacancies but produces just 20,000 engineering graduates every year. What do we do? We close down engineering faculties - over 40 in the past decade". Readers of this blog and my various newspaper articles will know that I have constantly and consistently called for greater support for science and technology. It is great news that there is finally someone like Sir James Dyson who will hopefully get this message across to mi...

A few weeks ago, I posted on the economic problems of Anglesey and the fact that the island is currently the poorest county in the whole of the UK. Given such an exceptional situation, there needs to be an exceptional approach. Other bloggers, notably Alwyn ap Huw and A Change of Personnel have also taken up the call. I will be making a further impassioned plea in my column in the Daily Post on Monday and demonstrate that there has been a total failure by WAG to provide the right level of resources to support the development of the poorest part of Wales with funding being directed to other more prosperous regions. As a result, it is not surprising that the local authority is now making the case for “special status” to be accorded to the island so that it can benefit from additional funding in the way that the South Wales Valleys did after the coal and steel closures. In the absence of any support from WAG, the best hope for the island seems to be the energy strategy of the UK Governme...

According to this week's Times Higher , Cardiff University has just imposed a new policy on the use of alcohol and drugs which states that "Individuals are reminded that they should not behave outside work in a way that might bring the university into disrepute and bring into question suitability for the particular role held." Fair enough, but it then goes on to state that not only is drinking at work is forbidden but, unbelievably "employees' homes will be considered part of the workplace when they work there". There remains a ray of sunshine for those who imbibe as "alcohol consumption is allowed on university premises only on specific named events, such as the last working day before Christmas and "retirement recognition". However, the catch is that "prior approval must be obtained, and staff must not return to work afterwards". Similarly, staff need "express permission to drink at lunch-time events; those who do may not retu...

Despite the recession there are still a significant number of companies in Wales driving profitability and market share. That is the message from the 11th Wales Fast Growth 50 list, the barometer of the state of the entrepreneurial sector in Wales. The full results will be published in a Western Mail supplement, sponsored by the University of Wales Global Academy, on November 4th. During the past decade, the Fast Growth 50 project has become the list to which every growing Welsh firm aspires to. Since the project was started in 1999, 317 firms have appeared on the ten lists published in the Western Mail, creating more than 15,000 jobs and generating £3.8 billion of turnover into the Welsh economy, much of which is spent on local goods and services. To qualify for the Fast Growth 50 2009 competition, firms should be independent and privately held, have had sales of at least £250,000 in 2006 and be based in Wales. Rankings are based on percentage growth of revenues from 2006 to 2008 and,...