AGREEING WITH ADAM PRICE

It's not often that Adam Price and I agree on economic matters. However, there is little to argue with much of his latest blog posting, in which he states that

"if Wales is to derive real long-term economic benefit from the pendulum swing back to manufacturing then we need to see investment in the kind of business-facing R&D facilities which the Germans, the French and the Danes have in droves. That’s why it was disappointing to hear the UK Government announce this week that the three new Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Councils’ Manufacturing Research Centres were going to be in Southampton (photonics), Loughborough (regenerative medicine) and Brunel (liquid metals). This follows on from the previous EPSRC Innovation and Knowledge Centres which were in Cambridge (photonics again – a sector in which Wales has considerable industrial expertise); Leeds (regenerative therapy); Cranford (surface engineering) and Belfast (IT). Wales has never had its fair share of UK R&D money or jobs. In the event of a hung parliament, we should demand that this appalling record of under-investment in Wales’ R&D base is reversed. A major Government Research Establishment should be moved here – or the National Science Academy to be set up under the One Wales Agreement should be funded partly by Central Government".

This decision on the location of manufacturing research centres is yet another kick in the teeth for the Welsh science base, especially given the logical conclusion that their presence would only boost higher value added manufacturing within a region.

However, this is not an isolated incident and follows the announcement in 2008 by the UK Government in which they pledged £250 million of funding for 44 Ph.D training centres in science and engineering, not one of which was based in Wales.

Adam's main point, on government research establishments, is one which I wrote about back in April 2006:

"Another key factor in the development of a strong knowledge based economy is the £2 billion that Government itself spends on R&D annually, although only 2% of this is spent in Wales. In contrast, three regions - London, the South East and the East of England - account for nearly 60% of all government expenditure in this area. In my opinion, it cannot be right that the most prosperous areas of the UK are benefiting from what is essentially a form of government grant".

"If the Secretary of State for Wales can encourage various civil service functions to be moved out of London into Wales, then there is no reason why he cannot use his astute political and persuasive skills to ensure that a large proportion of the £1.1 billion spent annually by the UK Government within its three richest regions is redistributed elsewhere, preferably to Wales

"Urgent steps need to be taken by our politicians - at Cardiff Bay and Westminster - to ensure that increased investment is generated within these sectors. Without such increased investment, Wales will find it difficult to transform itself into the knowledge base economy that is vital for our future prosperity".

Unfortunately, the latest statistics are only available for 2007 and they show that Wales remains with only 2 per cent of Government R&D. The majority of government R&D carried out in the UK remains concentrated within the most prosperous regions.

If this funding was 'Barnettised', then it would mean that an additional £70 million would be spent on R&D in Wales but, more importantly, it would act as a magnet for high value businesses.

I can only hope that the next government will look at this issue carefully, especially in considering whether funding can be transferred into Wales to support one of the four key sectors - low carbon, digital economy, advanced manufacturing and biosciences - identified by WAG. We then may not even need a Hung Parliament to make it happen.

Anyway, it is at least something that Adam and I can agree on.

As our politics are somewhat different, I can only put it down to the influence of the innovation academics, such as Kevin Morgan and Phil Cooke, that we both worked with at Cardiff University.