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COMMUNITIES FIRST, BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAMME NEXT?

The National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee has condemned a "chronic and long lasting failure" by the £214 million Communities First initiative and that it is failing to deliver value for money for our most deprived communities.

This is hardly news to those of us who have been commenting on the deteriorating state of this programme for a number of years.

As I said back in July 2007,

"the programme has been accused of adopting a top down approach that has largely focused on the administration of the programme and becoming yet another bureaucratic jungle for individuals and communities to navigate through. Such organisational and operational problems have culminated in the scandalous position of £6 million of Communities First funds allocated to our poorest communities being returned unspent to the Assembly Government last year (2006)".

One can only forlornly hope that WAG takes this report seriously and addresses the main concerns of Assembly Members so that the funding to help our poorest communities goes to the right people and the right projects.

However, given the state of the Welsh economy, the more pertinent question is when are we going to have a formal inquiry into the Government's main business support programme which had only spent 22 per cent of its budget six months into the current financial year?

There are certainly questions over value for money as Wales spends more per head on economic development than any other part of the UK and yet remains rooted to the bottom of the regional prosperity league table.

According to a report from the IWA, the spend in the current financial year is estimated at £107 per head in Wales with the RDA for the North East of England, One North East, second at £97. In Scotland, it is put at £76.

Bottom of the spend league table is the South East England Development Agency at just £20.

Clearly, the time has come for the Public Accounts Committee to turn its laser focus onto the business support system in Wales.

There are some serious questions to ask as to the lack of leadership within the department, why we are spending more than any other part of the UK on supporting businesses through an increasingly bureaucratic programme that is seemingly having little effect on the Welsh economy, and why process has taken over from outputs.

Comments

Anonymous said…
This needs to be addressed and addressed now
No more excuses just sort it and if they want a structure they can give me a ring !
February 23, 2010 5:30 pm
Professor Dylan Jones-Evans said…
Maybe they should.

If business support is seriously underspent as of the end of next month, then I fully expect the Public Accounts Committee to launch a full investigation.

If the money is there to support businesses, then use it, especially at a time of recession when banks are more interested in building up their balance sheets than lending to small firms.
February 23, 2010 7:09 pm
mccymru said…
Lets face the fact that politicians and civil servants are risk averse as failure results in media fallout. So it is better to make no decision rather than a bad one.

So take the decision making away from the centre and give the money to a proxy such as Finance Wales, preferably as a Co-op, with regional centres, and let them decide what is worth a risk. Widen the remit to allow investments not just in equity but individuals for example for training or in social infrastructure. Look for a return on capital in the long term.

Above all let mistakes be tolerated and losses to be expected. Access to capital is one of the legs of success.
February 23, 2010 11:57 pm
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