I believe there was a general expectation by those in power that the ERP would simply be implemented without any discussion amongst the wider business community in Wales.
At the time of the launch, the CBI were “in the bag”, the FSB was largely silent on the ERP, the mainstream press was ready to go along with WAG’s press office on this matter and opposition politicians were simply not prepared to put their heads over the parapet and challenge this poor excuse for an economic strategy.
In that atmosphere, this blog began what some opponents tried to describe as a fruitless campaign to demonstrate where the ERP had flaws. It has faced down a group of senior managers within the Department of Economy and Transport (DET) that have been ready to do anything to stop criticisms of their precious plan.
They have obsessed about what has been written on this blog and in my various columns in the Western Mail to the extent that, during one period in July and August, someone from a WAG computer was logging in every two minutes to see what was being written in the commentary section of various blog entries (more details later this month when I have finished compiling the statcounter logs).
Of course, whether they have crossed the line of political impartiality as civil servants is a matter for another day.
Thanks largely to the Welsh blogosphere, a real debate has emerged about the Economic Renewal Programme and its potential impact on the Welsh economy. Non-aligned blogs such as “Valleys Mam” and “A Change of Personnel” have been instrumental in creating a wider forum in which government economic policy can be debated, a forum that should have been in place elsewhere.
As a result of this wider debate and the constant commenting by those out in the real world on this blog and others, some Assembly Members finally begun to question the direction of travel of the ERP.
The FSB woke from its stupor and became openly critical of the strategy and its effect on small firms in Wales and finally, we had the Enterprise and Learning Committee order an inquiry into the whole programme.
Its recommendations, published last week, make interesting reading, and are not too dissimilar to what this blog has been saying since July 5th 2010:
- Recommendation 1 - We recommend that the Welsh Assembly Government should now more properly engage stakeholders in the implementation of its Economic Renewal Programme and should publicise and market its new arrangements for future business support quickly and effectively, particularly in the context of this current economic climate.
- Recommendation 2 - We recommend that in the short term the Welsh Assembly Government should consider providing tapered funding to reduce the level of grant support available as projects and businesses mature.
- Recommendation 3 - We recommend that in implementing its Economic Renewal Programme the Welsh Assembly Government should place a stronger emphasis on encouraging innovation and commercialisation of research into marketable products and should set targets for the percentage of Gross Value Added that will be generated by research and development.
- Recommendation 4 - We recommend that in order to identify and nurture young entrepreneurs the Welsh Assembly Government should channel resources into schemes for encouraging more productive collaborations between higher and further education institutions and commercial advisers, for example, establishing a boot camp for apprentices.
- Recommendation 5 - We recommend that Welsh Ministers should consider the merits of establishing a bond market for the Welsh economy. We also recommend that Welsh Ministers should consider establishing a business community bank in Wales that would be specifically aimed at turning innovation into commercialisation, rather than focused solely on generating financial returns.
- Recommendation 6 - We recommend that the Welsh Assembly Government should clarify and communicate to the sector how it will be helping Welsh businesses export into new markets abroad, and conversely, how it will attract and brand inward investment.
- Recommendation 7 - We recommend that Welsh Ministers should consider public/private partnerships such as those developed by the South West Regional Development Agency and by the UTOPIA network in the USA as a means of providing a next generation broadband network for the whole of Wales, and should undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the various approaches before deciding on a way forward.
- Recommendation 8 - We recommend that the proposed Wales Infrastructure Plan should adopt a long-term planning horizon to integrate economic policies with those for transport and energy and with the Wales Spatial Plan; that it should include funding mechanisms, milestones and timescales for delivery; and should be subject to early and meaningful engagement with stakeholders.
- Recommendation 9 - We recommend that the Welsh Assembly Government should consider restructuring the Manufacturing Forum to work closely with the proposed sector panels in ensuring there are tools and techniques in place for analysing data and trends and making informed decisions about the future, without any duplication of work.
- Recommendation 10 - We recommend the Welsh Assembly Government should be more active in fostering better engagement between employers, education institutions and the sector skills councils on identifying which skills are needed to drive the Welsh economy forward and aligning courses and curricula accordingly.
- Recommendation 11 - We note the change in name of the Business Partnership Council to the Council for Economic Renewal and we recommend that Welsh Ministers should now consider a re-energised, re-focused and more effective role for the Council, with dedicated senior level support, in working with the sector panels and holding the Welsh Assembly Government to account in delivering sustainable economic development throughout all its departments.
- Recommendation 12 - We recommend that quantifiable targets and measures should be developed with the sector panels as part of a more dynamic performance management framework for regularly monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of the Economic Renewal Programme. We also recommend that the Welsh Assembly Government should regularly publish, at least once a year, a detailed assessment of its progress against the targets and measures.
- Recommendation 13 - We recommend that Welsh Ministers clarify the status of, and relationship between, the internal review and external evaluation of the Technium network, and how the outcomes of those reviews will be taken forward.
- Recommendation 14 - We recommend that the Welsh Assembly Government should plan for the next 20 years at least in developing its economic policies, and that its various programmes, such as Economic Renewal, EU Structural Funds and Work-Based Learning, should all be aligned to achieve a shared vision for a sustainable future economy
I still believe that the whole of the ERP should still go out for full consultation now it has been published. In fact, I am convinced that, in not doing so, WAG has broken the spirit, if not the actual, law regarding any business scheme i.e. that they must consult fully with the business community.
However, the main issue regarding this whole economic strategy remains unresolved. What I have maintained throughout the last five months is that it is clear to everyone in Wales that the senior management team within the Department of Economy and Transport simply isn’t up to the job of transforming the Welsh economy.
We have had their previous Minister suggest this on a number of occasions, we have had an independent report from internal auditors that damned the way the department was being run and now we have the Enterprise and Learning Committee state, quite unequivocally, that they are
“still unclear, however, as to how delivery of the Economic Renewal Programme will be any different if the Welsh Government’s senior management team will essentially remain the same, albeit within yet another new departmental structure.”
Is this the last word on the Economic Renewal Programme?
Probably not as I myself have one more substantive article to write on why I believe that there needs to be a major change within the Department of Economy and Transport if the Minister is ever to be taken seriously again by the business community in Wales.
Until then, I would hope that the Minister examines all the evidence before him from the Enterprise and Learning Committee and considers whether his organisation is truly fit for purpose and has the right people in place to take Wales forward out of recession.
