GOING FOR GROWTH!

Small businesses are vital for our economy, they form the backbone of our economy and they are vital in terms of spreading economic growth beyond the cities and into our smaller towns like Abergavenny, Chepstow, Caldicot, Monmouth and Usk. If we want our small towns across Wales to be thriving, then we have to support small businesses. Business rates are a burden – they account for a far greater proportion of operating costs for a small business than they do for large businesses.

A Plaid Cymru government would extend the rate relief scheme that we implemented in Government so that it covers all businesses whose rateable value is £15,000 or less.  Some 83,000 businesses would see a reduction in their business rates as a result and more than 70,000 businesses across Wales would be taken out of the rates system altogether - this would cost £35 million.

Plaid would raise the money, which would go towards paying for this, by mirroring the business rates system, as it currently exists in England where large businesses pay more than small businesses. While larger businesses would pay more, they would still pay less in Wales than they would across the border. The extra money raised through the increased bill for large businesses would raise more than enough to cut bills for small businesses

SAVING OUR TOWN CENTRES

Plaid Cymru has long championed the importance of local economies when it comes to generating national wealth. Every £1 spent in a local business selling local produce is worth twice as much to the economy as £1 spent in a supermarket, due to local reinvestment and spending. As noted by the Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England, every £10 pound spent in a local business circulates at least three times before it leaves the local economy rather than vanishing when spent in the branches of chains. 

Jill Evans MEP, Plaids lead European candidate

Jill Evans MEP, The Party of Wales’ lead European candidate said:

"The importance of town centres is often underestimated. They have been allowed to wilt under successive governments in both Westminster and Cardiff and it’s time the Welsh Government produced a strategy to turn the situation around.

"Plaid Cymru has called for the business rates system to be completely reformed, levelling the playing field for small town centre businesses to compete with large out-of-town retail parks.

"In terms of business rates, Wales is the most expensive country in the UK for small businesses and the cheapest country for large multinationals.

"The system is clearly wrong and a Plaid Cymru government would make levelling the playing field a priority.

"We can’t turn the clock back, though, so we will need different models of town centres for a best-fit approach. This will involve a range of local strategies to create new stores and more pleasant places to shop so that we can increase the number of customers and people using those centres.

"We need the Welsh Government to produce a much more comprehensive plan to take on that challenge and lift town centres back to their rightful place as economically vibrant community hubs."

It is vital to ensure more people have the opportunity to economically support their local town centres across Wales, so we making them the vibrant heart of the community they once were. Over the last 30 years in Monmouth constituency (and elsewhere) we have all seen the damaging economic and social effects of bad short sighted questionable planning decisions on our small towns. The Welsh Government needs to actively support our town centres and create a more level playing field for small to medium sized local businesses. 

Our town centres should be the economic heart of our communities, generating local wealth and jobs for our people. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have noted that the UK loses 2,000 local shops every year and that of this rate of loss continues then there will be significantly fewer independent retailers left in business. This is something that will seriously hit both consumers and our communities hard as they lose any real choice in the marketplace and lose potential job opportunities.

A BANK FOR WALES

The call from Plaid for a new business bank for Wales to help small and medium sized businesses grow to reach their potential is a welcome one. At present many of our small and medium sized enterprises are  being denied credit by banks and this is stifling potential economic growth and the expansion of the private sector in Wales. Plaid’s economic commission is to investigate proposals for a Bank of Wales, to potentially run in the same way that the Sparkasse and Landesbanken (in Germany) which operate on a strictly regional basis to support local industries.

As noted elsewhere by the oggybloggyogwr; Germany has a unique network of state-owned, federal state-based (Länder) banks called Landesbanken. They offer a mix of commercial and private banking services and employ tens of thousands of people across Germany. They're primarily a source of credit and bonds for both public sector and private companies within their respective states. So the "big bank money" tends to be cycled within the state. That's probably one reason why economic disparities between regions aren't as pronounced within parts of the former West Germany as they are in a unitary state like the UK or France. 

Now to be brutally honest none of this is not a particularly new or radical idea, but, it may be a timely one, historically we once had a network of local banks focused on the drovers who moved livestock to sell in the larger export market. These were killed off as through the last quarter of the nineteenth and most of the twentieth century’s financial services were increasingly amalgamated, centralised and  standardised in London. The process did little for local entrepreneurs, business people and (certainly latterly) has done little for ordinary bank customers as banks have been increasingly run to serve their own needs rather than those of the people.

Alun Ffred Jones AM, Plaid Shadow Economy minister said:

“Plaid Cymru is ambitious for Wales – we want to see more business and economic growth throughout the country, creating jobs and improving skills.

“However, what I hear from businesses up and down Wales, and supported by surveys from the FSB and other business representatives, is that small businesses are still finding it difficult to get funding to help with their cashflow and to develop their future growth plans.

“It isn’t a problem which is unique to Wales, and the problem is commonly recognised, but the various credit proposals from Westminster haven’t provided the solution.

“In fact, all too often, we hear stories from business owners that have had to use their credit card to finance their growth plans because distant banks are cutting back on capital and unwilling to commit to plans to improve Wales.

“Private sector growth is vital to our economic recovery.

“Wales therefore needs to have a bank which operates on similar lines to the German Sparkasse and Landesbanken that operate on a geographical basis, developing special expertise in the local industries so that they are better equipped to make investment decisions.

“The Bank of Wales name was bought up by the Bank of Scotland and merged out of existence. It would be good if we could have that name back to use to benefit Wales, rather than it being left in a drawer, and being no good to anybody.

“Plaid Cymru’s economic commission will be investigating how we can make the banking system work better for Welsh business.”

During it’s relatively short life, what was known in some circles (to the intense irritation of Labour in Wales representatives) as the Plaid driven One Wales Government made significant efforts to act differently when it came to economic development and support for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs can and should play a significant role at the heart of our communities; they create wealth and sustainable medium to long term employment opportunities for local people.

Sadly since May 2011 the Labour in Wales minority government appears to have resurrected the old brain dead Welsh office model of economic development. Attracting branch factory operations of a relative short term duration does not help develop our economy. More than ever we really do need to think differently and focus economic development priorities on smaller local businesses who will be rooted in our communities and offer more flexible employment opportunities.

As has been noted elsewhere profits and investments made by home grown locally rooted businesses tend to stay within the communities where they are based. So Plaid’s concept of new Bank of Wales business bank to help small and medium sized businesses should be warmly welcomed, as this is one realistic way of putting wealth into our communities, not to mention developing and sustaining longer term employment possibilities.

LIVING IN THE NOW?

The 2011 Census results have attracted plenty of interest; one interpretation is the confirmation that Wales is a resource rich country with a poor people. This is something that even unionist opponents of independence would do well to recognise, along with the acknowledgement that we are not predetermined (or doomed) to be poor. Historically our natural resources were largely been exploited by others for the benefit of others. There were scant benefits for the great majority of the Welsh people beyond low pay and dangerous employment in the extractive or manufacturing processes.

Following the almost wilful destruction of the heavier industries, the Welsh Office and then the National Assembly pursued a policy of blindly throwing vast sums of public money towards attracting external industry to Wales by providing relatively cheap labour. This largely short policy known as 'inward investment' by and large failed to secure long term employment or grow small to medium sized indigenous enterprises, which are the key to sustainable prosperity.

I for one am pretty tired of seeing the same old recycled old WDA press release in the Western Mail / Daily Post going on about how this or that development will create 6,000 jobs (again). The Government in Cardiff (even with relatively limited powers and an even more limited imagination) reacted far too slowly to the emerging challenges from Eastern Europe and more distant competitors.

We in Wales have paid the price for that inbuilt smug complacency as between 1998 and 2008, some 171 foreign-owned sites closed, with the loss of 31,000 mostly manufacturing sector jobs. The economic development model as practised by the Westminster Government (and the Welsh Office) before 1997 and by the Welsh Government (save between 2007 and 2011) was fundamentally flawed at a very basic level – focused on the short term and fundamentally dependent upon a combination of relatively cheap labour and other inducements.

Economic development (from the 1950's onwards) was focused on one-off large scale developments (single egg solutions), which promised much and deliver significantly less. The assumption, not entirely incorrect, may have been that other smaller business would develop supply materials, goods and services to the primary larger employer – this happened in part, Llanwern Steel works (before the rundown) being a reasonably good local example.

The problem was that if the larger economy suffered a downturn or caught cold then the smaller firms would suffer with varying degrees of pneumonia. The focus should have been on developing small to medium size local businesses, which are significantly less likely to up sticks and leave for perceived greener pastures and fresh applications of development grants and also tend to trade with each other and other local firms.

The LG development near Newport was a classic example of this flawed economic vision - promising the usual 6,000 jobs – it accrued significant public funding (from the then Welsh Secretary, William Hague) yet never delivered anything like what was promised. Most economists (even Conservative ones) should have had serious concerns about the state of the Korean and the Far Eastern economies and a basic understanding of where technological developments in relation to PC monitor screens were going, enabling them to say hang on a moment.

This combination of fantasy island economic assessments, a fatally flawed business case and a forthcoming Westminster election led to one of the more spectacularly duller decisions of recent years being made, something that ended up costing us millions of pounds worth of public money. The old WDA never delivered anything like long term economic stability and much needed long term job opportunities to our communities – something that it should have done considering the amounts poured into it.

Wales is a recipient of significant quantities of Objective One funding, targeted at the West and the Valleys since New Labour recognised the economic and social affecting those parts of our country. Yet European funding opportunities appears to have been seriously squandered, where are the physical assets, by which I mean the things you can literally put your hand on like improved communications (rail and road), broadband infrastructure, etc - that bring long term real benefits to our communities.

Yes, we have developed a highly profitable training culture (in and around Cardiff) quite exactly what this delivers for the Welsh people is open to question? How much money has been scammed (and scammed may be the key word) into dubious expensive training programmes and questionable educational programmes that fail to deliver the necessary skills that workers and potential workers need to make a decent living in the modern economy?

The Plaid driven One Wales Government (2007 – 2011) made significant efforts to think and act differently when it came to economic development with its focused support for small to medium sized enterprises. The current Labour Party in Wales’s government in Cardiff has simply returned to the failed economic development policies of the past.

Living in the past simply won’t work! The old failed model of going out to attract branch factory operations for a relatively short term period has been rolled out once again. This does little to help develop our economy or equip our people for the twenty first century world of work it merely repeats the costly mistakes of the recent past, but, of course Labour in Wales is far happier living in the past than planning the future for Wales.

A FIGHTING CHANCE?

Take a wander around most of our town centres and the out of town retail parks and with your own eyes you will see that impact of the ongoing recession in the rising number of empty shops. With this in mind the recent study produced by the British Retail Consortium which has revealed that the town centre vacancy rate (high streets and shopping centres) in the UK was 11.3% in October 2012 will come as no surprise. This grim statistic is this highest figure that the BRC has recorded since they began the Monitor in July 2011. The highest shop vacancy rates were recorded in Northern Ireland (20.0%), Wales (15.1%) and the North & Yorkshire (14.6%). The BCS has noted that these are the worst vacancy rate since the survey began in July 2011 and tend to confirm that financial challenges for both customers and business retailers are far from over yet.

It not just the local shops that are feeling the pinch, in my home town (where this has been going on for a while) and in more than a few other places even the old high street big names are bugging out, not necessarily because they are necessarily making a loss more that they trying to maximise their profits in the teeth of the recession and the growth of on-line business. Creating the conditions for a stable future for our town centres and high streets will not be easy, but we have to do something and relatively quickly. Obliterating or at least driving a coach and horses though the planning regulations will not provide a sustainable solution, ending business rates and replacing them with a local income tax might go some way towards giving local businesses a fighting chance of keeping their heads above water until the recession begins to end.

DOOMED TO REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST?

The Westminster Welsh Affairs Committee is correct when it says that Wales was ‘slow to adapt’ to changes in the international market for overseas investment. There is much truth in the Committee's labelling of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as a ’golden age’ for attracting foreign business investment thanks to a combination of grants, land and relatively cheap labour costs.

The Committee is also correct to say that successive governments reacted far too slowly to new emerging challenges from Eastern Europe and more distant competitors. Wales paid the price for that complacency as between 1998 and 2008, some 171 foreign-owned sites closed, with the loss of 31,000 jobs, mainly in the manufacturing sector.

The economic development model as practised by the Westminster Government (and the Welsh Office) well before 1997 and by the Welsh Government before 2007) was fundamentally flawed at a very basic level – it was short term and fundamentally dependent upon a combination of relatively cheap labour and other inducements that could never compete on a truly level playing field.

For too many years economic development (from the 1950's onwards) was focused on one-off large scale developments - what can be best described a single egg solutions, which promised much and deliver significantly less. The assumption, not entirely incorrect, may have been that other smaller business would develop supply materials, goods and services to the primary larger employer – this happened in part, Llanwern Steel works being a reasonably good example.

The problem was that if the larger industry suffered a downturn or caught cold then the smaller firms would suffer with varying symptoms of pneumonia. The focus should have been on developing small to medium size local businesses, which are significantly less likely to up sticks and leave for perceived greener pastures and fresh applications of development grants and also trade with each other and other local firms.

The LG development near Newport, was a good example of this - promising the usual total of 6,000 jobs – it accrued significant public funding (committed by the then Welsh Secretary, William Hague) yet never delivered anything like what was promised. Most economists (even Conservative ones) should have had serious concerns about the state of the Korean and the Far Eastern economies and a basic understanding of where technological developments in relation to PC monitor screens were going, enabling them to say hang on a moment.

A combination of fantasy island economic assessments, a fatally flawed business case and a forthcoming Westminster election led to one of the spectacularly duller decisions of recent years being made, something that ended up costing us millions of pounds worth of public money. The old WDA has in truth not really consistently delivered anything like long term economic stability and much needed long term job opportunities to our communities that it should have done considering the amounts poured into it..

European funding opportunities has been seriously squandered, where are the physical assets, by which I mean the things you can literally put your hand on like improved communications (rail and road), broadband infrastructure, etc - that bring long term benefits to our communities. How much money has been scammed (and scammed may be the key word) into dubious training programmes and questionable educations programmes that fail to deliver the necessary skills that workers and potential workers need to make a decent living in the modern economy?

What was called in some circles the Plaid driven One Wales Government (2007 – 2011) at least made significant efforts to think and act differently when it comes to economic development and support for small to medium sized enterprises. Simply going out to attract branch factory operations for a relatively short term period does not help develop our economy it merely seeks to repeat the mistakes of the recent past, but, of course Labour (New or Old) is far happier living in the past than in Wales.

ANYONE LISTENING?

The man from Admiral (chief operating officer and executive director, David Stevens) hit the nail on the head when talking to the Welsh Affairs Committee inquiry (last week) on inward investment about attracting and developing start-up businesses in Wales. Wales should chase and help to develop young businesses rather than spend time and money chasing big international firms. Start-up enterprises are more valuable to the Welsh economy and less likely to up sticks and pull out in times of economic austerity.

David Stevens from Admiral rightly pointed out that companies with their HQ's and senior management teams based in Wales were more valuable than "off-shoots of big companies based elsewhere". He also pointed out that "Businesses with only 'muscle' in Wales are more likely to withdraw in hard times or if cheaper location options emerge," and that targeting "glossy" adverts to attract "sexy sectors" of industry was not the best strategy for boosting investment. The importance of good infrastructure was highlighted, including railways, with the man from Admiral saying he supported the electrification of the Great Western rail line to Swansea. At present the UK Westminster government only plans to electrify the line as far as Cardiff.

There has been fat to much focus on attracting large scale single enterprises, which promise much but deliver significantly less than anticipated. The LG development near Newport, is a good example of an expensive disaster / fiasco [please take your pick] which promised the usual total of 6,000 jobs - accrued significant public funding - committed by the then Welsh Secretary, William Hague, yet never delivered anything like what was promised.

Anyone (even a Tory) with half a brain or even half an understanding of the state of the Korean and the Far Eastern economies at the time that might has hesitated, but not the then Tory Government. Anyone with a partial understanding of where technological developments in relation to PC monitor screens were going, would have put their hands up and said hang on a moment - but not obviously not in the the corridors of power in Cardiff.

A combination of what can best be described as fantasy island economic assessments, a fatally flawed business case and a forthcoming Westminster election led to one of the spectacularly duller decisions of recent years being made, something that ended up costing us millions of pounds worth of public money. The old WDA has in truth not really consistently delivered anything like long term economic stability and much needed long term job opportunities to our communities that it should have done considering the amounts poured into it.

How well any of this will go down with the dinosaurs making the decisions in WAG is another matter. In the last Government in Cardiff, Plaid's Ieuan Wyn Jones (AM) then Minister for Economic Development tried to change things and to focus on growing indigenous businesses. The Plaid driven One Wales Government made efforts to think and act differently when it came to economic development and support for small to medium sized enterprises, which are the only real thing that will put wealth into our communities, and develop and sustain longer term employment possibilities.

The lazy half-baked Brit Civil service / WDA continues to favour the option of attracting branch factory operations (some of which are only here for a relatively short time) which does little to develop our economy. We need to think differently and focus economic development priorities on attracting and developing start-up companies and smaller local businesses who will be rooted in our country and our communities and offer more flexible employment opportunities.

It's to early to tell whether Carwyn's Labour Government is capable of thought (let alone action) inside or outside of the box. One thing is true though, more of the same old twaddle from Whitehall and Cathays won't do at all, vastly expensive one egg, one basket schemes to generate the standard 6,000 jobs, just won't do.

The London based political parties, when they needed the votes talked the talk but have delivered little, rapidly abandoning any election promises that may have been made to Welsh voters. With a new government in Cardiff (even in times of austerity) we don't need talk, we need concrete steps to encourage growth, boost our manufacturing industry, support and grow our small to medium sized enterprises, otherwise it will just be a case of same old, same old combined with ill thought out out public sector cuts which will do nothing to boost our communities and our economy.

OUR TOWN CENTRES

Over the last twenty years the commercial hearts of many of our communities have been seriously damaged as a result of a combination of aggressive policies pursued by the larger retail chains and exceptionally poor decision making on the part of local government and central government indifference.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have noted that the UK loses 2,000 local shops every year and that of this rate of loss continues then by 2015, less than 4 years hence, there will be potentially few independent retailers left in business, something that will badly hit both consumers and our communities hard as they lose any real choice in the marketplace and lose potential job opportunities.

When this decline is combined with the rapid growth of unsustainable out of town and edge of town retail developments which leave next to no place for the smaller local businesses and retailers and deprive consumers of real choice - then it is clear that we have a real problem on our hands.

Factor in parking charges, business rates and the effect of the closure of high street banks and post offices in many of our communities and you begin to see why many of our smaller businesses and local shopping centres are up against it.

Local small businesses as well as trading with us, also trade with each other - so the community gets twice the benefit. Money spent by and in local businesses spends on average three times longer in the local economy than that spent with chain stores which is instantly lost to the local economy which in times of recession our communities can ill afford.

Plaid Cymru recognises the economic importance of our town centres, and will introduce a package of measures in government to support local shops and town centres. And Plaid will maintain the current business rate relief for the next five years which means that half of Wales’s small businesses will pay no rates at all during the term of the next Assembly government.

In its manifesto, Plaid has also promised to undertake a detailed retail strategy for Wales to support vibrant local economies and towns. The party will design a national plan to improve town centres for local people and visitors as well as undertaking a wholesale reform of the Welsh planning system to encourage the development of a low carbon economy and new business growth.

Retail is the largest private-sector employer in Wales and plays an important role in communities across Wales.

Plaid’s strategy would include looking at:

• Independent retail impact assessments for supermarket development
• Ensuring affordable retail units for local businesses being made available in new shopping developments
• Making provision for retail services for new significant housing developments
• Ensuring regular town centre reviews as part of Local Development Plans
• Creating online directories to promote Welsh produce within Welsh businesses

Plaid wants to create a Welsh Valuation Office Agency, and would ensure that rateable value assessments are undertaken fairly to provide a level playing field for small businesses rather than favouring the larger out of town developments as they do at present.

SUPPORTING SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES

Small businesses play a significant role at the heart of our communities; they create wealth and sustainable employment opportunities for local people. Profits and investments made by them tend to stay within the communities where they are based. For too many years economic development in Wales has been focused on large scale development of what can be best described a single egg solutions, which promise much and deliver significantly less, the focus should be on developing small to medium size local businesses, which are significantly less likely to up sticks and leave for perceived greener pastures and fresh applications of development grants.

This focus on attracting large scale single enterprises, which promise much but deliver significantly less than anticipated. The LG development near Newport, is a good example of an expensive disaster / fiasco [please take your pick] which promised the usual total of 6,000 jobs - accrued significant public funding - which was committed by the then Welsh Secretary, William Hague, yet never delivered anything like what was promised. While anyone (even a Tory) with half a brain or even half an understanding of the state of the Korean and the Far Eastern economies at the time that and a basic understanding of where technological developments in relation to PC monitor screens were going, would have put their hands up and said hang on a moment.

A combination of what can best be described as fantasy island economic assessments, a fatally flawed business case and a forthcoming Westminster election led to one of the spectacularly duller decisions of recent years being made, something that ended up costing us millions of pounds worth of public money. The old WDA has in truth not really consistently delivered anything like long term economic stability and much needed long term job opportunities to our communities that it should have done considering the amounts poured into it..

European funding opportunities have been seriously squandered, where are the physical assets, by which I mean the things you can literally put your hand on like improved communications (rail and road), broadband infrastructure, etc - that bring long term benefits to our communities. How much money has been scammed (and scammed may be the key word) into dubious training programmes and questionable educations programmes that fail to deliver the necessary skills that workers and potential workers need to make a decent living in the modern economy?

The Plaid driven One Wales Government has made significant efforts and attempts to think and act differently when it comes to economic development and support for small to medium sized enterprises, which are the only real thing that will put wealth into our communities, and develop and sustain longer term employment possibilities. Attracting branch factory operations of a relative short term duration does not help develop our economy - we really do need to think differently and focus economic development priorities on smaller local businesses who will be rooted in our communities and offer more flexible employment opportunities.

Over the last twenty years the commercial hearts of many of our communities have been seriously damaged as a result of a combination of aggressive policies pursued by the larger retail chains and exceptionally poor decision making on the part of local government and central government indifference. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have noted that the UK loses 2,000 local shops every year and that of this rate of loss continues then by 2015, less than 4 years hence, there will be potentially few independent retailers left in business, something that will badly hit both consumers and our communities hard as they lose any real choice in the marketplace and lose potential job opportunities.

When this decline is combined with the rapid growth of unsustainable out of town and edge of town retail developments which leave next to no place for the smaller local businesses and retailers and deprive consumers of real choice - then it is clear that we have a real problem on our hands. Factor in parking charges, business rates and the effect of the closure of high street banks and post offices in many of our communities and you begin to see why many of our smaller businesses and local shopping centres are up against it.

Local small businesses as well as trading with us the consumers, also trade with each other - so the community gets twice the benefit. Money spent by and in local businesses spends on average three times longer in the local economy than that spent with chain stores which is instantly lost to the local economy which in times of recession our communities can ill afford.

The Welsh Government needs to have the power to vary business taxes in order to help boost our businesses, as well as encourage investment in skills and the tools of their businesses and their workers. If we are going to make Wales a nation of aspiring entrepreneurs and to encourage and enable them, our communities and our economy to flourish we need to encourage the development of community owned social enterprises.

The Rowlands review into the provision of growth capital was most welcome; it recognised that an economical vibrant SME sector is vital for economic growth. There has been a lack of provision for companies in Wales who are looking for between £2 and £10 million pounds in capital, this has to change if we are to encourage sustainable economic growth and development.

It’s pretty clear that the present financial market and its institutions have failed over recent years to supply sufficient venture capital for the SME sector in Wales. We need our own venture capital fund for Wales, which should be established by, but independent of the Welsh Government. Such an independent venture capital fund could raise capital and deliver investment through a co-investment model, with approved private sector partners to our SME sector, where such investment would make a real difference.

More of the same old twaddle from Whitehall and Cathays won't do at all, vastly expensive one egg, one basket schemes to generate the seemingly standard 6,000 jobs, just won't do. And speaking of twaddle, which was all that we were offered by the Wales based branches of the London based political parties, what we need is fresh thinking and action  - more than just talk, we need some concrete steps to encourage growth, boost manufacturing industry, support our small to medium sized enterprises and an end to the business rates and that's just to start with... otherwise it will just be a case of same old, same old with ill thought out out public sector cuts which will do nothing to boost our communities and our economy.

SUPPORT FOR OUR SMALL TOWNS

The first step towards fixing a problem is recognising that it exists, one such problem that has been recognised is the impact of out of town and edge of town shopping developments upon the commercial heart of our small towns, this being something that continues to have an impact across the length and breadth of all of Wales.

We need much better thought out and more consistent planning policies for in, out and edge of town retail developments in Wales – and has called for Local Government and the Plaid driven One Wales Government to develop a long term economic view when it comes to planning policies and to be prepared to call in controversial local planning applications for thorough review.

The small towns of Monmouth constituency and elsewhere have suffered in the past from ill-thought out developments and questionable short term economic thinking; local small to medium retailers and businesses and local consumers have suffered accordingly and ultimately we the consumers have paid the price with a loss of local services and choice. The continuing campaign to retain the livestock market in Abergavenny shows that many people do care about the economic future and the character of their communities.

It’s not too late; the decline of our town centres can be reversed and things can improve, so that local businesses and customers can gain economically and have a real choice about how and where they shop and do business? This why I fully support Plaid’s timely campaign to make the “Town Centre heart of our community".

Plaid has outlined a number of proposals to put town centres back at the heart of our communities including:

• the extension of credit union principles to support small and medium sized businesses
• a change in planning regulations to promote sustainable communities
• a mandatory retail impact assessment with each major planning development
• a level playing field for smaller, local businesses

This is a step in the right direction, far too often in the recent past our Local Authorities are often tempted by planning gain as developers offer includes, sweeteners and inducements to ease the passage of proposed developments, which have often brought little benefit to local residents and the local economy over the longer term.

When County Council’s fear the implied costs of supermarket development applications being taken to appeal if an initial request for planning permission is refused, has led to a marked reluctance to turn down ill-thought out developments.

To make matters worse Local Authorities often fail to have properly researched retailing policies within their development plans. If retailing needs have not been assessed then it is very difficult for Local Authority planners to refuse any potentially damaging planning applications from developers, and local small businesses, local suppliers and consumers end up playing the price.

Every Government since the 1980’s has talked the talk about promoting the vitality and viability of our small market towns, when in even the Conservatives under Mrs. Thatcher recognised the problem, but, did next to nothing to prevent the damage being done to our towns.

If one was cynical then one might wonder if the London based parties close financial relationship with some of the developers might have had an impact? Over the last twenty five years retail developments have consistently undermined our small towns economic cohesion and vitality, local authorities have either effectively turned a blind eye to the consequences of out of town or edge of town retail developments on the edge of market towns in England and Wales, or even colluded with the developers.

Despite the mistakes of the recent past, it’s not too late, with the abolition of the business rate for small businesses, better thought out more long term economic redevelopment plans and a change in attitude towards our small businesses, local suppliers it is possible to support our small town centres which should be making a significant contribution to our economy. The first step towards fixing this problem is to stop repeating the ill-thought out mistakes of the past, especially when it comes to planning and economic redevelopment.

INVESTING IN INNOVATION - MORE THAN JUST AN IDEA!

I have enough friends who have set up their own businesses to know how traumatic a process it can be when it comes to making that idea grow. We really need to invest in innovation if we want our communities and our country to benefit from real sustainable economic development. Plaid has already called for a substantial investment programme to address the climate crisis and to generate sustainable green jobs across Wales.

The Welsh Assembly Government’s Green jobs Strategy is a welcome step in the right direction but clearly more needs to be done. The National Assembly needs to have the power to vary business taxes in order to help boost our businesses, as well as encourage investment in skills and the tools of their businesses and their workers.

I firmly believe that Wales is a nation of aspiring entrepreneurs and to encourage and enable them, our communities and our economy to flourish we need to encourage the development of community owned social enterprises. The Rowlands review into the provision of growth capital was most welcome; it recognised that an economical vibrant SME sector is vital for economic growth. There has been a lack of provision for companies in Wales who are looking for between £2 and £10 million pounds in capital, this has to change if we are to encourage sustainable economic growth and development.

It’s pretty clear that the present financial market and its institutions have failed over recent years to supply sufficient venture capital for the SME sector in Wales. We need a venture capital fund for Wales, which should be established by, but independent of the Welsh Assembly Government. Such an independent venture capital fund could raise capital and deliver investment through a co-investment model, with approved private sector partners to our SME sector, where such investment would make a real difference.

More of the same old twaddle from Whitehall and Cathays won't do at all, vastly expensive one egg, one basket schemes to generate the seemingly standard 6,000 jobs, just won't do. And speaking of twaddle that's all we have been offered by the London based political parties, its time to think different, its time to think Plaid.