City Deal travesties the set out by its mastermind
Techniums were abolished by the Welsh Government after public expenditure of £111m resulted in only 37 successful businesses. This was followed by a critical independent evaluation which revealed that each job generated by Technium cost an average of £190,000 of public money.
There is a case of deja vu with the new £1.3bn City Deal strategy – which also focuses largely on new buildings – forecast to generate only 9,500 new jobs at a cost of around £140,000 per job.
Imagine instead if only half of the funding earmarked to be spent on potential white elephants was made available to directly support local ambitious firms to create jobs, invest in their workforce and grow their business internationally? That would truly transform a Swansea Bay region that has been a sleeping giant for far too long.
Twelve months ago, I was hopeful for the future given that Sir Terry’s strategy was exciting, innovative, visionary and, above all, achievable. Can the same be said of this new strategy which, while it has some exciting projects to support manufacturing, largely replicates the approach of a failed initiative that cost the taxpayer a fortune but achieved very little for the local economy?
Like most people, I believe that the Swansea Bay Region City Deal needs to be signed off as soon as possible, but not at any cost and certainly not without a clear and achievable plan to create wealth and employment, especially by the private sector.
I urge the leaders of Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Swansea councils – all of whom I know are passionately committed to boosting their local economies – to pause, reconsider and revisit Sir Terry Matthews’ plans for a digital revolution.
In doing so, they can ensure that investment in skills and infrastructure, rather than buildings, is back at the heart of this critical strategy.
That is the least that the people and businesses of Swansea Bay deserve if the region is to make the most of its huge potential over the next two decades.