As our report evidences, there is little evidence to show that Wales’ 8 Enterprise Zones have been transformational in terms of job creation – but different outcomes are inevitable because each has faced different challenges and different local circumstances.
The Cabinet Secretary’s conduct when he attended Committee for his final scrutiny session with us on this enquiry – and announced his intention to reconfigure and merge Enterprise Zones, merging the Anglesey and Snowdonia Boards - before we had questioned him and before he knew our evidence based recommendations, may be considered disrespectful to the Committee.
Referring to the Star Trek analogy in the title of our report, this is not “to boldly go where no man has gone before”- but at least he has partially backtracked on this in his written response.
In accepting our recommendation 2 he described “excellent progress” in the availability of modern commercial floor space, I therefore encourage him to re-read our report and note the statements that “a recurrent theme among Enterprise Zone Chairs was the lack of available property for businesses there is a lack of modern floor space across Wales” and that “in Anglesey, the Committee heard that there was a shortage of units for small businesses”.
I therefore hope that his statement that he will be seeking advice from the Development Bank Wales to ascertain the potential for a “Commercial Property Fund” will address the evidence in our reports that “there is a short of units across the board” and that “across the whole of Wales there are perhaps 2 or 3 vacant industrial buildings and apart from 1 squared mile of our capital city there is speculative development to note anywhere”.
It is regrettable that the Cabinet Secretary has only accepted in principle our recommendations that the “Welsh Government should return to annual reporting of the Enterprise Zones, with clear data provided for each zone” and that it “should make its priorities for each of the Enterprise Zones explicit, publishing clear annual targets”.
The Cabinet Secretary’s acceptance in principle of our recommendation that “the Welsh Government should reconsider its proposed merger of the Anglesey and Snowdonia Boards” is at least an improvement on his previous position.
He justifies this by stating that he has “taken advice from the Chairs of the Anglesey and Snowdonia Enterprise Zone Advisory Boards and together with my officials will consider the appropriateness and timing of the merger of the two Boards further”. The week prior to his statement to Committee that he intended to merged these two boards, I had Chaired the Committee in North West Wales when we took evidence from each of these Boards and local stakeholders.
It is a shame that the Cabinet Secretary had not also taken this evidence before announcing his premature intention to merge them.
In Trawsfynydd we heard alongside the Snowdonia Board’s progress with the Snowdonia Aerospace Centre at Llanbedr, it was responsible for mitigating the progressive reduction in local employment at the former Trawsfynydd Nuclear power station.
On a positive note, we also heard that the site was a future candidate to host future UK Small Modular Reactor development.
The Board emphasised strongly to us its need to remain in existence and independent from neighbouring Anglesey, although it would retain and develop its strong links with developments on Anglesey.
The UK Government’s launch of its new £200 million Nuclear Sector deal at Trawsfynydd a fortnight ago re-enforced the importance of this – with Trawsfynydd tipped as a front runner for the development of Advanced Modular Reactors, with up to £44 million for research and development, and Menai Science Park on Anglesey the preferred location for a £40 million thermal hydraulics facility.
When we met the Anglesey Board, they also emphasised their need to remain independent so that they may take forward their work on the Morlais West Anglesey Tidal Stream zone, on the Holyhead Port expansion and on the new Nuclear Power station Wylfa Newydd.
Anglesey can be at the centre of global leadership in tidal power and the North Wales Growth Bid includes funding for Morlias and a May 2018 report commissioned by the UK Government confirms the potential significant economic benefits of tidal stream energy.
We also since heard last month that the UK Government will enter into formal negotiations with Hitachi on the development and construction of a new Nuclear Power station at Wylfa in Anglesey.
As the Anglesey Enterprise Zone Chairman Neil Rowlands said both to the Cabinet Secretary and myself “the Board is made up of predominantly Anglesey people and is of an extremely high calibre and directly linked …it is imperative that the Anglesey Enterprise Zone board should continue”.