An important year for the Welsh Economy — Ken Skates AM
By: Welsh Fabians
Tags: Welsh Politics, UK Politics, Politics, Economics, Wales

Photo by Lisa Baker discovered on Unsplash

2019 is going to be an important year for Wales and its economy and I want you to hit the ground running’.

That was the clear message from the new First Minister Drakeford as I had the great privilege of being appointed as Minister for Economy and Transport in the new Welsh Labour Government.

He wasn’t wrong — the new year has been dominated by the UK Government’s humiliating defeat of its Brexit plan and the knock-on impact that’s already having on Wales and its economy. Of course there are other factors at play, but the news we’ve seen in the last month that the future of the Ford engine plant in Bridgend is at risk; the announcement that Hitachi have suspended work on the Wylfa nuclear project on Anglesey and the decision of Schaeffler to end production at its site in Llanelli have all been exacerbated by the Tories Brexit chaos.

Just in the last few weeks we’ve heard Airbus CEO Tom Enders use language that I’ve never heard any corporate executive use before — he called on people not to believe the Brexiteers ‘madness’ and said our chaotic exit from the EU was threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research, and human capital.

Of course, the Tories don’t care. Coming from North East Wales and with my Dad having worked at the Shotton Steelworks I know first hand the pain and the havoc the Tories reckless disdain can have on working communities. The closure of the Shotton site in March 1980 which put 6,500 people out of work was the biggest industrial redundancy on a single day in western Europe. The closure threatened to tear apart the entire region.

And of course, 6,500 is a symbolic number. 6,500 is the number of people who now work at the Airbus site in Broughton — a plant now needlessly under threat because the Tory party have gone into civil war mode.

I’m proud that over the last two years the Welsh Labour Government has stood up to the ‘madness’ that Tom Enders identifies and has led the debate across the UK to secure a Brexit that promotes the interests of Wales. We’ve argued for a Brexit deal based on evidence; one that puts the needs of our economy and protecting jobs first.

I’m proud too that as a Welsh Government we’ve got on with the job over the last year of helping our businesses and our economy to grow and expand. 2018 was the first full year of our new £1bn Development Bank of Wales, offering flexible business finance for companies based in Wales. It was also the year we announced our new ‘Economic Contract’, one of the key planks of our new Economic Action Plan. Under the Contract, businesses seeking support need to commit to the principles of growth, fair work, reducing their carbon footprint, health, skills and learning in the workplace in return for Welsh Government financial support.

In 2018 work also began on the Welsh Government’s new Advanced Manufacturing Research Institute (AMRI) in Broughton. Acting as a focus for collaboration between industry, academic partners and entrepreneurs, the new AMRI will have a strong focus on advanced manufacturing, including aerospace, automotive, nuclear and food, in turn driving new innovations, more effective commercialisation and new skills in our manufacturing workforce.

Last September we built on the exciting news that Aston Martin would be creating 750 jobs at its new plant in St Athan thanks to Welsh Government support. As well as building their new DBX model there, the company also announced the site would be its long-term ‘home of electrification’, bringing the prospect of more jobs and research in the future.

In October Transport for Wales launched our new £5bn Wales and Borders Rail service. With plans to invest £800m in new rolling stock and £194m to upgrade every station in Wales, we want, by 2030, to ensure Wales has the best passenger rail service anywhere in the UK.

We’ve followed this up with an announcement of an additional £60m for Active Travel over the next three years and a major new Public Transport White Paper to introduce Bus franchising and improve the licensing and safety of Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles.

2018 also saw CAF, the train manufacturer, begin recruiting staff to work at its £30m factory in Newport which was opened with Welsh Government support. The facility, which will help manufacture rolling stock for the new Wales and Borders Rail Service, will create 300 new jobs and many more opportunities in the local supply chain.

In the last year we’ve also committed £120m of Welsh Government finance towards the North Wales Growth Deal; announced the green light on the £135m Caernarfon to Bontnewydd bypass and made progress on the £250m ‘Red Route’ upgrade of the A55/A494 corridor.

We’ve started this year with a bang too by announcing a new £20m investment alongside Thales to construct a new National Digital Exploitation Centre in Blaenau Gwent and announced 300 new jobs coming to Cardiff through the location of Monzo Bank in the capital.

But all of this progress and this work will be at risk if the ‘madness’ of a No Deal goes ahead. If Brexit revisits on communities in areas like North East Wales the pain and the setback it has suffered before. One thing is for sure — I’ll continue to work with Fabians from across Wales to do everything in my power to try and prevent it from happening.

Ken Skates is The Minister for Economy and Transport in the Welsh Government and Assembly Member for Clwyd South.