Labour AM gives first clear sign of Welsh Government plan for enterprise zones

WALES will have its own ‘enterprise zones’, an AM close to the Welsh Government said today, giving the first clear indication the policy would be introduced.

Business Minister Edwina Hart has been strongly criticised by opponents for failing to make clear whether she would introduce such areas in Wales following their introduction in England.

The UK Government announced plans earlier this year for 21 enterprise zones in England with the hope of creating 30,000 new jobs by 2015 by offering cheaper business rates, superfast broadband and lower levels of planning control.

Giving evidence to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee today, Mark Drakeford, Labour AM for Cardiff Central and a former head of the First Minister’s political office, said that the Welsh Government would be introducing such zones.

He said: “The Welsh Government has said that, given that enterprise zones are one of the tools that will be available to it, it will deploy them.

“There are anxieties about the border and whether enterprise zones do – and this is part of their earlier history – suck activity from one place into another rather than leading to new activity.

“It’s part of the reason why the Welsh Government has taken its time in making sure that when we do have enterprise zones in Wales they will do the job we want them to do, rather than simply grasping an opportunity quickly and finding that we replicate some of the difficulties rather than some of the potential opportunities.”

Adding that “I’m not a member of the Welsh Government so I’m just reflecting the thinking that we hear from them”, he said that the so-called ‘consequential’ to Wales of the UK Government introducing the zones was less than £5m.

He added: “They will want to deploy that money in a way that leads to genuine additionality, which is what these zones are meant to provide, rather than run the risk of them just taking goods and services and activity from elsewhere.”

Welcoming the comments, Shadow Business Minister Nick Ramsay said: “A week is a long time in politics, isn’t it, someone once said?

“It’s good to hear this movement from the Welsh Government’s perspective.

“I’ve listened to some of the comments Edwina Hart’s made about enterprise zones over the months, and there’s no doubt they’re not a panacea, they’re not going to solve everything, but there’s no doubt at all that if you are going to have an enterprise zone just across the border in Bristol, or maybe in Liverpool or in the north, then to compete on an even playing field Wales needs to be investing in, if not exactly an English-model enterprise zone, something similar to that.”

Liberal Democrat business spokeswoman Eluned Parrott told Mr Drakeford: “I’m absolutely delighted to hear – although you’re not representing the Welsh Government – someone close to the Welsh Government give us a clear lead that the enterprise zones will be here in Wales.”