Time to reinvent the wheel (again)

It used to be said of the former Welsh Development Agency that if something of the sort had not been in existence then it would have to be invented. An agency achieving the critical investment link between government & business and which actually made a tangible contribution to the economy in the process had the proportions of a ‘no-brainer’. It’s success was even validated by regular protests from English local authorities of uneven playing fields.

This however was all too much for ministers who saw the WDA and its lesser-achieving fellow quangos as old-hat and even slightly subversive when the received wisdom was all about ‘accountability’ – i.e. accountability to politicians whose own business and commercial experience could be encapsulated in a small bucket.

The inevitable result of economic anschluss and a dogmatic political environment hostile to physical infrastructure investment, as opposed to the much nicer-sounding ‘knowledge economies’, has been little more than a series of extended inter-departmental skirmishes masquerading as strategic policy.

Now Prof. Brian Morgan, described in the Western Mail as “a prominent entrepreneur and an academic at Uwic”, has started to ask questions out loud about the nature of the emperor’s apparel.

Morgan, himself a former chief economist at the WDA, talks about “logjam of decisions” and claims that “each business support initiative has taken at least twice as long as planned, while officials appear to have no conception of making timely decisions.” More importantly, he states that the current structure is flawed “because it labours under the fiction that the minister is always responsible for making every decision” which, of course, he is not – nor ever could be.

The test for the respective components of the One-Wales government is how they react to this criticism from an influential and respected figure within Welsh business circles. It would be a grave error to simply dismiss his comments or suggest a political motive and it will be interesting to see if one or two leadership contenders are astute enough to come to the same conclusion.

Update: Similar sentiments from A Change of Personnel.