A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE THE VIEW FROM THE EDGE

The view from the periphery, or the edge often very much depends on where you are standing and how you are looking at the map, a change of economic focus in Wales is long overdue, perhaps ironically wherever we end up post Brexit we may well finally be compelled to think and act differently.  

Perhaps had the Great Western Railway electrification project started from the Swansea end, as some advocated in Plaid, then perhaps it would have been actually finished all the way to London, or at least we might be able to travel by electric trains from Swansea to Swindon, before making use of non electric trains to complete the trundle into London.

It is clear we cannot go on as we have, our country is literally littered with the tombstone like remnants of failed models of economic development. Most of them having failed to deliver long-term economic benefits and more than a few long-term jobs to our people and our communities.

What is badly needed is the courage to step away from the over centralised state agency dependent model of economic development as applied by successive Westminster and Welsh governments. Successive  Westminster Governments have consistently failed to deliver beyond the short-term for Wales. 

With the crutch of EU regional funding about to be kicked firmly away, despite the weak and wobbly promises from Westminster to the contrary, we in Wales find ourselves desperately needing some fresh economic thinking and action rather than more words.

The older economic models which reduce Cymru / Wales to simply a region (or more ominously simply  the peripheral part of larger cross border regions) where we have provided relatively cheap labour with industries that were heavily dependent on grants for funding just won’t wash or work anymore. 

We need to find other economic models that can deliver long-term jobs and lasting material benefits to our communities and to our country. 

We have been historically over dependent on Westminster or the old Welsh Office or Cardiff Bay waving their magic wand to solve our economic problems, this is entirely understandable considering the nature of our economic and political history, but this simply compounds the error and just won’t solve our economic problems or create sustainable jobs. 

The days of bringing in significant amounts of ‘inward investment’ are over, Westminster has better things to spend its money on in England - Cymru / Wales does not matter electorally (or economically) as far as the Conservatives are concerned. 

Post the Covid pandemic and Post BREXIT it’s time to be honest with ourselves and admit that ‘The Union’ as it has been, even with devolution, has increasingly failed to deliver for Wales. As far as it is concerned the current Labour in Wales government is fresh out of ideas, unless obviously compared with the Conservative Westminster government(s) over the last 15 years. 

We desperately need indigenous home grown businesses (small, medium and larger scale) which will put down roots and stick around when economic times are tough rather than pulling up sticks and bugging out when the grant money runs out and be more able to resist being hovered up by multi nationals. 

We need to develop small to medium sized enterprises or local co-operative industries that could provide medium to long-term sustainable job opportunities and an economy where they can thrive.

Part of the economic mix should include developing and encouraging the co-operative model of economic development. The co-operative model works well in a number of countries including both Ireland and in the Basque country, there is no reason why it should not work well here. 

The Basque cooperative model, as personified by Mondragon co-operative suggests what can be accomplished. If we are to grow local businesses and local jobs we are going to have to create a real Bank of Wales, perhaps using the German Sparkasse and Landesbanken model. 

For too long far too many small and medium sized businesses in our country have been denied access to credit by banks and this has prevented the growth of our private sector.

Our over centralised dividend driven pretty much rootless London based banking model that has been followed in the UK is incapable, indifferent or simply unwilling to deliver or support economic development in our country. 

In Germany, the Sparkasse and Landesbanken operate on a geographical basis, and have developed special expertise in the local industries so that they are better equipped to make investment decisions and should offer a real alternative.

Mondragon a collective of over 240 ( including 81 co-operatives) companies and organisations mostly based in the Basque Country has proven to be one of the more resilient economic success stories in recession-hit Spain. It has a revenue of 10,607 million euros, with 70,000 employees with 15 technology centres in 41 countries and sales in over 150 countries. 

The Basque co-operative may well be the world's largest worker co-operative, it has certainly assisted the Basque economy to try and resist the worst ravages of the recession in Spain. The company was established in 1956, in the province of Gipuzkoa; with a business philosophy built around co-operation, participation, social responsibility and innovation. 

It began small (this may very well be the key to its success) and form the bottom up with a group of workers in a disused factory, literally using hand tools and sheet metal to make oil-fired heating and cooking stoves.

The Cooperative continues to compete on international markets using democratic methods within its business organisation, helps to create jobs, and is committed to the human and professional development of its workers and pledges to development with its social environment. 

Some parts of the co-operative are wholly owned, others are run as joint venture operations. Co-operative members as equal co-owners of their own workplaces enjoy job security and individual capital holdings, with an equal sharing of profits on a proportionate basis and an equal ‘one-member one vote’ say in the way their enterprises are run. 

Pay within the cooperatives is strictly egalitarian, with the highest rates payable other than in exceptional circumstances being refreshingly no more than six and a half times the lowest rate. The Basque country has Spain’s highest GDP per capita, its richer than even Catalonia and Wales is the poorest nation in the British Isles, and in northwestern Europe. 

We in Wales have much to learn from the example of Mondragon and its methods when it comes generating and retaining sustainable jobs, simply remaining poor (or increasingly poorer) west Britons is not an option. 

There is no reason why the co-operative approach combined with a rich mix of small to medium sized enterprises cannot be used to bring in a community focused upward economic slow burn approach to economic development.

We desperately need something that will not just provide sustainable local jobs but real community beneficial sustainable developments which can transform our communities and fundamentally boost our country’s economic potential. Empty promises from the Labour Party in Wales and the Labour Party in Westminster just won’t do it anymore…

HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS?

Let’s be honest, if you live in Newport or various parts of Gwent and are reasonably familiar with your home community, then over the years you may have noticed that redevelopment / regeneration comes and goes over the years, in any particular community or town.

Regeneration schemes will have cleaned areas up, built in cycle routes, created transport plans, pedestrianised streets, reopened them to traffic, re-pedestrianised them and (as is the case in Newport and no doubt elsewhere) made certain streets shared space with both cars and pedestrians (this is not as crazy an idea as it sounds, and it actually works) and so on. 

Parking has been restricted, created and removed, made free and charged for, bus lanes have been created, removed and the hours when bus lanes operate varied. 

Now this is all well and good and may reflect the latest trend in regeneration and development, but at the end of the day has it made the places where we live, work and shop any better? 

The one question that tends not to be asked, and hence not answered is: Has the regeneration process or scheme increased or generated wealth in our communities or provided people with the opportunities to get jobs, to go into business for themselves or generate wealth? 

One of the unintended features of redevelopment is that quite often it is (or is perceived as being) driven from the top down i.e. by elected bodies whether they be County Councils or the Senedd. 

Regeneration should never be a process that merely consults after the plans have been drawn up - thats not confutation thats simply window dressing.

Real and meaningly consultation should take place before, during and after - any process not run this way runs the real risk of becoming deeply flawed. 

Local communities and towns and cities of South Wales have over the years has been the recipient of much grant aid, development and redevelopment schemes and initiatives - how can we measure success? 

Measuring a regeneration schemes success should be a key factor in any regeneration scheme. 

This is the key question that needs to be asked - after the cement and the paint has dried, after the development / redevelopment / regeneration professionals have banked the cheque and moved on - have the various schemes made a difference. 

I mean beyond any immediate physical improvements to the environment, have they made a real difference when it comes to wealth generation in the area affected by the regeneration scheme and can the people who live here actually see and benefit from the change? 

If the end result is in reality a makeover, and the targeted community is no better off, save for being bereft of the 'regeneration funds' that have been effectively hoovered up by professional regeneration companies - some of whom make a good living out of regeneration - then we should ask is this success? 

How do you make regeneration projects work beyond the tick box list of the regeneration schemes managers? 

One key component that is often ignored or marginalised during the regeneration process is the communities greatest resource - its people.

If we really want to develop strong sustainable communities, then any regeneration scheme should from the start and at every stage of the process involve the people who are going to live and work in the redeveloped area after the scheme has been completed. .

 

We don’t need regeneration professionals coming into an area and engaging in a largely token consultation process. 

They should directly talk to local people (who are an asset to the process) rather than at them, and actually find out what they would like to be done, what they actually want for their community and their town.

If you are reusing or renovating old buildings then any regeneration scheme needs to ensure that old buildings can make a sustainable contribution after the regeneration scheme is finished. 

If we do this rather than merely making a token gesture towards public consultation, then any regeneration schemes will, with hard work, really begin to deliver tangible benefits to our communities. 

Regeneration schemes and projects should be bottom up rather than the top down. 

The bottom line should be when spending public money, work it extra hard and squeeze out every single possible benefit and maximise the impact locally of the regeneration process and make every effort to build in local benefits into the tendering process - whether by employing local people, using local resources, local skills and local input. 

Now a plea for a more people focused and community driven regeneration is not driven by nostalgia or about living the past - we have to re-image our urban spaces for the 21st century - but not at the expense of the people who live and make their living within them. 

 

As had been said elsewhere, regeneration should be a beneficial process community rather than a cash extracting event, that delivers unmeasurable success.