07 October 2008
Ahead of today's draft Assembly Government budget and in light of the huge pressures on the public purse, the WLGA leadership calls today for the formation of a Welsh National Economic Council to deal with the impact of the credit crunch and impending recession on the Welsh economy and its communities.
The WLGA says that innovation and new approaches are urgently needed that would bring together the intellectual capital of Wales from across the public, private, third sector and trade unions to provide radical solutions that far exceed the current level of thinking.
Councillors John Davies (Pembrokeshire), Meryl Gravell (Carmarthenshire) and Derek Vaughan (Neath Port Talbot) said:
“We owe it to the Welsh people to pool expertise and seek solutions to mitigate wherever possible the accumulating problems seen across the wider economy. Wales may be a small player in a larger game but it is vital that the Assembly Government rises to the challenge of steering Wales through this current economic storm.
The make up of the ‘Council’ would be for further discussion – the key point is that action is needed now to deal with the burgeoning crisis. The Assembly was set up to provide strategic leadership in Wales yet debate in the Senedd has often been low key and parochial. The WLGA calls on the Assembly Government to think beyond the One Wales document and act with its partners in addressing the real concerns our communities. “No-one is an island” – the Assembly Government must work closely with its partners including the WLGA, the Wales TUC, WCVA, NHS confederation, the Wales CBI and many more to find solutions to the impact of this crisis in Wales.
We are not proposing that the Welsh National Economic Council be another talking shop but a purposeful body led by the First Minister, aimed at bringing all social partners to the table to deliver real outcomes.”
The agenda for the Welsh National Economic Council is huge and in the WLGA’s view should focus on protecting jobs and supporting people who are at risk of losing their homes in the short term at least, but must also look at the wider issues that will affect Wales’ economic prosperity into the future, including housing, education, health and energy:
Housing
• Ensuring appropriate tenures across social housing, affordable housing and mortgage rescue.
• New building of social and council housing available for rent.
• The Financial Services Authority predicts that a million people face losing their homes over the next 18 months.
• Learning the lessons of three major housing crashes since the 1970s
Energy, Sustainability & the Environment
• Climate change, carbon reduction.
• The role of alternative energy sources to help combat rising energy costs (leading to over a 100% cost increases for domestic, public and business use)
• The growing costs of flood protection
Education
• Dealing with the backlog of education capital repairs and requirements which are estimated by the Wales Audit Office at £2.2bn
• Addressing surplus school places (by 2011 it is estimated that there will be 43,000 surplus school places across Wales) and the potential impact this will have on local communities
Rurality, Accessibility & Sparsity
• Ensuring adequate access to services in rural Wales and addressing the additional costs resulting from sparsity and rurality.
Waste
• Waste management, recycling and energy from waste – Landfill is dead. To meet the Assembly’s target of 70% recycling and 30% energy from Waste will require massive revenue investment an annual basis for the next 17 years.
Health & Social Care
• Ageing population and demographics in social care – The Rt. Hon Alan Johnson MP has produced a report showing a £6bn deficit on social care in future years
• Hospital and primary care replacement
• Public health, economic impact of obesity, drug misuse and alcoholism
Economic development / Regeneration
• Dealing with low levels of Welsh competiveness. Official UK Government figures included in a report on competitiveness in Northern Ireland place Wales at the bottom of the economic performance league behind all other 11 UK regions.
• Exploring how the role of public private partnerships can develop to bring in more resources
• Maximising European funding sources both convergence, competiveness and JESSICA
Community Safety
• Examine Community safety and the economic consequences of crime
For more information contact: Natasha Weeks