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RESPONSE
TO PEMBROKESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
CONSULTATION PROCESS
Feedback from the consultation process is
given below,
INTRODUCTIONPembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce welcomes the principle of involving business representatives in the formulation of economic strategies and plans, and seeks to become more directly involved in this process. Suggested action
The address of the Economic Development Unit is shown incorrectly in the document as being Pier House, Pier Road, Pembroke Dock.
WORKING TOGETHERGreater efforts need to be made by funding agencies, policy makers and the wide range of organisations involved in industrial and community development throughout the County to work more closely together. This is particularly important in the light of Objective 1 funding, and the need to develop strategic partnerships and themed packages of projects, with input from “grass roots” businesses. It is clear from the document that the South West Wales Economic Forum is considered an important vehicle for policy making, yet the Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce does not have an opportunity to contribute directly either to this group, or to any of its subsidiary working parties. Suggested action
CONTEXT AND KEY ISSUES Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce agrees with the key themes set out in this section, and welcomes the fact that a long-term strategic vision for the County is now being developed. The Chamber will continue to involve its membership in the ongoing consultation process, once the draft visioning document is produced.
A. Management and Strategic PlanningIt appears from the Performance Review that the County Council has successfully accessed additional financial resources from a variety of sources, including European funds.More information is required on the nature of these grants, monitoring procedures and outputs – particularly in terms of measurable business benefits (where appropriate).Similarly, it would be useful to have sight of the Business Support and Economic Development Services reviews. The analysis of projects and business services delivered in the past will help shape future project ideas for the Objective 1 programme. Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce recognises the potential of community enterprise, having been introduced to this model for economic development in Ireland through the Kiltimagh initiative. The County Chamber is now working more closely than ever with local Chambers and, through its network of local management committees, provides the ideal structure to ensure that best practice is shared throughout the County. The Chamber seeks to work more closely with SPARC and Menter Preseli to develop local Town Plans to ensure a direct input from the business community and to achieve economic viability/sustainability. It is unfortunate that the deadline for production of the Economic Development Strategy Statement was not met since this resulted in there being insufficient time for meaningful feedback from the wider business community. It appears that there has also been some slippage in the deadline for production of the longer-term strategy and it is vital that this does not result in a similar reduction in the length of time available for consultation. In order for the strategy to be successful, it is essential that there is genuine “buy-in” from as many sectors of the community as possible. Suggested action
B. Business Development There needs to be significant improvement in the way that Business Connect partners work to develop programmes of support for local SMEs. There is widespread concern about the duplication of programmes, and the fact that the system appears to be product-driven rather than market-driven. Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce would welcome a direct input into the design of such programmes, drawing on feedback from its membership base. The Chamber is actively involved in promoting the importance of training to the business community and welcomes the focus on management development and training, particularly in the area of information technology. It is noted that the County Council will continue to support SIMTRA and, with investment from West Wales TEC, will be developing a training facility at Cleddau Reach. There are also a number of private training providers in the County and businesses should be encouraged to take advantage of the range of grants which are available to support training, rather than simply opting for the free or heavily subsidised courses which are on offer. This will eventually lead to a cultural shift towards businesses being prepared to invest in training, rather than the subsidy mentality which exists at present. Businesses need to be able to gain direct access to grants for business development, following the model of the grants managed by the Economic Development Unit, for example.There needs to be more money available for business support grants, with a quicker turnaround of grant applications, and more flexibility in the eligibility criteria to meet the needs of individual businesses. Through its links with local Chamber management committees, Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce would welcome direct input into discussions on expanding retail and marketing opportunities for the craft sector, and on improving the quality of product and service in the tourism sector. Suggested action
C. Inward InvestmentPembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce is also opposed to the use of Trecwn for the storage of radioactive waste, and looks forward to learning how the three sites mentioned in the document will be used to generate new employment. It is vital that any development should meet the need to be environmentally, as well as economically, sustainable – as identified by the consultation process. In previous Objective 1 meetings, members expressed the view that dualling the A40 could lead to business leakage from the County and turn Pembrokeshire into a “corridor” for tourist traffic. There is also concern that the dualling programme could swallow up Objective 1 funding, and that the project would have a detrimental environmental impact on the County.It is clear that this is a key area both for information dissemination and consultation, so that the wider business community can better understand the potential economic benefits. The Chamber remains supportive of developing improved rail and air links, and is particularly keen to see improvements to the technological infrastructure, enabling indigenous businesses to compete in the global marketplace, as well as attracting clean “knowledge based” industry to the area. The development of the Cleddau Bridge site to encompass an E-Commerce and Call Centre training facility is welcomed.Full credit must be given to West Wales TEC for making a significant contribution to the overall cost of developing the training centre, which will be run as a shared facility for the benefit of Pembrokeshire businesses. It is hoped that the training centre will be completed within the shortest possible timescale, and the anticipated date for completion should be included in the action plan for 1999/2000. Suggested action
D. Urban Regeneration The performance review gives a useful summary of projects carried out across the County. The work on the Westfield Pill Bridge needs to be added to the Milford Haven/Neyland Action Plan. As stated earlier, Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce is working more closely than ever with local towns throughout the County through a network of active local Chamber Management Committees. The key issues set out on page 16 of the document very much reflect the objectives of the local Chamber groups, and the County Chamber seeks to form an overview of activities, sharing good practice, disseminating information, and ensuring that no town works in isolation. Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce seeks to be directly involved in the consultative partnerships set up to consider urban regeneration, making best use of its County-wide network of local Chamber groups. The Chamber is pleased to note the continuation of financial support for Local Action Plans and town scheme projects – more information required on these please. Suggested action
E. Rural Regeneration Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce is pleased to be listed as a contributor to business development in the County. Recognition must also be given to private sector training providers and consultants working with the local business community to develop training and support programmes, which are at the leading edge of technology and innovative business practices. It is assumed that the Rural Information Points are those developed under the Llwybr Pathways project. In view of the involvement of private sector providers in the delivery of business support and training, appropriate links to their sites should also be included. Access to rural information points could be extended by siting the workstations across a wider range of premises used by the general public. Under the Llwybr Pathways project, the information can be viewed across the Internet and, with the increase in home-based computer usage, the web site address should be widely advertised to encourage people to access the information from their own desktop PC. Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce is fully supportive of community enterprise projects and will play an active role in such partnerships, if considered appropriate.
F. European AffairsThrough the INTERREG programme, Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce has established links with both Wexford and Waterford Chambers of Commerce, having worked with them as partners on cross-border projects. It is hoped that these links can be used to develop Irish markets for the benefit of the County’s economic prosperity. Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce must be involved in the Pembrokeshire Partnership once this is established, working on behalf of the business community to consider the strategic use of Objective 1 funds to increase the GDP of the County. Whilst the County Council may take the lead role in this process, it is vital to wholly involve business associations in the development of the strategic partnerships which will be essential for the management of the Objective 1 programme.Without direct involvement from the private sector wealth creators, and their representative organisations, there is little chance of improving the economic prosperity of the County. Suggested action
G. Education and Training There is no doubt that the County is fortunate in having excellent training facilities, particularly at the main Pembrokeshire College campus in Haverfordwest, and the Milford Haven Community College. Pembrokeshire Training Group, based in Neyland, provides quality training in engineering, health and safety, business administration, information technology, retail and care. In addition to these mainstream providers, there are many other private sector training providers and consultants working across the County. For example, Pembroke Management Development based in St Davids has an impressive client portfolio, including blue chip companies across the UK. West Wales TEC has worked extremely hard in recent years through its Business Development Officers to promote financial support for training through excellent initiatives such as the Training and Development Grant; Career Development Grant; Small Firms Training Initiative and Individual Learning Accounts. Despite the widespread provision of training and financial support, few SMEs recognise training as being a critical success factor and still believe that training is a cost, rather than an investment. This is one of the major hurdles to be overcome if Objective 1 funding is to be used to its best advantage. Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce is promoting the value of training to SMEs through its BusiTrainNet project and is launching a web site to disseminate information on training opportunities and sources of funding. Although the project is due to end in June 2000, the Chamber is committed to maintaining the information resource as part of its own web site, and will be seeking ongoing support for this. Suggested action
GENERAL FEEDBACKDespite repeated statements in the Economic Development Strategy Statement that the County Council will consult widely, there is little evidence to show that this is, in fact, the case. Although the Statement was dated November 1999, it was not available for comment until early January 2000, with a deadline for receipt of observations by the end of the same month. This does not give adequate time for proper consideration of the content of the Statement, nor for organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce to obtain the views of its full membership. There needs to be a mechanism for up-front consultation prior to the production of the Economic Development Strategy itself, rather than a request for observations on a Statement published towards the end of the current financial period. Appendix 2 contains statistical data which is difficult to compare because it relates to different years. Much of the information is outdated and, in at least one case, is inaccurate - the total figure for the table relating to Employees by Industry is incorrect. Again, the Tourist Model attached at Appendix 3 is not up-to-date. Every effort should be made to include recent statistical data so that the Statement can be considered in the light of the current economic and demographic situation. There is no doubt that the County does need a comprehensive Strategy Document which should contain vision, goals, objectives, detailed spending plans and action plans with clearly identifiable targets and measurable outcomes. Whilst providing an overview of annual expenditure, the current Statement does not give any insight into the longer-term plans of the Council and the wider community, although it is accepted that this situation would have been alleviated by the concurrent publication of the Draft Vision document as originally planned. In its current format the Statement provides a platform for further development of a full Strategy document, which is a significant task and one which should not be undertaken by the County Council in isolation. There are a number of established business networks in the area, and these should be fully involved in the process from the outset. Pembrokeshire Chamber of Commerce is one such business network, and is more than willing to play an active role in the development of an Economic Strategy and vision for the County.
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