Speaking to the FSB Conference Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Deputy First Minister for Wales outlined some of the actions the Welsh Assembly Government had undertaken in meeting the challenges of the Recession.  He paid particular tribute to the role of the FSB in developing policy during the downturn.

In the last 18 months the Assembly Government had streamlined the system of business support, creating a Single Investment Fund tailored to the needs of business.

He outlined the work of the All-Wales Economic Summits where business could work with others to deliver a speedy programme of measures.  These were, he said, distinctively Welsh solutions to Welsh problems.  He highlighted a £48 million initiative to help 12,000 people stay in work while re-training as an alternative to redundancy.  A further £20 million was devoted to encouraging the recruitment of new apprentices.

Mr Wyn Jones said the Assembly Government had announced around £1 billion of counter-recession measures including a series of small but labour-intensive capital projects such as school refurbishment.  He said procurement processes were being simplified and the maximum possible use of European funds were being made.

To give businesses the advice and information they needed, a new website "Leading Wales out of Recession" had been set up and a series of "Weathering the Storm" seminars were being organised throughout Wales.

He stressed that key to economic recovery was the release of liquidity by the banks.  "The Assembly Government cannot be a bank" he said, but he felt it could be influential in engaging with the banks, lobbying for the release of funds to business.

In conclusion, he said that Wales relied on the enterprise and innovation of business to take the country out of recession and stressed the important role the FSB had to play.

In questions he touched on the Welsh Business Rate Relief Scheme and said he was pressing for the Westminster Government to introduce it nationwide.  He stressed his desire to make procurement contracts smaller and more easily accessible to small businesses and said an announcement would be made on this in the next six weeks.

He confirmed there were no plans for tolls on the A55 and that the issue of Severn Bridge tolls could not be revisited until 2016, but he was pressing for the ability to pay the Severn toll using credit cards instead of cash.

Asked whether he felt Devolution had been a success he said that the ability to respond to the Recession with Welsh solutions demonstrated the value of devolved power.