Commenting on the publication of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales Annual Report, Ben Francis, FSB Wales Policy Chair, said:
“We welcome NICW’s report, which comes at a significant time for the debate around the future of Wales’ infrastructure needs.
“The report has a good diagnosis of the issues, and on priorities such as decarbonisation and the circular economy, as well as issues around the quality of data around past projects to evaluate success and failure. However, we are concerned that 2021 is a long time to wait for an approach on the state of the nation, and believe that the call to give evidence could have been released, along with much of the key information earlier. That the strategy is for the long term does not mean we should be waiting a long time in order to address issues of concern now.
“In a recent piece of FSB Wales research, Are we there yet? A roadmap to better infrastructure for Wales SMEs told us that they felt that many areas in Wales were less well served in terms of infrastructure investment. As such, we would welcome the ‘supplementary developments’ for better North-South connectivity and provisional need to develop connecting local areas to economic centres. However, the priority focus on East to West corridors may exacerbate the perception of Wales having, as one respondent put it, a ‘neglected interior’.
“Moving forwards, NICW should prioritise its external focus and how this is communicated to Wales’ business community. NICW’s visibility has been limited thus far, and many businesses are unlikely to have much awareness of NICW’s role and how it is tasked to deliver for Wales. Part of this will need Welsh Government to properly resource NICW, prioritising efficient communication channels, and a user-friendly website. Furthermore, we believe that Welsh Government should place NICW on a statutory footing in order to properly address the issues that it is tasked to solve.
“However, on top of this, NICW must take an honest assessment of its outreach to the business community so far, and develop a plan as to how this can be improved moving forwards. NICW is tasked with genuinely delivering an infrastructure system that understands the needs of, and delivers for, Wales’ business community, and so it is vital that NICW develop strong relationships with businesses across the country. More work must be done by the institution in order to meet this need.”
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