Ahead of the upcoming Senedd election, FSB Wales has called for all political parties to commit to a 30-year vision for infrastructure in Wales to tackle the more entrenched issues faced by parts of the country.
New FSB research has found that 90% of Welsh businesses say that access to broadband is very important to their business. This underscores how important it is that the next Welsh Government take action and work with UK Government to provide easy access to digital connectivity for Welsh businesses – particularly considering the rise in remote working brought about by Coronavirus.
FSB has also called for the National Infrastructure Commission to be put on a statutory footing and for its remit to be made significantly clearer so that it is empowered with the independence, budget capacity and tools to do the job properly on behalf of Wales’ SMEs.
Ben Francis, FSB Wales Policy Chair, said:
“From roads to public transport to digital connectivity, everyone in Wales has experienced the issues thrown up by our infrastructure capacity – and lack thereof. These issues are persistent and are far worse in some areas of the country than others.
“Furthermore, some of these issues are so entrenched that they cannot be resolved within a five-year Senedd term. That is why we want to ensure that all political parties sign up to the principle of a 30-year plan for infrastructure; to ensure that the longer-term issues can be properly tackled, regardless of who is in government over the coming years.
“Its important to remember that infrastructure is not just about the ‘big bang’ projects that dominate the headlines. For many people, infrastructure is more of an issue related to what affects them in their day-to-day lives and what causes them to encounter stress or inconvenience. For many, this could be about local roads or other local or regional issues. That is why we’ve called for a £100 million Local Infrastructure Fund that would help deal with some of those issues and ensure that infrastructure policy solves issues at every level.
“The impact of Coronavirus on the way we work also poses big questions for our future infrastructure needs. The crisis has spurred Welsh SMEs to change their way of working; taking advantage of new office systems, from cloud-based services to decentralised models of working to click and collect. This can be harnessed to ensure we have a skilled sector, and a workforce that is ready for the future challenges of Welsh firms. The next Welsh Government should set out an ambitious programme of digital utilisation, helping companies to adopt the best technologies, be sufficiently trained in exploiting them securely and safely.
“Infrastructure in Wales is complex and is undoubtedly a difficult nut to crack, but one that we must start making tangible progress on in the next Welsh Government. Our economy is dramatically changing, and the infrastructure that Wales relies upon must be able to keep pace with that.”