Plaid vows new development agency for Wales

LAID Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says a new national development agency for Wales would be at the heart of his party's strategy to boost the competitiveness of the Welsh economy if it forms the next Welsh Government.

- SION BARRY

With the latest polls pointing to Plaid becoming the biggest party in the Senedd election next spring, Mr ap Iorwerth told a meeting of Cardiff Breakfast Club that an arm's-length government agency - first proposed in a Plaid economic strategy document earlier this year - would have its precise remit clarified within the first 100 days after taking office.

Speaking after his address, he said he was open-minded about the agency being called the Welsh Development Agency (WDA).

The Labour administration of Rhodri Morgan abolished the arm's-length WDA which had a wide economic remit, from supporting indigenous firms to attracting inward investment, and from land reclamation to property development with its staff and functions brought under the direct control of the Welsh Government in April 2006.

The Welsh Government still holds the IP and domain rights to the WDA name.

After his address, Mr ap Iorwerth acknowledged: “Twenty years since its abolition, it is a brand and name that resonates globally, so I am not ruling that out.”

Asked if there was a danger of creating a silo mentality between the new agency, a proposed innovation agency and the Development Bank of Wales, he said there was potential for all three to come under one organisational umbrella, although that had yet to be determined.

In its final year of operation, the WDA had a budget of more than £220m and a headcount of more than 1,000.