The Welsh language channel has come in for some intense scrutiny since chief executive Iona Jones departed abruptly last week, prompting a wider debate about the future of S4/C.

This week, Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones, in a speech at the National Eisteddfod, called for the channel and other elements of broadcasting to be devolved from London to Cardiff Bay, arguing that Welsh-administered broadcasting could take on board the findings of the Creative Industries Review and help the sector to drive economic development, recently outlined in his Economic Renewal Programme.

Bethan, who is Plaid’s culture spokesperson, said: “All Welsh broadcasters face issues of engagement and S4/C has perhaps been unfairly singled out on this. However, the bids for the Independently Funded News Consortia pilot scheme in Wales were aimed directly at attracting new audiences.

“I think S4/C in particular could learn lessons from the cross-media approach taken in the bids, and set itself up as a hub for Welsh language creativity. If, for example, it is able to support and fund small-scale hyperlocal websites – as S4/C supplier Tinopolis suggested in its bid – it would be able to tap into the inclusivity and ownership factors that have driven social media’s popularity. In turn this would directly answer any issues of engagement.

“I believe that if every Welsh speaker feels they can be a part of S4/C in this way, it will also contribute to economic development in the creative sector. And, perhaps more importantly, it could drive interest in using the language, as non-Welsh speakers would become encouraged to learn in order to join in this creative hub.”

Bethan believes there are still a series of questions that need to be answered surrounding the departure of chief executive Iona Jones. They are:

• Did the departure conform to Ms Jones’ service agreement?
• Was there a compromise agreement in place?
• Was outside legal advice taken by the Board and, if so, from which law firm?
• Was there a severance payment made? As it is public money, what were the financial terms of Ms Jones departure?

Bethan added: “The press release issued by S4/C on 29 July doesn’t seem to be right as it describes the finance and human resources director taking on the new role of accounting officer. This not a new role. It is part of the requirements of Government accounting. Normally this is reserved for the chief executive.

“The NAO Comptroller & Auditor General should be asked about the role and why the interim chief executive was not given it. The accounting officer is responsible for stewardship of public funds. It should not be given to finance director as there is no check and balance.”

As many as 200 jobs are to go at Linamar’s Fabian Way factory, previously home to both Ford and Visteon, effectively bringing to an end automotive manufacturing in the city.

Following correspondence between local Assembly Member Bethan Jenkins and Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Deputy First Minister, Bethan has discovered that the Welsh Government offered to meet with Linamar executives to discuss providing assistance through its ReAct programme.

“Now I have learned that Linamar would not meet with either First Minister Carwyn Jones or with the Deputy First Minister, who is also Minister for Economic Development in Wales. It begs the question – why not? Why would any company in this position not attempt to give the staff it is about to make jobless every possible piece of assistance?

“We already know that Ford was unwilling to either send job application forms to Linamar workers or extend the recruitment deadline for the additional staff it requires to begin work on the Westminster and Welsh Government-assisted EcoBoost engine project in Bridgend, thus passing up the opportunity to employ highly-skilled automotive workers.

“Ford and Linamar have contrived – whether by accident or by design – to drive the final nail in the coffin of automotive manufacturing in Swansea. At a time when the performance of the Welsh economy is under so much scrutiny, this is of paramount importance.

“In addition, that Linamar would prefer to produce parts in an inefficient plant – where, presumably, wages and benefits are lower – and Ford is quite happy, as a customer of Linamar’s, to purchase such parts speaks volumes for how their customers are regarded. Let us hope that Welsh customers vote with their feet.”

Bethan will be writing to Linamar to ask why it refused the meetings it was offered with the Welsh Government.

• While Linamar’s Swansea factory is, according to the company’s own figures, one of the most efficient worldwide, the Mexico plant where the work from Swansea will be transferred to comes near the bottom of Linamar’s efficiency rankings.

Some 69 workers are employed at the company’s plant on the Forge Industrial Estate and they are to take part in a 30-day consultation over the future of the site, with any move expected to take up to a year to complete.

Bethan said: “I understand that Gardner Aerospace’s chief executive, Patrick Grady, has blamed the move on the economic downturn, and that is has reviewed its portfolio of factories – what it calls its ‘manufacturing footprint’.

“However, as the Welsh Government has provided funding to the company, I fully expect it to be included in the consultations. It has already said that if there is a closure, it will examine whether Gardner Aerospace breached the terms and conditions of any grant.

“This is another blow for an area already struggling to cope with a legacy of economic misfortune, and a huge disappointment. With its lack of infrastructure, if ever there was an area that could benefit from the new Economic Regeneration Programme – which aims to give businesses the environment in which to grow – then it is Maesteg.

“I will be writing to the Deputy First Minister about Gardner Aerospace’s proposed closure, and the effect it might have on the town, as a matter of urgency.”

Gardner Aerospace’s headquarters are in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and it has five manufacturing sites in the UK and one in Poland;

• The firm’s customers include Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN, BAe Systems and other major international companies in the aviation sector;

• The company is part of venture capitalist Jon Moulton’s Better Capital group.

Even robots still need humans, but car makers use Welsh workers less and less

The closure of the Linamar factory in Swansea shows once again that Wales is far too often buffeted by the misfortunes of international business. Now is the time to take charge

 

PEOPLE in politics – like people in other walks of life – will frequently tell you how hard they work, how tired they are. It’s understandable – after all, elbow grease is an attribute that voters take into consideration come election time.

But even from inside the bubble, it is easy to become cynical about such claims. Last week, as the Assembly entered its final week of sitting before the summer recess, the 200-strong workforce at the Linamar plant in Swansea agreed, with heavy hearts, to accept the redundancy package put forward by their Canadian auto manufacturer employer. Their decision brings to an end half a century of component making on the site and effectively closes the chapter on car manufacturing in the city. It’s also a huge personal disappointment, as I had been working with the union and workforce, attempting to liaise with Ford (a principal customer) and lobbying ministers in an attempt to secure the plant’s viability, as closure has loomed over Linamar Swansea for the best part of a year now.

All of this, however, must take second place to support for the workers, who now have to begin hunting for jobs in a recession. Therefore, I was very surprised when they told me that Ford, now recruiting at Bridgend ahead of the start of its Ecoboost engine programme, had refused even to send application forms to staff at Linamar, or extend the deadline for getting them in, which was a week ago last Friday. What introduces doubt where Ford’s actions are concerned, if the claims are correct, is that many of the Linamar boys and girls have extensive experience in auto manufacture not only through the present company, but because they have in the past worked for Ford and Visteon, previous occupants of the Fabian Way site. In a world where industry voices continuous concern over the sourcing of skills, why would any business shut its doors to such experience?

Ford’s name is often less-than-glorious in this part of South Wales West. Constituents who worked at the Fabian Way plant will tell of their suspicions of disputes and walk-outs contrived at times of over production, along with a whole host of other clever tricks to keep costs in check. But its reputation has really gone to the wolves over its involvement in the life and death of Visteon UK.

Prior to 2000, the cost of transferring car parts manufactured by Ford between its many plants (and, at this time, the corporation was still producing vehicles in the UK, at Dagenham) was paid for in what was known as “wooden dollars”. What this meant was that the cost of the part was added to the ultimate price tag of the vehicle.

But with workforces in the BRICs economies beginning to become available, Ford – like many other companies at this time – saw that it could reduce its component costs while retaining the prices it charged, thereby increasing its margin. It took the decision to spin out its components division, assisting in the creation of the Visteon Corporation, and effectively creating an internal market.

What happened after this is well documented and likely to form the basis of a forthcoming court case between Ford and the Visteon workers’ union Unite. Having been involved with this campaign to recover the pensions of 700 former Visteon workers from Swansea for over a year now, I – along with my Plaid Parliamentary colleagues – am currently in correspondence with the new government, calling for a Parliamentary investigation into the cause of Visteon UK’s collapse (the last Labour government – oddly – had no stomach for such an inquiry), as well as liaising with the Pensions Regulator, which continues to look into the company’s demise.

What is clear is that Ford didn’t give Visteon a chance. It insisted that component manufacturing staff that switched to the new company had their terms and conditions ‘mirrored’. Saddled with high contribution final salary schemes and having been told almost immediately by Ford to cut prices by a third, the new company took a three-year pension holiday. During that time, it retired most of the longest-serving members of staff and filled their posts with new staff on less generous terms. This presumably answered short-term cashflow challenges, but had two far more detrimental effects longer term.

Firstly, as those staff moved into early retirement, the number of contributors to the final salary scheme fell sharply, from 11 contributing to 1 receiving to 0.2 workers for every retiree. Secondly, when Visteon UK went bust on March 31 last year and the company applied to enter the Pension Protection Fund because its own scheme was in considerable deficit, it led to the situation where, among the 3,500 former Visteon workers who were left pension-less, there are workers that spent 30 years contributing while working at Ford and only six months at Visteon who have been left with nothing for their retirement.

But there is a wider picture to consider here, too – one that I made during a short debate in the Assembly several months back, and one that I have been trying to impress upon the new Pensions Minister, Steve Webb. If Ford is allowed to escape its pension obligations where Visteon staff are concerned, it gives a green light to every less-than-scrupulous corporation around the world that the UK provides a no-questions-asked dumping ground for in-deficit pension funds. This would only place further pressure on the PPF – or, more importantly, its contributors. These are businesses that are compelled through a levy to finance part of the fund – something they might justifiably challenge if there is further reason to doubt its equitability.

But it also brings us to the point where, in the depths of this recession, we should be asking what kind of companies we want here in Wales. Do we want blue chip names at any cost, even if they play fast and loose with the vagaries of international corporate responsibilities, skipping in and out of different countries, with inevitably poor consequences for their Welsh workers – and for the tax payer, too, when Unison estimates that it costs the public purse around £16,000 every time a person is made redundant? Or should we rather instead focus our attentions on turning our many, many SMEs into world beaters?

I recently met with a project team working on an incredibly exciting project near Port Talbot. If the scheme goes ahead – and there are a number of significant ifs to be answered – it will be anchored around a plant built by Scottish Energy. As I heard this, I wondered to myself: “Why couldn’t it be built and run by a Welsh company?” This may have been prompted by research I read earlier this year which showed that a large number of SMEs in Wales are sold when they are between five and seven-years-old. The research concluded that it was because too often the boards and management teams simply to not have the wherewithal to take their business to the next level.

The new Economic Development Programme goes some way towards addressing the issue of focusing on bringing along homegrown businesses, despite what the immediate responses of some Tories suggested. This is because it is in the development of the skills base that we can provide people with the tools to start and develop their own companies into ones like Scottish Power.

There has been criticism that the ERP contained no numbers, simply policy flavours. That’s true. But it’s a hugely ambitious programme of work. The proof of its worth must come in its delivery, and here it could learn from the outcome of the Linamar closure. By the company’s own measurement, the Swansea plant was one of the best performers across the business. What work there is will go to Linamar’s Mexico factory, one of its worst.

Can we blame Linamar? Certainly. But it is worth remembering that Linamar came to Swansea with reassurances that it would be sourcing contracts from Ford. Those contracts – certainly where Ford Bridgend is concerned – never came. Meanwhile, the Welsh Government has given Ford a £16 million grant towards the development of Ecoboost facilities there.

Did it insist on a degree of local sourcing when it made the award? Not as far as we know. Should it have insisted? Well, there are arguments for and against, and here’s where the difficulty in giving grants – or loans, as they shall be from now on – lies. A company like Ford can dangle the carrot of plenty of work before a government and then coyly ask for grants to make it ‘viable’. Terrified that not only will the contract slip through their fingers but also with it will go any existing work, ministers hastily reach for their cheque books. They simply don’t have the time or the bargaining position to attach strings, we are led to believe. Quite simply, this makes inward investors too powerful.

But much of this would be moot if the Welsh Government was to adopt a recommendation in the recently-published final report of the Holtham Commission, seeking successful discussions with the UK Government in order to vary Corporation Tax in Wales. Although the commission admitted that such a move would “carry acute budgetary risks”, it concluded that such a suggestion should be weighed against its “potential … as a development tool”. Such a recommendation would put Wales ahead of Scotland because, as the Campaign for Fiscal Responsibility pointed out this week, it would give us greater devolved financial powers. CFFR founder Ben Thomson said of Holtham the report: “This certainly is a move in the right direction and goes a lot further than the proposals put forward by Calman.”

But it could effectively hand the power over inward investment back to the Welsh Government. This is crucial, not least because it has far wider economic consequences to take account of than simply the narrow considerations of a business looking to set up in Wales.

Both the ERP and the Holtham reports provide clear ways for building a successful future Welsh economy. But, in many ways, they seek to turn a battleship, unpicking and redrawing ways that were established as far back as the Post War period. It is my belief that Corporation Tax variance could be won for Wales significantly sooner. We need indigenous world-beating Welsh businesses, but they need time to develop. In the meantime, Wales must protect and enhance its reputation by continuing to attract blue chip companies. However, we must do it on our own terms. This recession, and lessons like Linamar, shows us why.

- This piece also appears on WalesHome.org

Mae’r AC Plaid dros Orllewin De Cymru wedi bod yn gweithio gyda staff a swyddogion yr undeb yn y ffatri ers sawl mis, ar ôl iddi ddod i’r amlwg bod y perchennog Canadaidd yn dioddef anawsterau wrth sicrhau cytundebau. Mae hi wedi ysgrifennu at Ford i ofyn am ei strategaeth gaffael, ac mae hi wedi gofyn sawl cwestiwn i’r Prif Weinidog ac aelodau eraill Llywodraeth Cymru am Linamar.

Dywedodd: “Cymerodd Linamar dros reolaeth y ffatri o Visteon gyda’r addewid o gytundebau wedi’u sicrhau gyda chwmnïau ceir, gan gynnwys Ford. Mae’n amlwg, o’r hyn y mae gweithwyr yn y ffatri wedi dweud wrthyf, er gwaethaf y ffaith y gwnaeth Linamar yr hyn a allai i ddod â’r gwaith yna i Abertawe, nid oedd llawer o’r gwaith yna wedi ymddangos yn y diwedd.

“Mae Llywodraeth y DU wedi buddsoddi biliynau, yn ogystal â grant sawl miliwn o bunnoedd gan Lywodraeth Cymru, er mwyn i Ford adeiladu’r peiriant hwb eco newydd ym Mhen y Bont. Fodd bynnag, mae’n debyg nad yw’r gwaith yna yn mynd i gyflenwyr lleol fel Linamar.

“Pan ofynnais i’r Prif Weinidog am hyn, yr unig ateb a allai roi oedd ei bod yn gobeithio y byddai gwaith yn dod i gyflenwyr lleol. Do’n i’n ddim yn meddwl bod hynny’n ddigon da ar y pryd, ac yn sicr nid yw’n ddigon da nawr. Dylai Llywodraeth Cymru fod mewn sefyllfa i  fynnu amodau pan mae’n rhoi grantiau.

“Fel hyn, mae rhaid i Ford rannu’r bai am fethiant Linamar i barhau.”

“Byddwn yn cefnogi Unite yn ei ymdrechion i achub ffatri Linamar, ond mae gennyf i bryder bod yr undeb heb wneud digon yn ddigon buan.”

——————————

BETHAN Jenkins AM has called on the Welsh and UK governments to investigate the way Ford sources its parts following today’s announcement of the closure of the Linamar plant in Swansea.

The Plaid South Wales West AM has been working with staff and union officials at the plant for a number of months, once it became apparent that the Canadian owner was experiencing difficulties in securing contracts. She has written to Ford to ask about its sourcing strategy, and she has also asked a number of questions to the First Minister and other members of the Welsh Government about Linemar.

She said: “Linamar took over the plant from Visteon with the promise of contracts secured from car makers, including Ford. It is apparent, from what workers at the plant have told me, that while Linamar did what it could to bring that work to Swansea, a lot of that work was not ultimately forthcoming.

“Billions have been invested by the UK government, along with a multi-million pound grant from the Welsh Government, so that Ford can build the new eco boost engine at Bridgend. However, none of that work appears to be going to local suppliers like Linemar.

“When I asked the First Minister about this, he could only give a reply that he hoped work would come to local suppliers. I didn’t think that was good enough at the time, and it certainly isn’t good enough now. The Welsh Government should be in a position to demand terms if it is awarding grants.

“As such, Ford must share the blame for Linemar’s inability to continue.”

“I would back Unite in its moves to save the Linemar plant, but I am concerned that this is a too little, too late from the union.”

Bethan speaking at the Visteon rally outside Unite's London headquarters in March this year

BETHAN Jenkins AM has welcomed the news that the union Unite is to take forward legal action against the Ford Motor Company, accusing it of mis-selling pensions to thousands of its former workers.

Bethan, the Plaid AM for South Wales West, has been campaigning with members of the Visteon Pension Action Group for over a year to have the car maker taken to court, claiming they were wrongly made to leave the company’s pension scheme once the car components part of the business was spun-out in 2000 as Visteon.

Some 3,500 former workers – including 700 from Swansea – were told they could lose as much as half their entitlements when Visteon UK went into administration last year and the company applied to enter the Pension Protection Fund.

Bethan said: “There are crucial issues for Ford to answer here. It has described the situation as “unfortunate”, but I would contend that it compelled its former workers who moved over to Visteon to join a scheme with the new company by claiming – incorrectly – that it could not legally allow them to stay in the Ford fund. In fact, Inland Revenue makes provision for such an eventuality. Ford should have known that.

“In addition, Ford never really gave Visteon UK a chance. It forced the new business to take on staff on ‘mirrored’ salaries and conditions, and then shortly afterwards demanded that Visteon reduce the price of parts it supplied to Ford. The net result of this is that Visteon UK never turned a profit in the nine years it was in existence.

“That, however, is not likely to feature in this court case. So I have written to both Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Deputy First Minister, and Steve Webb, the new Minister of State for Pensions, to urge them to join calls – echoing those made by Plaid MPs – for a full Parliamentary inquiry into the history of Visteon UK and what role Ford could have played in its collapse. The Visteon pensioners should be entitled to know.”

Economic Renewal: A New Direction, announced by Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones, makes a fundamental shift away from the day-to-day management of Welsh companies, often through grant giving, towards providing infrastructure and loans for business.

As well as building on successful sectors in Wales, the new strategy also looks to increase links with education, not only to improve skills, but also to involve Welsh universities in an expanded research and development role.

Bethan said: “Swansea University has been incredibly proactive in recent years in buildings all kinds of links outside of the campus. I work with a number of its professors and other staff, and I know they are incredibly eager to take the lead in providing R&D and other work which not only benefits the economy but also Welsh society as a whole.

“Some of the plans they are working up – for the Copperopolis site, for example – are uniquely innovative, acknowledging the importance of the past while providing skills and developing new technologies and ways of production that could make the Swansea area a leader in a number of fields.

“I’m delighted that the Deputy First Minister has recognised their value, and look forward to working with a newly-empowered Swansea University to play a full role in developing the economy of South West Wales and the rest of the country for the future.”

Some 700 former workers from the Swansea area are fighting to have their pensions restored after the receivers for Visteon UK applied to enter the Pension Protection Fund. It means that some of the pensioners, who number 3,500 across the UK, could lose as much as half their entitlements.

Bethan, who has helped to fight the case since Visteon UK went into liquidation on March 31 last year, said: “The pensioners’ union Unite believes it has a strong case against Ford, which it accuses of mis-selling pensions to its members. But while we are waiting for Unite to make a decision on going ahead with legal action, we cannot afford to stand still on this.

“I have told the minister – along with Ieuan Wyn Jones, the Deputy First Minister here in Wales, who has been incredibly supportive over Visteon, and the Pensions Regulator – that there are two specific incidents involving both Ford and Visteon that give me great cause for concerns and should be investigated further.”

Mike Gard, from Swansea and one of the Visteon pensioners, added: “The Visteon Pension Action Group has also written to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to press for a parliamentary inquiry. And, with the Pensions Regulator compelling a business for the first time to make a pension contribution after it avoided its liabilities, there seems to be a willingness to stop this kind of practice from happening.

“I hope the Pensions Regulator approaches its investigation into Visteon as vigorously as it has done in this case.”

Bethan added: “The National Assembly does not have the powers to investigate the collapse of Visteon – it should, but it doesn’t. So we need to push for a Parliamentary inquiry.

“It is crucial that the new Westminster Government realises that if it allows Ford to get away with what happened to Visteon UK, it sends a message to every less-than-scrupulous multi-national with an in-deficit pension fund that the UK is a soft touch. We cannot afford that – and we should not afford it.”

Last Tuesday, Environment Minister Jane Davidson AM released a statement on planning for renewable energy yesterday, in which she once more committed her administration to its Low Carbon Energy Policy Statement.

Within that statement, the Welsh Government pledges to seek out “low carbon energy production via indigenous (and thus secure) renewables”.

Bethan asked Elin Jones AM, the Rural Affairs Minister: “Does the Minister agree that if it would take the current entire biofuel output of the US to power the proposed Prenergy plant in Port Talbot – which is agreed – then Wales really does not have enough land to achieve the Welsh Government’s low carbon commitments through biomass, and that we should instead seek carbon neutral options?”

Ms Jones agreed that Wales only has land to plant biofuels for “small scale” plants, and answered that sites such as Prenergy would have to source from abroad.

Bethan said: “And therein lies the issue. On the one hand, the Welsh Government is committed to ‘indigenous’ renewables, yet it concedes that universally unpopular schemes like the Port Talbot application would have to rely on biofuel from overseas. Also, the developer for the schemes at Kings Dock in Swansea’s SA1 and Coedbach, near Kidwelly, now the subject of a public inquiry, has said it intends to source 75% of its fuel from imports.

“Of course, if it is being transported by ship, the reduction in carbon output achieved could be negligible, once again shining a light on the highly questionable benefit of biomass. I sincerely believe we will look back in 50 years and wonder why on earth we ever considered it as a renewable, particularly as there are indigenous, carbon neutral – not just low carbon – solutions here in Wales.

“I think it shows the farcical situation where the local democratic will is overwhelmingly against biomass plants, yet decisions on the large stations – the worst stations – cannot be made here in Wales. I shall be pressing ministers here to push the new Westminster government for powers to decide on power stations producing over 50mw. It is our right.

“And I am saying to the Welsh Government – for pity’s sake, let’s call a day on this technology. Let’s see if we can halt these schemes while they are assessed against new policy. Nobody wants them, so let’s concentrate on something that will work, and will bring clean air and jobs to Wales.”

Pete Wilson, from the Prenergy opposition group PT-RAPS, added: Importing wood on the scale required to fuel the 1GW of biomass schemes planned for Wales, such as Prenergy, Kings dock, Coed-bach and Anglesey developments is widely recognised as being unsustainable. It is now essential that the Welsh Assembly call time on all projects that are being vague about the sourcing of their wood fuel from abroad and this effectively means all the aforementioned schemes.”

The £2.4 million NSA STRIDES Alliance (Sustainable Training Initiative Developing Employment Skills) initiative announced today (TUE) aims to boost the confidence of economically inactive and unemployed people in the county, helping them achieve the ‘can do’ mindset needed to secure a job.

Led by the New Sandfields Aberavon or NSA charity as it is now known, the project is backed with £1.5m from the European Social Fund through the Welsh Assembly Government – and will help people tackle barriers such as lack of motivation or low self esteem that prevent them from getting a job.

Bethan said: “I am pleased that the Welsh Assembly Government has decided to back the NSA charity in the invaluable work it does in helping the unemployed and other disadvantaged people in the area. Neath Port Talbot faces considerable challenges in this regard but NSA is meeting them head on.”

Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said: “One of the key commitments of our One Wales programme of government is to ensure people can fulfil their full potential, find work and contribute to the prosperity of their local communities.  This project is a good example of how our management of European Structural Funds is supporting people to overcome a range of disadvantages – and at the same time helping Wales put the recession behind us.”

Ian Isaac, Chief Executive of NSA said: “NSA STRIDES Alliance is designed to engage economically inactive people where they live. The organisation will wrap itself around the scheme utilising community assets, ensuring that leadership, administrative and management skills and experience retained from a previous STRIDES scheme will be put in to practice. Over the next three years we will support over 800 people in their journey towards higher self esteem, confidence, acquiring the skills and abilities to gain and regain entry to meaningful employment.”