Yesterday, Tom Giffard MS (Con, South Wales West) – who remains a sitting county councillor for Brackla – brought up the recent economic vision report published by Bridgend Council.
He mentioned that the report said* that average median weekly wages in Bridgend had fallen to the second-lowest rate of all of Wales’ 22 local authorities during 2020.
*The report didn’t actually mention the figure; I did and had to find those figures myself.
“I’m sure you’ll agree minister that sliding from mid-table to second-bottom is surely a cause for concern about the job Bridgend Council and the Welsh Government is doing in improving economic outcomes in Bridgend.
“If that performance had been replicated by a Premier League manager they would’ve been sacked by now.”
– Tom Giffard MS
What should local authorities do to enhance their economies and what interventions will the Welsh Government take in Bridgend to stop the slide from continuing?
While talking up the economic development potential of corporate joint committees, Minister for Finance & Local Government, Rebecca Evans (Lab, Gower), said there was an equal responsibility on the UK Government not to restrain wages in the public sector. The Conservatives couldn’t complain about wages when they were enacting cuts to universal credit.
One of the obvious causes behind the wage slump is the closure of the Ford engine plant – which paid, on average, significantly more than other employers in the area. While Bridgend has been hit hardest by the wage slump, there’s been a smaller knock-on impact in neighbouring local authorities – particularly the Vale of Glamorgan. Replacing those jobs at those payscales won’t be easy at all.
The Welsh Government set up a task force to address the fallout, but the last report was way back in January 2020 and their response was heavily reliant on Ineos moving to Brocastle. The UK Government have seemingly done nothing. Yes, “the pandemic” I picture you saying, but there’s no excuse to have not done any more work on this since. The factory itself is mothballed. Some “Urban Explorers” recently managed to get inside, showing that very little is going on there at the moment.
It’s a shame we didn’t hear more about this. I guess now the UK Parliament and Senedd elections are out of the way Bridgend doesn’t matter.
