WALES’ new economy secretary set out his priorities against the backdrop of a significant rise in economic inactivity and a fall in employment compared to the rest of the UK.

Jeremy Miles outlined his aim to make Wales the best place to start, invest in and grow a business by productivity, attracting investment and redesigning skills support.

In a statement to the Senedd about his economic vision on April 23, Mr Miles said increasing productivity and economic dynamism will be his number one priority.

He told the chamber his second priority is to attract and encourage business investment, both in established businesses based in Wales and from new investors.

The economy secretary said his third priority is to redesign employability and skills support, ensuring that economic priorities, apprenticeships and vocational education are all aligned.

However, opposition MSs warned that Wales’ economy is underperforming and urged the Welsh Government to set firm targets to measure success.

Mr Miles, who is also responsible for energy, cautioned that ongoing financial constraints as well as political and economic uncertainty at a UK level make the aims more challenging.

He said: “The legacy of EU withdrawal, the pandemic and ongoing budgetary constraints have weakened the economy.

“The slowdown in UK productivity has impacted output, wages and household incomes, and these inequalities were already more acute in Wales before this time.”

The former education minister, who retains responsibility for the Welsh language, criticised the “cack-handed’ approach of the prime minister to so-called sick note culture.

Mr Miles described the UK Government crackdown on the number of people signed off from work as a brutal way of approaching a very complex challenge.

Samuel Kurtz, the Conservatives’ new shadow economy secretary, raised concerns about worrying trends in economic inactivity and employment

He told the chamber that statistics show Wales’ unemployment rate was 60% higher than the UK average in the three months to February.

The Tory raised alarm about a “staggering” rate of economic inactivity at 26.2%, which he said is almost 27% higher than the UK average and rising three times as fast.

Mr Kurtz, who represents Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, called on the economy secretary to introduce job-creation targets.

He said it should be a sense of shame for the Welsh Government that Welsh workers have long taken home less money than their counterparts anywhere else in the UK.

Luke Fletcher, for Plaid Cymru, said sectors across the economy have been calling out for a comprehensive and meaningful industrial strategy.

The South Wales West MS described the economy secretary’s statement as “essentially a list of economic goods the government would like to see in Wales”.

Mr Fletcher warned: “But there’s no substantive plan on how those goods will be delivered, no road map, no waymarkers and no precise sense of the final destination.”

The shadow economy secretary raised concerns about skills shortages in the green sector, calling for closer collaboration with further education providers.

He said: “It’s currently a case of them putting their finger in the air, seeing which way the wind blows, and hoping for the best. That doesn’t fill me with much hope.”

Mr Miles told MSs that potential job losses at Tata remain the most high-profile concern, vowing that the Welsh Government will do all it can to protect jobs and the steel industry.

The economy secretary said a general election offers the real possibility of a better and fairer economic policy from a new UK Government.

Mr Kurtz called for the Welsh Government to confirm if it has made any financial support available to the £100m Port Talbot transition board set up by UK ministers.

Meanwhile, Mr Fletcher urged the economy secretary to look at using the planning system to protect the future of the blast furnaces.

Mr Miles stressed that the Welsh Government has supported Tata through capital investment and skills support for many years.

He said: “We’ve been pressing for 14 years for a UK Government to take seriously the future of steel and to plan for a transition to greener production.”

Plans for 12 new lodges at a Pembrokeshire holiday park are expected to be refused, in part due to concerns about the impact on a historic castle associated with the Mabinogion.

James Powell, of Brookside & Castlewood Holiday Park, Narberth is seeking permission for 12 self-catering lodges, and associated works, as an extension of the existing park, on the outskirts of the town.

The application is recommended for refusal when it comes before Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, meeting on April 23.

A report for committee members says: “The application site is prominent and open to view in the wider landscape. The greater part of the existing Holiday Park is located to the south of the application site within a wooded valley and hidden from wider view. It is also located outside of the defined Settlement Boundary of Narberth. Public Rights of Way (PRoW) pass to the north and east of the site; and to the south through the Holiday Park.”

Narberth Town Council has objected due to the loss of  public right of way to Tabernacle Lane, Narberth.

The report adds: “The applicant has advanced a case that the proposed development should be assessed [against policy] on the basis that the holiday units are not caravans and that the application site is well related to Narberth by virtue of a public footpath that the connects the site with Castle Terrace/Market Street at the southern end of the town.”

However, officers have disputed the units should be treated as buildings, saying: “The submitted designs clearly illustrate timber clad static caravan units.”

Heneb (formerly Dyfed Archaeological Trust) has objected, considering the impact on the castle and conservation area have been “underplayed,” and the council’s Historic Buildings & Conservation Officer says the impact on the castle and conservation area would be ‘Very High’ and ‘High’ respectively.

Natural Resources Wales has also raised “significant concerns,” saying: “We note foul water disposal is proposed via connection to a pre-existing system, rather than connecting to the mains sewer. However, the site is within a sewered area. The installation of private sewage treatment facilities within publicly sewered areas is not normally considered environmentally acceptable because of the greater risk of failures leading to pollution of the water environment compared to public sewerage systems.”

The report, outlining the reasons for refusal, concludes: “It is apparent that some economic benefit will derive from the proposed development, but the applicant has not sought to quantify it.

“However, it is also apparent that the proposed development will have negative social impacts in terms of access for people with disabilities; and negative environmental impacts in terms of landscape character and appearance, historic assets, and the Afon Cleddau SAC.”

The castle in the Pembrokeshire town of Narberth – now twinned with the Shropshire town of Ludlow – is mentioned in the Mabinogion as the place where Rhiannon, mother of hero Pryderi, was imprisoned when her newborn child is abducted, and she is accused of infanticide.

SHOCK analysis by the Labour Party has revealed more than 1,000 shoplifting offences are being committed across England and Wales every day – equating to an offence almost every minute of the day.

Yet separate Freedom of Information requests submitted by the party to police forces suggest that charges have fallen by a quarter over the past five years.

Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Mid and South Pembrokeshire, Henry Tufnell, was out visiting local businesses in Tenby last week (April 19) to hear about the challenges presented by shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.

Henry Tufnell, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Mid and South Pembrokeshire, said: “Pembrokeshire relies upon local businesses to grow our local economy, support jobs, and drive tourism. Today’s stats are clear: the Conservatives have lost control.

“Labour has a plan to ensure our town centres are a safe, enjoyable place for Pembrokeshire residents to spend time in. Coupled with the Welsh Labour Government’s Transforming Towns scheme, which will provide £27 million by 2025 in South West Wales towards funding projects to regenerate and support our town centres, Labour’s priority is breathing life back into our high streets.”

Philippa Thompson, Labour’s Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for Dyfed Powys Police, joined with members of the Co-operative Party and USDAW, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, to campaign for stronger protections for retail workers.

Today’s announcement comes shortly after the UK government finally committed to introduce a new offence for assault of a retail worker, which Labour, the Co-op and USDAW have called for, for more than a decade.

Labour’s Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for Dyfed Powys Police, Philippa Thompson, said:

“A Labour Government in Westminster means we’ll see more police on the streets, a crackdown on anti-social behaviour, and on retail crime. As a Labour & Co-operative Party candidate, today I am campaigning with USDAW to strengthen protections for retail workers against the assault and abuse they face at work.

It has taken the Conservatives ten years to heed what Labour, the Co-operative Party and USDAW have been saying, and introduce a specific offence for assault of a retail worker. The Tories have run out of steam and run out of ideas, and it’s time for a change. Only Labour can deliver that change.”

Since September, Labour has been calling for the Tories to scrap their Shoplifter’s Charter, which is leaving criminals to steal with impunity.

The rule, brought in by Theresa May in 2014, introduced a new category of ‘low-value shoplifting’ to describe theft of goods worth under £200 and has led to police deprioritising enforcement in these cases – even where there are repeat offences or organised shoplifting. This has left businesses and retail workers at the mercy of criminals.
 
Alongside removing the Tories’ £200 rule, Labour has vowed to put 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs back on the streets and introduce a Community Policing Guarantee to tackle shoplifting.

Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, said: “Under the Tories too many communities and high streets are being blighted by staggering increases in shoplifting, but charge rates are going down. That means more criminals are getting away with it and more local businesses are paying the price.
 
“The Conservative government has decimated neighbourhood policing, leaving our town centres unprotected, and they are still refusing to get rid of the £200 rule, which is encouraging repeat offending and organised gangs of shoplifters.
 
“Labour will scrap the Tories’ Shoplifter’s Charter and bring in a Community Policing Guarantee, with 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs to crackdown on shoplifting and keep the public safe.”