It’s a great pleasure to follow the Chair of the committee. It’s difficult to know what to say about this policy, because it’s a policy that had mixed objectives in mixed areas, and the results have also been very mixed, as the Chair mentioned. Altogether, we could differentiate between the enterprise zones that were created as a result of specific opportunities, and then those enterprise zones that were created as a reaction to an economic crisis. One can’t say, about the seven enterprise zones, of course, with any certainty, that this policy has succeeded in either of those two cases that I mentioned. In those cases such as Cardiff Central, it’s very difficult, even though the results, in terms of job creation and so on, are better. It’s very difficult to attribute that to the enterprise zones. And then, of course, in those other zones, well, the figures speak for themselves.

What’s true to say, of course—and the Chair is right in that regard—is that the enterprise zones, as with any local economic intervention that leads to the creation of partnerships, can then generate enthusiasm and momentum, and we did see that in our visit to the enterprise zone on Anglesey. But we do have to ask the question whether it’s the policy itself and the incentives, and so on, that are associated with enterprise zones that have created that, or would it be possible to create the same kind of effect and local economic momentum through other means.

We have to say that what is clear is that the enterprise zones as a policy had been created almost as a reaction to developments over the border in England and creating the local economic partnerships that existed everywhere. I do believe that we have seen, over several years now, a failure in Wales to come up with a spatial economic policy, either on the local level or on the regional level. And I think that we’re still getting to grips with that, even though there has been a major emphasis in the new economic strategy of the Government on spatial policy, on regional policy. I don’t think we’ve found the right medium for that, and, of course, the changes with regard to the enterprise zones that have been announced do reflect that. In looking forward, I think that one of the major lessons is to focus on specific incentives for zones—for the size of the enterprise zones.