WELSH BUSINESSES NEED HELP TO STOP MORE JOB CUTS - WILLIAMS

10.36.37am GMT Mon 2nd Feb 2009

Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Wales Roger Williams MP has today warned that this week's job losses won't be the last, and has called on the Government to take action to stimulate the construction industry. He has also called for measures to reduce the burden of business rates to help small businesses.

This week Corus announced that 1,100 redundancies would be made in Wales. Serious Food Company in Llantrisant have announced that 127 jobs were to go and Toyota have also announced they are considering a number of cost-cutting measures such as shortened weeks, that could affect 600 workers at their plant in Flintshire.

Last week official figures showed that there are now 98,000 out of work in Wales, an increase of 13,000 from the three months prior to November.

In yesterday's Welsh Questions, Roger Williams raised the concerns of businesses having to cope with paying business rates, which stay the same regardless of how a company is performing, and called on the Government to ease the burden.

Commenting, Roger Williams said:

"This week has been devastating for people in Wales, but we're all aware that things could get worse before they get better.

"The Assembly Government have announced funding for retraining, which is welcome for those who have lost their jobs, and will be essential for economic recovery, but they must also seek to safeguard the jobs that are still there.

"With confidence draining, we need to look at measures to stimulation construction and other industries that rely on manufacturing by forcing banks to open credit lines."

On business rates, Roger added:

"Business rates are hitting Welsh businesses hard, as they have to pay the same amount no matter what their financial situation. At a time when everyone is struggling that seems an extraordinary burden.

"I asked the Minister to look at this again in yesterday's Welsh Questions to see if they could come up with something to really help businesses. While he didn't rule out relief on business rates, neither did his answer suggest any real movement.

"If we are going to get out of this mess as soon as possible, we need to halt the measures that are most damaging for all businesses - we need to stop good businesses from going bust."