Wiltshire MPs and Council Leader take questions from county’s business leaders on post-lockdown recovery

Universities Minister and MP for Chippenham, Michelle Donelan, MP for Devizes, Danny Kruger, and Leader of Wiltshire Council, Richard Clewer, recently took part in a virtual roundtable discussion with businesses from across Swindon and Wiltshire, hosted by Business West. 

Efforts to reinvigorate highstreets and local retail were central to discussions, with a particular focus on weaning consumers off online shopping following the pandemic. Danny Kruger proposed reviewing business rates and taxes for premises and retail, while Michelle Donelan announced that she will be developing working groups for the four market towns that she represents, with the objective of attracting more funding. 

For Richard Clewer, the focus should be on reshaping what the market town means, moving beyond just retail to include community and cultural events, music, leisure, hospitality and cinema. He therefore proposes increased government funding in culture to prevent highstreets from becoming dysfunctional and empty. 

International trade, access to raw materials and skills were also discussed in detail. Steve Morris of Huber Technology described huge increases in the cost of steel, wood and plastics, while Richard Pownall of Neptune Home reported that container prices from China have risen from $1,500 a year ago to $14,000 at the current rate. 

Richard’s solution is to consider moving manufacturing back to the UK, but for his company, finding skilled labour in the post-Brexit era is extremely challenging. He called on the government to invest in non-university skills, such as upholstering. 

Michelle Donelan acknowledged the skills shortage and referred to the government’s Skills Bill, announced in the Queen’s speech. The bill includes provisions to work closely with the business community to identify gaps and ensure that courses are fit for purpose. 

Dave Battrick of Business West added that although skills shortages are pressing, local opportunities remain strong with around 3,000 vacancies currently available in Wiltshire as a whole. 

Moving on to town planning, Robert Gillespie of Impact Planning highlighted the under-resourcing issues in Wiltshire and in national bodies such as Natural England, English Heritage and the Environment Agency, which prevent them from reacting quickly and effectively to matters that arise in planning applications. 

Paula Power of My White Dog then raised the subject of mental health provisions and Richard Clewer responded by describing current mental health services, particularly for young people, as “not brilliant”. He reports that those suffering with autism spectrum disorder, for instance, can expect a two year wait time to receive support. 

Richard’s team is therefore implementing a latent demand reserve, increasing mental health funding to deal particularly with the effects of COVID.

Michelle Donelan added that the government is investing £10m in mental health charities, with a number of those focused on young people. £500m has also been allocated to upskill the workforce and reduce waiting times for those with mental health and wellbeing issues.

Dave Battrick concluded proceedings by highlighting the upcoming events from Business West, all designed to inform and educate our business community as we emerge from lockdown. View our upcoming events here.