Waste Watchers

The Welsh Liberal Democrats will expose an example of the waste and inefficiency of Labour and Plaid Cymru in government on each day of the Welsh general election campaign



Figures released by the Welsh Liberal Democrats last autumn revealed that many of the Labour-Plaid government's flagship Technium projects made massive losses. Freedom of Information requests revealed a loss in excess of £5.4 million since 2001.



The Technium scheme was a flagship government project founded in 2001 as an attempt to develop a series of sites where science and technology businesses could be nurtured.



Mike Priestley, Welsh Liberal Democrat candidate for Aberconwy said:



"Despite a number of individual successes, overall the Technium project has made losses of over £5.4 million. Some individual projects have made huge losses. Port Talbot has lost £2.2 million and so has Technium Cast in Bangor.



“The Technium project has been widely criticised, including by the Government’s own Economic Advisory Council. Welsh Liberal Democrats have argued for a much closer relationship with the universities to help create more organic clusters of expertise and innovation. Instead, the Labour-Plaid government ignored expert advice and have presided over a colossal waste of tax payer’s money.



“When every family, charity and business is making every pound stretch that little bit further, Wales needs a government that does the same. Labour and Plaid Cymru have turned waste, incompetence and inefficiency into an art form.”


“The Welsh Liberal Democrats are continuing to expose, on each day of the election campaign, examples of the waste and inefficiency of the Labour-Plaid government during their four years in power.”