Dear editor, IT IS no great secret or revelation that private sector businesses will be integral to the fiscal stability and growth of the UK economy over the coming years, and Wales and Pembrokeshire are no exception.

Strategic planning and creating policy to support the growth and financial security of these often small to medium sized enterprises (SME’s) has to be a key focus of not only the Labour led Welsh Government but also the Independent Group controlled Pembrokeshire County Council .

These plans need to move beyond lip service to the issues and target the key challenges that businesses face today here in Pembrokeshire – rising energy costs, crippling business rates, growth stifling employment laws and poor marketing of Pembrokeshire as a county that takes SMEs as seriously as multi-million pound businesses such as nPower and Valero.

A simple search on the Valuation Office Agency website reveals 804 rateable businesses within the SA73 postcode area, lifting the SMEs within this area out of business rates will in itself provide struggling businesses with a much needed lifeline. Those more financially secure, gain the opportunity to invest this saving into their growth plans which will ultimately create employment opportunities.

Of more interest is the fact that the Conservative party in Wales have committed to lifting the 604 businesses in the SA73 postcode with a rateable value of less than £12,000 out of business rates altogether.

The proposal would see the Welsh Government selling off surplus land it owns across Wales to fund the £40m investment in the businesses that are the backbone of our high streets. The rate relief scheme introduced by Labour is simply not radical enough and barely scratches the surface of the problem.

Therefore, I cannot help but ask why the Welsh Labour Government have not looked at implementing such a strategy as the Tories – are they anti-business, antigrowth and afraid of prosperity returning and derailing their doom and gloom bandwagon keeping them in control of the Welsh Assembly?

Secondly, what are our elected representatives at County Hall doing to press this issue with the Welsh Government and secure investment for Pembrokeshire businesses?

The time to act is now, fail to act and even more local businesses will shut their doors and hoist the “Closed for Business” sign higher above Pembrokeshire.

Dan Mills Murray Road Milford Haven