3. 2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:37 pm on 14 June 2016.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 2:37, 14 June 2016

Well, I know Jeremy Miles’s interest in the work of the Welsh Co-operative and Mutuals Commission, of course chaired by Professor Andrew Davies, a former Member of this Senedd. It reconvened last year, in February of last year, to take stock of how the recommendations are being implemented. All Ministers then, obviously, had to respond. They reported on their findings earlier this year—in February of this year. There has been progress in those 18 months, since the publication of the first report. It is crucially important to ensure that we see how new co-operative ways of working and doing business are becoming the norm, not the exception. Perhaps a couple of examples: the publication of the alternative delivery models action plan—that came out of the review undertaken by Keith Edwards, ‘Is the Feeling Mutual? New Ways of Designing and Delivering Public Services in Wales’—and also a new support facility, Social Business Wales. Now, interestingly, as far as Social Business Wales is concerned, that was a European regional development fund project. We provided funding towards this £11 million European Union-funded project, and that’s going to, of course, support EU-funded Social Business Wales enterprises and co-operatives.