Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement today and wish her all the best in her new role? I look forward to working with her constructively wherever I can to help make our rural communities more prosperous and sustainable in the future. Like the Member for Mid and West Wales, I too probably make a significant contribution to this sector—perhaps too much.

In relation to the action plan for the food and drink industry, whilst I very much accept that there has been some progress, there is still plenty of work to be done with regard to the procurement of Welsh food and drink for public sector contracts. I appreciate that, last year, the National Procurement Service brought the procurement of food within its scope and that 73 public bodies are now committed to using the National Procurement Service. However, can the Cabinet Secretary be more specific and tell us how the Welsh Government is ensuring that there are robust supplier selection procedures in place for food contracts across Wales so that Welsh farmers and food producers don’t miss out on these very important contracts?

A key area of this action plan is in relation to education, training and skills for the food and drink sector, and that is something that I very much welcome. I’m pleased to see from last year’s update that the Welsh baccalaureate has been reviewed to include food and drink modules, and I’d welcome an update on that progress. However, I believe that more needs to be done at a younger level to teach children and young people about where their food comes from. The Cabinet Secretary touched earlier on promoting healthy eating generally, so can she tell us what discussions she’s had with her colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Education about raising the profile of food and agriculture within the education system, perhaps through the curriculum or through voluntary schemes and work placements?

In the summary of responses to this action plan, there were concerns expressed about the difficulty in understanding what training is available and how to access it. In particular, respondents felt that the Government was not joined up in its approach, particularly with the Department for Education and Skills and also with partner bodies, including sector skills councils. In light of this, perhaps the Cabinet Secretary can tell us what specific improvements have been made since the launch of the action plan in relation to these specific concerns.

If we want our food and drink industry to flourish then the development of a skilled workforce is crucial, and the Welsh Government must build stronger links with businesses and education providers to meet the skills gap in the industry. I’d be grateful if the Cabinet Secretary would commit to perhaps publishing job creation statistics and employment opportunity figures with each annual update so that Members can actually scrutinise the Welsh Government’s action in this particular area.

I appreciate that there is a separate food tourism action plan for Wales 2015-20, and I fully support the importance of food tourism in Wales and the need for a separate strategy. However, can the Cabinet Secretary tell us how she’s ensuring that other strategies, like the food tourism action plan and the food procurement strategy, are actually co-ordinated with other Welsh Government policies and that they are actually joined up?

As the Member for Mid and West Wales said earlier, food festivals play an important role in promoting our food and drink industry, so it’s important that they get as much support as possible. It’s been suggested to me that the money each food festival receives from the Welsh Government is capped at a certain figure. Could the Cabinet Secretary confirm whether this is the case? Surely funds should be provided to these festivals on a case-by-case basis and it’s crucial that there is flexibility in the funding process to ensure that festivals are properly supported. Farmers’ markets also play an important part in showcasing Welsh food and drink and, in particular, helping smaller producers to promote regional produce. There are some fantastic farmers’ markets across Wales—quite a few in my own constituency—so can the Cabinet Secretary tell us how this strategy supports those farmers’ markets specifically?

Deputy Presiding Officer, at the heart of any action plan for the food and drink industry must be a strong export strategy, and I appreciate that the Welsh Government is launching an export cluster later this year. However, will she tell us a bit more about how the Welsh Government is identifying business opportunities in both the domestic and the international markets? As the plan states, export market development is advanced by Government departments working together, and Governments at all levels working together. I appreciate that the Welsh Government participates in the global food security programme and in DEFRA’s food chain emergency liaison group, however, can she tell us what outcomes have been realised in relation to food security and food safety for Welsh producers?

Therefore, in closing, Deputy Presiding Officer, can I thank the Minister, once again, for her statement? I look forward to seeing some of the themes within this plan further developed to help the Welsh food and drink industry flourish in the future.