Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:36 pm on 15 November 2016.
Amongst some of the policy drivers that we’ve been looking at in putting together the plan, as I was mentioning to Llyr, is looking to see what we can drive by way of other Government investment. So, one of the things we’re only exploring at the moment, but it’s been well received by those I’ve spoken to so far, is that where we support a company, for example, in the engineering or technology sector, where the jobs are better paid, we might be able to provide extra support if they’re prepared to have flexible working practices, flexible hours and so on, to encourage that kind of working, which we know assists women to stay in those careers and return to them after going part-time or, indeed, having a career break to look after their children.
So, we’re very much exploring how we can use Welsh Government funding and investment funding to put hooks, if you like, into the funding to encourage the kinds of behaviours in employers that we’d like to see. That goes also for trying to ensure a more diverse workforce in a number of areas—I see Joyce Watson looking at me—so construction is obviously one of them. You and I attended a very interesting healthcare firm in your constituency only yesterday to talk about their plans, and one of the discussions we had was about how they employ their workforce and what the flexible arrangements might be. So, we’re starting to look at that kind of hook to be attached not just to skills training funding, but actually to our procurement funding and to some of our grant-in-aid funding and some of our investment funding, to see what other things we can drive through as we pursue our agenda to have a diverse workforce.
I’ll just reiterate something I know we all agree with: that all companies that show diversity in their workforces have better bottom lines than those companies that don’t. So, this isn’t about a nice thing that costs you; this is about a thing that drives your bottom line forward, as well as providing good jobs for good people.