This is a statement by the Minister for Skills and Science on employability. I call on that Minister, Julie James, to introduce the statement.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Today I want to set out my agenda for employability. I’m delighted that this follows our discussion on the ministerial taskforce for the south Wales Valleys as supporting people into work will be a key feature of the taskforce’s work over the coming years.

Engagement with communities, which the Valleys taskforce has started, will continue. We also recognise that there is a sense of urgency to bring jobs and growth to communities across Wales that need more of both. Access to good-quality employment and employability skills is essential and I am pleased to be able to move immediately to address this. We have seen significant improvements in the employment rate in Wales over recent years. There are now over 1.4 million people in employment in Wales, an increase of 19.1 per cent since devolution. But, we also know that the rate of unemployment does still remain high in some communities across Wales. Whilst Welsh Government’s contribution to the positive overall rate of employment, supported with EU funding, should not be underestimated, we know the story is not a wholly positive one and we must do more to support the economically inactive, those who would like to work longer hours and those in insecure employment.

The theme of employability runs throughout all four developing cross-cutting strategies. Put simply, employability is not just about jobs and skills; it is about getting every aspect of Government—education, health, housing, communities, transport, rurality, childcare, regional development—working together to support people into sustainable employment. In April, Cabinet endorsed my cross-Welsh Government approach to employability, setting out our joint goal of sustaining a high rate of employment in Wales, reducing economic inactivity and increasing the number of people in good-quality employment. The challenge Cabinet has set me, and will support me to deliver, is to drive this work forward, collaboratively, to deliver a step change in our approach.

Since April I have put in place a governance structure to direct this work. I have extended the ministerial employability working group, to ensure an integrated cross-Cabinet response. I am grateful to my ministerial colleagues on the working group—the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, the Minister for Social Services and Public Health and the Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language—for their input to this statement today. I will use the refreshed Wales employment and skills board, which has already endorsed our employability agenda, to provide strategic direction and challenge from employers and regional skills partnerships and trade unions. To ensure a far more integrated approach, I have established a cross-Welsh Government employability board, made up of senior officials across the Government. This board has been tasked with drawing up an employability delivery plan to be published before Christmas. The plan will look closely at existing services and infrastructure, assess how well they help people to find and stay in work, and consider whether they provide value for money. As we are all aware, this will become all the more important in the years following our exit from the European Union. I will ensure we work in close partnership with our key stakeholders. We will draw up a detailed external stakeholder communications plan that will guide a period of external engagement in order to inform the employability delivery plan.

In the meantime, we are not standing still. Our new employability offer is expected to begin delivery in April 2019. This will be positioned as a single offer under the name, ‘Working Wales’, and will be underpinned by a new programme for adults, along with two new programmes that will deliver employability support to young people. Between now and then, we will reconfigure our existing programmes to enable a smooth transition, using the Valleys as a test bed to inform the new delivery approach. We will make amendments to some of our existing employability programmes, including the EU-funded ReAct, Jobs Growth Wales and Employability Skills Programme, and ensure that these are effectively aligned to enhance support for unemployed people and those who churn in and out of temporary, poorly paid employment.

We recognise that this cannot just be about support for individuals. We want to support employers to recruit and develop talent within their business, boost productivity and give local people the opportunity of better jobs closer to home. We will deliver integrated business and skills support through Business Wales by enhancing our flexible skills and employability programmes. We aim to support 100 Valleys businesses with the greatest growth potential through what we hope will be one-to-one support to create jobs, support for recruitment, delivery of tailored pre-work and in-work training, and the upskilling and development of existing staff. We are keen to promote prosperity for all so that the benefits of economic growth are shared by all those in work. We support improvements in pay and conditions for those in low-paid and insecure employment. To this end, work has begun on a Fair Work Commission, which I chair. Preliminary findings will be reported in the autumn.

We must provide individuals with clear advice and guidance. To achieve this, we want to develop a common approach to identifying the employment needs of individuals, and support a seamless referral and support process. We want to work across Government to design and trial the use of a profiling tool and management information system, so that, in future, advisers across Wales, including Careers Wales, will use the same system. Our ambition is to ensure that we reach those furthest from the labour market and provide them with a holistic package of personalised, bespoke and intensive support and mentoring, to reduce complex barriers to employment, tackle levels of economic inactivity, and deliver on our ambition of developing prosperity for all. We can only truly achieve this through better-aligned support, brought about by working effectively across Government. I therefore wish to acknowledge the commitment from the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children to provide community-based outreach, as outlined in his statement on developing a new approach to resilient communities. I also acknowledge the work being undertaken by the Minister for Social Services and Public Health in providing specialist employment support for people recovering from substance misuse and mental ill-health conditions.

Our work on employability must take full account of the balance that exists between devolved and non-devolved responsibilities for employability. We want to work in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions to influence future DWP programmes and shape how DWP works within Wales in terms of joint planning of employment services and integration within our forthcoming employability delivery plan. If we are to shape a new employability agenda, we need to drive a coherent approach across Welsh Government and with our partners to address the many barriers preventing people from entering and progressing in good-quality, fair employment. This approach will benefit individuals across Wales and deliver the prosperous and secure future that we need to take Wales forward. Diolch.

I thank the Minister for her statement. The Minister says that the Welsh Government wants to support employers to recruit and develop talents within their businesses, boost productivity, and give local people the opportunity of better jobs closer to home. According to a Lloyds Bank report in December last year, 28 per cent of Welsh firms have experienced difficulties when taking on new skilled staff over the last six months. So, can I ask the Minister how she plans to strengthen ties with business communities to ensure that the right skills required by the employers are delivered in Wales? Can she also confirm that Working Wales will address the gender imbalance in our workforce where there's a lot of imbalance already?

The Minister said she wishes to develop a common approach in identifying the employment needs of individuals. Estyn recently said that learning disability students need more help from colleges to identify their needs for employability. They recommended that colleges set individual learning plans and design programmes that challenge pupils more. How will her strategy address the needs and improve the prospects of students with learning disabilities and abilities?

The statement mentioned Careers Wales. The Minister will be aware that secondary school pupils in parts of Wales are being told that there’ll be no work experience for them, because Careers Wales is unable to carry out health and safety checks for work placements. How will the Minister address this issue of work placements, which is vital in preparing young people for the world of work? The Cardiff School of Education recently said that it was a national disgrace that children were not given the chance to get out of poverty due to a lack of careers advice. How will these proposals increase careers advice capacity in Wales?

Since Brexit, it is vital for each Welsh child to be equipped with more than one skill to serve, prosper, and contribute to our nation, and it's only the Conservatives—look at their ideas and how they going to do it. Deputy Presiding Officer, I welcome the Minister’s statement and look forward to her reply now.

Well, thank you for that series of questions. In terms of developing skills appropriate for business and business delivery, the Member will be aware that we've established the three regional skills partnerships across Wales. They’re in their third year now. This year, they will produce their annual reports detailing labour market information and intelligence in their area, and outlining the skills needed by the employers in that area. And, this year, we will fund skills development in those areas according to the regional development plans. So, it's very much driven by businesses in those areas, and it's very much something that we take very seriously. So, we've addressed that by establishing and strengthening the regional skills partnerships. And, as I mentioned in the statement, we've also reconfigured the Wales employment and skills board in order to have better representation from those regional skills partnerships to take an all-Wales overview, and that's very much driven by the employers and trade unions working together in that board with a delivery agent. So, we're working very hard to address that agenda, and we certainly acknowledge it.

Similarly, with gender issues, the Member will know that it's been a soapbox of mine for quite some time. We are looking to make sure that we get the right information out to young women and young men about non-traditional industries for them—so, in particular, care for young men, and engineering and STEM for young women, because, if you look at the gender distribution, they're the other way around. And we’re making sure that we get the right careers advice out there to both the young people themselves and also to the parents and grandparents—the opinion formers, in other words—of those young children, and we’ll be working very hard with people already in the industry to provide role models and guidance in that regard.

In terms of disability and diversity, we’ll be working very hard with our employers to make sure that they become disability-confident employers, and that actually they understand that it’s not all that difficult to employ somebody who has disabilities, and so on. We will be pushing this agenda as part of what I was talking about in terms of getting businesses ready for growth and opportunity, and that will be very much part of what we’re helping them to look at.

In terms of Careers Wales, if the Member has a specific school that’s having a problem with work experience issues, I’d be very grateful if he’d write to me about it. There’s a great deal of misinformation around about what health and safety checks are actually required to put young people into workplaces. Most workplaces taking work experience children already have the health and safety checks in place, so, if the Member has a specific issue with that, I’d be very grateful if he’d write to me.

In terms of capacity, Careers Wales has recently transferred from the education portfolio of my colleague the Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language to myself. The reason for that is to more closely align it with business support and the needs of the economy. So, forthcoming announcements will be made about how we’re increasing capacity for growth in that sector.

Can I thank you for your statement this afternoon? Certainly, we welcome the move towards a much more streamlined support environment, and that’s something I’ve previously indicated to you after previous statements. Can I also welcome the continued emphasis on a truly cross-government approach, which I think is essential? We’ve heard these words being said in the past, but I am hoping—and I’m sure the proof will be in the pudding—that we will see that cultural shift happening in essence now as the new proposals are rolled out.

Now, of course it’s welcome that employment levels have risen in Wales, as you say. But, as you also acknowledge, in-work poverty, underemployment, zero-hours contracts and other factors, of course, remain a significant cause for concern. We’ve been clear that we want to see skills being aligned with skills shortages in the economy and provision being available to people of all ages across Wales so that everyone has the same opportunity to upskill and reskill as people’s working lives become longer, of course, and more uncertain in these uncertain times.

Speaking of which, funding is key. You tell us in your statement about the holistic package of personalised, bespoke, and intensive support and mentoring. That doesn’t come cheap, and a lot of this in the past has been funded through European funding. When I raised that with you a few months ago you were quite bullish in saying that promises were made and the money will come. I don’t detect the same level of confidence at the moment generally, as well as in this statement, and I’m just wondering whether you could tell us a little bit about how you intend to fund the new provision. Will it reflect current levels, or are you anticipating an increased investment from somewhere, given maybe, some would say, the increased ambition that’s reflected in your statement? Or how do you see that playing out?

Now, the new offer is expected now to begin in April 2019 rather than April 2018, and clearly some will be disappointed that we’re maybe not getting to where we would like to be as quickly as we would like to. I’m sure you share that to a degree, but maybe you could explain to us why you think that we need to wait until then, really, before we can see work in Wales being rolled out more broadly.

You mention that you want to use the Valleys as a test bed to inform the new delivery approach, and that makes perfect sense. It’s always good to pilot and trial, although I would say that, in contrast, the childcare offer is being piloted and trialled in a number of places in a number of different contexts. I’m just wondering whether you are considering or looking at potential pilots or similar in, let’s say, rural areas in comparison to Valleys areas, so that a broader number of lessons can be learned in terms of enacting much of this.

You tell us that the Welsh Government employability board will draw up the plan, and the Wales employment and skills board will provide strategic direction. Could you tell us who’s tasked with delivering this, then, at the end of the day, and also how you’ll be holding them accountable for the delivery? I have to say there are references in your statement to a number of boards, taskforces, working groups, commissions, and, for a sector that’s perceived to be quite complex and multi layered, I don’t know whether that maybe tells us something as well. But, generally, can I thank you for your statement? We’ll continue, I’m sure, to support the direction you’re moving in, but we need to be sure that it’s being done properly, in a timely manner, and in a sustainable way, particularly in the financial sense.

Thank you very much for that, Llyr. In terms of the governance issues, I’ll just address that first. I appreciate that I did mention a large number of boards and so on, but we’ll be providing Members with a sort of pictogram of what we’re talking about, and you’ll see that actually it’s a lot simpler. Because what we’re really talking about is a single board across Government for the employability programmes, with a ministerial board to match that, and the external Wales employment and skills board as the external reference, and then we’ll have an engagement plan for stakeholders. So, actually, it’s a simpler framework, really, although there’s a bewildering number of boards and so on, I quite agree. So, we’ll set that out. The statement doesn’t say this, but I’ll just say for clarity that the Wales employment and skills board will then report into the council for economic development, so that you complete the circle of responsibility.

In terms of the delivery, therefore, that’s the governance structure. That’s how we’ll hold it to account. We’ve deliberately made it cross-Government. It will be delivered as it’s delivered now, but with people reporting through a cross-Government structure. The purpose of the officials’ group is to look at impact, budget, structure, what programmes work, what don’t, and so on, and make recommendations accordingly to both the ministerial cross-Government board and to the external partners as appropriate.

The idea of that, obviously, is, if you think of it as a jigsaw, we think that some of the pieces are probably overlapping. We think that there are probably gaps. The picture is not as clear as we’d like it to be—if you follow my analogy that far. The idea is to actually make the jigsaw join together in a more coherent fashion. Then, just to mix my metaphors, for an individual, what we’re looking for is a clear and consistent pathway on their journey through. So, no matter where you start on that pathway, and people obviously will start in very different places—so, if you’re young, you will start at the end of compulsory schooling; if you’re older and retraining or you’ve been out of work for some time, you’ll start at different places, but, actually, the programmes make a coherent pathway. So, if, for example, colleagues in my colleague Rebecca Evans’s department are looking to help somebody with substance misuse or ill-health problems that are preventing their employment, once those problems are sorted or on the way to being sorted, they can be appropriately passed on to the next part of their journey, rather than completing that and then looking themselves for something else to go on to.

So that’s—. So, I’m building up to the reason why it’s taking so long, because these things are easy to say but actually very complex to deliver. We also deliver these programmes through a number of other partners like local authorities and third sector organisations and so on, and the idea is to corral them into a seamless organisation. We’re starting with the Welsh Government programmes directly funded first, and then moving on. Colleagues have been most helpful around the Cabinet table in assisting with that.

Then, what we’re looking at is also running the ESF-funded and the RDF-funded programmes to their end. We’ve worked very hard with WEFO to widen the edges of those programmes, but nevertheless there are strict lines within which you have to operate. So, the ultimate vision, if you like, is that an individual requiring help or a business requiring help will have a single portal to go to—the skills gateway for individuals or businesses—and that the wiring of the system behind there will not be visible to those people, they will simply get the support they need. However, we do want to make the most of our European funding, so we want to run those programmes to the end, and April 2019 is therefore the point at which that funding ceases. That’s not to say that we won’t start the integration of the programmes on the way, but the final end of those programmes will see the full launch of the new programme. However, there will be bridge funding in between to make sure that people don’t fall into the gaps. So, it’s a sort of staggered start, which is why I’m saying that in the autumn we’ll be bringing back an actual delivery plan for Members to actually see the timeline associated with that, because I do appreciate that that’s quite complex.

I think the last thing you talked about was just this aligning skills issue. As I said to Mohammad Asghar, that’s very much centred around our strategy for regional skills—that’s regional support to businesses and regional support to get the skills they need. So, we are expecting employers to contribute to that in terms of making it transparent what those needs are. Again, if you’re aware of specific instances where you think that isn’t happening, I’d be very grateful to know about it.

Two brief questions, Minister. Firstly, obviously, the focus of the programme is on getting people into work. One of the challenges we face is improving terms and conditions and promotion and progression through the workforce when you're in work. What level of focus will the programme be able to give to supporting progression in that sense?

Secondly, you indicate that you’ll be providing advice to employers on recruitment and skills through Business Wales. Obviously, most of our companies are small businesses and you'll be aware of reservations that small businesses have about the extent to which Business Wales serves their needs, which I know the Cabinet Secretary’s already working on. What reassurance can you give that that level of support will meet the particular needs of the small and medium-sized sector?

In terms of the fair work and progression programme, the First Minister has asked me to chair stage 1 of the fair work piece and that is around how we make sure that we use leverage from Welsh Government funding to its best advantage. So, what we’re looking to do is establish an agreed definition of ‘fair work’, including the progression elements of that, and then make sure that we leverage that with everybody that we support. So, my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Education, has only today announced that the quid pro quo for the tuition fee offer is that universities become fair-wage employers. That's very much part of the same piece, really—that we’re starting to use the leverage that Welsh Government funding brings to lever in some of those better working conditions. But the first piece of work will be to establish a common agreement across employers, trade unions, delivery partners and the Government in the Fair Work Commission to make sure that we all agree on that and then to take forward the delivery. So, that's the first piece of that.

In terms of the support—and actually I realise that I didn't quite answer Llyr Gruffydd’s question either about some of the pilots—we are looking to support SMEs, we are looking to do pilots outside of the Valleys area, where there are specific conditions that we want to see how it works. So the answer is ‘yes’; we will be doing that. And what we'll be looking to do is: I mentioned in my statement that we’ll be looking for the 100 businesses that show the most growth potential, and they can be any size. Indeed, we anticipate that many of them will be very small—under five employees. And, obviously, what we’re trying to do is lever the much-needed jobs in, but by using indigenous firms and assisting them with the business support they need to grow. Many of them will be foundational economy firms and some of them won't be. What we're hoping to do is get a good mix from those high-potential growth firms.

Thank you for your statement, Minister. I agree with you that there’s an urgency for jobs and growth to be brought to communities across Wales. However, I note that the Minister sets out the support that she’s giving to businesses in the Valleys, but other regions of Wales, such as north Wales, are conspicuous only by their absence from the Minister’s statement. True, the Valleys of Wales need help, but they're not the only community in Wales that needs it. I’m disappointed that focussed support for other regions of Wales, which have hitherto been neglected, such as my own, are not mentioned in the Minister’s statement.

I welcome the rise in employment in Wales. However, we must treat these statistics with caution. Simply because more people are employed does not mean that they are substantially better off than they were. Zero-hours contracts and low wages are prevalent across Wales, exacerbated by the seasonal nature of many of the economies across Wales, including in my own constituency. If workers aren't on zero hours, they may be on minimal hours only. It is vital that businesses are encouraged to bring higher-paid, secure work into Wales. The Minister’s efforts to support people getting into work will be futile if there’s no work for people to go to.

Your statement includes a number of objectives and ambitions, but no information about how, in a practical context, you will bring all this to fruition. Please explain how, in real terms, you will be using the Wales employment and skills Board, the ministerial working group and governmental departments to improve employability in Wales. In reality, the only way that Welsh Government could actually create jobs is to create some in the public sector, something that Labour Governments in Cardiff and London have become adept at doing over the years to cover their own failures. But it is private sector that delivers and creates jobs. Welsh Government can encourage the creation of those jobs by providing a tax, regulatory and economic environment that will enable businesses, preferably home-grown ones, to thrive in a community that can provide them with the workers they need to do so. So, I would ask whether the employability delivery plan created by the Welsh Government employability board will encompass plans to incentivise and encourage investment from businesses into Wales. You state that you will work with key stakeholders. Can you indicate who these stakeholders are, and whether you’ll be working with some of the SMEs that form the backbone of the job-providing businesses in Wales?

Turning to the Working Wales employability offer, please can the Minister tell us what forms of support will be offered in the new offer that aren’t already being offered? I note that there are a number of different employability programmes, including ReAct, Jobs Growth Wales et cetera. Has the Minister considered whether these programmes should be merged to provide a single authoritative and consolidated programme for Wales that is well understood by users? To what extent are you working with organisations such as the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, the Association of Chief Police Officers and their members to identify employability issues in Wales and investigate working in partnership with them to get more people in Wales into work?

You state that you want to work across Government to design and trial a profiling tool and management information system for advisers across Wales. So, please could you give us an idea of how much such a project will cost, what its specifications will be and what its scope will be and what advantages you see the system having that justify the outlay of the potentially high cost of the new system? Thank you.

Thank you for that series of questions. I think I have actually addressed almost all of them already, but I’ll just reiterate. The Valleys taskforce is just mentioned as being the pilot test bed for some of the pieces of work that we’re doing. As I already indicated to other Members, it’s not the only place that we’ll be doing it and we have to start somewhere. Obviously, the communities of north Wales also have similar problems, and we will of course be addressing employability across the whole of Wales.

In terms of zero hours and so on, I’ve very much addressed that in terms of what we’re doing on the Fair Work Commission. That has representation from the Confederation of British Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses, trade unions and a whole series of other people and the Government on it, and WESB is, for example, currently chaired by Scott Waddington, who is the chair of Brains. So, I don’t think that we can accept any criticism that we’re looking only at the public sector—far from it. In fact, the regional skills partnerships are all chaired by employers as well, and they all sit on it, and they have three seats each—the chair of the regional skills partnership and two of the primary employers that they bring with them. So, that’s just not the situation at all. And, actually, I wasn’t talking about creating jobs in the public sector. The Member will realise that, in my statement, we’re talking about supporting the firms, for example, that have the highest growth potential and also, of course, we are extending our business offer in terms of indigenous companies to help them with their supply chains in Wales and so on. So, I’m not too sure where that impression was created.

In terms of the wider group of stakeholders, of course, we have a whole series of stakeholders. We have business organisations and SMEs from all over Wales, we have big business from all over Wales, we also have a number of delivery partners and stakeholders in terms of third sector partners who deliver employability programmes on our behalf and support small businesses on our behalf, and we have a range of advisers in terms of businesses right across Wales.

I think the last point was about whether the programme is new or not. There are a number of new programmes, but what we’re really talking about is making sure, as I explained to Llyr Gruffydd earlier, that this jigsaw fits together, that we don’t have overlapping pieces, that there aren’t any gaps and that it makes a coherent picture that everybody can understand.

Finally, Hannah Blythyn.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you, Minister, for this update today on what is not only a key aspect of Welsh Government policy but also something that is absolutely key if we’re going to achieve prosperity and security for our people, our communities and, ultimately, our economy. I welcome the across-Government approach that you outline in your statement and the recognition that the employability strategy needs to be cross-cutting because we know that work and access to work do not function in isolation, that there are a number of other factors that need to be in place, such as decent schools, housing and transport and support networks, which also play a pivotal part. Other colleagues have touched on the pilot of Better Jobs, Closer to Home. So, can I ask, in that vein, am I assuming that it will also align with the new economic strategy and the regional approach of that? Because a political and personal priority of mine is that young people in particular in my region, if they don’t wish to move away, should be able to access opportunity on their doorstep. In line with that, one of the things that’s been raised with me regularly on a local level is the number of young people, perhaps school leavers and college leavers, who perhaps aren’t that well equipped for the world of work, who don’t have the knowledge of what their responsibilities are, what their rights are. So, perhaps, if we are looking at an across-Government approach, is there an opportunity to see how that can be aligned with the new curriculum to make sure we are giving our young people the tools they need to succeed?

One very final quick point, because I know we’re pressed for time: I think transport is absolutely key in looking at services and infrastructure, as you say in the employability delivery plan. Because in a recent event I held earlier this year on looking at the economic challenges for the region, transport came up time and time again. Just to quote, ‘It’s very prohibitive for young people who can’t afford to drive to get to work.’ And also, ‘There needs to be an integrated transport system.’ So, I’d hope perhaps that could be something that could be considered as part of looking at things like big projects in the pipeline, such as the north-east Wales metro.

Thank you for that. I think the Member makes an enormous number of good points there. One of the things we’ll be looking to do is make sure that we can address individual requirements for particular support and make sure that people can access the jobs and skills they need in the area where they want them to do that. What we’re trying to do is basically get a programme that’s coherent all the way through. So, talking about the regional skills partnership and the North Wales Economic Ambition Board in north Wales, for example—they are tasked with sorting out what the labour market intelligence is telling them about the firms in that region, and what their skills requirements are. We will fund those skills requirements according to that information. The plans are due to come out in the autumn. Indeed, I think I’m coming up in the second week of September to launch that one for them. That will drive some of the investment that we make, both in our work-based learning practitioners and in our FE colleges in terms of the skills that they produce for that ecosystem.

The other flip side of that is to make sure that the businesses with growth potential get the support that they need and that we can make sure that careers advisers in schools—and, actually, for adults as well out in the community—understand the skills necessary to fit the needs of those employers with a growth potential. So, that’s very much part of the regionalisation agenda. The Cabinet Secretary for economy and myself have been working very hard to make sure that they align together, and indeed will align together with the local government reorganisation arrangements as well, so that we don’t have non-coherent overlaps and so on. So, that’s the plan.

Then, in terms of the rest of it, you’re absolutely right; we want to address that in a number of ways, sometimes with a big transport project, sometimes with just working hard with bus companies and so on to align timetables. My colleague David Rees here is often talking about the earliest and late buses to communities and what we can do about that. And sometimes, actually, with targeted programmes. So, for example, in some of the areas that I’ve gone on public consultation there’s a huge problem with people getting a driving licence. They simply can’t afford to buy the driving lessons and so on. Well, it may well be that we decide that that’s one of the things we need to address, either on an individual basis, if we’ve got somebody with high skills but transport problems, or actually on a community basis, if we identify a number of people who’ve got the same problem. It’s something we did last year, for example, where the haulage association came to us and said they had a big shortage of heavy goods vehicle drivers. So, we put on a special course, and I think 140-something people, as a result, got good paid employment.

So, it is about this wraparound and getting the right information to the right people, both on the business side and on the individual side and marrying them together, and also targeting business support at those high-growth firms so that we can get the growth to match up.

Then sometimes it is about stimulating growth in areas where there hasn’t been any or where perhaps there is a dearth of jobs, and that’s why the Valleys is one of the target areas. But as I said in response to a number of other Members, this certainly isn’t the only area, and I’m very grateful if any Members want to highlight any issues in their particular area or region too.

Thank you very much, Minister. Before we move to the Stage 3 debate on the Trade Union (Wales) Bill I will suspend proceedings for 10 minutes. The bell will be rung five minutes before we reconvene, but I would urge Members to return to the Chamber promptly please. We stand adjourned for 10 minutes.

Plenary was suspended at 18:43.

The Assembly reconvened at 18:53, with the Llywydd in the Chair.