8. What role does the Welsh Government have in supporting Welsh businesses to trade with one another? (OAQ51157)

We actively support Welsh businesses to trade with other Welsh businesses through our Business Wales and Sell2Wales services. We also hold supply chain events where Welsh businesses can identify alternative suppliers, including other Welsh businesses.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. Whilst it will always be vitally important to Welsh jobs that our businesses can supply businesses overseas, to export and to serve global supply chains, we should also, as he indicated in his answer, encourage Welsh businesses to trade with one another and to maximise the economic value in Wales and in our regional economies. What is the Cabinet Secretary’s confidence that the identity of Welsh businesses and their capacity to supply one another is understood by the Welsh Government, or, more importantly, by those trading businesses themselves? How does he respond to the Federation of Small Businesses’s call, last week, to undertake a mapping exercise of Welsh-headquartered firms so that we have a better picture of the capacity of Welsh businesses to trade with one another and to identify gaps in supply chains that Welsh Government can then support those businesses to fill to the benefit of Welsh firms, the Welsh economy, and the Welsh workforce?

Well, I’d like to thank the Member for his question and the observations that he makes, and for referring to the important contribution of the Federation of Small Businesses last week. I’m pleased to say that, today, we’re able to announce further expansion of an important company in south Wales: Maesteg-based Talgarth Bakery is set to move to new premises as a consequence of Welsh Government assistance, and that will create and secure dozens of jobs—another example of how Welsh Government support is acting as an enabler for growth.

Now, the principle of increasing collaboration and connectivity across businesses, academia and key stakeholders has been embedded in the anchor and key influencer network. This initiative has delivered an interactive innovation hub map and facilitated easier communication between key pillars of the Welsh economy. The network also works closely with Be The Spark and with anchors and other companies making pledges to strengthen innovative entrepreneurship in Wales.

I think another practical example of how we are working with supply chains to tier 1 companies might be the work that’s taking place with regard to Vauxhall Motors in the north and the entire automotive supply chain in north Wales, where we know there are opportunities with, particularly, the potential Astra replacement, given that currently only about 20 per cent of the products for that particular vehicle are sourced from within the region. There are huge opportunities for the supply chain, and that’s why we’re focusing on strengthening the supply chain, not just there, but right across Wales, for other sectors as well.

Yesterday, Cabinet Secretary, there was a huge pile-up on the M4, and one of the things, for business, vital to success is moving its people and its goods around a particular area, indeed around a country. This summer, the traffic jams on the M4 have been literally horrendous, and the loss to industry and the loss to all sections of society by those blockages have caused huge problems. What assessment has your department made of the measures that are in place, where suitable, to be deployed in a timely manner so that traffic can be put on the move again quickly, rather than see the 16-mile tailbacks that we saw yesterday? I appreciate where there have been fatalities or serious injuries then police investigations have to take place, but there has to be a solution to some of these problems in the hands of Traffic Wales, about the way they manage incidents on the motorway.

The Member identifies a particularly tragic case from yesterday. I’m sure all of our thoughts are with those who were involved in this particular incident. The Member was also right to draw attention to the fact that it is the emergency services that determine how long a period is required for work to be carried out. Nonetheless, I do believe that there is an important focus to be made on constantly improving the resilience of our trunk road network, and responding as quickly as possible to incidents such as this. I will be publishing this month the resilience study into the A55, which identifies relatively easy, I hope, and relatively quick delivery systems that can improve the resilience of that trunk road, and potentially then be deployed elsewhere.