6. How is the Welsh Government increasing public procurement in Wales? OAQ52369

I thank the Member for the question. The Welsh Government works with others to increase the share of annual public sector procurement budget that is spent in Wales, and to maximise the economic, social, environmental and cultural impact of the £6 billion of expenditure that this entails.

Minister, you're in charge of the National Procurement Service, and you'll know from previous correspondence that I've got concerns about the way in which larger firms are able to navigate and score higher within the procurement tendering process much easier than smaller firms who don't have a dedicated procurement department like their larger counterparts. I gave you a specific example as to how this impacted a firm in the Rhondda, and that's meant that money has leaked out of my constituency now and gone to a firm that is outside of Wales, which is obviously going to have an impact on local jobs and other businesses as well. What pressure can you bring to bear within your Government to ensure that there is a level playing field for all businesses, whether large or small, when it comes to the tendering process?

I thank the Member for that question, and thank her for the letter she wrote to me about that specific case. She will know that there is a review of the National Procurement Service and Value Wales that is currently under way. It's there to make sure that, if there are any opportunities to us to adjust our procurement procedures the other side of the European Union, we are able to take those opportunities. One of the things that we may be able to do—and I must emphasise, of course, Llywydd, that this is still part of the discussion—will be to amend the rules, so that the sorts of firms to which Leanne Wood referred—local firms without the capacity to be constantly involved in the procurement field—that there is a more level playing field for them as compared to some of the rules that we currently have to abide by.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.