Public Procurement Policy

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 3 April 2019.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 2:06, 3 April 2019

Thank you for raising this, and I think that procurement is a very undervalued profession, given the huge difference that decisions made by procurement specialists can make to the local economy particularly. So, skills and capability are priority areas in the new approach that we're taking, and a new skills and training programme is going to be developed. Again, we'll do that in conjunction with stakeholders. The focus will be on not just procurement, but wider issues such as thinking innovatively, to take advantage of state aid rules and the procurement rules, to apply new approaches to procurement to achieve the economic benefits, create jobs and achieve well-being objectives across Wales. And in addition to this, we'll be providing new supporting guidance in key areas, such as social care and construction, to drive up consistency and capability in the commissioning and procurement of those vital areas of public service delivery. Again, we'll be looking particularly at risk assessment and management in terms of the work that we're doing to enhance capability within the sector. But I'm very clear that procurement professionals will be playing an absolutely key role in driving this agenda forward, and it was something that the First Minister set out very clearly in his leadership manifesto as one of his own priorities.