Using Public Procurement to Support Local Businesses

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 1:40 pm on 10 July 2019.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 1:40, 10 July 2019

Well, thank you for the question. This is an area that we are actively working hard in. You mention Carmarthenshire and Caerphilly as examples of good practice, and we could add Ceredigion and Cardiff to that. There certainly are a number of local authorities who are doing good work in this area. One of the issues we have is that the performance across Wales is patchy, and the skills and the capability and capacity are patchy too. So, there's a big job of work that we're doing across Government. The finance Minister is leading on the transformation of the National Procurement Service, and I'm working alongside her through the foundational economy experimental fund and the public services boards to try and identify good practice and the spreading and scaling of that good practice. So, the example you cite, particularly of Castell Howell, I know that Carmarthenshire, for example, have put in a bid to the experimental fund for getting more local food into local schools. So, we are judging those applications over the summer, creating a community of best practice where we can share and spread the lessons from this.

I think one of the issues that we need to look at—. The foundational economy project through procurement is not just about getting more business into Wales, it's about changing the way that the sectors within the foundational economy work so those benefits are spread. And I take on board the point the Member makes around local food and provenance and the potential of that, especially post Brexit. I'm certainly alive to the point she makes and I will keep in touch with her as the work develops over the coming months.