2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:15 pm on 24 September 2019.

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Photo of Nick Ramsay Nick Ramsay Conservative 3:15, 24 September 2019

Trefnydd, over the weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Abergavenny Food Festival, now in its twenty-first year. The festival continues to go from strength to strength, with local companies such as Sugarloaf Catering playing key roles, and also companies from further afield as well.

I also took part in the Love Zimbabwe march for Africa, along with the mayor, Tony Konieczny, and others, demonstrating the diversity and reach of the festival. Could we have an update from the Welsh Government, perhaps a statement, on support for food festivals as valuable parts of the local economy, but also as vehicles for really getting the message of Wales out there on the global stage and connecting with countries from across the world?

Turning to the FSB report, which was mentioned by the leader of the opposition in his questions to the First Minister earlier, that report highlights the need to tackle local infrastructure problems to help small businesses. It may well be that there's already a statement, a policy announcement, in the pipeline from the Welsh Government in response to that report. I wonder if we could have an update on how the Welsh Government intends to liaise with local businesses across Wales to get their view on how infrastructure issues locally could be prioritised to help improve local economies.

And thirdly and finally, the Welsh Government has, of course, declared a climate emergency, which we've heard a lot about in this Chamber; local authorities across Wales have been following suit. Of course, we need action, not just words. So, I wonder what support and encouragement the Welsh Government is giving to those local authorities and organisations out beyond this Chamber who are trying to do their bit to try and prevent future global temperature increases. What are you doing to support them? So, perhaps we could have a statement from the environment Minister on action that's being taken to make sure that there is action on the ground and not just well-meaning, but, nonetheless, words.