2. What progress has the Welsh Government made in reshaping public procurement to enable more fresh food for schools, hospitals and nursing homes to be procured locally? OAQ54723

Eighty per cent of the suppliers appointed to the National Procurement Service's fresh food framework are Wales based. Over 45 organisations use the agreement, with spend on fresh produce amounting to over £6 million per annum.

Thank you, Minister, for that useful information. The real food and farming conference I attended last week was very enthusiastic about the announcement that Carmarthenshire public services board had been awarded £100,000 from the foundational economy initiative, and that is precisely in order to improve their food supply chains so that they can procure local food.

I'm fully aware that somewhere like Caerphilly has been in the vanguard on ensuring that local businesses get a fair chance at bidding for local contracts. For example, there's a dairy producer that started off by just procuring to two or three schools and is now delivering services to five local authorities and a health board. And so, it seems to me that these are great examples of what can be done but that we're quite a long way from where we need to be in ensuring that the public pound is being spent on local businesses as well as ensuring that more fresh food is being served to our children and people who are in hospital. 

Yes, I think the example that Jenny Rathbone gave of Caerphilly is an excellent example of what can be achieved if people think imaginatively about the local opportunities. I'm really pleased that the Carmarthenshire public services board has been awarded that £100,000 to improve the procurement of local food in the area, and that's just one of 52 experimental initiatives across Wales receiving funding as part of the £4.5 million foundational economy challenge fund. But it is really important to recognise that whilst these are experimental, if they work, then I know that the Minister, Lee Waters, is extremely keen that the projects will then be scaled up to ensure that they make a difference across Wales elsewhere.

Another great example underneath the foundational economy challenge fund is Môn Shellfish, and, in partnership with Coleg Llandrillo Menai and Partneriaeth Ogwen, they are receiving £100,000 to explore creating local markets for shellfish. The Welsh Government commercial innovation team are also analysing the public sector food spend profile, and they've identified several other potential further opportunities for similar interventions, and the viability of that activity is currently being explored with public sector partners. I would be very keen to share the learning of that with Jenny Rathbone.

Value Wales state that every 1 per cent increase in procurement levels in Wales will create 2,000 jobs. So, the gains are clear. Now, given that Scotland awards 75 per cent of Scottish contracts to Scottish firms, what is the Welsh Government doing to learn from that experience and deliver a similar, much-needed boost to the Welsh economy?

So, Welsh Government has been working really hard to try and ensure that our procurement does meet the needs and provides opportunities for businesses and suppliers in Wales. So, Wales-based suppliers now win 52 per cent of the annual £6.467 billion procurement expenditure. Clearly, we want to do much more, but I think that it is important to recognise the improvement that we've made since the baseline of 35 per cent in 2004. 

I think that we can look to Sell2Wales. They show that a number of contract awards through that site go to Welsh suppliers, and, actually, the number through that site has more than tripled since 2014-15. So, that now stands at 84 per cent compared to the baseline of 25 per cent. So, we are making some real progress in this area, but that's not to say that we're complacent. I'm working with my colleague Lee Waters on the foundational economy and looking to see what we can do through the public services boards to ensure that we procure more locally through those boards, and we hope to have more to say on this very shortly.