Public Services

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:05 pm on 10 March 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:05, 10 March 2020

I thank the Member for that question. The regional impact of the economy is something absolutely at the forefront of the way in which the Minister for the economy is shaping his policy and his department to deliver in that regionally fair way, although, as the Member's question illustrated, Llywydd, inequalities within regions are more pronounced than inequalities between regions in Wales.

So, making sure that, within a region such as south-east Wales, which has some very prosperous parts of it and some engine-room parts of the Welsh economy—how do we make sure that the fruits of that advance are felt everywhere? That's at the heart of the fair work agenda, it's at the heart of the social partnership Bill that we will bring forward in front of this Assembly and, to revert to Alun Davies's point, digital services have to be viewed through that inequality lens as well.

In that way, I think the way that the Welsh Government approaches these things can be distinguished from the way that these matters have been approached elsewhere in the United Kingdom. We want to create, as the well-being of future generations Act says, a more equal Wales, and that more equal Wales is rooted in equality of opportunity in the economy.