Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:55 pm on 23 September 2020.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 2:55, 23 September 2020

Yes. Oh my gosh, I find myself in agreement with the Conservative spokesperson on that issue. Absolutely, procurement can play a huge role in terms of building back better in ensuring that spend is kept in our local communities.

You'll be familiar with the foundational economy challenge fund. That's been really important in terms of identifying local areas where improvement can be made. So, an example would be the forest nation centre, and that's testing the concept of using skilled, value-added manufacturing approaches to increase the use of Welsh timber within housing, and that's something of interest across several portfolios in Government. And also the controlled environment agriculture pilot, and that's exploring the development of community, old agriculture facilities. So, lots of different ways in which we can ensure that spend is kept more locally for the benefit of local people, and that challenge fund I think has been really instrumental in bringing forward new innovative ways of working on which inevitably we will want to build as we come out of the crisis.