6. What progress has the Welsh Government made in reshaping public procurement in order to strengthen the foundational economy? OQ55543

In April, we appointed the Centre for Local Economic Strategies to embed the community wealth building concept, to work with public services boards to deliver progressive procurement approaches, to localise their supply chain and to drive up the engagement of local businesses in public procurement to effect systemic change in local economies across Wales.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. I just want to address the threat that is posed to food security, given the rising possibility of no trade deal with the European Union. As Professor Tim Lang, the food expert, said again today, we are a nation without a food larder. And that statement applies just as much to Wales as to the rest of the UK, with supermarkets operating on a just-in-time basis and huge numbers of families relying on surplus food from food banks. So, lorries parked up at new frontier crossings and the inevitable high prices can but aggravate this fragile food supply chain that we already have. We could and should, in my view, already be strengthening the foundational economy by substituting everyday temperate fruit and veg that we currently import with home-grown produce. So, in light of the work that the Welsh Government has done to streamline procurement frameworks, what consideration have you given to using green procurement deals, particularly in partnership with local government, as highlighted in the recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report as being effective mechanisms used by other European countries to mitigate this threat to our food security?

So, we are working very closely with large public sector bodies such as the NHS to ensure expenditure on food produce can be sourced and procured as locally as possible from within Wales, to try and ensure that kind of security that Jenny Rathbone's talking about. And as part of the foundational economy challenge fund and the manufacturing plan, we have a real focus now on food.

There's a strand of the foundational economy work that is also considering, in partnership with the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, how public sector anchor organisations might be the key shapers of food markets for the future. We also have a relatively new approach in Wales with Caerphilly council now managing the collaborative food frameworks, which were originally led by the Welsh Government National Procurement Service. The Caerphilly food-buying team are really experienced, and they do have a really good proven track record in developing the Welsh food supply. I know that you've previously talked in the Chamber about the Woosnam Dairies example, and I think that they've been involved particularly in that. They're also working with the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs and her team to try and explore some further opportunities for securing more locally sourced produce. So, this is certainly a priority area for the team.

I thank the Minister for Finance.