7. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the opportunities it has to build a greener economy? OQ55704

Our overarching ambition is to create a more prosperous, equal and greener Wales. In planning recovery from the pandemic, we are determined to take forward a green recovery that will improve outcomes for Wales, generate a more sustainable and resilient future economy, tackle the climate emergency and address declines in biodiversity.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. One opportunity you announced with great pride last month is the sustainable food packaging hub that you have invested £2 million in at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Flintshire. On the face of it, it sounds impressive, with the laudable aim of making food packaging more sustainable. But all that glisters is not gold, and the hub isn't good news, as it seems, is it? In fact, for some people it's very bad news indeed. In the press release you put out, the stated aims of the hub include increasing automation, and in your quote you talk about your desire to reduce reliance on manual labour. Increasing automation requires increased use of electricity, so although the packaging produced may be recyclable, its production process will have an increased carbon footprint, and reducing manual labour means shedding jobs. Far fewer employees will needed to run an automated production facility compared to one that relies on manual labour. You're spending £2 million of taxpayers' money in an effort to find out how you can make as many of those taxpayers redundant as possible. The packaging industry employs 85,000 in the UK, which represents 3 per cent of UK manufacturing output. You're supposed to be the Labour Party, not the 'less labour party'. So, Minister, I'd like to ask you how many low-skilled packaging workers will be sacked as a result of Labour's £2 million investment?

I think the Member completely misses the point about the facility that's been brought forward in the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Flintshire. The idea was to support more sustainable packaging. People are far more keen to have a look at what ingredients, for instance, are in their food and what we need to bring forward is a really good packaging centre, and I'm afraid I don't recognise the comments that the Member made.