Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 21 October 2020.
Thank you for that, Minister. Now, data held for the latest full financial year of 2018-19 show that Wales-based suppliers won only 55 per cent of total local authority and NHS contracts in Wales. In other words, 45 per cent of contract spend was lost outside of Wales. We know that Scotland retains around 70 per of its contracts within its borders. We also know that supporting local companies by encouraging them to tender and by awarding them public sector contracts can have a significant impact on the local economy and create jobs. Do you, therefore, accept that the Welsh Government needs to do more by working with bodies such as Swansea council and Swansea bay health board to ensure that more public contracts are awarded to local companies?