7. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport: The Foundational Economy

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:47 pm on 23 February 2021.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 5:47, 23 February 2021

Well, this is a pro-business agenda. It's pro local business, small business, grounded firm, and we want capable Welsh firms to grow, to innovate, to have higher productivity, to export. This isn't about some sleepy backwater of the economy that we want to keep sleepy; we want to disrupt this part of our economy, where fair work is a part of its features and higher wages too.

Thinking of social care, social care should not be seen as a low-wage, low-skill part of the economy. It is an essential part of our well-being and our society, and there is huge potential, with a different business model, for the skills mix and its status to be transformed. So, all of these sort of hidden away, mundane parts of the economy, as they've been characterised—the foundational economy—have within them high-skill and high-wage roles. Think in terms of the pipes and the plumbing and the infrastructure. Think of Dŵr Cymru, think of broadband. These are all foundational, these are the everyday infrastructure of our lives. Once they're not there, society notices.

So, I don't accept the implied premise of the question that—I think the quote was we should be growing the pie, not just redistributing it. This is not some low-value part of the economy where we are going to keep everything cosy and featherbedded. The opposite. We want to change the way this part of the economy works for Wales and our communities, because its potential is so great.