Wales and Africa

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:40 pm on 13 July 2021.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Joel James Joel James Conservative 1:40, 13 July 2021

Thank you, Minister. As you will be aware, Wales became the first ever Fairtrade Nation in 2008, and, since 2015, the Welsh Government has provided funding through the Wales and Africa programme for Fair Trade Wales to promote organisations to become fair-trade partners and provide educational outreach on the benefits of fair trade. Fair Trade Wales currently reports that they work with only 30 local fair-trade groups, 200 schools and 18 out of the 22 local authorities. They also only employ two part-time members of staff. At an External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee meeting in 2018, a representative of Fair Trade Wales reported on how budget cuts had meant that they no longer provided suitable bilingual services, and cuts to staffing had meant that their education link-up with schools had drastically dropped. Remarkably, after 13 years of being a Fairtrade Nation, the Welsh Government has still not convinced every local authority to support fair trade, and Fair Trade Wales have reported that they do not even monitor the value of fair-trade goods sold in Wales. Given that they liaise with so few organisations and have no idea of the amount or value of fair-trade goods sold in Wales, can the First Minister comment on how Fair Trade Wales ultimately benefits the promotion of fair trade with Africa and provides value for money for the Welsh taxpayer? Thanks.