Thank you, Llywydd. Yesterday I held an economic summit to outline my ambitions for moving our economy forward as we strive for a stronger, fairer and greener Wales. I was pleased to be joined by the Confederation of British Industry, the Wales Trades Union Congress, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Welsh Local Government Association to start a conversation about how we can work together for a team Wales recovery that is built by us all. A strong Welsh recovery that is fit for the long term must be based on the principles of fair work and sustainability, with investment in the industries and services of the future. Since my appointment in May this year, I've visited a range of businesses across Wales to get a sense of their hopes and concerns as we face what we hope will be the tail end of this pandemic.

From the everyday economy that got us through the crisis to the world-leading innovation that powers our advanced manufacturing, I've seen that there is much to be optimistic about. However, the headwinds of Brexit reality, a volatile recovery, and the absence of a UK plan for EU replacement funding present major challenges for businesses and workers across Wales. As we move forward with our programme for government, I'm determined that we will offer as much certainty as possible to help businesses plan ahead. Our social partnership approach has demanded difficult conversations and trade-offs, which have often been driven by a lack of resources and the need to move quickly with imperfect information through the pandemic itself. Nevertheless, this dialogue has improved decision making and no doubt helped to save lives and livelihoods.

As we move our economy forward, there will of course be more tough decisions that do not please all of our partners, but we must be clear that a return to austerity in all but name at the UK level would restrict our ability to act and cause real economic and social harm. Llywydd, these are challenges that make dialogue more necessary than ever. We will all benefit from working as trusted partners, sharing our thinking as we move forward in a spirit of partnership. I was delighted to hear social partners commit to this team Wales model as a major contribution to our recovery during yesterday's summit. Our plans will see the Welsh Government take forward the economic resilience and reconstruction mission published in February this year, with action focused on our communities in the new programme for government.

I recently updated Members about the Jobs Growth Wales+ programme, which will help to create life-changing opportunities for those who are not in education, employment or training, and this is a major feature of our young person's guarantee and builds on the strength of pre-existing schemes. We will offer workers on low pay quality, flexible courses with personal learning accounts designed to boost their earnings potential, and we will build on our proven record on apprenticeships, delivering a further 125,000 places within this Senedd term. Our upcoming employability and skills strategy will build on our record of narrowing the skills divide, with a focus on support for those furthest from the labour market. I will also support the growth of green union representatives to help ensure that our transition to net zero is fair to working people. And we will go on developing our something-for-something approach and strengthen the economic contact. If we are serious about building a stronger Welsh economy, Welsh public money has to support fair work, action on climate change and the skills that will unlock talent across Wales.

We will also launch the backing local firms fund to support more dynamic local economies. I will have more to say next month about how our foundational economy delivery plan will help to shorten supply chains, lower emissions and turn our plans across housing, health, transport and energy into better jobs, closer to home. I will also go further to support the co-operative economy, which has sustainability hard-wired into its DNA. That includes supporting more employee buy-outs to protect jobs and retain viable Welsh businesses.

Llywydd, Wales is proudly home to world-leading manufacturing sectors, such as automotive, steel and aerospace. We will partner with them to help them move to a low-carbon future that sustains jobs. That task is now urgent in our steel sector. We do not have all the levers within this Government, and the time for the UK Government to act is now. I am keen for a constructive plan where our support from the Welsh Government complements action from the UK Government, but that will only be possible when decisions are finally taken in Westminster. My message to the UK Government is clear: bring forward your deal and let’s get working on a joint plan for a thriving steel sector in a secure, low-carbon economy.

Our plans will also mean new ways of working across the Government. I am working closely with the Minister for Climate Change, Julie James, to explore how Wales can win the green jobs dividend that comes with futureproofing our economy. With new technologies making work locations less relevant and new investment in decarbonisation, Wales is perfectly positioned to develop innovations with global impact. In this context, the upcoming spending review is an important opportunity for the UK Government to demonstrate its commitment and ambition for Wales. Positive signs would include the full replacement of the EU funding that Wales has been repeatedly promised, support for major renewable energy and a plan for energy-intensive industries, funding to remediate our coal tips, allowing Wales to invest in the tech, jobs and skills that this would offer, and for Wales to gain a fair share of research and development investment across the UK. However, the signs are that the spending review could spell even tougher decisions for us when taking this work forward. That would mean a hard look at priorities if the UK Government goes on refusing to allow Wales to make decisions about how our EU replacement funds are spent.

It is my hope that, by taking bold action, we will create a future where more young people feel that they don’t need to get out to get on. Supporting stronger local economies will be essential to the job of tackling poverty as well as sustaining the Welsh language among young people in rural Wales in particular. At the same time, if more people positively choose to come to work and live in Wales, we can address the risks that come with the decline in our working-age population. We will develop a coherent and compelling offer and explore further graduate retention opportunities and support for start-ups to encourage the growth of more firms that are grounded in Wales.

I am excited about the opportunity that we have to create that stronger, fairer and greener Welsh economy. I look forward to hearing ideas from Members and insights on how we can make this a reality. Thank you, Llywydd.