Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:59 pm on 19 October 2021.
I thank the Member for his series of questions, and I'll try to run through as many of them as I can in the time available. I can say that I've had regular contact with business groups, businesses, local government and trade unions since my appointment. So, this is the next stage in the conversation that is happening with them. I think it's knowingly inaccurate to suggest that I haven't had a conversation with them up to this point in time. It's hardly been a secret that I've been having that regular contact.
On your point about the review of procurement, we have actually made progress in terms of procurement spend over the course of devolution, including within the last term, and the challenge now is to look at how far we've got and to see what more we can do, because the Government isn't levelling off our ambition to see even greater benefit for local firms from the way in which we procure goods and services here in Wales.