I want to thank Huw Irranca-Davies for bringing this legislative proposal to the Chamber today. As a fellow Member of the Wales Co-operative Party, this Bill is at the heart of our core values to share power and wealth. Employee ownership allows employees to have a stake in the organisation of the businesses and a share of the profits, promoting a responsive, innovative and motivated workforce. In tougher economic times, employee ownership can save jobs, rooting them in the communities and making them more resilient in the long term.

Welsh Government interventions such as the Welsh economic resilience fund were essential to the survival of the Welsh economy over the pandemic. As we move Wales forward, we must take these opportunities to work towards building an economy that creates secure and rewarding jobs, that benefits employees and the local communities that they serve. An employee ownership Bill could play a crucial role in that.

So, just to break it down and back all of this up with further evidence, according to the ownership effect inquiry chaired by Baroness Bowles, on an individual worker level, they can enjoy higher employee engagement, motivation and well-being, and top up their salaries by sharing in the capital value that they create. At a business level, employee-owned business have greater levels of productivity, they encourage employees at every level to drive innovation. For the wider economy, they are more likely to create and retain jobs that are rooted in our local areas, and then, for existing businesses, there can be minimal disruption for your business, particularly if you're advised by specialists, and there's no need to find a buyer, because your employees will already understand the potential of your business and will pay a fair price. Why wouldn't we want to do this?

However, one of the biggest barriers to more employee ownership, apparently, is the lack of awareness and knowledge available for businesses within the Welsh economy. As Luke Fletcher said, when businesses end up doing this, they think to themselves, 'Why didn't I do this sooner?' So, this is why I would like to say again how pleased I am to be discussing this today, so that an employee ownership Bill could potentially be part of Wales's recovery, creating an inclusive and resilient economy by growing employee and worker ownership, rather than lose jobs, our high streets and town centres. We now need cross-party support and investment if it is going to be a success for businesses and our local economies.