Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 3 November 2021.
There is a key challenge about a broader point, not just in construction, but it's a good example of how, with the optimised retrofit programme that was announced by the climate change department here, a really welcome step forward to make sure the value of that is retained as far as possible, as locally as possible. That's why it's important that I continue to work with the Ministers for climate change and to actually understand, when we're letting those contracts, the terms that we can insist on to actually make sure that we do get local return on that, and to make sure that the skills that the industry need are actually being provided. It's why I'm very pleased with the recent conversation I had with regional skills partnerships, and the one we'll have with the sector itself. I have another date in the diary in the next couple of months with the construction industry itself to try to make sure that we are definitely pointing in the right direction, and make sure they understand what we want and what we expect from the public money we would invest, but also that they're investing back in their own businesses and in local communities.