Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:59 pm on 1 December 2021.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Luke Fletcher Luke Fletcher Plaid Cymru 1:59, 1 December 2021

And I'm glad he said that that's a question for businesses. As Paul Davies has already highlighted, Small Business Saturday is fast approaching, and, as part of the run-up to Small Business Saturday, many of us in this Chamber have visited our own local businesses. Part of that for me has been visiting businesses in my own region of South Wales West.

One consistent suggestion that has been fed back to me relates to some of the courses provided by Business Wales. For example, one business raised a lack of support relating to SEO training, search engine optimisation, whilst another raised a lack of courses relating to growing their businesses. From my own research, it appears as though Business Wales's main course that focuses on growth is the 2020 leadership programme. However, according to the Business Wales website, that course is only provided in east Wales to businesses that operate there or employees who reside there. Is there any monitoring of how effective the selection of courses provided is, and what is the reasoning as to why there appears to be a significant amount of programmes on the operational and practical side of business, but little on growth and innovation? Would the Minister consider implementing the 2020 Business Wales leadership programme across Wales to provide greater growth and innovation focused courses throughout Wales?