3. Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:17 pm on 25 January 2022.

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Photo of Mabon ap Gwynfor Mabon ap Gwynfor Plaid Cymru 3:17, 25 January 2022

(Translated)

I had a very interesting conversation with an economist recently who gave me a series of interesting statistics as we discussed the Government's policy in terms of procurement, and this is what I learnt. Thirty five per cent of the workforce in Wales work in health, education and care. As a result of that and the number of people working in the public sector, around 70 per cent of public funds go on different levels of wages. From public funds in Wales, around 17 per cent is spent on fleets of cars and so on, the long-term supply chain, things that aren't going to be made in Wales. So, bearing in mind procurement and these statistics, should we not ensure that more of our public expenditure is used on training, developing and local employment, ensuring that we have the skills here to do the work, similar to the programme to develop nurses, 'Grow Your Own Nurse', that Hywel Dda University Health Board has?