Diolch, Llywydd. As I've noted throughout each stage of this Bill's journey through the Senedd, I want to emphasise once again the importance of making this legislation as strong as possible when it comes to public procurement within Wales. For more than a decade, Plaid Cymru has called for ambitious yet realistic targets, quantitative measures, and clear aims to increase the value added to the Welsh economy through procurement, to bolster our economy and to increase the level of public spending that is awarded to companies, businesses and organisations based in Wales, essentially keeping the public pound in the pockets of our people, communities and our nation. In those 10 plus years, tens of thousands of jobs could have been created in Wales had ambitious targets been set and met.

Amendment 4, brought forward by Plaid Cymru, which could make it a requirement that the socially responsible procurement objectives must set out in quantitative terms how they intend to increase the value added to the Welsh economy through public sector procurement, has been brought forward to address what Plaid Cymru has been calling for and what the Welsh economy desperately needs: a clear aim to increase the amount of public money that is spent in Wales, with local and national suppliers, businesses and organisations. Had procurement targets been set some 10 years ago, the future of many small to medium-sized companies could have been secured by harnessing the power of public sector purchasing. What's more, we could have created opportunities for many small to medium-sized companies to start up by giving them an opportunity to integrate into the supply chain. It would be a massive missed opportunity, therefore, if we did not grasp the opportunity now to do something about this comparatively low level of public procurement in Wales within this legislation. 

The prize to be won from setting a clear intention in quantitative terms on how to add value to local economies through public procurement targets is vast. Plaid Cymru's 2021 Senedd manifesto estimated that 46,000 additional jobs could be created from increasing the level of Welsh public procurement from 52 per cent to 75 per cent. This would be done using the Welsh Government's £6.3 billion public procurement budget, and by working in close partnership with public bodies. Plaid Cymru-controlled Gwynedd council have matched their words by deeds, by supporting local businesses and raising public procurement within the local authority. Their actions have delivered a big boost for the local economy. Therefore, this would be standardising what many bodies are already doing, in line with the stated aim of this legislation, to improve public procurement. In effect, these would be locally owned ambitions that each body would have ownership over, including national bodies such as the Welsh Government itself. Progressive local authorities are already doing it. The authorities that run this Senedd are doing it. This is what can be achieved with political will, and with our amendment to the Bill—to set out in quantitative terms how the socially responsible procurement objectives will increase the value added to the Welsh economy.

The difficulty in collecting data has often been cited as a reason not to pursue targets. We also know that successive Governments of Wales over the years have been averse to setting targets for fear of failure. These matters are not insurmountable, and they certainly do not provide good reason to shy away from a measure that has huge potential to boost our economy. I ask the Deputy Minister, therefore, to think again about the resistance to setting clear goals, by setting a duty through the Bill to define the value added through public procurement in the Welsh economy. Surely we should do this now, especially at a time when our economy needs such a boost. 

Before I finish, it seems that the use of targets as a policy lever available to all Governments—this one included—is something that appeals to some Members of the Cabinet more than others. The Minister for rural affairs and north Wales, as part of the discussion in the Finance Committee meeting less than a month ago, on 9 February 2023, noted:

'I'm a Minister who likes targets; not all Ministers do.'

The Minister went on to say:

'I personally think that targets, when you look at the amount of Welsh food and drink that is procured by our schools, for instance, in school meals, and our hospitals and health boards, I certainly think that we need to increase it.'

The Minister finished the response to my question by saying:

'Whenever you set a target or whenever you set a strategy or a policy, you need to look at where you want to be—what's the end game? Where do you want to go to? And if targets will help us get there, then certainly, I think it's worth looking at.'

With this in mind, I ask the Deputy Minister for Social Partnership and the Welsh Government that she represents: is food procurement around the provision of free school meals, securing and actively choosing locally sourced products and ingredients, as far as possible, not the natural first step to explore the setting of targets? This is particularly relevant when the Welsh Government's shared commitment with Plaid Cymru, as part of the co-operation agreement to deliver universal free school meals for primary school children, is, and I quote, 

'supporting educational attainment and child nutrition whilst also enhancing local food production and distribution chains, benefiting local economies.'

The Deputy Minister has, at the Stage 2 committee debate on this Bill, referred to statutory guidance, and the role of the Welsh Government within that guidance to set out the clear intention of achieving more consistent improvements in the achievement of well-being outcomes, including on the contribution that procurement makes to our economy in Wales. Will the Deputy Minister, in response to our contribution on this amendment, commit to taking action to fully explore how the amendment, should it not be supported by the Government, or any of its backbench today, may influence the statutory guidance? Diolch yn fawr.