The Economic Action Plan - Next Steps

Following consultations with the business sector, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates, set out his intention to strengthen the delivery of the Economic Action Plan. He announced a new operating model to create a new relationship with business, representing a significant change to the way Wales undertakes economic development. It will seek to enable constructive and ongoing dialogue to create a shift from co-existence to collaboration. Going forward all businesses seeking direct financial support will be subject to this new prism of working and be required to align to one of the following 5 Calls to Action:

1. Decarbonisation

2. Innovation, entrepreneurship and headquarters

3. Exports and trade

4. High quality employment, skills development and fair work

5. R&D, automation and digitalisation

The Cabinet Secretary announced that a new Ministerial Advisory Board will be established to provide external advice and challenge to the Welsh Government on the implementation of the Economic Action Plan. This will be chaired by Sir Adrian Webb, with a full list of Members to be published shortly. The Cabinet Secretary noted that the next phase of the implementation will also see a cross-government delivery board set up, staffed by senior officials from across all departments.

Following questions in the Senedd today, Ken Skates defended what the opposition parties had described as a lack of targets, stating that he did not want to be prescriptive, and there with a move from co-existence with businesses to collaborative relationships.

Though a merger between Business Wales and Careers Wales had been on the table, the Economy Secretary announced that they will both continue to support business in Wales, with this work aligned to the 5 Calls to Action. Future work on implementation will address regional economic disparity via Regional Economic Plans.

The Economy Secretary also provided more information about the New Economic Contract, and in tacking the casualisation of the workforce, a a new definition of fair work will be included by Spring 2019.

Read the full oral statement made by the Cabinet Secretary here.