Wales has produced a construction strategy designed to take Wales forward.
Taking Wales Forward sets out how this Government will deliver more and better jobs through a stronger, fairer economy, improve and reform our public services, and build a united, connected and sustainable Wales. A critical five years lie ahead.
The UK withdrawal from the European Union creates some uncertainty and challenges, but our mandate is clear. The Welsh Government’s relentless focus will be on driving improvement in our economy and public services, which are together the bedrock of people’s daily lives. This document outlines our key priorities for delivering those improvements. They are ambitious measures aimed at making a difference for everyone, at every stage in their lives.
Wales in the 21st century is diverse and complex and our programmes need to reflect that. We need to support people when they need it most, and equip services to respond to challenges, such as an ageing population, a changing climate, new technologies and globalisation. A future outside the European Union asks additional questions of what kind of country we want to be. To provide stability we will continue our commitment to get the right settlement for the people of Wales. We must work together, to take the whole country forward and contribute to delivering goals that we share. The issues we face can only be tackled through new ways of working, including joined up programmes which reinforce and build on what people and communities are doing for themselves.
Taking Wales Forward sets out how we will work across traditional boundaries to deliver our priorities. Four cross-cutting strategies will help us to maximise our impact in these uncertain times and deliver the promise of the Future Generations Act. Our work must be guided by financial responsibility and realism. Austerity imposed by the UK Government continues, and every objective analysis of the potential impact of Brexit says we should be prepared for a shrinking economy. So now, more than ever being in Government means choices and we will face tough ones. Where we start new programmes to fulfil our pledges, we must stop something else to pay for it. That is the new reality for this Assembly, and every party must adapt to this if they are to play a serious role in Wales’ future.
The promises made by the Leave campaign in the European Referendum have already been consigned to the scrapheap, and so it is for the Welsh Government to prove doubters wrong and show once again that our policies can deliver, even in changed and more difficult circumstances. Good leadership listens.
No one has a monopoly on good ideas. Ours will be an open government, receptive to new ideas and willing to work with others.
Together we can build a Wales that is more confident, more equal, better skilled and more resilient. As a country we have punched above our weight on the international stage, and now we are ready to do more. The Government want to see a Wales which is prosperous and secure, healthy and active, ambitious and learning, united and connected. This is the Wales we are determined to build over the coming five years.
