Senedd Cymru	Welsh Parliament
Pwyllgor yr Economi, Masnach a Materion Gwledig	Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee
Blaenoriaethau ar gyfer y Chweched Senedd	Priorities for the Sixth Senedd.
ETRA - 04
Ymateb gan: Prifysgol Glyndŵr Wrecsam	Evidence from: Wrexham Glyndŵr University

Thank you for the opportunity to submit some thoughts around strategic priorities and objectives for the Committee over the term of the sixth Senedd.

 Next six months:

(1) examining the impact of TRIP- funded initiatives and how this impact can be deepened as society readjusts post Covid.

(2) reviewing the spend and associated impacts of skills supports and retraining initiatives launched during Covid, and whether these should be continued. There may be a crossover with the work to be done by the CYPE Committee (the University has separately also submitted some ideas for its priorities).

Longer term:

(1) the future configuration of our economy and whether this still aligns with the priority sectors previously identified (referred to as the “National Thematic Sectors” and “Foundation Sectors” in the Economic Action Plan). Some of these sectors such as high-value manufacturing, tourism and retail now look distinctly different from when the plan was launched pre-Covid.

(2) an honest review of the impact of Brexit on the economy, focusing on particular sectors which were anticipated to be affected such as agriculture and areas of manufacturing heavily reliant on integrated supply chains. For the purpose of such an honest review, it might be useful to look at comparable sectors in one or two other countries and benchmark how they have evolved since Brexit happened.

Professor Maria Hinfelaar BA, MA, PGCE, PhD

Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive

Wrexham Glyndŵr University