National Assembly for Wales

Good afternoon and welcome to this Plenary session. Before we begin, I want to set out a few points. This meeting will be held in a hybrid format, with some Members in the Senedd Chamber and others joining by video-conference. All Members participating in proceedings of the Senedd, wherever they may be, will be treated equally. A Plenary meeting held using video-conference, in accordance with the Standing Orders of the Welsh Parliament, constitutes Senedd proceedings for the purposes of the Government of Wales Act 2006. Some of the provisions of Standing Order 34 will apply for today's Plenary meeting, and these are noted on your agenda.

And as we begin our work this week, again, I'm sure that we will all have the people of Ukraine in our thoughts at this time, and today, on International Women's Day, that we specifically remember the women and girls who are currently in Ukraine trying to flee the country or hiding from the bombing that they're experiencing. So, we will keep them all at the forefront of our thoughts and in our hearts. 

The first item this afternoon is questions to the First Minister, and the first question is from Carolyn Thomas. 

I thank Carolyn Thomas for that question, Llywydd. Full-fibre broadband connectivity has been provided to 9,200 homes and businesses across north Wales through our current £56 million investment. The Access Broadband Cymru and the local broadband fund schemes are also available to improve broadband connectivity.

Thank you for the answer, First Minister. Digital connectivity has never been more important, and urgent action is needed to ensure no community is left behind. For broadband infrastructure to be cost-effective, it will need to be designed comprehensively with long-term benefits in mind that serve everyone. Communities right across north Wales, including rural Wales, are underserved by corporate providers due to being less profitable. Installing such a network would help mitigate digital exclusion, create skilled jobs and attract high-tech industries. In Liverpool, a joint venture project has been championed by Liverpool city metro mayor, Steve Rotheram, and this partnership means that public investment gives the authority a stake in the organisation, and, in turn, rather than profitability being the only concern, social benefit, and the public can continue to reap the benefits for years to come. Does the First Minister agree with me that such a joint venture project would be in the interests of the Welsh public, and would officials be willing to investigate such an option to dynamically drive forward digital connectivity in north Wales, which is currently happening on a piecemeal, very slow basis? Diolch. 

Llywydd, I thank Carolyn Thomas for that. I'm pleased to be able to say to her that Welsh Government officials have already met with the company who are working with our colleague Steve Rotheram, in the Liverpool city region and developing that very innovative solution for that city. We will continue to work through the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, who have made digital connectivity one of their priority areas. There's £25 million being provided for digital connectivity, and there are, as I know the Member will know, four different components to the plan that the north Wales growth deal has developed: connected campuses to make sure that young people have access to broadband; connected corridors to make sure that businesses are connected; key sites, both public and private; and then reaching the final few per cent of people who are at the hardest, most distant end from digital connectivity. Three of those four purposes could be served by an arrangement of the sort that has been developed in the Liverpool city region, and we will continue to work closely with the economic ambition board to see whether the idea that has been developed in Liverpool and whether there are aspects of that that could be successfully transferred as part of the effort being made in north Wales. 

First Minister, despite BT having been paid approximately £220 million to bring superfast broadband to around 96 per cent of premises between 2014 and 2018, and the organisation currently running a successor scheme to connect 39,000 premises, it still remains the fact that there are premises across Wales with unreliable internet. And in my constituency of Aberconwy, I have people who cannot receive any service. So, according to Business Wales, superfast broadband can have a positive impact on profit margins, staff productivity costs, and much more. Now, given the undeniable benefit there is, an immediate step that I feel you as our First Minister could take to provide a superfast internet hub for businesses in Aberconwy is to repurpose at least part of the underutilised building in Llandudno Junction—the Welsh Government building—to become a flexible digital working hub. Now, you did respond very positively to this idea on 9 November, so an update on that would be great, because, I tell you now, I've actually received enquiries from businesses wanting to actually go into that building. I wrote to you on 21 January, and I'm still yet to receive a reply, so an update would be really appreciated. Diolch, Llywydd.

Llywydd, I thank the Member. It's good to see her do her bit for International Women's Day on the Tory benches in this Chamber. She will know that digital connectivity and telecommunications are not devolved to the Welsh Government. Every penny that this Government spends in this area is a penny that we spend because of the failure of her Government to invest properly in Wales. And I remember, Llywydd, as others will, that her party went into the last Senedd elections, in May of last year, with a manifesto commitment not to spend in non-devolved areas. So, while she urges me to do more, had she been—[Interruption.]—had she been—[Interruption.]—had she been in power, not likely of course, but had that happened here, there'd be no expenditure at all on this matter by the Welsh Government, because that is the policy that her party put in front of the people of Wales, to be, of course, so comprehensively rejected, which is why we do go on investing in superfast broadband in all parts of Wales, including to the Llandudno Junction office.

I did respond positively to the Member. We are very keen to have remote working hubs, where people can come, don't have to travel the distances they've had to in the past, learn the lessons of the pandemic, and to use buildings for more than a single purpose—whether that is in the Llandudno Junction context, the Welsh Government's use of it, but it may be possible for the building to be used for wider purposes, by other public sector bodies, third sector organisations, private sector partners in a number of the hubs we've developed elsewhere in Wales. So, this is a continuously developing programme. There are, inevitably, as I know the Member will understand, some additional security issues that have to be thought of when you're allowing wider access to a building where there is sensitive information in circulation, and safety of staff and other users. But I can assure her that the basic idea is one we continue to think of positively and want to take forward.

I declare an interest as a member of the 5G EDC project consortium—an unpaid member, Llywydd. We've heard about the societal benefits of a full-fibre spine in north Wales, First Minister, but another advantage to having that network in north Wales is the ability to go on and develop 5G technology for the future, in rural communities that perhaps are hard to reach with traditional methods. I want to see north Wales be a global leader with this. We've heard again where the UK Conservative Government has let north Wales down with regard to full-fibre technology within this space. First Minister, I know officials have had conversations already, but will you instruct them to have further conversations with Bangor University and their partners in developing this type of technology so that we can become the global leader? And how can the Welsh Government support further, in funding these types of projects, where the UK Conservative Government, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, fail to do so?

Llywydd, that's a very good example that Jack Sargeant cites of exactly the point I was making earlier, about the way in which the Welsh Government has had to step in to make good for the lack of investment—not just lack of investment, but lack of interest, Llywydd—in making sure that parts of north Wales have the investment that is needed. Jack Sargeant is right, Llywydd—our officials have already had discussions with the Digital Signal Processing Centre. It's another project where the North Wales Economic Ambition Board has been part of the development of the centre, including some millions of pounds in practical investment. There's an application that the Welsh Government has seen, and will be considering, to fund research into 5G and to deliver 5G broadband projects, particularly on Ynys Môn, and my officials will, indeed, be continuing those discussions with the centre. 

Thank you very much to Rhys ab Owen for the question, Llywydd. We continue to work closely with police and crime commissioners and justice partners through the criminal justice in Wales board to ensure our race equality action plans tackle discrimination in the justice system. Next week, I will chair the policing partnership board for Wales, where these issues will be discussed.

Thank you, First Minister, and thank you for the Government's work within the criminal justice system in Wales, which, of course, is not devolved to Wales. 

Now, we have known for decades about the prejudices faced by people of ethnic minority within the justice system globally. What we have not known, until recent years, is that racial prejudice within the justice system in Wales seems to be worse here in Wales than in England. Through the work of the Cardiff University Wales Governance Centre, we now know that black offenders receive the highest average custodial sentence length in Wales, whilst white offenders receive the lowest average custodial sentence length. New stop-and-search data by the governance centre show that matters in Wales are far worse than in England. For every 1,000 white persons living in Wales, eight were stopped and searched, and this compares to 56 per 1,000 people in the black community in Wales. Individuals from black, ethnic backgrounds in Wales were seven times over-represented within police use of restraint, six times over-represented in police use of weapons, such as tasers. Now, these are disgraceful figures, which should worry all of us within this Chamber. I'm pleased that Wales is called a nation of refuge, but it can't really be called genuinely a nation of refuge if people in the black population are far more likely to be dragged into the criminal justice system than their white contemporaries. Now, will the Prif Weinidog set up an inquiry to analyse the extent of the racial prejudice within our justice system so we can understand why it's happening and address that fully? Diolch yn fawr. 

Well, I thank Rhys ab Owen for that, and congratulate the Wales Governance Centre on the continuing work that they do and the very important, if very bleak, insights that they are providing to us through the work that they do. The figures to which the Member referred in terms of stop and search are obviously very concerning indeed, but they come on top of the work that we've seen already from the centre. It is a shocking figure, and I'm sure it will be shocking to people around the whole Chamber when that research reveals the fact that, while 14 white people in Wales are imprisoned for every 100,000 people in the population, 91 black people are imprisoned, and that is a shocking analysis. It's why, in the co-operation between our two parties, we have a specific commitment to ensure that the justice elements of the race equality action plan are robust and address these matters with the police and the courts, and that is the way in which we intend to take forward the practical ways in which we can address the figures that we've discussed this afternoon.

The long-term answer, Llywydd, is surely the devolution of policing and justice. And it is my belief, that that is not a matter of if it will happen, it is a matter of when it will happen. It should and it will happen, and that's because the case for doing so is so clear and reinforced by exactly the information that Rhys ab Owen has highlighted this afternoon. Where we have been able to have a strong influence, Llywydd, then we show the difference that we can make. Our influence has probably been strongest in the field of youth justice. A decade ago, in 2011, there were over 3,000 young people brought into the youth justice system for the first time that year. Ten years later, last year, that figure was under 400. Again, back in 2011, 109 young people in Wales were sentenced to custody that year. Last year, it was 17, the lowest figure ever on record. And that's why I feel confident that we will see the devolution of policing and justice, because we can show that, when we have the opportunity, we are able to deliver those services more efficiently and more effectively. Because when they are delivered locally they can be tailored, prioritised and implemented according to the values and the approach that we would wish to see for that service here in Wales.

First Minister, the HM Inspectorate of Prisons 'Children in Custody' report found that a disproportionately high number of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children were in the criminal justice system. Typically, 11 per cent of children in secure training centres and 6 per cent of children in youth offending institutions are from a Gypsy, Roma and Traveller background, compared to 0.1 per cent of the whole population. The report also highlighted that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children have a greater difficulty in engaging with youth offending teams and education provision when in custody. The reasons for this are extremely complex, but there seems to be a connection to when children are first taken into custody and their overall experience and outcomes. It has been found that very often family and friends who act as appropriate adults do not always understand the processes involved, and in addition the children in custody can also feel overwhelmed. This then leads on to feelings of mistrust and isolation for children when they're in custody. First Minister, could you explain what actions this Government has taken in terms of working with the Ministry of Justice and police and crime commissioners to identify the specific needs of children from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in Wales when they enter the criminal justice system? What extra support do you believe is needed for children from these communities? Thank you.

All those are very important points that the Member has made. The single biggest way in which we have been able to address that challenge in Wales is, as I said earlier, in reducing year on year the total number of children from Wales who find themselves in custody, down to the lowest ever figure last year. That will mean that we have been able to have a benefit for those young people from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community. But, more does need to be done, we know, because of the discrimination and disadvantage that children from those backgrounds face. We have significant investment from the Welsh Government in providing particular services to help meet the needs of those communities and that expertise is available to people who work in our youth justice system. I don't think it's unfair of me, Llywydd, even with what was a very constructive question, to point to the fact that there is legislation going through the House of Commons at the moment, taken forward by the Conservative Party, that will lead to the criminalisation of more people from that community, legislation to which this Senedd has refused to give its consent.

Questions now from the party leaders. Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew R.T. Davies.

Thank you, First Minister—Presiding Officer, sorry. [Laughter.] You haven't quite had the promotion yet. First Minister, Russia and Ukraine produce about a third of the world's wheat exports. Ukraine, historically, has been known as the breadbasket of Europe, but because of the awful events that we are seeing unfold in this part of the world, the cost of wheat, for example, has jumped by a third, and forward markets indicate a doubling of the price of wheat. It's not just wheat, but fertilizer and many other fundamental aspects of food production that are going through the roof in their price, and availability is coming short. What work has the Welsh Government undertaken to understand the impact on food production here in Wales, and what actions does the Welsh Government believe it can take to alleviate some of these pressures that we are seeing on a global market?

I agree of course with what the leader of the opposition has said about those wider impacts of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine, between them, provide about 30 per cent of global wheat exports. We're not as exposed directly to that in the United Kingdom as other parts of the world. Indeed, it is the poorer parts of the world that are more directly exposed—90 per cent, for example, of wheat used in Lebanon comes from Russia, whereas we're 88 per cent self-sufficient in wheat. But, global prices will rise in the way that the Member indicated and we will be affected by the impact on production here in the United Kingdom. Forty per cent of the world's supply of potash comes from Belarus and Russia, and significant exports of ammonia, also used in the production of fertiliser, come from the same part of the world.

Welsh Government officials have carried out an analysis of the extent to which Wales will be exposed, not just in terms of food production but other things as well. The price of nickel has doubled this week on the world's market and it's used in industries that are important here in Wales—semiconductor chips, smartphones, electric vehicles and so on, and a range of other things. So, our job, Llywydd, it seems to me, is to carry out the best assessment we can of the impact here in Wales and then to use the opportunities we have to feed that information into the assessment that the UK Government is making. Because the key decisions that can be made in order to try to address some of these consequences will be the responsibility best discharged at a UK level. We continue to have opportunities where we are able to make sure that the best available information and analysis that we can provide from a Welsh perspective is fed into that ongoing process. 

First Minister, the chief executive of Yara, which is the world's largest fertiliser producer, said it's not a case of if we have food shortages, it's more a case of the scale of those food shortages because of events in Ukraine. We have an agriculture Bill coming before the Senedd, being introduced by the Minister in April. The dynamics changed fundamentally two weeks ago when Putin invaded the breadbasket of Europe. Do you see from your understanding of the situation changes needed to be made in that agriculture Bill? It's an agriculture Bill that will be the first agriculture Bill for 75 years, and will guide the direction of policy and incentives that may be available to the agricultural industry here in Wales to make up the difference, albeit in a limited capacity because of the land mass that Wales forms as part of the wider land mass of the global food supply chain. But it is an important opportunity to consider the new world we live in today, and that Bill will be a fundamental plank to make up some of these differences.

The agriculture Bill will, of course, support the production of food by Welsh farmers, and the changing nature of the marketplace, the Member is right, needs to be taken into account in that. But, the agriculture Bill will also reward active farmers who produce public goods that the public is prepared to pay for. Both of those aspects of the Bill will continue to be important. Where farmers are able to produce food for which there is a market, the Bill will provide the mechanisms by which that can be supported, but there are other very important things that farmers do that we believe there is a public interest in supporting, and the Bill will provide for those aspects as well.

First Minister, the events of two weeks ago have moved food security to the centre stage, I would suggest, and the whole responsibility of agricultural policy does reside on your Government benches. I do hope that you will consider the new elements that we're facing and the new challenges and opportunities we're facing when that Bill is introduced to us here in April. The Irish Government, some years ago, formed a policy document called 'Food Harvest 2020'. In that document, they pulled together the farmers, the processors and the retailers to build a consensus about how to reach the challenge of producing more food in the Republic of Ireland. Will you, in light of what has gone on in Ukraine, call a food summit of farmers, processors and retailers, so that they can inform the policy development work and outcomes of the Welsh Government so that Wales can play its part in growing its food production base, and play our part in the overall food security goals of this country?

There is to be an inter-ministerial group, bringing together Ministers from across the United Kingdom, on 21 March. The Welsh Government has asked for food security to be placed on the agenda of that inter-ministerial group. I'll ask my colleague Lesley Griffiths to discuss with her contacts in the Welsh agricultural industry, with whom she is in contact all the time, when that meeting has taken place, to explore with them whether a meeting of the sort the leader of the opposition has suggested would be of value to them. Of course, the Welsh Government always has to calibrate our proposals in the light of changing circumstances. The agriculture Bill will have a new context with events in Ukraine, but it's had a new context as a result of trade deals struck with Australia and New Zealand as well—trade deals that are hostile to the interests of Welsh agriculture, and also form part of the context within which that Bill has to come forward.

Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price.

Diolch, Llywydd. On this International Women's Day, it's impossible not to think about those many Ukrainian women, many with children, tired, traumatised, desperate, having travelled out of a war zone and across the European continent only to be turned away at Calais by UK Government officials and told they have to go to Paris or Brussels to make an application for a visa. Where is the humanity of the British Government when it does something as risibly cold-hearted as that? Contrast that with the red carpets that were rolled out and the golden visas that were handed out to the Prime Minister's Russian oligarch friends. Contrast that to the situation in the Republic of Ireland, which has already welcomed over 1,800 refugees without visas, six times the number that have been issued visas by the UK so far, a state 10 times the size of the Republic of Ireland. Isn't it time the UK Government showed the sense of moral urgency that a situation of this gravity, the largest refugee crisis in Europe since world war two, commands?

Every time I meet with UK Ministers in relation to events in Ukraine, they assure me that the UK Government wants to do everything it can to make provision for people who will want to make their way to this country because of the desperate situation they face there. What we desperately need is to see those intentions translated into services on the ground that those people can use and can use in a way that recognises the circumstances that they now face. The accounts of what has happened in Calais have damaged the reputation of this country around the world. When the Home Secretary said that she was sending a 'surge team' to Calais to help people, it turned out to be three people with a box of KitKats and crisps. How can the UK Government possibly think that people in those circumstances are going to be able to make their way across the continent of Europe to yet further capitals? If they get to Brussels, they've not only got to get there, but they've got to get there on the right day, because the service available is only open for half the week. This is absolutely not what people in this country expect their Government to be doing. The level of generosity shown here in Wales and across the United Kingdom to people who now need our help is absolutely striking, isn't it? They expect their Government to respond in the same way. They do not expect people who live in this country already, who are British citizens already, to be turned away at Calais and told that they don't have the right piece of paper and now have to make their way elsewhere. I really think this is the day where the things that UK Ministers say have to be turned into the effective actions that are needed to make sure that those people who need our help can be confident that they will get it.

First Minister, in May 1937 hundreds of Basque children fleeing fascism were welcomed in Wales as part of a concerted effort organised voluntarily—again, in the teeth of inaction from the British Government at the time. Is this something that we can seek to emulate now, not in the hundreds, but in the thousands? The UK Government talks about a humanitarian pathway involving sponsorship by local authorities or private individuals or companies—a wholly unnecessary bureaucratic hurdle in our view. But given they have placed that obstacle there, could we help minimise it by creating a nationally co-ordinated Welsh sponsorship scheme, and could you update us on the potentially very positive discussions that are ongoing in relation to the use of our national airport as a receiving entry point for Ukrainian refugees?

I thank Adam Price for that. I have already raised with UK Ministers ways in which we could do things differently here in Wales, using the experience we have of working with our local authorities, with our third sector organisations, so that we have a simple, swift, safe and legal route for people wanting to make their way to this country. There are further discussions to be had this week, and what I've asked the UK Government to do is to give us the flexibility that we would need here in Wales to be able to do things in the most effective way, because we are simply better placed to be able to do that closer to where those decisions need to be made than somebody sitting in Whitehall trying to devise a further bureaucratic solution to the humanitarian crisis.

And if we are able to play a part through the offer that Wizz Air has made, and Members here will know about it—Wizz Air offering to fly, at its own expense, 100,000 people to the United Kingdom, particularly from those countries that have already absorbed hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people into their communities while we struggle to get a handful of people into the United Kingdom. So, Wizz Air has made that offer. Cardiff Airport could be an important part of making that happen. We of course are in conversations with the chief executive and others in the team at the airport. They are on standby right round the clock to be part of any further discussions. There will be more meetings later this week to see whether or not playing a part in that way could become part of the way in which the United Kingdom discharges our moral obligation, as the leader of Plaid Cymru said—our moral obligation to do everything we can to help.

Turning, First Minister, to the situation facing women here in Wales on this International Women's Day, Chwarae Teg's annual 'State of the Nation' report showed that in 2021 Wales's gender pay gap, already significant, increased further. Women remain four times more likely to cite looking after the family or home as the reason for not engaging in the formal paid economy, and we see larger gender gaps emerge in terms of pay, employment and average hours for older women who are more likely to have caring responsibilities. Inequality in the economy will only be eradicated when women are able to enter and progress in work in the same way as men. With this in mind, do you agree that free universal childcare for every child, at the very least over the age of 1, should be a policy goal that we should set in Wales as part of our commitment to achieving genuine gender justice?

Well, Llywydd, childcare services clearly are a fundamental part of ensuring that there can be equal participation in the workplace, and equal pay as part of that deal as well. We are committed through our co-operation agreement to extend free childcare to children from the age of 2 onwards. That is a significant financial commitment, but as I know the leader of Plaid Cymru knows as well, it isn't just money—you have to have in place the trained workforce, you have to have in place the premises that you need, and a great deal of work is going on to make sure that we can have all of those components in place to move that further, next and important step on that journey.

Later this afternoon, my colleague Jane Hutt will be making a statement on the floor of the Senedd to mark International Women's Day, and I know that she will have more to say on childcare, on violence against women, on providing the real living wage in social care, and a range of other policy initiatives that this Government is taking and that we are very keen to highlight today. 

Llywydd, experience of the coronavirus pandemic has powerfully illustrated the continued vitality of local action in Wales. The Welsh Government continues to support such actions through the promotion of best practice and the provision of significant annual funding.

As I've repeatedly stated here since the UK Localism Act 2011, the Welsh Government has proven strangely averse to implementing its community rights agenda. And although the well-being objectives in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 include people contributing to their community, being informed, included and listened to, too often this hasn't happened because it's not been monitored, because people in power don't want to share it or to understand that this would create more efficient and effective services. January's Wales Co-operative Centre discussion paper, 'Communities Creating Homes', states Wales is trailing other nations in the UK when it comes to community ownership rights, adding that the policies in Wales do not offer quite the same empowerment as enjoyed by communities in England or, particularly, Scotland, as they either focus solely on assets and facilities owned by public bodies or necessitate the direct involvement of a public body to implement the power. And the Institute of Welsh Affairs's recent 'Our Land: Communities and Land Use' report found that Welsh communities are the least empowered in Britain, and community groups in Wales told them about an arbitrary, demoralising scenario with little real process for communities to take ownership of public or private assets. How do you therefore respond to calls in both these new reports for the Welsh Government to strengthen community empowerment and ownership rights? 

Llywydd, I simply don't agree with some of the points that are made in some of those reports. There are other parts that are very useful and constructive, and that we will wish to discuss further and to take forward. But the truth of the matter is that in every single part of Wales, there are community groups because of the actions of this Government who today are able to take on the running and management of facilities that otherwise would not have been available to them, who are able to be involved in the provision of those services, and where a partnership approach—. See, this is where he and I differ. His view of community empowerment is simply to hand things over to somebody else. Our view of it is that a partnership arrangement with the help of a public body can continue to be available to groups who, in taking on the running or the management of community assets, need to have—this is one of the conclusions of the report that we instigated into community asset transfer—the continued interest and engagement of a public authority able to help them with what are sometimes onerous things that are taken on.

And where this is done well, as, for example, in Labour-controlled Flintshire County Council in the Member's own area, you have a council that publishes a register of all potential asset transfers, gives information about the current level of expenditure, the usage and the occupancy rates, has an app that provides a potential community group with an up-to-date condition survey—all of this commended by those groups with which it works, and that has resulted in up to 30 transfer of assets from the council to groups that are not then abandoned to get on with it, but continue to be helped and supported. That is the sort of community empowerment that I think we talk about and mean here in Wales.

First Minister, I've heard what you've been saying to Mark Isherwood. I wonder if I could press you more on this sense of not just empowerment, but communities' sense of empowerment, because the IWA report that Mark Isherwood has referred to does make for sobering reading in terms of how unempowered, then, communities feel. The evidence that they have gathered has found that there are nearly universally negative views about the situation in Wales. And, again, I take on board the points that you've been saying, First Minister, but in terms of finding that link with communities, in terms of having this sense of empowerment and what is possible, I'd be really interested to hear your views.

We've heard as well that Scottish communities since 2001 have had funding available to take control of assets; legislation has been available there since 2003. In England the Localism Act does empower community groups. And the statutory rights and the funds aren't available in the same way in Wales. Again, whether a community is empowered or not is only really, truly, in a meaningful sense important if they feel that empowerment. So, could I ask, how do you think that that link could be made more so that communities feel the sense of empowerment in the same way in Wales, please?

Well, Llywydd, it's a really interesting question and deserves a longer answer than what I can offer this afternoon, because if we were to explore it in the way that Delyth Jewell began there, we'd start by recognising that when we use the word 'community' we are talking about places like any other place, where there are differences of view, where there is no single idea about the best way to take things forward, and where there is very different access, not simply to financial resources, but human capital as well. There are communities who are fortunate to have a call on people with experience, qualifications, knowledge that they can bring to the table and make things happen.

I think, in my own constituency, Llywydd, just recently, of a formidable group of women—I should say, on International Women's Day—who came to see me from the Llandaff part of my constituency, who wanted to buy a disused toilet block that was in the ownership of the local authority and turn it into a centre for services for older people in the community. And they've done it. They've done it in just a short number of years. They persuaded the council to donate the building to them for 1p. The community facilities programme—[Interruption.] Thank you. That was the cost of the building. [Laughter.] The community facilities programme of the Welsh Government provided £225,000 to them. But what they were able to do, because of their own histories and their own connections, was that they were able to mobilise a group of people with accountancy experience, with architecture experience, with running of buildings experience, and it was put to work, and I don't think they felt for a moment that they weren't empowered or that they didn't have the capacity.

But you don't have to go far from Llandaff to find a community where people are equally motivated, equally ambitious, but just can't call on the same resources that were available there, and that's where I think our efforts have to be focused, in making sure that we grow that human capacity in those areas, so that people do feel that the opportunities are there. The community facilities programme, Llywydd—since 2015 over £40 million to 280 projects in every part of Wales. Every single local authority has examples. Every Member here will have examples that they have supported of community efforts to take on buildings, church halls, sports facilities, green spaces—all the things that that programme represents—but we know that we get more applications from places that are already well resourced than we do from places who need those facilities the most, and that, it seems to me, is the real challenge that we have to try to work on further.

First Minister, last week I chaired the launch of a very interesting report from the Wales Co-operative Centre into enhancing community ownership of land and increasing community housing opportunities. I know this was raised in Plenary with the climate change Minister and I welcome her comments, but an additional key recommendation from the report was to develop a standardised approach to community asset transfers for public bodies. While appreciating the good examples you have given in answer to my colleagues on this question already, I'd like to ask what work Welsh Government is doing around this, so that all communities can be empowered to take charge of those assets that may be so important to them locally.

I thank Vikki Howells for that, Llywydd. I referred earlier to Welsh Government-commissioned research that we published that is about community asset transfer in Wales, and the purpose of the research was to look at the conditions that enable that to happen effectively and then to the barriers that prevent it from taking place.

As a result of the research, we published detailed guidance to support community groups looking to take on publicly owned assets, and it's a key finding—I was drawing on that when I made an earlier answer, Llywydd—it's a key finding of that research that, while most local authorities provide a good level of support during the transfer period, it's a minority of local authorities that provide support to that group post transfer. And for community asset transfers that succeed, the need to continue to be able to draw on a level of post-transfer support is one of the things that that report highlighted.

We're taking it forward through Ystadau Cymru, the group that we have in the Welsh Government that focuses on land and assets, and want to work with local authorities, particularly those who have seen the greatest success, to make sure that that best practice and the lessons that we've learned from the research can go on supporting those communities who wish to take charge of assets, and then are able successfully to go on discharging the responsibilities that they have taken on.

Llywydd, a reduction in the number of NHS dentists in South Wales West is primarily due to the effect of boundary changes on data reporting. Brexit and the COVID pandemic have also reduced the overall level of dental activity and that too is reflected in these figures.

Diolch. The health board with the highest percentage reduction in NHS dentists was Swansea Bay University Health Board, which serves residents in my region, with 22 per cent fewer dentists in 2021, compared to the previous year. The effect of the pandemic and boundary changes may partly be responsible for this situation, but the fall in NHS dentists is a long-standing trend, and the British Dental Association believes that unhappiness with NHS dental contracts is a key factor.

The health Minister has admitted in her reply to my letter on this matter that there will be delays for new patients seeking regular care, but constituents who are registered patients are telling me that they are being turned away if they don't need emergency treatment; hundreds of people who have been affected by this crisis have contacted me—hundreds of them—one mother in Gorseinon saying, 'I have a three-year-old who is yet to have his first-ever visit to a dentist. Every time I call, they say they're only able to see emergencies.' Other patients report of having better treatment in the private sector, some NHS patients even being told that they'll be seen if they pay.

Does the First Minister agree with me this is completely unacceptable, and with regular dental care being vital in preventing oral health problems from occurring in the first place, what is the Government doing to address this scandal that is seeing patients, including children, having to face significant delays, or, in many cases, being turned away entirely?

Well, Llywydd, let me begin by just correcting the record on one important thing that the Member said in the beginning, when she suggested that the reduction in the number of dentists in Wales was part of a long-term trend. In fact, the number of dentists providing NHS care in Wales rose every year between 2006-07 and 2018-19, and, in 2018-19, the number of dentists carrying out NHS work in Wales went above 1,500 for the first time. So, actually, the long-term trend is exactly the opposite to the one that the Member suggested.

The downturn in the numbers in the last couple of years is, particularly in the Swansea bay area, most explained—not partially explained—it is most explained by the changes in the boundaries, because the health board that saw the largest increase in the number of dentists is the health board that gained the Bridgend area of the previous health board. That's why the numbers went down in the way they did; there was a whole chunk of the health board that was no longer in the health board.

But the important points—the important points—are the ones the Member made in the second part of her contribution, because, of course, we want to see a recovery and growth in the ability of the dental profession in Wales to provide for more people than it is able to at the moment. The pandemic continues to have a bigger impact on dentistry than on any other part of the NHS, because those aerosol-generating procedures continue to mean that dentists are not able to see the volume of patients that they were able to in less challenging circumstances.

'How will we tackle that?' the Member asks, and it's a perfectly proper question. Well, here are three ways. First of all, as we emerge from the pandemic, we will be working with the profession so that they can safely see more patients within their premises. The Welsh Government has provided significant investment to dentists, for example, to improving ventilation in dental premises so they can see more patients safely.

Secondly, we will introduce contract reform, beginning, again, in earnest in April of this year. We will offer dentists a choice. Members of the British Dental Association will have a choice. They will be able to opt for the new contract, the better contract in my mind, because it will mean that dentists use their skills to the maximum extent and don't do as much routine and repetitive work as has been in the past in order to earn the incomes that they do, but those who prefer to continue to have their practices based on units of dental activity will be able to opt for that as well. I believe the contract reform will be in the long-term interests of the profession and of patients.

And then the third way, Llywydd, that we will address the need to increase the supply of NHS dentistry in Wales is to liberalise the profession. We need to make sure that there is a wider skill mix, that we don't have dentists who are very highly trained and very expensively trained doing work that does not require the level of skill that the dentist possesses. And the dental profession, if I'm being frank about it, has been the slowest of the primary care professions to move in that direction. There are ways in which we will be able to invest in the training of hygienists and therapists who perfectly clinically competently, under the supervision of a dentist, are able to do more work today than they do in most parts of Wales, and that will allow us to have a different sort of service here in Wales in the future.

Llywydd, I thank Joyce Watson for that. Our transition plan, published on 4 March, continues our well-established approach to the pandemic, informed by the best advice, focused on living safely with COVID-19 and prepared for new threats that the virus could yet pose.

First Minister, the gradual, science-led response of the Welsh Government to the pandemic has been supported by the majority of people in Wales. How confident are you of the ability of Wales to continue to take that approach, and what assessment have you made of the impact UK Government actions may have on that?

Llywydd, I thank Joyce Watson for that important question. We are on track, we believe, to move beyond alert level 0 on 28 March. And on Friday of last week, we published our transition plan, which is all about living safely with the virus. We are moving from the emergency to the endemic state of dealing with the pandemic, and, while we are living safely with the virus, we will rely on good advice, properly informed, as the Member said, by the best clinical and scientific advice available to us. We will have to rely on the continued responsibility of individual citizens here in Wales, and then that sense of responsibility will be underpinned by actions that only Governments can take. And that is where the actions of the UK Government are concerning to us. The abrupt, cliff-edge end to testing in England has, in the perverse way of the system, driven Barnett consequentials into Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that constrain our ability to make different choices of a public health nature, and really that cannot be acceptable.

We have two major concerns at the way in which the UK Government is rushing to remove the protections that have been available to citizens over the last two years. First of all, we have to have a sufficient capacity of surveillance so that we are able to spot whether there are new variants emerging here in Wales, new variants being imported from other parts of the world, or simply local outbreaks, where you need to have a more intensive public health response. Without adequate testing, having an adequate surveillance system becomes more difficult.

And secondly, I have a real concern about the way in which it will be possible in future to rebuild a system should we face an unexpected surprise. The UK Government has decided unilaterally to close the Imperial Park 5 laboratory in Newport at the end of this month. Wales will be the only part of the United Kingdom, or of Great Britain at least, without a testing laboratory of that sort available to us. I ask UK Ministers repeatedly what would happen in the autumn if we were to see a different variant emerge and a need for a new, stepped-up level of testing to be available to deal with it, and so far, Llywydd, I can tell you that there is no answer to that at all. Once you have dismantled a sophisticated laboratory of the sort we've had in Newport, when you take that equipment away, when you say to the people who have served us so well over the last two years that we're going to dispense with their services in a few short weeks, do we really expect that they will simply re-emerge when we need them again in an emergency? These are short-sighted actions, they are driven by the Treasury, in my view, not by the department of health in London, and I hope that we will not all have to live to regret them.

Llywydd, the fund to which the Member refers ended in April of last year. Its successor programme includes an expanded list of ways in which funding can be applied to urban centre improvement, and that investment continues to be available in the Bridgend county borough.

I thank the First Minister for that answer. I was recently contacted by Nadim, who was awarded a grant from the fund to renovate his business, Zia Nina, in Bridgend town centre. After the awarding of the grant, Nadim began the necessary work, including planning and architectural designs, but has struggled to find builders to complete the work on time due to difficulty in acquiring the necessary materials. He has now been instructed by Bridgend County Borough Council to complete the work by the end of this month, which is not possible due to builder delays. Paragraph 3.3 of the September 2021 report into the scheme stated that there is scope for possible extension beyond March 2022. Whilst Nadim and I are grateful that Zia Nina has been awarded this grant, would the First Minister confirm whether extension can be granted in such circumstances, given that the fund is delivered in partnership with Welsh Government?

Well, Llywydd, this is a matter for Bridgend County Borough Council, but, anticipating the next question, thanks to the Member's social media publicity, I am more familiar with the Zia Nina restaurant in Bridgend than I was hitherto the case. So, I'm pleased to be able to say to him that I am told that Bridgend council officers met with the business owner and his agent on 3 March, last week, to discuss a way forward with the project. When the grant was originally awarded, it was clearly on the terms that the work could and would be completed within the current financial year, but there are reasons, to which Luke Fletcher has referred. My note says that Bridgend council officers have told our officials that they are hopeful that they will be able to support the owner's project proposals in the future and that, as a result of the meeting held between them, both parties now feel that they have found a way in which that can happen.

Llywydd, our strategy is to deploy social media channels to communicate directly and bilingually with the public, especially those audiences less engaged with conventional media. We provide rapid, authoritative information in forms that are clear, engaging and accessible to all.

I thank the First Minister for that answer. First Minister, you will recall a few weeks ago, when I asked you about the Welsh Government's moribund Wales.com social media, you said that I needed to spend

'a little less time trailing Instagram'. 

You will be delighted to know I followed your advice; I've been looking at TikTok instead. [Laughter.]

You will recall that my colleague Andrew R.T. Davies submitted a freedom of information request last year, and discovered, in the financial year of 2021 alone, the Welsh Government spent over £135,000 on advertising on TikTok. That's one year on one social media website. But, when Andrew R.T. Davies asked what the total reach of the posts was in return for the money spent, he was told the Welsh Government didn't store that data. If that's true, it means the Welsh Government has no idea how many people that spending reached, whether it reached the right people, or whether the money was well spent. No trail, no nothing.

Do you share my concerns, First Minister, that spending hundreds of thousands of pounds in this way, and having no means whatsoever to judge whether that was effective or not, is an incredibly poor way of spending taxpayers' money?

Well, Llywydd, I don't share the Member's concerns because, despite not devoting the amount of time he does to social media, I turn out to be a good deal better informed than he is. [Laughter.]

So, let me help him. Let me explain to him that over the last two years there has been a 400 per cent increase in followers of the Welsh Government's different social media channels. So, if he's concerned about the effectiveness of the spending, he'll be cheered up by that. He'll be cheered up by the fact that we now have 2.9 million followers of Welsh Government social media channels, and he will surely be even more pleased to learn that on St David's Day last year, because he was interested in that I remember, 19.4 million people across the Welsh Government's digital and social media outlets were in contact with the messages of the Welsh Government, including 13 million people who watched video content produced by the Welsh Government through our social media channels.

So, I'm glad to have been able to help the Member this afternoon, and now he may find it less necessary to ask me questions where the answers are so reassuring to him. [Laughter.]

And, finally, question 8, Ken Skates. 

Llywydd, I thank Ken Skates for that. The Welsh Government has provided £90 million to local authorities for highway maintenance over the past five years. This is funding over and above capital contained in the local government settlement, itself increased by £70 million this year. Support through the resilient roads fund is also available in south Clwyd.

Thank you, First Minister, and you'll be aware that the Welsh Labour Government has already provided financial support to Wrexham County Borough Council for assessing the work that is required to bring the B5605 Newbridge road back into use after a major landslide. First Minister, I'd be very grateful if you could confirm whether, as a result of this financial support from the Welsh Government, the council has now been able to submit an application for funding for the repair work itself, and if so, I'd be very grateful for a speedy decision and a sympathetic decision on that by Ministers, given this road's unique role as an alternative artery supporting north Wales when the A483 trunk road is closed.

Well, Llywydd, first of all, I'm very happy to confirm for Ken Skates that, as a result of the help provided to the county borough council, an application has now been received from Wrexham council. Let me say to Ken Skates that I entirely understand the need for speed in this matter, both the importance of the issue itself and the impact of that road being closed, but we are keen, if we can—and I have to say it's 'if we can'—to be able to make decisions in advance of the local government election period, so that officers of local authorities can get on with the work that they would then be able to carry out. And, Llywydd, I recognise the enormous effort made by the Member on behalf of his constituents in this matter, and the case he has made for a positive decision. A decision on the application is with Ministers, and I can't anticipate it, but I am certainly able to assure him that the efforts that he has made, and the case that he has promoted, have certainly been heard.

Thank you, First Minister.

The next item is the business statement and announcement. I call on the Trefnydd to make that statement, Lesley Griffiths.

Diolch, Llywydd. There is one change to this week's business: a motion to suspend Standing Orders is required to enable us to debate the LCM on the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out in the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers, available to Members electronically.

Minister, you will have heard the exchanges that the First Minister and I had in relation to food security. I'm obviously questioning you today as leader of the house, but, obviously, you wear the other hat of rural affairs Minister, and you are the sponsoring Minister for the agricultural Bill that you will be bringing in in April, I believe. I cannot overstate the dilemma that we face with what is going on in Ukraine. We've heard about the refugee crisis, we see the brutality of the scenes on tv, every night, every morning, every waking hour, really. But coming down the tracks at us in the next two, three, four months, and indeed, two, three, four years, is this issue of the complete destabilisation of that region and its ability to produce food, not just for this part of Europe but for the world. It has changed the fundamental gravity, I would suggest, of where this Bill needs to sit in our food security requirements. As I've said, wheat has doubled in price, and going forward on the futures market, for November, it will be far higher than even today—it might be over £300 a tonne. Other commodities are going north when it comes to food production as well, as well as the fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides that are required to grow these crops. A farmer can only make that decision once in a year, and if that decision isn't made then, then that year is lost, and it takes two years to catch up.

Could we have a statement on what your officials and, in particular, you as Minister believe are the actions that the Welsh Government now need to take to reactivate the mentality within the Welsh agricultural community to grow for food security? Because I know they're up for that challenge and they want to play their part, albeit, and I acknowledge, the relatively small agricultural land base that we have in Wales. But there is an opportunity here that we need to grasp and make sure that we play our part in making sure that, whilst Ukraine remains destabilised, we are doing our bit to feed the nation and feed the world.

Thank you very much. I don't disagree with anything that you said about the heartbreaking situation unfolding in Ukraine. You will have heard the First Minister say that I have asked for food security to be put on the inter-ministerial group agenda when we meet a week on Monday. Because, obviously, food security has to be integral across the UK—we all have to work together around that. And you're quite right about wheat prices. I will be meeting with the National Farmers Union and the Farmers Union of Wales on Monday—part of my regular meetings—and, obviously, that's something that we will continue to discuss.

In relation to the specific points you make about the agricultural Bill, I think, again, the First Minister referred to a lot of things that have changed since we had the White Paper in the last term of Government, which, obviously, will then feed into the agricultural Bill. So, these are all things that my officials are looking at, including the cumulative impact of the trade deals that the UK Government have brought forward.

Trefnydd, I'd like a statement, please, outlining the Welsh Government's justification for going ahead with spending £1.4 billion to dual 11 miles of road on the A465. The Western Mail expressed the view yesterday that this hugely expensive project was no longer justifiable, given the rationale behind the decision to cancel two less-carbon-intensive projects in the north. Now, I note that the Government hasn't denied that pressing ahead with the project does contradict its climate change policies, but you'll know that I've been raising concerns for some years now about the funding of the project, because it will lock future decades into a debt that they'll have to pay back. The Western Mail has questioned if contractual obligations are the reason that the project perhaps can't be cancelled, and, as we're talking about such a huge sum of money, not just now, but for decades to come, I would ask for an oral statement, please, to help us determine why this vastly expensive project is going ahead.

Thank you. You will be aware of the significant work that's been undertaken in relation to road reviews, both in south Wales and, now, north Wales, with the Deputy Minister for Climate Change recently announcing the chair for the north Wales road review. So, I would think it's probably more beneficial to bring forward a statement when we've got the pan-Wales approach, rather than at the current time about one road.

Could I ask for one statement and one debate? The statement is one I know that the Trefnydd will be familiar with in her departmental role as well. Back in autumn 2019—. Sorry, I do declare my interest as the Atlantic salmon champion for the Senedd. [Laughter.] But in autumn 2019, the salmon and sea trout plan for action was introduced. It had a series of actions that flowed from it. I suspect that some of them may have been hit by recent factors, including the pandemic and the ability to get out there and monitor and evaluate on the ground. So, it would be good to have an update through a statement on the floor of the Senedd on the actions and the outcomes of that plan, and where we are, bearing in mind that it was brought forward, and I quote, recognising, 

'the serious declines...in early-running "spring salmon" and now...all sea age components of salmon and, more recently, sea trout',

as well. The health of those migratory fish stocks is an indicator of the health not only of our rivers, but also of our marine environment around the UK and globally as well. So, I'd welcome a statement.

It would also be an opportunity to test the views of people, here within this Chamber, on the issue of the cage farming of salmon. Major questions have been raised over the sustainability of this, and it is not only a question for Scotland; it's wherever this takes place. Because there is the issue of parasites and the effects of parasites on wild salmon and migrating salmon, the issue of pesticides discharged from caged salmon and the effect on wild salmon and other wild species, and also of protein foodstuff—the scandal that we have recently heard of 460,000 tons of wild fish being harvested to feed caged farm salmon. Heaven help us with what's going on there and the question of sustainability around this, and we need assurance that this is never going to be seen in Wales in the warmer waters that we have here. 

I'd also like to seek a debate, if I could—

I think you've spent two minutes calling for your first statement. I think you'll have to wait until next week to call for your debate.

My apologies. I'll wait until next week. [Laughter.]

James Evans. No, Minister to respond. Yes, sorry, I forgot about that bit of it. [Laughter.]

I'll be slightly more succinct. So, the first thing to say, and I'm really pleased to be able to say this and to reassure not just Huw Irranca-Davies, the Atlantic salmon champion, but all Members, that this type of industrial fishing does not take place in Welsh waters. We don't have industrial fin fish aquaculture here in Wales either, but I will—. You heard me say, in an earlier answer to the leader of the opposition, that we've got an IMG DEFRA meeting a week on Monday, so I will raise it with the other administrations at that time.

What the Minister said, Huw.

Minister, can I ask for a statement, please, on why Welsh Government are removing the rural broadband scheme top-up? This is vitally important for rural communities in getting superfast broadband right across our communities, and I'd like to know exactly what that scheme is going to be replaced with, because I do worry that some of our communities will be left behind, if that top-up isn't available, which makes a lot of these schemes viable. Thank you. 

Well, you will have heard the First Minister say, in an earlier answer around broadband, that actually it's the responsibility of the UK Government. So, maybe, if they'd have kept to their promise of 'not a penny less' we would have had more money to continue with that rural broadband scheme.

I wish to call for two statements, and I'll try and keep it within two minutes. 

No, one minute, actually.

One minute, then. [Laughter.]

I was far too lenient.

Firstly, I would like to ask for a statement from the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being on residential mental health facilities in Wales. I've recently been contacted by a constituent who is under the care of a mental health team in south Wales who, due to lack of local facilities, was referred to a residential unit based in London. After a resident at that unit tested positive for COVID, she was sent home after only 10 days of treatment. As you can imagine, this has been a very stressful experience for someone who had to travel so far for the treatment they needed. So, I would appreciate if the Deputy Minister could provide an update as to whether there are any developments in providing suitable residential mental health facilities in Wales.

Secondly, I would appreciate a statement from the Minister for Finance and Local Government on recent claims that councillors on Bridgend County Borough Council were threatened by statutory officers with breaching the code of conduct if they were to vote down a recent budget proposal. As we all know, elected members, whether it be to Westminster, council chambers across Wales or to this very Senedd, are all elected to act in the best interests of their constituents. Therefore, I would appreciate it if the Minister could offer some clarity on the situation and confirm whether any investigation into these claims will be taking place so that we can get to the bottom of the issue.

Thank you. In relation to your first point, around suitable residential placements for people suffering with mental health issues, I will ask the Deputy Minister for mental health to bring forward a written statement.

The Minister for Finance and Local Government has heard your request. I'm not aware of the situation that you spoke about, and I'm sure, if the Minister does have anything further to say, she'll write to you.

Trefnydd, I was just wondering, given the awful situation in Ukraine, as another sign of our solidarity, whether you do have on site within the Welsh Government offices and things a book of remembrance where staff and Members or Ministers can send their thoughts across. I have also raised this with the Llywydd and had a positive response, but I just wondered whether any books have yet been placed in any of the Welsh Government buildings. 

Before the Minister responds, I think you've put words in my mouth there. My response to you was to say that I would want us as a Senedd to think about our actions rather than our words, and that I was investigating whether it would be possible for us to set up a collection point for money to be given in support of those suffering in Ukraine. I very much believe, and I hope I reflect the Chamber on this, that it is our actions not our words that are most important at this point. I'm sorry if my message to you didn't get to you in time for you to have raised that, but I didn't want my words to be misinterpreted in any way.

So—

No, this is not a—. This is not—.

Just for clarity, are you saying we cannot have a book here, then?

I've said actions not words, yes, and there will be a collection point. I'm very, very sorry, Janet, that you've chosen to raise this in this most inappropriate way at this point. The Minister, to respond.

So, I would think that this is more of a matter for the Senedd Commission rather than Welsh Government. But I absolutely agree with what the Llywydd has said—I think it's really important that our actions speak far louder than words.

I'd like to request a Government statement on day-care provision for disabled people during the pandemic. I raise this with you again because there seems to be a big contrast between what is provided, with some local authorities, such as Gwynedd and Blaenau Gwent, retaining day-care centre provision for the most profoundly disabled, and other local authorities, such as Caerphilly County Borough Council, have slashed provision, leaving many parents and carers of disabled people with little or no respite. It seems that local authority interpretation of Government COVID regulations and guidance has led to a postcode lottery whereby somebody profoundly disabled in Crumlin, for instance, which is in Caerphilly County Borough Council area, would not receive day-care centre provision, whereas somebody living in Sofrydd, a few yards away in Blaenau Gwent, would. I've raised this matter a number of times in this Siambr since my election. I was hoping that, with things opening up and this Government's commitment to the importance of day-care centres, we would see some change in disabled day-care provision, but that hasn't happened in many parts of the country yet. Can the Government look at this as a matter of urgency? I don't think it's good enough just to say that it's a matter for local authorities.

Well, it might not be good enough, but it is a fact that provision of services for the people to whom you refer is a matter for each local authority. I think the Welsh Government's guidance is very clear in this area and it is up to local authorities to ensure for their local population those services are provided. Clearly, there have been issues during the COVID pandemic—I know from my own constituency—with staff who've unfortunately been off sick with COVID, et cetera. There's been a shortage of that provision. But, as you say, we are now opening up. I would hope that each local authority is able to put the importance that this absolutely requires on these services. 

We are hearing now, of course, that there is humanitarian aid that is meant to go to Ukraine stuck on the UK border because of the additional red tape to export goods as a result of Brexit. Now, according to the charities affected, they say that there is additional paperwork needed because it's gifts that are being transported rather than products that will be sold on after crossing the border. You might be aware that Llyr Jones and Rhys Jones from Denbighshire are driving to Ukraine this week, but, because of the circumstances, they are being forced to cross the border to France and then they have to buy the humanitarian aid to transport it. Now, I would like to have a written statement or some kind of update from the Government to explain what you're doing to make the case to the UK Government to get to grips with this problem, because one is concerned about the fate of hundreds of thousands of items that have been given in collections—in Wrexham, in Rhug, and across Wales—that could be stuck in ports and not reaching Ukraine, where they are very much needed.

I think the Member raises a very important point, because there's been such an outpouring, hasn't there, from the people of Wales in relation to this horrendous situation in Ukraine. And, as you say, significant donations have been given, and I know there are many lorries going this week.

I think the Minister for Social Justice has been working with the UK Government to try and find a way forward. I mean, the Welsh Government—. We were thinking about bringing forward an oral statement today, but because, obviously, the Welsh Conservatives have got a debate tomorrow, we've decided that the Minister's response will be the appropriate place for this. So, I will make sure that she refers to the work that's been going on in answer to your question. Diolch.

Thank you, Trefnydd.

The next item is a statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services—an update on COVID-19. I call on the Minister to make that statement—Eluned Morgan.

Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you for the opportunity to give an update to this place on the recent information on coronavirus.

Thanks for the opportunity to provide an update about the current public health situation, the outcome of the latest review of the coronavirus regulations, and our plans to move beyond the emergency response to the pandemic as we move to live safely with coronavirus in the longer term.

I’m pleased to report that cases of coronavirus continue to be well below the peak that we saw with omicron across Wales. The latest figures show we have 178 cases per 100,000 people in Wales, but that's based on positive PCR tests. As I've previously said, however, we now need to look at a wider range of measures to understand the public health picture beyond just the PCR tests. And one of the best ways of doing this is the regular Office for National Statistics's coronavirus infection survey, which is currently carried out across the United Kingdom. The infection survey shows that infections in Wales have been falling over recent weeks. They also show that levels of infection in Wales continue to be lower than elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The public health situation is improving steadily, thanks to everyone’s hard work. People in Wales continue to follow the rules and do all those small things that help to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Last week, we reviewed all the protections we have in place at the moment and we agreed Wales will remain at alert level 0. As long as the public health situation remains favourable, we will aim to remove all the legal frameworks that have underpinned our response to the pandemic for the last two years at the end of March. This means the legal requirement to wear face coverings in those remaining settings, the requirement to self-isolate, and the requirement for businesses to carry out specific COVID risk assessments will come to an end.

Dirprwy Lywydd, these measures have kept us safe for two years and we'll not be abandoning them. We don't want to forget all those behaviours that have helped to protect us from this dreadful virus. We'll be producing guidance, we'll be advising people to carry on wearing a face covering in certain places, and to self-isolate for five days if they have symptoms, to wash their hands regularly, to meet people outdoors, if possible, and to keep indoor spaces well ventilated. We want to keep on keeping each other safe as we move to the next phase of our response, because the pandemic is not yet over. Coronavirus won’t vanish on 28 March just because we no longer have regulations.

As we move away from a law-based approach, we'll also be making changes to testing. Between the end of March and June, we'll gradually move in a phased way from PCR testing and lateral flow testing being available to everyone. PCR tests will no longer be used for symptomatic testing. Instead, lateral flow tests will be available to order free online for people with symptoms.

Dirprwy Lywydd, on Friday, we published our longer term plan 'Together for a safer future', which sets out how we'll move beyond the emergency footing we have been on for the last two years. It retains the two planning assumptions we first described in the autumn—COVID stable and COVID urgent. We hope and believe that COVID stable is the most likely scenario for the future.

We hope that our vaccines will continue to be effective and that the national health service will not be overwhelmed. Our public health response will be based on the existing, well-established protocols for communicable diseases, and the surveillance and reporting of COVID-19 will take place alongside the reporting mechanisms for respiratory infections. We will begin to integrate our very successful COVID-19 vaccination programme with other preventative vaccines to maximise protection, based on the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and the office of the Chief Medical Officer for Wales. The programme will continue to focus on protecting our most vulnerable, and we will be offering a booster vaccine in the coming weeks to over-75s, older care home residents and the most vulnerable.

As I outlined three weeks ago, we will be offering a vaccine to every child between the ages of five and 11 later this month. This is a precautionary offer to increase children's immunity against severe COVID-19 in advance of a potential future wave, and this will also give them the best chance of a smooth autumn term after the summer holidays. I would urge families to talk about this offer now. There’s more information on the Public Health Wales website to help them make a decision.

I want to reiterate that if you haven’t had a vaccination yet, it's never too late. Almost 6.9 million doses of the vaccine have been delivered in just over a year. The vaccination programme has saved lives, and it continues to weaken the link between virus and serious illness.

Dirprwy Lywydd, we will also prepare for the worst, but in the hope, of course, that this doesn’t happen. I'm very mindful of the views of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group that future variants are highly likely to appear and that these may lead to more significant levels of direct harm than we have seen from the omicron variant.

Under the COVID urgent scenario, we have contingency plans in place to respond to a deteriorating public health situation. In such a situation, we would take the necessary actions to protect people’s health, by scaling back up our test, trace and protect service, and taking collective action to protect the most vulnerable. We have asked health boards to plan for a COVID urgent scenario, and in this scenario they will need to stand up surge capacity in the vaccination programme if a quick response should be needed once again.

Dirprwy Lywydd, I’m very pleased that I can say today, thanks to the fantastic vaccination programme, and to people across Wales for their hard work, sacrifice and patience, that we are poised to leave the public health emergency behind us and start a very different relationship, hopefully, with the virus.

The Conservative spokesperson, Russell George.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for your statement today, Minister. I very much welcome the announcement last Friday regarding a road map to releasing restrictions, with the majority of restrictions being lifted at the end of this month. This is very good and positive news indeed, and, of course, as Welsh Conservatives, we've been calling for this for several weeks. So, I'm glad that the Government has now provided this road map and easing of restrictions. What I would like to understand, Minister, is, given your criticism of the UK Government for lifting restrictions when they did—and I guess you can include the Northern Ireland Executive in that way as well, as they announced the same at the same period of time—can you explain what evidence you've seen to make these changes? Because when I asked you just last week to scrap all restrictions, you said:

'Unlike in England...we like to follow the science rather than the politics here in Wales'.

And then, three days later, after saying that, you did the same yourself. So, can you explain the science that changed your position in those three days last week? After 28 March, Minister, I'm very pleased that we will see the end of restrictions. Can I ask you when you anticipate the three-week review cycle to conclude? Will that continue for some time? When are you expecting to get to a point where those three-week cycles will no longer take place?

The UK Government Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies committee is winding down. I would, perhaps, just ask, is your Government doing the same for the technical advisory cell? I appreciate that some structures will wind down but will remain dormant. There are elements of putting some of these infrastructures into a dormant state, ready to react—although we don't want to see this—should restrictions come back, or the pandemic comes back at any point as well. But I'm interested to know your views in that regard.

I'd also be interested to know, Minister, whether the Welsh Government Cabinet has discussed whether to reintroduce COVID alert levels during next winter, during those winter months, should cases rise, especially given the First Minister's comments last Friday—and I don't disagree with his comments—that the pandemic isn't over and that there could be fluctuations in global patterns for several years to come. I'm obviously concerned here that we do not want to be at the stage where we're back into a full lockdown next winter, so I'd very much like that to be taken off the table. I appreciate you don't have a crystal ball, but you do work on assumptions and you do work on modelling, and we are in a very different place to where we were in March 2020 with so many uncertainties. Can you also tell me what preparations the Welsh Government is now making for future pandemics, should they arise, so that lessons can truly be learnt about the community spread and hospital-acquired infections?

We're also moving into a recovery phase from the pandemic, and given that it's a year since your predecessor published the Welsh NHS's recovery plan, I'd be interested to know where you are in terms of the COVID-lite surgical hubs to help tackle the mounting backlog in Wales. In December, waiting figures didn't make good reading at all, with one in four patient pathways waiting over a year for treatment and a staggering 50,000 still waiting for over two years for treatment. I for one very much welcomed the announcement in regard to the winter plan for hubs, but we're not hearing much about this. Given the fact that we're technically out of winter, how far are health boards with COVID-lite hubs, and what timescales are you now working to in order to reduce one-year and two-year waits? Could you also outline the actions the Welsh Government are taking in terms of ensuring that the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group will get core participation status in the UK-wide public inquiry, given the fact that the Welsh Government has, extremely disappointingly, refused to hold a public inquiry to look at your actions here in Wales specifically?

Finally—I have asked this before, and I hope you can answer this this time—Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson both presented their plans to live with COVID and the end of restrictions to their respective Parliaments, but, here in Wales, those comments were made first to journalists and then later here in our Parliament. Can you explain why this continues to be regularly the case? Diolch, Llywydd.

Diolch yn fawr. Thanks very much, Russell. I'm glad that you're welcoming the lifting of restrictions. Of course, our job is to keep Wales safe. Other Governments keep their own people safe, but our responsibility is to do it in the way that we believe is correct for us, and we do that by always trying to follow the evidence and the science. But we've always been very clear that, actually, it was always going to be the case that we would go in the same direction as the UK Government, it was just a question of timing. We believe that the timing that we announced on Friday will work for us. We are in a situation where, of course, we're not lifting those restrictions yet—we're keeping them in place for another month, effectively. That will ease us into, hopefully, a warmer time. We know that there's a seasonality to the shape of the virus and the way it hits our communities. We're hoping, as things get warmer, that we will be in a situation by 24 June, of course, where there will be no restrictions anymore and it will be a very different position. So, we're not the same as England, and that's the reason why we are in a different place from England.

We have started discussions with TAC in terms of what that might look like in future, and we're very keen to make sure that we keep in place an infrastructure that would allow us to spring back into action if we were to see a new and dangerous variant. Of course, that is made more difficult because of the restricted funding that we're getting now from the UK Government. Certainly, in terms of COVID alert levels, we will keep them on the back burner ready and, of course, we'll need to keep an eye on developments. Nobody wants to go back into lockdown, but I do think it's irresponsible to say that we would never do that. We have no idea what's ahead of us, Russell, and it always makes sense to make sure that you have a range of options available to you in terms of being able to respond.

In terms of lessons learnt, we have been trying to learn lessons all the way along during the pandemic. We're continuing to learn those lessons, but, of course, there will be more lessons to learn, and I'm sure some of those will come out during the course of the inquiry. You asked about the core participant status for COVID-bereaved families. I know that the First Minister has discussed this issue with the bereaved families for justice. The inquiry will set out the process for designating the core participant status, and we don't know yet how the chair is going to do this. What we wouldn't want to do is to do anything that would end up causing more harm than helping that situation.

Certainly, when it comes to waiting lists, we will be publishing our planned care plan in April and, obviously, we'll be looking at how we can see better regional co-operation in terms of trying to address that backlog that we've been looking at. And just to emphasise that, actually, I thought that the NHS did a remarkable job in December. We only saw an increase of 0.2 per cent in December. That's despite the fact that we asked them to concentrate and to roll out the booster at a superfast pace. So, I'm really pleased, actually, that things are already moving in the NHS. Of course, we've got a long way to go. On our figures, of course, we count very differently from the way that they count their waiting lists in England. In terms of the 21-day review, I think it makes sense for us to continue with this. I think we need to consider whether that is necessary beyond 24 June.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd. I hope that this has been a very significant statement, and what I mean by that is that I hope that this is the last major statement that marks the beginning of the end—only the beginning of the end, of course, not the end of the pandemic. There will be other twists in the road I'm sure, but we can only hope that we will be continuing to travel in the right direction.

Because of that significance, there are a number of questions I'd like to pose. First of all, yes, we have the two scenarios—that things remain stable, or become urgent. What is that transition between the two? I think that's an issue we could do with some more clarification on. Specifically, of course, it's not acceptable that the funding has been withdrawn by the UK Treasury, but in the absence of that funding, is there a fund that's ready to go—an easy-access fund, if you like—held by Welsh Government, where support could be put back in place if we did have to take a step back because of a new variant? Also, the legislative frameworks will be lapsing in a matter of weeks now; is there new legislation that we would need to reintroduce, or introduce anew, in order to reintroduce restrictions, which we very much hope won't be required, of course?

I think I'm content with what I've heard from the Minister and her team in terms of testing continuing to be available free of charge. In order to be entirely certain of that, could I have an explanation of what will happen to people who are vulnerable? Pharmacies will sell tests, of course, but can I be given a full assurance that anyone who needs a test because of vulnerability will not have to pay for those tests under any circumstances? Also, one question that I've failed to get a response to in briefings from the Minister and her officials to date is: when exactly will we get a definition of who will be considered vulnerable in months to come? Because I know that one of the questions that I was asked most regularly in the first months of the pandemic was people asking, 'Am I vulnerable? Am I to be on a list of people who are to be safeguarded?' So, I would appreciate more information on that.

One issue that I know is of concern to health professionals is ventilation within the NHS estate. We've talked a great deal about ventilation in schools specifically, and a few other settings, but can we have an explanation of the assessment that's been made by the Welsh Government of the work that's been done on the NHS estate—in hospitals and so on—in order to ensure the safety of staff by having adequate ventilation through those buildings?

There are two other issues. I asked the Minister last week if she would be willing to join my call for the COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice in Wales to be given core participant status in the UK inquiry. I and that campaign and many of us wanted a Wales-specific inquiry; that was blocked by Welsh Government. I'm astounded by the response we heard a few minutes ago from the Minister, actually, who said that they don't want to intervene somehow in the UK inquiry. I'm asking the Minister again today: just join our calls for COVID-bereaved family campaigners to be given core participant status. Yes, we hope that the Welsh public as a whole, and the Welsh Government, and us as opposition parties, and the health and care services in Wales, will be listened to by the UK inquiry. But this is a campaign group that has its own legal counsel, that has gone through the diligent work of gathering the kind of evidence that we need to make sure gets heard by the UK inquiry. So, I'm asking Welsh Government again: will you join our call? I've written to the UK inquiry asking for that to be the case, please would the Minister also back that call? Not as the exclusive interaction between Wales and that inquiry, but as a very, very important element of it.

And finally, we are coming up to two years, or we're at the two-year point, since the pandemic began. There are health and care workers in particular who contracted the virus in the early days, perhaps being exposed to a particularly heavy viral load, because they were on the front line in the NHS and in the care service. They are now facing the prospect of having their pay halved—those who are still suffering the devastating effects of long COVID to this very day. As far as I know, COVID special leave is still in place in Scotland to protect NHS workers who are in this position. It is not good enough to cast those NHS workers who put themselves in harm's way aside at this point. They need assurance that they will not see their pay cut, and I'm asking Welsh Government to look at this issue as a matter of real urgency, to give hard-working, caring staff within the NHS the support that they need after they cared for others in those first dark days of COVID two years ago.

Thank you very much, and I too very much hope that this is the last major statement with regard to COVID, and I very much hope that we can continue and focus on other issues regarding the NHS in future.

Just in terms of the absence of funding, if we needed to return to some of these measures in futures, there's always funding in reserve and we would have to make a case to the Minister for Finance and Local Government if funding was required in future. The legislation is going to come to an end on 24 March this year. We've undertaken a detailed assessment of what will stop to ensure that nothing that has a legislative basis remains after that, and we are content with that particular situation. Of course, we'll have to keep an eye on what happens in future. What we don't want to see is a situation where the UK Government tries to use different legislation that would prevent us from having the role that we've had hitherto.

In terms of testing—.

The lateral flow tests will continue to be available from pharmacies until 31 March. Discussions are taking place with our partners to ensure that those vulnerable people who are digitally excluded can continue to access tests when they need after 31 March. So, there is a facility for you to phone up and to get that support, or you can obviously order those online. We're also working with our community hubs and local collection points to ensure that from April, the most vulnerable can continue to access tests in person. And, of course, we will be moving to use lateral flow tests for symptomatic individuals. 

Just in terms of ventilation in hospitals—

—there have been lots of reports and assessments made in terms of making sure that people are taking that situation seriously, so every health board knows exactly what they need to do in this space. 

I've given an answer on the core participants' status, but I think it's really important that we do stand by our health and care workers and give them the medical support that they need. They were on the front line for us, they suffered for us and, obviously, we've put a lot of support in place, particularly when it comes to health workers in terms of mental health but also in terms of long COVID support. But I think there is a lot more work to do in this space, and we need to make sure we stand by these people who were there for us throughout the pandemic. 

I've been contacted by a constituent stating, 'My husband had his first COVID vaccination in Scotland, second in Wales and booster in England.' This year, he's had two letters with appointments for a vaccination. After he pursued the first, he was told, 'Unfortunately, we aren't authorised to record vaccinations given outside north Wales as it's outside our jurisdiction. Having checked the system, none of your vaccination details have been transferred over to us from NHS England.' He then learned that, in fact, his booster had been recorded but not his initial Scottish vaccination, and there was no mechanism for recording this. He then received another letter offering him a vaccination appointment. When he pursued this, he was given the option of opting out, but given that he's likely to be eligible for a fourth vaccination or second booster later in the year, that's not an option he's willing to accept, and after discussion, it was agreed he would have to have a stop on his record until June. As the wife said, both England and Scotland have sorted out the issue of people having vaccinations in different places. Why can't Wales manage it?

When I pursued this with the health board, their chief executive stated, 'The national vaccination record system is the responsibility of the Welsh Government. We can't alter the record for vaccines received outside our area. We've repeatedly raised this issue at a national level because of the problems it causes.' How do you respond to my constituent accordingly?

Thanks very much, Mark. This is an issue that has been ongoing for a long time, so whilst the Wales and England systems speak to each other and they can record and we can know exactly if people have had a first vaccination and a second vaccination in England, the system has never worked with Scotland. And the responsibility for that and the people leading on the digital side of this is actually England, so we have been asking them to try and correct the situation for a long time, but we're still waiting for that to happen.

I just want to say a word about our track, trace and protect staff, who have been a huge part of the effort to keep us safe over recent years. They're now being discarded at what feels like a moment's notice. I know of workers, for example, who've just had 48 hours' notice that their hours were being cut. They, frankly, did a job that not many people wanted to do, and they're being paid back with this abrupt reduction in hours, which has serious implications for their livelihoods, of course, and their incomes, at a time when we know that the cost-of-living crisis is—it's not emerging, it's with us. So, if the scheme is to be wound down, do you not agree that that should happen gradually and that it should happen in a way that acknowledges that people's livelihoods depend on these jobs, because they were all heroes last year, but now it seems they're being tossed off at a whim?

Thanks very much, and I must say that I would endorse your view that these have become really skilled workers. They have done a terrific job for us, and certainly kept the rates lower than they would have been, thanks to their huge efforts. Of course, we're reluctant to let these people go. There was obviously a time when it would have to come to an end, but, as you say, this is rather an abrupt end to what has been a very effective programme. The problem, of course, is that the funding was cut by the UK Government, and certainly we would have liked to have seen a much slower phasing of that than the one I'm afraid we've had to impose.

I thank the Minister.

Item 4 this afternoon is a statement by the Minister for Economy: stronger, fairer, greener Wales—a plan for employability and skills.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's a pleasure to be back in the Chamber today.

In the programme for government, we set out the actions that we will pursue over this Senedd term to help ensure that nobody is left behind, nobody is held back and everyone has the opportunity to reach their potential. Today I am pleased to launch the plan for employability and skills, to set out what we will do. This signals our policy and our investment priorities, together with how we expect to sharpen our delivery focus and the activity of our partners. And we do this in building on the significant labour market and skills improvement in Wales since the publication of the last plan in 2018.

Economic inactivity reached a record low in 2018, and fell below the UK level for the first time in November 2018. By the end of 2019, we had reached our target of closing the unemployment gap with the UK, and levels continue to remain lower than the UK today. And the employment rate for the last quarter of 2021 was higher than at any point before the last plan was introduced in March 2018. And, of course, the proportion of 19 to 24-year-olds who are now in employment, education or training is close to the highest level on record. The proportion of people aged between 18 and 64 who have no qualifications has fallen by more than 1 per cent, and those with higher education qualifications has increased by 4 per cent.

We are setting out our new plan today in the context that the labour market impacts of COVID-19 have not been as severe as feared, with a strong rebound in hiring. This has led to the lowest ever ratio of unemployment to vacancies in the UK. However, looking forward, we face a number of risks and new challenges: high vacancy levels, labour shortages of key workers, an ageing population, and more people leaving the labour market prematurely for reasons of ill health—and particularly those over the age of 50.

Rising business overheads, the cost-of-living crisis and impacts on living standards are all challenges we will need to contend with. And, of course, the sad reality is that the invasion of Ukraine marks the onset of what could be the largest humanitarian crisis on our continent in decades. At the same time, unequal access and insufficient provision of fair work and a pay gap for gender, ethnicity and disability still prevail. There are still significant disparities between groups, such as black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, disabled people and single parents.

Now, in addressing the plan, I know that we can't fully replace from the Welsh Government budget the missing millions lost through the fact that the UK Government has not kept its funding promises to Wales following our departure from the European Union. As Members will be aware, Wales is due to lose about £1 billion over the next few years, and much of that money lost to Wales would have been invested in improving employability and skills. That means that together with ministerial colleagues, I've therefore had to make difficult choices to prioritise budgets, to continue to invest in our people and skills. We will of course continue to press UK Government to back our team Wales ambitions to invest in the talent of our people and restore to Wales the lost £1 billion. I do hope that parties across this Senedd will be able eventually to present a united front on this key issue for the future of the people that we all represent.

Supporting people to stay in work, enter or progress in employment, and increase their skills and employability is critical to increase the pool of available talent, and to support people to gain fair work and progress in the labour market. Access to fair work supports household incomes and livelihoods and the health and well-being of workers.

The new plan sets out five key areas of action over this Government term, which should propel us towards our longer term milestone. The first is delivering the young person's guarantee to protect a generation from the impacts of lost learning and delays to entering employment. I'm pleased to launch Jobs Growth Wales+ today as part of that. This will deliver the most successful element of the traineeships and Jobs Growth Wales programmes to offer the best possible support to young people.

The second is tackling economic inequality, shifting our focus to those furthest away from the labour market to find work, to improve labour market outcomes for disabled people, minority ethnic communities, women and those with lower skill levels. This includes building on the Better Jobs Closer to Home model, while supporting employment and continuing our partnership approach with local authorities.

The third is promoting fair work for all, to use our levers to improve the offer for workers. That includes introducing the social partnership and public procurement Bill and, of course, continuing to encourage employers to make work safer, better, fairer and more secure.

The fourth is providing more support for people with long-term health conditions to work. This includes better anchoring the health service, both as employer and the partner of the delivery network, to prevent people falling out of work or getting into employment because of a healthcare condition.

And finally is raising skill levels and the adaptability of our workforce by expanding access to flexible and personal learning for people both in and out of work to improve their skills, find work or retrain. Just last week, the Welsh Government extended the childcare offer so that parents can be supported to undertake education and training.

We remain committed to driving forward our priorities in the 2018 plan to tackle economic inactivity, to increase employment levels of disabled people, and to try to futureproof the supply of people and skills. This plan responds to and draws on the involvement of key stakeholders in the development of the regional investment framework for Wales, the race equality action plan and the 'Locked Out: Liberating disabled people's lives and rights in Wales beyond Covid-19' report.

Going forward, we always need to work smarter and together to make the best use of our people and resources. This plan will help our partners to align their activities to our priorities, and help to ensure that UK Government funding is used in a way that supports rather than cuts across Welsh Government priorities. Elements of this plan are covered by the co-operation agreement, and where applicable these policies are being developed with Plaid Cymru. I look forward to working with ministerial colleagues and Plaid Cymru's designated Members to develop and oversee an area of genuine cross-Government policy implementation over this programme for government.

Our people are our greatest asset, and Wales will not prosper if the ability to train, learn, train and progress at work is not made more equal. Making this a reality requires a shared sense of mission from all partners, so that we can maximise our resources to deliver a stronger, fairer and greener Wales, with an economy that works for everyone. Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd.

Conservative spokesperson, Paul Davies.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank the Minister for his statement this afternoon? Today's statement makes it clear that the Welsh Government's plan for employability and skills will be rooted in the principle of fairness and with the intention of tackling climate change and creating a much greener economy, and so I welcome today's plan and its five key areas. This is exactly the right time to be laying the foundations for change in relation to the delivery of skills so that we can yield those returns in the future. Firstly, we need to ensure that our children and young people have access to opportunities, and I'm pleased that one of the five priority areas in today's statement refers to the young person's guarantee, which has the power to be the vehicle to offer young people opportunities in sectors and industries that they might not have thought of before. It's absolutely crucial that these opportunities are relevant to the skills that we need here in Wales, and that young people are gaining valuable skills and experience in fields that are meaningful. Therefore, perhaps the Minister can tell us how the young person's guarantee is being tracked to monitor its effectiveness, and how it's ensuring that young people are going to be equipped with the right skills for the future. 

Of course, any plans for employability and skills should link with the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, which will be responsible for overseeing the post-16 sector in Wales, and will be working to align education and training more closely with the needs of employers. Therefore, can the Minister tell us how this plan will link with the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, and what discussions he's having with the education Minister on this and on the wider issue of aligning education and training to the needs of employers as well?

Now, one of the key areas of the plan is in relation to promoting fair work by encouraging employers to make work safer, better, fairer and more secure. Perhaps the Minister could tell us how much funding is being allocated to meet this specific aim, and how that funding will in fact be distributed. 

Now, central to the Welsh Government's employability and skills plan are regional skills partnerships. And we all know how important they are in terms of advising Welsh Government on current and future regional skills demand, as well as identifying shortages and advising on how to address those shortages. Members will know that the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee looked at regional skills partnerships in the last Senedd, and so I hope the Minister will provide us with an update on the Welsh Government's progress in relation to the recommendations in that report, and perhaps he could also tell us a bit more about the current work of the regional skills partnerships. 

The Minister will know that it's National Careers Week, and it's disappointing that there's no mention of the Welsh Government's careers policy. And perhaps the Minister could tell us how this plan will work alongside other policies and strategies, like its careers policy, enterprise zones, city and growth deals and the Jobs Growth Wales+ programme, which was also launched today. 

Now, one of the five areas of the plan is raising skill levels and adaptability of the workforce, and I'm pleased to read that the Welsh Government is expanding flexible and personal learning opportunities. There is sometimes a fear that we focus on skills delivery in terms of school leavers, and we must see skills development as a continuous programme through a person's working life. And so I'd be grateful if the Minister could tell us what the Welsh Government is doing to encourage employers to develop a continuous approach to upskilling and learning. 

Now, today's statement refers to action being taken to better anchor the health service, both as an employer and part of the delivery network to prevent people falling out of work, or getting into employment because of a health condition. And it's crucial that more support is available to those with long-term health conditions. And so perhaps the Minister can tell us a little bit more about the Welsh Government's initial steps in this specific area. 

The statement also prioritises tackling economic inequality, and I'm pleased that the Welsh Government is committing to improving labour market outcomes for disabled people, minority ethnic people, women and those with low skills. One of the milestones to measure the plan's success is the elimination of the pay gap for gender, disability and ethnicity by 2050. Perhaps the Minister could tell us how confident he is that this plan will help tackle inequalities in the labour market. 

Dirprwy Lywydd, the Welsh Government made it very clear that moving to a low-carbon, net-zero economy is a priority, and, as I've said before, I believe that a net-zero skills audit needs to take place so that we can identify the gaps in skills, knowledge and resources that our economy will need. And so perhaps the Minister can tell us more about how the Welsh Government is collating that information, and if it is doing so as part of this plan. 

Dirprwy Lywydd, the Minister is right, our people are our greatest asset, and that's why now is the time to invest in our skills landscape, and I look forward to working with the Minister constructively to ensure that everyone has access to vital learning and training opportunities across Wales. Thank you. 

Thank you for the series of questions. I will try to deal with as many of them as I can without testing the patience of the Deputy Presiding Officer. 

On to your starting points, when it comes to the part that the young person's guarantee will play, it's clearly a key component of what we're trying to do with the employability and skills plans. And in not just today's plan, but in my previous statements on the young person's guarantee, I've indicated that Working Wales are running the guarantee and the job-matching service, and the range of things going through there. And we are going to have data, as I indicated in the previous statement, that will help to demonstrate the numbers of people that are coming through, but the sorts of outcomes that we think we're going to be able to deliver as well.

And I'm pleased you mentioned Jobs Growth Wales+. It's a new programme, combining what we've learned from traineeships and the Jobs Growth Wales programme, to help people into work or to get them the skills they need to get into work in the first place. And we've learned about the support that different people will need at various points to make sure they're ready to go on and acquire those skills or enter the world of work. So, the personal support element will be important for us.

Now, I fully expect that, in this Chamber, and in the committee you chair, with a slightly different hat on, you may well take an interest, and I'd expect that to be the case going through the first year, but as we get through the rest of this term, to be able to understand the sorts of outcomes we're achieving and whether actually we're learning more as we go along to help improve the offer of the programme. Because on this, I think, there isn't much difference between the parties in the Chamber as to what we ultimately want to see, which is more people in work and in good work, with an improved ability for that person to acquire and then continue to gain skills through their working life.

And that brings me on to your point about the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research. I'm happy to be able to confirm to you that I have met the education Minister in advance of the plan being published, in advance of the Cabinet discussion that agreed this, and we do see significant work to do between us and the work of the new commission. Because part of what we're going to need to do to help to improve people's skills, lots of that will be undertaken within the further education sphere. So, we're going to need to understand what we're going to do alongside them and how that's going to enable them to deliver for us. Of course, further education will be one of the key partners in delivering the Jobs Growth Wales+ programme.

And on your point about regional skills partnerships, which you mentioned on several occasions, I've met all of the regional skills partnerships, and I've met all of the regional groups led by local authorities in the new joint committees that are working alongside the city deals. And one of the things that I think has been really positive is that, in amongst all of the different political leaderships of local authorities, they all see the regional partnerships they have as key to their regional future, and they recognise it adds to what they're doing rather than takes away from it. And they all recognise the importance of those regional skills partnerships, understand the opportunities that exist for businesses within their areas, and then to try to understand how we're going to match the skills needs for those businesses. So, they're a key part of how we're going to run the system successfully—that's both earlier skills, but, crucially, developing skills for people in the workplace as well.

And I think that really does go to your point about employers investing in their future and current workforce. Of course, the workforce of the future is in very large part already with us. It's the workers who are already in the workplace today who are going to be here with us in five years' and 10 years' time. So, there is going to be a need to carry on investing in them. And that is one of the things we're trying to do in setting out our plan today: to help provide stability for employers to make their own choices, but also for them to be clear about how they can get involved in helping to influence our own agenda on skills provision.

And I think the Member also made a point around not just this plan but alongside other interventions. So, to give you an example, the Minister for Climate Change is especially interested in this plan, not just because she cares about the ambitions of the whole Government or her constituency, but, as an example, the housing retrofit programme, that should make a difference in spending money to improve the efficiency of people's homes, to make their homes warmer and less expensive to fit. There's also plenty of work to do in that programme as well, and we want to try to make sure we have the right skills for people to undertake that programme for the future housing needs that we know will exist as well. So, there are jobs and there is skills provision needed.

And recently, I visited not a retrofit programme, but a new-build programme in partnership between Cardiff Council and Wates, as a partner in the Cardiff Living programme. And they are delivering apprenticeships on that site—people are being trained today in how homes are being constructed, and those people will find that that is very much the world they're going to carry on working in for the future. So, we're already seeing a jobs and a training dividend whilst improving new housing stock, as well as the need to improve the housing stock we already have. And you should find those examples through the way that this plan works alongside other Government interventions. This isn't simply going to be a success if my department is the only one working towards it.

And on the challenge around economic inequality, it's one of the key things we know we need to address. With our current programme, the Communities for Work programme, 40 per cent of the people who were helped and supported in that programme have a disability or a limiting healthcare condition that is a barrier to them accessing work. We know that lots of people have support from our Parents, Childcare and Employment programme, helping parents into education where childcare is a barrier, and I met some of those people today, when we launched the programme. So, we're deliberately setting out how we're going to look to reduce economic inequality in the delivery of this plan, and that, of course, includes the gender pay gap.

Now, I look forward to updating the Member on some of the other points he's made, including the work we are undertaking on improving net-zero skills and the work that I'm doing with climate change Ministers on that. But I can see the Deputy Presiding Officer politely giving me the look that says that I should stop and allow the next question to get asked. 

Always happy for you to be succinct in your answers, Minister. 

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Luke Fletcher. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you to the Minister for his statement. There's much to welcome here, but I'd like to focus on a couple of points. Access to high-quality employment is strongly linked to mental health: 43 per cent of unemployed people report poor mental health, compared to 27 per cent who are in employment. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has noted that job loss, of which there have been many in Wales over the pandemic period, is a traumatic experience in someone's life and has an immediate negative impact on their mental health. Further still, there is significant further damage when unemployment continues long term.

Low-paid workers were the most likely to be furloughed or lose their jobs, and groups already at the most risk of problem debt prior to the pandemic are now at even greater risk. Addressing these financial inequalities this side of the pandemic should be at the forefront of our political agenda. However, access to employment alone is not enough. We must guarantee that this employment is fair and just. Half of people in poverty now live in working families. People are being trapped in poverty by low wages, zero-hour contracts and job insecurity. Promoting fair work is great, but I would like the Minister to drill down a bit and outline how fair work will be guaranteed, including job security, opportunity for education and training and staff consultation and representation. How exactly will these be guaranteed? 

On the green economy, Russian oil and gas imports have not currently been fully included in the UK economic sanctions against Russia, because of the concern of the impact of this on the UK economy, especially while we are already experiencing a cost-of-living crisis that is being heavily fuelled by rising energy costs. Some reports suggest that this is set to change today, but the impact of our reliance on Russian fossil fuels is huge. Shell has calculated that current exports and flow prices to western democracies are helping to finance a Russian T-90 tank every 20 minutes. This is something that my colleague Liz Saville-Roberts MP has been raising in her Westminster capacity, and a topic that Adam Price has already spoken on, and, to reiterate his words, 

'not a single drop of Russian oil should be offloaded into Wales...while innocent blood is being shed in Ukraine'.

But the discussions have rightly raised questions around our reliance on fossil fuels. We must ramp up our renewable low-carbon economy, which, hopefully, this plan will play a part in doing. To do this, we have to immediately and continuously invest in the technologies of the future here in Wales, and create green jobs through a just transition. A skills gap in Wales is one of the obstacles that is preventing us from moving at this accelerated rate away from fossil fuels, an issue that has been highlighted by the Construction Industry Training Board, an issue I know the Minister is aware of. Specifically, how will we fill these skill gaps? How will this gap be filled urgently so that we can significantly increase our renewable, low-carbon economy?

And, finally, on gender equality, today marks International Women's Day, and economic barriers continue to face women. Our economic system, structures and policies are continuing to recreate and reproduce gender inequality. The latest data from Chwarae Teg has highlighted that the gender pay gap in Wales has actually worsened in 2021. The gender pay gap increased from 11.8 per cent to 12.3 per cent. Women's median hourly pay increased 34p between 2020 and 2021, below the average of 42p, whereas men's increased by 49p. And this is a point I've highlighted before in this Chamber, but needs reiterating: as of 2021, men earn more than women in every local authority in Wales. These figures should highlight to us that progress towards eradicating income inequality is neither consistent, guaranteed nor rapid, and we must, therefore, ensure we are considering the views and needs of women in plans like these. I am concerned that, as we move towards a green economy, these figures may continue to worsen, as it's known that the biggest gender gaps occur in agriculture, manufacturing, construction and transportation—areas that will be key areas to a green transition, where new jobs and skills will be focused. So, we must ensure that women are not left out of the green transition.

So, finally, I ask the Minister: how does this plan tangibly address these issues? How are we encouraging women in Wales into STEM subjects? How are we guaranteeing fair and green employment for women? And how are we ensuring they're not left out of the green transition? And of course, if this plan does not address those issues, will the Minister consider expanding the plan to include additions that address economic inequalities in employment and training, on International Women's Day?

Thank you for the questions and the comments. I recognise that work, and in particular good work, is often a protective factor for people's mental health. It isn't a guarantee, but I also know that poor work can have a really detrimental impact on people's mental health. I know from my former time as an employment lawyer, when I've seen people who worked in a poor workplace having difficult experiences at work affecting not just their work, but their whole life around them as well, and the people they love and care for. And that's particularly the case when people are in poorly paid work as well. So, fair work is one of our five key aspects in the plan.

There are some things we can do ourselves rather more directly. So, the NHS, for example, is a living wage employer, a real living wage employer. We're doing more on the social care system in terms of making sure that people have decent and better wages. We're looking to try to make sure we build on the social partnership we have created through the last few years, which has been accelerated and deepened during the pandemic, to try to make sure that we really do deliver Wales as a fair work nation.

Our staff are paid in a certain way; we know that in the private sector we can't influence every single employer. Where we do need to be clear, though, is in the examples of what we're prepared to reward and stand by and say, 'This is what good looks like.' I've seen more of that in the way the economic contract works and is being deepened. So, I expect to have more on that in what we're doing with people in the private sector where most pay, of course, choices are made. And at the same time I think we'll be able to do more in the field of procurement, and that's a matter that the finance Minister leads on and Ministers right across the Government have a real interest in. So, I think you're going to find, not just in this plan, but more generally in what the Government does, that we're genuinely committed to that, as well as individual interventions like Healthy Working Wales and Time to Change Wales, which my department jointly funds, together with the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being as the lead Minister.

When it comes to the comments you made about Putin's war and the invasion of Ukraine, I fully recognise that there are challenges in rising prices that will be exacerbated by the war. The cost-of-living crisis was with us already before the invasion of Ukraine. It will be made worse because there will be reduced supply of oil and gas from Russia. One of the things we have to accept is that if we think it's wrong for there to be Russian oil and gas helping to fund that war, then that means there'll be challenges in energy supply within this country as well. It reinforces the point about energy security and our ability to generate more of our own energy and be less reliant on the supply of oil and gas from other parts of the world. It's one of the things that, even before the dreadful crisis in Ukraine, Ministers were already clear about and keen to make the most of our assets.

Within that, there are of course challenges in terms of investing in skills and in the infrastructure we need. We know that we already have a position where, I think, over half of our power needs are regularly provided by renewable sources. The challenge then is how much more can we do, how much more reliable will that need to be, how we'll get the investment from the private sector as well as the public sector that will be required to further exploit offshore wind, marine and tidal power as well, and then the skills that go alongside that. That is a bit of a circular conversation because we need to understand what is going to happen with investment in the whole supply chain for those industries that are going be created when new rounds are auctioned off by the Crown Estate for offshore wind. How do we then make sure we understand what those companies are going to do and when we can actually invest alongside them to make sure we have the skills supply for people?

An example of where that can go wrong, of course, is Wylfa Newydd, the former Hitachi project. We did invest in lots of skills, and actually what we were doing there would have made sense if the project had gone forward. When it didn't, we'd essentially taken a community of people together with us on a journey that wasn't then completed. It does, though, show I think that where we have some certainty on those very large investment choices, we can make sure that  the levers we have are available to help people into what should be good jobs for the future. We're already doing some of that work as we know we're going to need to do even more to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon economy, and in particular how we get the most gain from renewable sources of power.

I'll finish with your points about women and the pay gap. I've been very lucky in my working life to work with a number of women, to be led and managed by women in the workplace, and I'm very proud of my own wife who is a women of real achievement in her business. She's a much better leader and manager than I ever was in the workplace. But, actually, we know that we still have significant gender inequalities, not just in money, but in the way that leadership positions are undertaken and the culture of workforces and workplaces in the private and the public sector. It's why the Government continues to invest in promoting opportunities for women and girls to seek careers in areas where they have not been in the past, whether that's construction, whether that's STEM or, indeed, in tech and in fintech. And I have to say, when I was recently away and looking at some of the promotion we're doing in the United Arab Emirates around the World Expo in Dubai, I was really proud to see Welsh women in fintech as leading figures, running those companies and making a pitch about how they are doing something not just for themselves, but for a whole sector where their skills could and should be recognised. I think we're going to see more of that in the future, so that everyone can see there is someone you can see and someone you can be, and there's a Government that is on your side to make sure you get what you're worth, which is exactly the same as the person next to you, whether a man or a woman.

Following the International Women's Day theme, I want to try and explore how we're going to close the gender gap in relation to not having women in one section of the workforce and men in the other, because we need—. A bit more mixing up will benefit the whole community.

So, we know from the Well-being of Future Generations Commissioner for Wales's report, 'Homes Fit for the Future: The Retrofit Challenge', that we need over 4,000 people to be skilled in insulating people's homes—existing homes—and we also need nearly 3,000 retrofit energy assessors. How does the Government think that we can get a much better balanced workforce in these really important skills, rather than them all being male? Equally, the social care sector would benefit from having a much wider diversity of the workforce, both in terms of more men working in it, and also a range of different ethnic minorities to reflect the communities they're serving. So, I'd be very keen to understand how the proper shortage in social care and in childcare could be filled by training up many more people to work in this absolutely crucial area, which is never going to be outsourced to artificial algorithms—these are proper jobs of the future—as well as the most urgent jobs around retrofitting, which, obviously, with the price of energy going up, we need to get on with as quickly as we possibly can.

I thank the Member for the questions. I'm not sure how far linked and how closely linked they are to the plan, but I'm happy to address the points that I think are being made. Because, again, in my past, when I've run equal pay claims, you very quickly get to see what looks unusual, and you then have to try and prove them. So, for example, in areas where there are gender-segregated jobs and different negotiation structures, you often find, even in the same employer, there are different outcomes in terms of pay structures. And that has created a huge problem for employers in the public and some parts of the private sector. The difficulty is that actually running a legal claim is a blunt tool to try and achieve it, and you often find people invest lots of money in defending claims, rather than looking at what they can do to address their pay systems to make sure they properly reward people for the work that they're doing. That's where people who really are doing the work should be valued and paid the same, rather than challenges where you tend to find people concentrating in different professions entirely.

I take on board your point around some of the work on energy assessing. Well, some of this is about promoting opportunities and being clear that this isn't just man's work or woman's work. To be really clear, there are jobs for people with skills and talent, and to be clear that that talent exists in all parts of the country. And that's what we're trying to do in giving people the skills and the opportunities to re-enter the workforce. I met a single dad and a single mum who'd been helped by the programmes that we had provided, and they were now in work because of the help and support we had provided. But it is about making clear that we tried to remove some of those barriers in the way that people see themselves, as well as the way they're seen by other people. And that's a bigger challenge, because, actually, lots of gender bias that we talk about starts off from before people are born and then after they're born.

I don't know how many of you still wander up and down aisles with children's clothing and books, but you still see an awful lot of pink for those things that are for women—and I'm wearing a pink shirt by coincidence today. But, when you look at the messages on people's clothing, and I recently saw messages around this, the messages that girls are given about who they should be and what they should do are very different from the messages that boys are given at a very young age. And, actually, part of our challenge is how we get through some of that, because without knowing it, we end up growing up with those assumptions about ourselves and about other people. What we are doing with this plan is part of what we should do as a Government in making clear that the opportunities are there for everyone, and we recognise that people are not in the same position and we deliberately want to do something about righting that and making sure that people who do have different responsibilities and different outcomes have a better chance because of the action that this Government will take.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement today and responses so far in the Chamber here. As a keen follower of Plenary, I'm sure that you noted that, last week, I asked a question to the climate change Minister around the opportunities in particular in north Wales around renewable energy and the supply chain there, and making the most of the resources that we have in north Wales to ensure that the green economy is thriving in that part of the country. I outlined the opportunities that it has to offer, and, of course, that's not just for north Wales but for Wales as a whole, and whether that's in wind energy, solar energy or some marine energy as well, and I thank you for acknowledging that today in some of your responses. There's been cross-party acknowledgement of the opportunities there today as well.

I did note in one of your responses—I think it was probably to Paul Davies a moment ago—that you touched on some of the potential risks because this type of statement and thinking touches all parts of Government, and perhaps there's a risk of some departments of Government not fully engaging in this, and what we see sometimes in Government around silo working. So, I was wondering whether you'd be able to outline how you're working across Government to ensure that your plans and thinking around employability and skills, and particularly around the economy and greener Wales, are completely and properly utilised and that we don't see that silo working that can be associated with Government from time to time. Thanks.

Thank you for the question. Yes, I am particularly interested, as indeed are our climate change Ministers, in supply chain opportunities for renewables in all their forms; there's much to offer in both north and south Wales on those opportunities for us. And it will require us to have a conversation with businesses as well as the UK Government, as well as the partners that we have in devolved areas of responsibility too.

When it comes to cross-Government working, in the questions earlier, I know that I was asked about work with the education Minister but also with the housing Minister and others, because we do know that for the employability and skills plan to work, we need to match up our own interventions to point in the same direction. Part of the reason we've undertaken this review and a new plan is that there's been a shift in the way that some of our partners are working. That's partly the pandemic, it's also partly that the UK Government have pivoted and shifted some of their employability support as well. I think I mentioned it before that the Department for Work and Pensions are more active in some of this space than they have been in the past. They tend, though, to be active closer to the labour market, which is why we're concentrating our efforts further away from the labour market, so that we don't contradict or potentially duplicate the support that should be in place from the DWP.

This isn't particularly interesting in the sense of people who are watching getting lots from it, but the wiring within the Government really does work: how we make sure that officials talk with each other, how much of our briefings are shared at the right point in time and how we make sure that Ministers do properly discuss this when we need to, to make sure that we're keeping on track. So, the obvious points about the work with the education Minister, but also the opportunities not just in the area of housing but others are something that I'm keen that we do see carried forward. I hope that the Member is reassured by the fact that, when it came to the discussion in Cabinet, there was not just a general welcome for it, but a recognition by lots of Ministers that they had a part to play in making the plan successful.

I welcome the statement today, Minister. It's not just these benches who welcome the statement, I think most Members of the Chamber do. I know that the opposition spokesperson looks like he's wearing a tie from our party today, but even he welcomes the majority of it, as do our colleagues in the Trades Union Congress, of course. But I think it's worth noting, as well, what we've delivered as a Welsh Labour Government. In the last Senedd term, 112,000 plus apprenticeships were delivered in Wales, and that's something I'm really proud of as a former apprentice. And this statement again shows our ambitious plan for training in Wales.

You'll be aware, Minister, that I have an ambition to bring the design and manufacture of renewable technologies to Alyn and Deeside. We have the skill set, we have the people. I've worked alongside them, I've trained alongside them. So, I just wonder if you would be willing to meet with me to discuss how Alyn and Deeside fits in to the plan for a stronger, fairer, greener Wales, and how the Welsh Government can support projects and unlocking potential projects within Alyn and Deeside—perhaps, for example, the Tata Steel manufacturing offsite hub in Shotton, a great project for the future of Alyn and Deeside. I'd be grateful if you would accept that invitation.

I'm very pleased that Jack Sargeant has highlighted our track record on delivering and, in fact, overachieving our pledge in the last Senedd term. We pledged 100,000 apprentices; we got to over 112,000. Of course, we had the ability to draw on European funding at the time, so 125,000—a 25 per cent increase on our previous target—is going to be more difficult to achieve, but I'm confident that we'll do so. Actually, this plan shows that we're directing our resources to do just that. It means there are difficult choices we've had to make elsewhere, but that does reinforce the priority that we place on the future of apprentices and the skills that they will bring, the economic benefit that they will bring as well. As to his kind invitation, I have of course already visited the Member's constituency. I've been to Shotton works with him, but I'll be more than happy to have a further meeting with him. Because there is lots for us to talk about in opportunities for north-east Wales, including, of course, Alyn and Deeside, the investment we're putting in to some of our manufacturers there, the advanced manufacturing centre that we're funding and supporting as well. So, I'd be more than happy to discuss how we could have a useful conversation with a range of stakeholders around his constituency about the future.

Finally, Carolyn Thomas.

Diolch. Minister, I welcome the statement and message regarding growing a stronger, fairer, greener Wales by investing in people and developing skills and confidence. I think confidence is really important. I attended a very interesting presentation at the women's cross-party group, chaired by Siân Gwenllian, on a care-led recovery, which would generate more employment than investment in construction, whilst not exacerbating the gender pay gap. It would improve well-being by contributing to a better cared-for population, preventing greater needs in the future, help create a greener, more resilient and caring economy. Investing in care expands the supply of labour across the regions, not just where there is land supply, and recoups more revenue through increasing the numbers in employment who then spend in their local economy, and maintains vibrant communities. Pathways have already been created into nursing careers for healthcare workers in north Wales, though Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, working with Bangor University and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which is really welcome. Minister, is a care-led recovery an idea you would take forward with the health Minister under this plan for employability and skills? Thank you.

Thank you. I do know a thing or two about the health service and investing in choices around our future workforce. Actually, it's one of the things we have consistently done. We've always, in my time as the Minister, but also Eluned Morgan as the new Minister, invested the maximum amount possible in terms of our future health workforce that our system can actually successfully train. What we've also done is we've made not only the choice that we can certainly make to keep things like the bursary, to make sure people don't drop out, but also to try to make sure that there are some conditionalities, so that people who receive that extra support that isn't available across the border are then committed to working within our system as well. We do know we're going to need more people in our health and care sector in the future. That's partly because we have the success story of having an ageing population, it's partly because we know we're going to lose some of our staff following the pandemic—people who will want to leave their careers early or not work full time for as long as they otherwise would have done. And we're also, I'm afraid, confident we're going to have greater health and care need coming into our system as well.

The reason we're investing in the incomes of people in our social care sector, and in particular in the residential and domiciliary care sector, is that we actually want to see people paid properly for the work that they do. The real living wage is the first step to doing that. You're absolutely right to point out that investing in those workers will lead to that money going into local families and local communities. These are not people who are going to hide their wealth in the Seychelles or some other jurisdiction; they're going to spend it locally on their families. So, yes, you can expect to see us continuing to invest. In line with the plan, it's not just the point that healthcare conditions should not be a barrier to work, but that the health and social care system itself as a major employer has a major role to play in delivering the ambitions of this plan and creating a fairer, stronger, greener Wales.

Diolch i'r Gweinidog. You are always welcome to come to Aberavon to discuss your plans as well.

The next item is the statement by the Minister for Social Justice on International Women’s Day. I call the Minister, Jane Hutt. 

Thank you very much, good afternoon.

Today we mark International Women’s Day. Today is an opportunity to pay tribute to the women who came before us and the women who stand on the shoulders of these giants, continuing the fight for equality and social justice—women including the formidable Betty Campbell MBE, Wales's first black headteacher, co-creator of Black History Month and champion of multiculturalism in Wales. I know that you all share my pride that Cardiff is now home to Betty Campbell’s statue, a fitting homage to her legacy. Thanks to the work of Monumental Welsh Women, Mountain Ash will soon also have a memorial dedicated to the exceptional Elaine Morgan.

As we reflect on the contribution of women in Wales, we must, of course, consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We're all aware of the wide-scale harm it caused to our health, social and economic well-being, and women have been at the centre of this. Globally, women have led the health response to COVID-19, making up almost 70 per cent of the healthcare workforce. And at the same time, women have shouldered much of the burden at home, carrying out up to 10 times more care work than men. Women have also faced a high risk of job and income loss, and increased risk of violence and abuse. The pandemic has revealed society’s dependence on work that is disproportionately done by women, as unpaid carers and as employees within care, social work and hospitality. But the pandemic has also highlighted the brilliance of women’s contribution to the scientific and clinical response. As we move out of this crisis and into another on cost of living, it's crucial that we place far stronger value on this work, which is central to our economy and our communities. Our 'Advancing Gender Equality in Wales' plan provides the framework through which we will address the changing landscape for women in Wales, and our programme for government prioritises implementation of key aspects of this plan.

We will fund childcare for more parents in education and training and on the edge of work, and the childcare offer gives parents, in particular women, more choice and greater ability to have both a family and a career. This is strengthened in our co-operation agreement. The Welsh Government will work in social partnership to eliminate the pay gap for gender, ethnicity and disability by 2050. This is a vital step towards a society that enables people to fulfil their potential, no matter their gender, background or circumstances. Deputy Llywydd, an equality evidence unit will be implemented within Welsh Government this year, alongside race disparity and disability disparity evidence units. And collectively, these will improve data on underserved and disadvantaged groups, as well as considering evidence from an intersectional perspective.

The Welsh Government has always been clear about its ambition to end violence against women and girls, building on our groundbreaking legislation. We will strengthen our strategic focus on violence against women in the street and workplace, as well as the home, in order to make Wales the safest place in Europe to be a woman. We've recently consulted on our proposals, and I look forward to publishing our final strategy early in the summer term. Each of these priorities demonstrates the importance of an intersectional approach to gender equality. As we challenge systemic inequality, we must be sure to challenge this for every woman, and we must acknowledge and understand that equality of outcome requires differing and sensitive approaches.

A theme of International Women’s Day this year is 'break the bias'. Thirty years since Chwarae Teg was launched, it's a timely reminder of our collective responsibility to challenge gender stereotypes and the deliberate or unconscious bias affecting women here and across the world. No woman can be left behind. We will work with and for black, Asian and minority ethnic women, disabled women, women who are lesbian, bisexual and trans, women in poverty, older women, girls and others to deliver equality and social justice. We will do this with expert stakeholders, including Women Connect First, WEN Wales, BAWSO and many others, to engage communities across Wales, building upon relationships and trust, developed over decades.

We must also ensure that this Senedd houses a growing group of diverse women, to work for everybody’s benefit. The same goes for every council and every board in Wales. The Welsh Government is proud to part fund the Equal Power Equal Voice mentoring scheme. The scheme provides opportunities to diverse communities across Wales to explore leadership roles in public life in Wales, and the scheme is already delivering—mentees have become MPs, councillors and key public appointees. I hope that, one day soon, we will be sat alongside graduates of the programme.

No single idea will address the root causes of inequality. Systemic cultural change is required and there must be collective responsibility in how we rethink our society and how we reset our ambitions for opportunity and equality of outcome. We will embed gender budgeting in our decision-making processes to drive cultural change around social justice and sustainability, and, in doing so, we will acknowledge the potential challenges for women as we cope with the effects of climate change. Through our mainstreaming equality pilot, we will ensure a zero-carbon future includes and values women and provides new and innovative opportunities for skills, education and work, ensuring a just transition to a green economy. It is crucial that all players—partners, activists and politicians—stand ready to work in partnership, to turn the dial and make real, meaningful and swift progress to achieve the change we all want to see, a gender-equal Wales.

I began my statement today by acknowledging pioneers of equality in Wales, and I want to end by paying tribute to the women of Ukraine, who, with their families, are on all our minds today. I wish my words could undo the horror they're living through. I'm in awe of their strength, as I'm sure we all are today, and their resilience, and we send them our solidarity in these awful days. Diolch.

Minister, thank you so much for your statement. I must say, I really did appreciate everything you said. International Women's Day is a moment to recognise past achievements, I 100 per cent agree with you when you said that, and to look at the future challenges is also vital for each and every single one of us.

As a proud Welsh woman, I'm delighted to be sitting amongst so many hard-working and dedicated women in this Parliament here in Wales on a weekly basis. As much as today is about celebration, it's also a time to reflect on progress made in tackling gender inequality here in Wales and to take action to create a fairer and more just nation. We do this having had to respond and adapt to the challenges of the pandemic. Women have been on the front line in the fight against COVID-19, whether it's front-line workers in the health service, the ladies serving us in our supermarkets, or indeed those who work in the care sector, and I'm proud to say that women have played a leading role in the development of the vaccines that are playing such a vital role in our lives returning back to normal.

One consequence of this pandemic has been that employers have been made aware of the benefits of more flexible working, which is certainly a positive. The proportion of women working part time has reduced by about 3 per cent as a result of more flexible working and better childcare provision. However, it is worrying that the gender pay gap has increased from 11.8 per cent to 12.3 per cent. Sadly, this is not the full story. Regional disparities mean the gap can be as low as 1.9 per cent in Conwy but as high as 25 per cent in Torfaen. Can I ask, Minister, how you intend to address the widening gender pay gap that exists at present here in Wales? Too many women remain concentrated in lower paid occupations. We must break the perception that some careers are for boys and others are for girls. What action is being taken, Minister, to raise the aspirations of girls and young women to ensure that more are studying maths, engineering, technology and science, to raise their potential earning levels and provide the vaccine discoverers of the future here in Wales?

There will never be complete equality until women themselves help to make the laws, and I know you are working tirelessly to achieve that and do that, but we really need to see more. Women remain under-represented in public life in Wales, with only 29 per cent of local councillors being female and women making up less than half of public appointments in 2020. More needs to be done to not just break, but smash this glass ceiling. I would ask you, Minister, what more can be done to increase the representation of women in public life.

Recent high-profile cases have also once more brought about attention to the issues of violence, abuse and harassment that too many women face here in 2022. Cases of domestic abuse and violence against women are on the rise, exacerbated by the stresses of lockdown. It takes great courage to come forward and report incidents of domestic abuse, and I commend all those women who speak up for those causes and work in that field. I hope the Welsh Government's forthcoming strategy will focus on recognising the signs of such abuse on the victims and their children by public and private bodies so that appropriate action can be taken. The exploitation of women through human trafficking, modern slavery, forced marriage and female genital mutilation are more widely recognised now than ever before, which is certainly progress. I would urge you, Minister, to please redouble your efforts and do all you can to stamp out these scandalous and illegal abuses that take place today. 

To conclude, women cannot achieve equality without the creation of opportunity. It cannot be right that the potential of half of our population should be stifled and suppressed. If we are to succeed in creating a more equal and a just Wales, then International Women's Day cannot solely simply be for one day. It has to govern our actions, each and every single day, to ensure the equal rights of all women and girls across Wales. Thank you very much.

Diolch yn fawr, Natasha, and it's so great that you are with us here today and that we can share so much in terms of celebrating progress, but also acknowledging the huge challenges that lie ahead for women. I do want to pay tribute and thank Joyce Watson for bringing us together tonight—the women of this Senedd, this Welsh Parliament—as we are going to meet together across parties. And also to not only share where we want to go forward together—women representatives in this Senedd—but also listen to the inspiring words of Lucy Kassa, who's joining us today, an Ethiopian independent journalist.

I think it's crucial that we just do acknowledge the importance of the gender pay gap, which you referred to. It's actually so important that questions have come to my colleague the Minister for Economy, Vaughan Gething, about his employability skills plan, very much relating question after question about 'Will this help address the gender pay gap?' Because this is about committing ourselves to pursue economic and social justice, and tackling pay inequality is an essential component of this. And, of course, the pay gap isn't just limited to gender. That's why I think the equality evidence units that we're setting up are going to be crucially important to look at disability and race pay gaps as well—part of our national milestones for the well-being of future generations. It's a shared endeavour, and we'll achieve this through our social partnership approach, through working in social partnership, because that, actually, provides us with the opportunity to engage with employers, trade unions and the workforce to persuade them also of the benefits and the positive outcome of tackling the gender pay gaps and pay gaps of all dimensions.

I think it's important to also acknowledge the way in which the annual 'State of the Nation' report mentioned earlier on by the leader of Plaid Cymru, published by Chwarae Teg just a few weeks ago—. It did actually recognise that there is the gender pay gap that we need to address, and mainstreaming it across all Government responsibilities, which will start making the difference. But we need to engage with our social partners to do this.

Yes, it is crucial that we now drive forward our commitment while we do have strong support across this Chamber for our violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy. You know we're developing our next five-year strategy. We extended consultation times to engage directly with children and young people and victims and survivor groups, and we're strengthening and expanding the violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy.

But I think it is also important that we look at—and we've expressed this in the Chamber, and from our male colleagues as well—tackling male violence and the misogyny and gender inequality that lie behind it, and how we have to break the cycle and address the root causes of VAWDASV. This must start with boys and young men, if future generations are to be offered an opportunity to break this cycle. We recognise also that all perpetrators, regardless of their gender, must be held to account for their actions and also support our campaign, CallOutOnly, helping people identify behaviours, particularly now as we widen that to street harassment as well, and looking at how we can address not just street harassment, workplace harassment and general harassment of women and girls.

Can I say, just in terms of smashing the glass ceiling, how wonderful it was to hear today the news that Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is going to be our new chair of Sport Wales? I think that's a tremendous public appointment of Tanni, who grew up in Cardiff, in Wales, and is globally known. But she's coming back to Wales to be chair and such a fantastic role model. I met with her recently and she's very inspired by the work that we're doing on our disability taskforce about the impact of the pandemic on disabled people. But we have to make sure that we reflect Wales in running Wales, and that is in terms of our public appointments, and indeed across all our political parties in Wales. Thank you.

I thank the Minister for her statement and would like to associate myself and my party with her tribute to the women of Ukraine. 

My grandmother had to give up her job when she was married. My mother started out her career as a teacher on less pay than her male counterparts. I worked part-time for over a decade because I couldn't find suitable childcare. According to the World Economic Forum, none of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, nor likely will many of our children. There is urgent work to do, and Chwarae Teg's 'State of the Nation 2022' report, published last month, shows clearly that Wales has a lot of work to do.

Yesterday evening I took part in a discussion organised by the Senedd and chaired by Jenny Rathbone about the provision of childcare in Wales—or should I say the inequality caused by the lack of it. I am very glad, of course, that the expansion of free childcare is part of the Government's co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, but we know that this must really just be a first step.

In a round-table discussion with Chwarae Teg last week, it was noted that, when looking at gender inequality data and assessing its root causes, it almost always comes back to the burden of caring responsibilities falling disproportionately on women. Their report found that, out of women who were economically inactive, 24.1 per cent of the time this was due to family caring responsibilities. The figure for men was only 5.8 per cent. No matter what policies we put in place across the economy, or what quotas we implement in public life, we have to create a society where women are able to take up the opportunities that are before them. Given this, could the Welsh Government please outline what further provisions are in place for these women who are economically inactive as they are having to care for family at home, especially as the current childcare offer is not available to those who are out of work?

To truly achieve gender equality in Wales, we have to focus on the most marginalised women first—the women in society who face the greatest barriers and are the most disadvantaged. The compound effect, as you've said in your statement, of the intersection between gender inequality and other socioeconomic inequalities in Wales is clear. According to the 'State of the Nation' report, in Wales, in 2021, 78.4 per cent of men were economically active as compared to 70.3 per cent of white women who were in employment. But only 56 per cent of ethnic minority women were in employment.

In politics and public life, diversity is crucial, as this is where decisions that affect day-to-day life are taken. Without intersectional women's representation, we will not have a diverse range of voices in the room that allows for different issues and perspectives to be discussed and heard. Women, as we know, are already under-represented in public life. While 43 per cent of the elected representatives in this Senedd are women, this is still a drop from where we ended the last Senedd term, and we have a higher proportion of women here than we do among Welsh MPs, for example, and only 29 per cent of Welsh councillors are women.

In local government, we really need to see significantly more women elected in this coming election in May, and ensure this translates into higher numbers of women in local government cabinets and as leaders. Part of this is ensuring that working practices work for women; maintaining the virtual element to meetings and keeping to flexible and family-friendly working hours can help. So, what is the Welsh Government doing to ensure an improvement in that 29 per cent rate for the election of female councillors in the upcoming election in May?

Women from ethnic minority backgrounds, working-class backgrounds, low incomes and women with disabilities are proportionally less represented in areas where they will have their voices heard or receive the highest pay. In Wales in 2021, less than 5 per cent of public appointments in 2020-21 were from black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds, and less than 5 per cent were people with disabilities.

There is positive work being done in Wales, and I congratulate Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson on her appointment. I welcome also the creation of the equality evidence unit alongside the race and disability disparity units, which will undoubtedly help us to see what is going wrong. However, more must be done to ensure everyone involved in making decisions about spending and public policy embed intersectional equalities analysis into everything they do. So, how is the Welsh Government ensuring that intersectional and gender equality are being considered during public appointments in Wales, for example? Is there scope for mandating or encouraging the use of quotas, not only in Senedd elections, as is currently committed to in the co-operation agreement, but also public appointments? Would the Welsh Government also consider implementing gender and other equalities training for all those involved in making decisions about spending and public policy, to ensure we are embedding intersectional equalities analysis into everything we do? Diolch.

Diolch, Sioned Williams. I do think it's so important that we reflect on the women we've descended from as well—our mothers and grandmothers. So often we pay attention to perhaps the men we're descended from as well, because they've had achievements, but it's the women we've descended from who are so powerful to us. And we have a responsibility to them as well as to our future generations.

It's crucially important that we tackle gender pay, and if you look at areas of concern relating to gender pay, it widened slightly in Wales this year. And women also—this point about childcare—remain four times more likely to cite childcare as the reason for being economically inactive. But also, intersectionally, representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic people and disabled people—among public appointments, we're making some changes, but it still remains low, and we need to look at the under-representation of women among business leaders, managers, directors. 

I think some questions came up about women in STEM earlier on this afternoon. If we look at current surveys, they indicate that only 11 per cent of the UK's engineering workforce is female, and we've got the lowest percentage of women engineering professionals in Europe. So, I think the Not Just for Boys work that Chwarae Teg has undertaken is crucially important as well. It's very gender segregated, we know, the labour market. I visited a day nursery in my constituency a couple of weeks ago. They've never recruited a young man to work in the day nursery, and it's an all-female workforce in childcare, and very much so in social care as well. It's great we've got the real living wage, because that's going to help address women's pay disparities as well, and we need the real living wage as a crucial route towards tackling the gender pay gap, and then progress in the labour market.

I think it is very important that we look at the most marginalised and those with protected characteristics. That's why I focused on the intersectional approach in my statement, but poverty rates have increased—cost of living, pandemic, inequalities have increased, and of course now—. And we know that, actually, single parents are still at greatest risk of living in poverty. I think the issues that we raised last year about the fact that the cut to universal credit, that £20 cut—it directly impacted on women and their families on lowest pay. I think we need to recognise that unpaid care work, harassment, abuse and violence all have to be addressed. 

I would like to just say, as we move to the local government elections, it's really important that we have more women candidates. I'm sure all political parties are seeking this for the local government elections. I'm very proud that we now have women leaders across our political parties anyway representing local government, who are absolutely at the sharp end of everything that we're doing in delivering in terms of policy. And I was very pleased to meet with all of the cabinet members who are responsible for equality recently and, of course, Rebecca Evans, the Minister for local government, has shared with me the ways in which we take forward the budget improvement plan, looking at gender budgeting as well as helping to tackle the pay gap, but also looking at ways in which we can ensure that more women are represented, and also see that as an intersectional approach and core as well. 

So, we have a long way to go, but I think I was very pleased to see the First Minister's tweet on International Women's Day today that he was very proud of the fact that he had more women in the Cabinet than men, and I think sometimes people must say, 'Oh, there are some women running Wales here', and we've got women Chairs of committees across the Senedd, our Llywydd. This is where we have to stand up together and hopefully—. I've mentioned the equal voice initiative. We really must ensure that we inspire and enable our young women to succeed us in this place. Diolch.

Usually, I'd reflect on—. I'd like to reflect on this year's International Women's Day theme, which is 'break the bias', and I'm delighted that the Welsh Government is helping to break the bias in healthcare, with today's announcement of endometriosis specialist nurses. It's a serious, life-changing condition affecting one in 10 women, and it deserves to be treated and resourced as such.

But, today, like women around the world, I'm haunted by the situation in and spilling out of Ukraine. More than 1 million Ukrainians have already fled the country, mostly women and children. This International Women's Day, the UK Government should do the right thing and put in place simple, fast, safe and legal routes for sanctuary in the UK, like other European nations. Frankly, the current visa situation shames our country.

But, in terms of what we in Wales can do, I know women and women's groups across Wales are furiously organising community appeals. They'll be the first in line to welcome refugees when they arrive, as they welcomed Syrians and others in recent years. So, on that, can you update us on your meeting last week with the Minister for Finance and Local Government and the WLGA regarding preparations to accommodate refugees from Ukraine?

Diolch yn fawr, Joyce Watson, and can I just thank Joyce for being such a lead champion for women in Wales? Before you become a Senedd Member, it's been your adult life commitment.

But it is important to focus on the theme, 'breaking the bias', in terms of International Women's Day, and I have responded to many points about breaking the bias already, but I just want to acknowledge as well that women's health—. Everything that we do in Welsh Government has a bearing on women's lives, and health and well-being are crucially important, so it is good to see progress being made through the women's health implementation group, set up by the former health Minister, to look at issues around endometriosis and to see that we now have this recruitment of a network of specialist endometriosis nurses in each health board, developing those national pathways, because it is a crucial issue for women's lives in terms of their economic activity and every aspect of their lives.

Just in terms of an update, because we know, in terms of the women and children, the refugees, who are now escaping the horror in Ukraine, that it will be mainly women and children who we want to welcome to Wales as a nation of sanctuary, so we have asked and called consistently, as the First Minister has said today in contributions this afternoon, for that fast, simple legal route to enable us—the welcoming that's coming from families, but also from local authorities. 

So, Rebecca Evans, the Minister for Finance and Local Government, and I met with all leaders last week. What we saw was a strength of committed, compassionate leadership at that meeting. We were also joined by the Wales Strategic Migration Partnership, by the Interfaith Council for Wales, by refugee support agencies as well. So, what they have already done since that meeting last week is met as—. Housing is crucial, obviously, so the cabinet members for housing across Wales have met. They've met with our housing officials. They're looking at different levels of co-ordination that they need to offer, in terms of taking up the many offers from people who want to provide space in their own homes, but also recognising that this will also need temporary accommodation, hotels and temporary accommodation, very much building on the experience from the Afghan evacuation, the team Wales approach. But the Welsh Local Government Association themselves are very frustrated by the lack of progress in terms of routes into Wales and have also, as the First Minister said, been calling for a way in which we can have a bespoke community response here in Wales. So, it is going to be today, as we think of the women and girls of Ukraine. Some also are fighting in Ukraine. I know that Mick Antoniw and Adam Price, when they visited Ukraine, they met women who were at the front line, as well as women and children who have left and want to be reunited with their menfolk when this appalling war is over.

So, thank you, Joyce, for bringing this important point to this International Women's Day statement today.

Good afternoon, Minister. I, like many in this Chamber, including my colleague Joyce, just want to focus on the situation in Ukraine. I don't know about people here, but I just can't think of anything at the moment apart from that tragic situation. And just one issue to raise, and that's around trafficking. On 6 March, reports emerged that sex traffickers were targeting single women and young children along Ukraine's border, and a social policy charity cautioned that desperate refugees are at risk of falling into the hands of human traffickers. Police and aid workers in Poland have now issued a warning about sex traffickers, indicating the ordeals for those forced to free their homes are far from over.

I welcome the fact that, again, Wales is ready to play its part in providing sanctuary to those who need it, but I wonder if I could ask the Welsh Government to write to the UK Government to ensure that the trafficking of women and children fleeing Ukraine is firmly on their radar. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Diolch yn fawr, Jane Dodds. And this is just another aspect that you've brought to the attention of the Chamber again today—Siambr heddiw. It's really important that we—. I'm very happy to write that letter today, and, actually, I think probably it's a letter that we would all want to share across this Chamber, and as we meet tonight, women meeting tonight, I think we can probably agree a few things that we might want to agree on and take forward. But I certainly will commit myself now to write that letter. Because we know that there are on the borders and in the countries where people are being welcomed—particularly women and children—they're having the most amazing welcome in those countries bordering Ukraine. We know that Poland, Hungary, Belarus—not Belarus—Poland, Hungary, Moldova, they're also all giving such a welcome, and also caring for and sheltering so many women and girls and families who are fleeing. But we need to look at this. Unfortunately, the trafficking—the charities that are there highlighted this—it needs to be addressed. Thank you, Jane.

Thank you, Minister for bringing forward the statement today. And in marking International Women's Day, and as outlined by you, Minister, and by colleagues from across the Chamber, it's really important, of course, that we continue celebrating the achievements of women and girls from right across Wales. And on this day as well, as outlined by Sioned Williams, it's important that we acknowledge how far Wales has come with women's rights and that action's being taken to create more equality. But, of course, there is more to be done. And sadly, as we know, the equality that we experience here in Wales is not the case around the world. For example, there are still 10 countries in the world where women are not allowed to vote, and there are countries such as Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, where many basic freedoms and protections for women are not currently in place, and we must continue to do our bit in Wales to see this change.

And I approach and wanted to speak briefly today, not just as a Member of the Senedd, but also as a father of three young girls. I clearly have a personal interest in ensuring we continue to protect women's rights and spaces here in Wales. And in light of this, Minister, I wonder how you think the world that my daughters will experience in the future will be different to the world we see today as a result of the actions of the Welsh Government. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Sam Rowlands. It's always very—. It's great when our male colleagues are also speaking up on International Women's Day, and we've had many debates and statements over the last few weeks and months where you have made very powerful contributions across this Chamber. I think it's very important that Wales is also looking outwards. This is why we're a nation of sanctuary and we want to have that welcome to our refugees from Ukraine, which mainly will be women and children. But also, as I said, we have a visit today from Lucy Kassa who—. She's in the gallery, I hope, as we speak. She's an Ethiopian journalist who's reporting on the war in Tigray. She has exposed massacres, sexual violence, man-made starvation and other human rights abuses, and she's going to be joining us tonight. But I'm very pleased that we've actually looked out, with our Wales and Africa programme, for a women's empowerment programme, and we also have BAWSO, who has been awarded funding to—. They're using it to protect girls and young women from gender-based violence through raising awareness on challenges facing girls and women, who have been particularly adversely affected during the pandemic. And BAWSO is working with Kenyan non-governmental organisations, working together. 

Now, our future—. I think you only have to look at the Welsh Youth Parliament, and, I'm sure the Llywydd will agree, at the fantastic young women who are representing young people today. The commitment of the well-being of future generations Act, looking towards our future. We have got to empower our young women, your daughters, our daughters and granddaughters, around the Chamber for the future, but Government still has a responsibility. And that's why I can be, yes, cross-party engaged with these issues today, but we can't just do this by espousing wish lists, we actually have got to do something about the gender pay gap, about childcare. 

And I do want to say—. I wasn't able to fully respond on the childcare issue. That's going to be critically important to your family, and I'm sure it has been to every family in this Chamber, that the childcare offer, which is now expanding to focus on those parents in education and training, will just mean a greater number of families and women will be able to benefit from improved employment prospects, keeping in their jobs and careers to move forward. But I'm absolutely delighted that we're going to expand free childcare to two-year-olds as a result of the co-operation agreement, because that's about tackling poverty and it's about addressing those who are the lowest paid and are the most at risk of exclusion and loss in terms of the labour market. But it is about the well-being of future generations, that we need to look forward. And I think we have to make that connection at every level of policy, including the Net Zero Wales plan and, indeed, most importantly, from the economy Minister, what the aims and objectives are of the employability and skills plan.

Thank you very much, Minister, for the statement, and thank you for the opportunity to discuss this. It's very important that we allocate time to mark International Women's Day here in the Senedd. The theme this year is to 'break the bias'. One area where that bias or the gap exists is with regard to health, with heart attacks specifically. The recent report by the British Heart Foundation about the biological gap says that women are under a huge disadvantage at every stage of the patient pathway when it comes to heart disease. They're less likely to have a diagnosis urgently, less likely to receive the best care and treatment and so on. I know that the Government is putting together a women's health plan at the moment, and I'm very pleased about that, but can I ask for assurance that the Minister will press for a continuation of trying to bridge this gap when it comes to fair treatment for women with heart disease? May I ask her to push to ensure that awareness is increased of the risks associated with heart disease amongst women in particular? When we look at the figures that suggest that, potentially, 8,000 female lives have been lost because of the deficiencies in this field, it is sobering, and that within a period of 10 years. And when we think that perhaps what is at the heart of this is a lack of women entering the cardiology profession, may I have an assurance that women will be encouraged to go into that profession and that that will be a prominent part of the Government's work in this field?

Diolch yn fawr, Rhun ap Iorwerth. It's so important that we look at health inequalities for women and not just in terms of particular conditions in the lifecycle of women, such as what we've already just commented on—endometriosis and the menopause. Last week, I gave a statement on period dignity, and menstrual well-being is now actually in the curriculum, but we have got to look at the other impacts in terms of fair treatment for women across all the range of conditions. And I think it's very valuable that you've drawn attention to heart disease and the risk that women are facing, and clearly, it's something that's been brought to our attention very clearly by those charities and those campaign bodies that recognise this as a key issue for women. So, thank you for that. I'm sure that the Minister for Health and Social Services and, indeed, the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being will have noted this today and we will be reflecting on it in terms of the women's health plan.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement today. I was really pleased to hear mention of the Elaine Morgan statue that will shortly be unveiled in Mountain Ash in my constituency. I'm looking forward to attending, with you, the official unveiling a week Friday, which I know will be a wonderful focal point in the town.

I recall when I was first elected to this place in 2016 that I spoke out about the need for us to have statues of remarkable women in Wales, when, at that time, there were none. The general feeling back then was that this was unrealistic—statues were far too expensive and we should look to other ways to celebrate these lives instead. How far we've come since then. I'm so pleased now that there are two such statues in Wales and that the second of these will be in the Cynon valley, and it's a tribute to a remarkable woman who I had the pleasure of knowing personally. I'd be interested to know about any discussions you may have had with the Minister for education about how the stories of these five monumental Welsh women and others can be integrated into the Curriculum for Wales.

I also note your comments around women, women's work and the pandemic. We know that women form a majority of our retail workforce, so it's concerning that the Association of Convenience Stores have reported that 90 per cent of retail workers have experienced verbal abuse, for example, as tensions have heightened during the pandemic. The cross-party group on small shops will be getting an update on the ShopKind campaign next week, which aims to encourage positive behaviour in stores and acknowledge the important role of shop workers. How is the Welsh Government working with partners to get this message out there that abuse is not part of the job for women working in the retail sector?

Thank you very much, Vikki Howells. I know that Elaine Morgan was very proud of you as well, and would have been very proud that you are a Senedd Member for Cynon Valley. She was an inspiring, pioneering woman and I was very pleased to meet her on many occasions, and many of you will have seen the book that was published last year about her life—an exceptional talent and ability, yet a woman who remained a resident and citizen of the Cynon valley until the day she died.

So, I think that the Betty Campbell statue is very significant. Those of us who were there for the unveiling of this incredible sculpture, which, actually, we put money into, the Welsh Government, and lots of money was raised across private and public sector individuals—. But it is so significant in terms of the legacy that she left of ensuring that we now have black history in the curriculum, mandated statutorily, ensuring that it's in the curriculum. That's what she wanted and she would've been so proud, as her daughters and granddaughters said on the day. But also, that is a place to visit; a bit like the Aneurin Bevan statue in Queen Street, now the Betty Campbell statue is a place for children, schools and young people to visit. In fact, the school who sang at the opening, from just along the way here in Butetown, just state that they're so proud of the fact that they were there and helped to unveil. It has to be part of the curriculum, not just in terms of black history being part of the curriculum now, but also the gender aspect of this in terms of all the women who are going to be now—. The statues will continue to come forth in terms of the Monumental Welsh Women campaign. And it will be included in every aspect of the curriculum. But I think, in terms of equality, I think that's where the new curriculum in terms of the opportunities for ethically informed young people will come through.

But also, you're quite right: just to respond to your issues about women in the pandemic, and particularly the key workers. I've mentioned, in my statement, that about 70 per cent of the healthcare workforce at the front line are women; the same in social care as well. But, actually, we must not forget our retail workers, the key workers on the front line. And, to recognise also that the key workers are those who are often also managing more than one job, in lower paid sectors. And we will, through our social partnership approach, working with the trade unions and employers, acknowledge the role and the importance of key workers. They're also very much on the front line in terms of risk as well. And safety, as we move in our transition plan, we have to—. People, Senedd Members will have seen our transition plan, published on Friday. There are very clear sections on equality in that plan in terms of impacts on women and all those with protected characteristics.

But thank you, Vikki Howells, for drawing attention not only to Elaine Morgan—and we will celebrate next week, that sculpture, when it's unveiled—but also the importance of the key workers, the women who are at the front line in terms of the retail sector as well.

And Cranogwen in Llangrannog will be the third statue, hopefully, to be unveiled in the Monumental Welsh Women campaign. Five statues of five Welsh women.

Finally, Delyth Jewell.

Diolch, Llywydd. Each year, when we mark International Women's Day, countless people question why we need it and when International Men's Day is. And, in case anyone is wondering, yes, there is an International Men's Day; it falls on 19 November. But, Minister, do you agree that the most potent and horrifying manifestation of the necessity of International Women's Day—that is why it is that we do need to mark it—is the constant catalogue of women killed by men? Eight men have been found guilty or confessed to murdering women in Wales in the last year. The youngest victim was a teenager, the eldest was in her 70s. These women were killed because they were women. So, do you agree that we need to mark International Women's Day, and we will keep needing to mark it until we have stopped having to count more dead women?

Diolch yn fawr, Delyth Jewell. You know, I have to say that this is why we've had statements, we've had debates; we've got to keep this on the top of the agenda, not just on International Women's Day. If you look at the femicide census, it's a tragic but necessary piece of data collection. A latest release shows that, on average, one woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK. You know, this is why the—. It's a very comprehensive study of women killed by men in the UK, and it's recorded not just the fact that one woman is killed every three days in the UK, but, actually, as you say, the fact is that it's current and former partners, and it's shown that this is a huge issue in terms of coercive control. And also, the knock-on effects of the pandemic have been quite clear in terms of the issues, and the lockdown restrictions to movement made it more difficult for women to leave abusive men. I've mentioned this in our transition document. People have got to read this, remember and hear it today that this is where we have to take note, and we need to be held to account; I need to be held to account by you in terms of what we need to do.

I think it's important also that we have to do more on the delays in the criminal justice system. That's why we want more control over the criminal justice system, because over a quarter of all known killings in 2020 have not yet gone to trial by the end of 2021 due to delays in the criminal justice system, and it's absolutely imperative that we get that justice for those women and it's obtained quickly. But this is something where we have got to work to deliver on the strengthened violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence strategy, and I'm glad that I'm going to be co-chairing the programme board with Dafydd Llywelyn, the lead police and crime commissioner this year, but with the support of all the PCCs. And also to deliver that strategy, it's vitally important that we have our relationships and sexuality education, which is a key route to ending violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.

Thank you, Minister.

The next item is item 6, the Local Elections (Miscellaneous and Consequential Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2022. I call on the Minister for local government to move the motion. Rebecca Evans.

I'm so used to wearing my mask, I forgot I was wearing it, Llywydd. [Laughter.]

I am pleased to bring the Local Elections (Miscellaneous and Consequential Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2022 before the Senedd today. As suggested by the title, the regulations principally make provisions that are consequential to the rules for the conduct of local government elections in Wales that were made here in the Senedd back in December. However, I would like to draw your attention to two important provisions that are also included.

The regulations make minor changes to the procedure that must be followed at the close of poll. These changes have been driven by discussions with local authorities about the use of electronic devices in local government elections, and provide greater flexibility for their use where determined by local returning officers. This is completely in line with the Welsh Government's policy of encouraging, supporting and enabling as many people as possible to participate in the democratic process.

Whilst we are seeing a considerable improvement in the situation with COVID-19, it hasn't gone away, and that's why we've also included a provision that will extend existing arrangements to enable voters to apply for an emergency proxy vote without medical attestation until 5 p.m. on the day of the poll on grounds related to the COVID-19 pandemic at all local government elections in Wales that will take place before 31 May 2023. Once again, it's our intention to try to ensure accessibility to the democratic process even in the face of COVID-19.

I would like to finish by thanking the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee for their consideration of these regulations and for confirming they had no concerns with them. I'd also like to thank Members of the Senedd for their consideration of the regulations and now look forward to hearing their discussion.

The Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Huw Irranca-Davies.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I'll speak very briefly today. We considered these regulations at our meeting on 28 February, and our report to the Senedd contains just one merits reporting point, which I'll speak to this afternoon.

Now, as the Minister has said, these regulations make miscellaneous and consequential amendments to various pieces of legislation that set rules for local elections. We were very pleased to note that both the explanatory note and the explanatory memorandum accompanying the regulations provide very clear summaries and clear explanations of the regulations.

Now, a response from the Government to our report was not required on this occasion, but I just wanted to speak today to place on the record that, given the detailed and the intricate nature of these regulations, we are very grateful for such helpful summaries and explanations, which have been invaluable in helping us scrutinise the regulations. Sometimes, it's important that a committee and the Senedd acknowledge and affirm really good practice, and this is a case in point. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Does the Minister wish to reply? I have no other speakers under this item.

I'll just take the opportunity to thank, again, the Chair of the committee for its work and for his recognition of the way in which we've tried to set out information in an accessible and detailed form, and I know that will help colleagues across Government in terms of the information that we provide to committee in respect of future pieces of legislation.

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No. The motion is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

The next item is item 7, and that item is withdrawn.

We'll move on, therefore, to the motion to suspend Standing Orders. I call on the Minister for Economy, Vaughan Gething, to move the motion formally. 

Formally.

Does any Member object to the suspension of Standing Orders? No. That motion is therefore agreed. 

That allows us to move on to item 8, which is the legislative consent motion on the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill. I call on the Minister to move the motion—Vaughan Gething.

Thank you, Llywydd. I move the motion before us, and I'm recommending to Members of the Senedd that we consent to the legislative consent motion on the Bill. As Members will be aware, I did not recommend the Senedd should consent to the Bill as introduced in the legislative consent memorandum laid on 3 December last year. However, following extensive engagement with the UK Government, they have shifted their original position to one that brings this Bill to a point where I am able to recommend consent.

Crucially, the UK Government has tabled a set of amendments that provide that they must seek the consent of Welsh Ministers both to extend the moratorium period for Welsh business tenancies for the purposes of devolved provisions and to reapply devolved provisions in the Bill for Welsh business tenancies in relation to further periods of coronavirus-related business closures. Obviously, I hope that those further periods of coronavirus business closures would not be needed, but, should they be, then there are provisions now for the consent of Welsh Ministers being required. The amendments tabled by the UK Government also provide that the Welsh Ministers are able to exercise certain powers concurrently with the Secretary of State.

Because of these significant changes that we have negotiated, it's my view that the current draft Bill better respects the devolution settlement. I am grateful to the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee and the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee for their reports on the LCM on the Bill. I thank them for their comments and have written to both committees in response. A supplementary LCM was laid on 3 March, clarifying our position on the clauses that the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee noted, and I see the Chair sat behind me. 

While I regret the time it has taken to secure these genuinely hard-won concessions from the UK Government, it has meant that there was no time available to refer the supplementary LCM. I hope that, despite this, members of both committees and Members of the Senedd will share my judgment that what we've achieved is significant and allows us to move forward. The Bill will help business tenants and their landlords by giving them the clarity they need to plan ahead. It will ring-fence certain rent debts accrued by businesses that have been required to close during a period of the pandemic, it will provide protections for businesses, and it will also establish a system of binding arbitration, which a business tenant in the scope of the Bill or their landlord may refer to in the event that they're unable to agree a way forward in respect of certain rent debt. It's anticipated that an estimated 7,500 businesses across the UK were referred to the arbitration scheme, and I believe it is important that businesses in Wales should be able to benefit from the arbitration regime and the protections envisaged by the Bill. On that basis, with the progress made, I ask Members to give their consent to the motion on the Bill.

The Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Huw Irranca-Davies. 

Thanks again, Llywydd. We reported on the original legislative consent memorandum for this Bill last month. With memorandum No. 2 only being laid late last week, my committee was only in a position to note its arrival yesterday, but no more than that. 

Llywydd, with your invitation, I've spoken as Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee in debates on legislative consent motions in each of the past four weeks. People are getting tired of hearing from me now. Indeed, since the start of the new term in January, I've spoken on such motions during six of the eight Tuesday sittings. The reason I mention that I'm here on behalf of the committee and this Senedd on a weekly basis is because this is somewhat unprecedented. Perhaps we'll need to get used to this intensity of UK Bills for the foreseeable future. In which case, I do apologise to Members for my legislative ubiquity. I don't expect the Minister, necessarily, to address the issue of the volume of LCMs that we're approaching, but it is worth noting.

Our report on the original memorandum was short, and my comments this afternoon will also be quite succinct. The single recommendation in the report that we brought forward relates to good law making. This is where I want to test the Minister a little bit more this afternoon. In the original memorandum for this Bill, the Minister told the Senedd that

'there is little evidence to suggest whether or not unpaid rent debt from business tenancies is a large scale issue in Wales'.

That was quite clear. While it's not our committee's role to necessarily comment on the policy objectives behind legislative proposals, we had to ask, for from our perspective, the question: why then pursue executive powers for Welsh Ministers in a UK Bill when there is no clear evidence that new powers are needed here in Wales? It's the basis of good law making. So, Minister, whilst I welcome, indeed, you responding to our report at the end of last week, I note that the estimated figure you've provided to us as regards to the number of commercial rent cases that may go through the arbitration scheme is actually a UK-wide figure. It may be, in your interpretation, that there's a proportional element of those that will fall within Wales. In which case, on the basis that a principle of good law—and I'm not a lawyer; the Minister has more legal training than me—is that you can demonstrate the need for that law, a few words more of explanation today on the record as to the justification and the rationale for taking these powers may be of help to the Senedd.

Before closing, I would draw the Senedd's attention to conclusion 1 in our report. Yet again, we have concerns that the Welsh Government's preferred way in dealing with its concerns regarding clause 9 of this Bill is to seek an amendment to require consultation with and the consent of Welsh Ministers before the Secretary of State exercises the clause 9 regulation-making power. The Minister has made clear that is a gain in terms of Welsh Ministers and Welsh Government. Indeed it is. That's unarguable, and there's undoubtedly a lot of work gone behind the scenes there, constructively, to get that. So, a consenting role for Welsh Ministers has now been incorporated into the Bill. However, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, this does risk bypassing the Senedd's role in terms of scrutiny here as the legislature in Wales. So, again, just to test this a bit further, Minister, in your closing response, it would be helpful to put on record why it's deemed appropriate and proportionate to take these particular powers to Welsh Ministers as an executive function, rather than allow the Senedd to express more fully and automatically its voice on subsequent regulations. Minister, you may have very good reasons to do so, but it would therefore be useful to have them on record today. Thanks as always, Llywydd, to my committee colleagues and the expert clerking team for their diligent analysis, and to the Senedd and Minister as we shine a spotlight on these detailed matters. Diolch yn fawr.

I have no other speakers, therefore the Minister to reply. 

Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you to Huw Irranca-Davies, acting as the Chair of the Legislation and Justice Committee. I should say that I'm quite happy to hear the gentle and calming tones of Mr Irranca-Davies on many occasions in this Chamber, and there are likely to be many more, given that there is likely to be more legislation that will require Welsh Ministers to consider whether or not we are or are not content to have UK-wide Bills or England-and-Wales Bills addressing functions that are devolved. Some of that has been a necessary response to the pandemic. It's also, though, a reality that, in some of these areas, there is a difference in approach in the UK Government. Some parts of UK Government are rather more content and positive about working with devolved responsibilities, and others take a different approach.

I don't think we need to have a debate about muscular unionism today, but we're likely to have more legislation where there will be a need to come to the Senedd. I hope that, in the future, we won't come up to this point where it really is a last-minute series of changes that have been agreed, because I would like the Senedd to have the opportunity to properly exercise scrutiny functions. I do remember what it was like being a backbencher and seeing things happen at short notice, and the frustration, even if there are matters that you agree with, at not having the time to properly consider them.

If I deal with the powers point first, and why they're ministerial powers, well, in a whole range of legislation Ministers take powers to exercise in secondary legislation, as you'll be familiar with in another Parliament, and in other roles that you have had within your own life as a Minister as well. In this particular issue, it's not unusual. And it isn't just that it's unusual; actually, if we needed to extend these powers, we'd probably need to move relatively quickly, and as everyone will know, there are differing levels of scrutiny, rather than no scrutiny, when Ministers are exercising regulatory powers. So, even with the negative procedure there are opportunities for scrutiny and essentially for Members to call in choices that are being made.

The consent provisions are important, because otherwise what would have happened is we would either have had Wales kept out of the Bill, or we would have had provisions where UK Ministers would have acted in our place. It goes to your point about good law. Whilst it's not a large-scale issue, there are still potentially hundreds of Welsh businesses that could be affected, from the 7,500 across the UK. We don't anticipate the situation being any different in Wales in the sense of there being challenges that landlords and tenants in a business relationship may need to resolve, and part of our challenge is those issues have not crystallised as yet.

We aren't likely to have landlords and businesses volunteering that they're in this position to us, so the choice is: do we have an issue that we think exists? The answer is 'yes'. Do we think it's likely to affect Welsh businesses? Yes. Whilst it isn't a large-scale issue, if there's a single issue—say, for example, in the Member's constituency or another—and we don't have the powers to address the issue, it will understandably cause concern, and genuine concern, about why we haven't taken the opportunity to be able to regularise the position. I think it is the right thing not to leave a gap for Wales, not to leave us in a position where UK Ministers are acting in devolved areas, but to have proper consent provisions where Welsh Ministers can act as I believe this institution would wish us to, and then to be accountable for our choices back to this place as well. 

I hope that answers the questions, and I hope Members will now feel able to support the motion before us. 

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes, there is an objection. We will therefore defer voting until voting time. 

The next item, item 9, is the debate on Welsh rates of income tax. I call on the Minister for finance to move the motion—Rebecca Evans. 

Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you for the opportunity to open this debate on the Welsh rates of income tax resolution for 2022-23. Welsh rates of income tax were introduced in April 2019 and apply to income tax payers resident in Wales. Welsh rates of income tax raise around £2 billion each year towards the funding of the Welsh Government budget. The Welsh rates for the next financial year were announced in the draft budget. There will be no changes to Welsh income tax levels in 2022-23. 

This will mean that Welsh taxpayers will continue to pay the same income tax as their England and Northern Irish counterparts, and this will continue to provide some stability for taxpayers during a time of uncertainty and wider global economic challenges. Together with the funding received through the block grant, Welsh taxes are essential to help fund the vital public services that we all depend on. Over the coming months and years, as we deal with the impact of the unwinding of the pandemic measures, such as furlough, as well as the cost-of-living crisis and the impacts that now are being felt as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, protecting these services will become more challenging. In addition to considering the economic impact of coronavirus, we need to recognise that people in Wales are facing an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis fuelled by soaring energy bills. Day-to-day prices of food, fuel, energy, clothes, travel and rent are all going up as inflation rises. 

The Bevan Foundation's snapshot of poverty revealed that more than a third of Welsh households do not have enough money to buy anything beyond the everyday essentials, and are having to cut back on their heating, electricity and water, and a quarter are having to cut back on food for adults. Alongside this, the UK Government's decision to increase national insurance contributions on top of the tax changes it previously announced in its March 2021 budget means that families already face a significant increase in their tax burden from April. The Resolution Foundation has calculated that families face a £1,200 hit from April as energy bills and taxes rise. 

All this means that it's clear that now is not the time to consider changes to Welsh rates of income tax. My officials will continue to work closely with HM Revenue and Customs, which is responsible for the administration of WRIT. I am confident that our robust processes and good working relationships with HMRC provide a strong basis for the effective and efficient use of WRIT going forward. I'm pleased to report that the first WRIT outturn figures for 2019-20 were published by HMRC last year. The outturn figures were close to the forecasts, providing further reassurance that the forecasting process and the end-of-binning data are robust. The next outturn for 2020-21 is due to be published this summer, and this will be the first year where the outturn will impact on the Welsh Government's budget, with any required adjustments applied to the budget in 2023-24 in accordance with the fiscal framework agreement.  

I will of course keep Members informed on this as we move forward, and I look forward to the debate today. The Senedd is asked today to agree the Welsh rates resolution that will set the Welsh rates of income tax for 2022-23, and I ask Members for their support this afternoon. 

Can I confirm that the Welsh Conservative group will be supporting the continuation of the freeze on the Welsh rates of income tax? And I recognise all of those pressures on families that the Minister shared and, indeed, I fear things may get worse with, obviously, what's happening in eastern Europe. 

If I may, though, I just want to push the Minister a bit further on the need to clarify the Welsh Government's future intentions on Welsh rates of income tax and, in particular, the commitment to not take more in WRIT from Welsh families for at least as long as the economic impact of coronavirus lasts and, obviously, these other pressures they are experiencing now. I appreciate that in the Minister's letter to the Finance Committee, the Minister stated that there is a need to consider future fiscal prospects for Wales, as well as the current pressures facing families regarding the cost of living when deciding future taxation plans. And I think the latter, in particular, is a consideration that all of us in the Chamber can agree with. But the Minister's response didn't really provide clarity as to what the Government's medium-term thinking is on what direction we are heading. The uncertainty facing Welsh taxpayers was something that was highlighted in the Finance Committee evidence sessions by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. They suggested that the commitment had served its purpose, and that we need a more precise definition, rather than one that can be interpreted in many different ways. 

To summarise, Llywydd, I do think that the Welsh Government could be more clear in indicating how it envisages using its taxation powers in the medium to long term, and to end the current uncertainty, and to allow the Senedd to begin considering these plans and their potential impact on people's incomes. Diolch. 

We will not oppose this motion either, and along the same lines, I would ask for greater clarity on the Government's intentions here, because in the last Senedd you refused to vary taxes, or ruled out varying taxes for the rest of the Senedd. Now, as we've heard, you are saying that you won't be varying tax levels while the economic impact of the pandemic remains. The question is, well, what does that mean, because the economic impact of the pandemic will be with us for many, many years? Are you therefore suggesting that there will be no variation in the level of taxation during the years of this Senedd? I'm not necessarily arguing that that's needed, but as we've heard, the cost-of-living crisis and circumstances in eastern Europe may mean that we will need flexibility to reduce taxes, perhaps, in response to the cost-of-living crisis, or to raise them to create extra revenue.

You say you make that statement to give assurances to people, but I don't feel it gives any assurance because what it does it to kick the decision down the road, without suggesting whether it's something that you're willing to consider during this Senedd at all.  

The Minister to respond to those contributions. 

I'm grateful to both speakers in the debate this afternoon, and recognise the particular query that they have in respect of the Welsh Government's commitment not to increase income tax for as long as the economic impact of the pandemic lasts. The economic impact of coronavirus, including its duration, its scale and legacy of course is monitored on an ongoing basis, and particularly now in light of the concerning and terrible events in Ukraine. I think that it is too early to take a view, given the effect of the winding down of the pandemic measures. So, we're still starting to feel the impact of the end of furlough, for example. That needs to work its way through in terms of the job market, so there's lots yet that we haven't fully felt in terms of the impact of the pandemic. And, of course, at the same time, we're seeing the issues around energy prices and other supply constraints, as well as labour shortages, which are holding back growth and increasing inflation and putting pressure on wages. So, there are lots of things happening at the moment that obviously mean it's not the right time to consider changes to Welsh rates of income tax.

But I do want to make the point that we're talking about two separate things, really, in the sense that there's no trigger point at which, if the economy performs in this particular way at that point, we will describe ourselves as no longer feeling the impacts of the pandemic. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will trigger an increase or a decrease in the Welsh rates of income tax. So, I think that we need to consider the overall economic position and what that means for families and for taxpayers in Wales, but then also not to suggest that if we were to reach a certain point of the recovery it would automatically trigger an increase or a decrease, because those things will be considered at that point. I'm sorry I can't be more detailed at this point, but at the moment there are still so many moving parts that we can't really get that picture. 

And I will take this opportunity to say that, actually, it is the UK Government that is increasing the tax burden on people and on households in Wales, and this is really going to start to be felt from April onwards. The OBR has reported that through the planned national insurance rise, which was announced in September, and also the corporate and personal tax increases, which were in the UK Government's March budget, the UK Government has raised the tax burden from 33.5 per cent of GDP before the pandemic to 36.2 per cent of GDP by 2026-27, and that is its highest since the early 1950s. So, whilst we're also considering the impact of the pandemic and the economic recovery, we also need to be understanding of the overall tax burden on taxpayers, so that decisions that we might take in future have to be considered in the round in terms of the responsibilities placed on taxpayers by the UK Government as well.

So, I'll leave it there for today, Llywydd, and ask colleagues for their support for the Welsh rates of income tax for the next financial year.

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No, there is no objection. Therefore, the motion is agreed.

Item 10 is the next item, and this is the debate on the final budget for 2022-23. I call on the Minister for finance, once again, to move the motion. Rebecca Evans.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I am pleased to open the debate on our 2022-23 final budget—a three-year budget that has used every lever to strengthen public services, to tackle the climate and nature emergencies, to improve educational opportunities, and to respond to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Yet again, we have felt an incredibly different set of circumstances, and I want to begin by thanking all of those who have contributed to the budget, including colleagues on both my own and other benches for their participation and co-operation. I would also like to record my thanks to our wider partners, who have also helped to shape this progressive budget.

This is a budget that provides nearly £2 billion of targeted green investment to strengthen Wales's response to the climate and nature emergencies; a budget that ensures the Welsh NHS will receive £1.3 billion in direct funding, helping its recovery from the pandemic and its ability to provide effective services in the long term; a budget that provides £0.75 billion extra for local authorities to support social care, schools and the other vital services provided in local communities by local councils; a budget that invests in the quality of school buildings through £900 million of capital funding, with an additional £320 million to continue the long-term programme of learning and education reform; and a budget that responds to the emerging economic impact of rising inflation, including £7 million to continue to support vulnerable people and families across Wales through the discretionary assistance fund.

So much has already changed since we published our plans in December. When the draft budget was published, we were starting to see impacts of the cost-of-living crisis. Since then, we have seen the outlook worsen, contributed to by the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the dire humanitarian crisis that is rapidly evolving. Prior to the invasion of Ukraine, the Bank of England's estimate suggested that inflation could peak at around 7 per cent in the spring before beginning to fall back, increasing the negative impacts for households, businesses and public services across Wales. And it was clear that we had to act. Building on the actions within our draft budget, I was pleased to announce an additional £162.4 million in 2022-23 within this final budget as part of an additional package, worth more than £330 million, to respond to the cost-of-living crisis.

Despite receiving no additional funding from the UK Government, through responsible budget management, we've been able to go above and beyond to nearly double the equivalent support available in England. And this includes £90 million to extend the current provision of the winter fuel support scheme for a further year to run next winter, and this means more people will receive the £200 payment that provides crucial support.

We will continue to support those most in need to pay for essential costs, through an additional £15 million to extend the discretionary assistance fund to 31 March 2023. Ten million pounds has been invested in a range of social justice measures to support the most vulnerable households to help maximise their incomes to help meet the rising household costs. And £28.4 million is being provided to address holiday hunger, comprising £21.4 million to extend free-school-meal provision over the Easter, Whitsun and summer holidays, and a further £7 million for the Summer of Fun programme, providing access to free activities for children and young people during school holidays.

We're providing £13.1 million for the pupil development grant, providing a top-up of £100 to all school years to address the costs of the school day, including physical education kit and additional uniform costs, and we're providing a £2 million package of support for vulnerable families, which includes a £1 million investment for prevention payments for families with care and support needs, and £1 million to support families caring for looked-after children.

We also recognise that this is an evolving picture, with increases to household bills and national insurance contributions starting to impact from April, as well as increases in the cost of goods and impacts in the associated supply chains, and the impacts that we now know will be felt as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.

Already we stand in unequivocal solidarity with the Ukrainian people in the face of Putin's aggression. Last week, we provided £4 million in humanitarian aid, in 2021-22, donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee to ensure that it reaches those who need it as quickly and as efficiently as possible. And last week, alongside the Minister for Social Justice, I met with the leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, leaders of local authorities from across Wales, the police and the third sector to affirm our unanimous determination to offer all support possible to accept people escaping the violence in Ukraine.

Turning back to our final budget, I would like to extend my thanks to the Senedd committees for their scrutiny of our draft budget. This is an integral part of our process, and it's very welcome, to guarantee that we are achieving the most for Wales.

This final budget also includes an additional £184 million of financial transactions capital, allocations to further support the delivery of our priorities contained within the new 10-year Wales infrastructure investment strategy, and many of these items respond to points raised during scrutiny. Building on our existing £1.7 billion portfolio of investments, these new investments include £37 million to improve charging infrastructure, to help facilitate the shift to low carbon, low emission vehicles; £10 million for Tai Ffres to support the scheme's alternative housing pathway for those aged 16 to 25 who do not meet the threshold for homelessness services; £35 million to accelerate the decarbonisation of Welsh homes; a further £25 million for the Transforming Towns loan scheme, to bring vacant buildings back into use; and a further £40 million to support businesses in Wales through our existing economy futures fund.

Looking ahead to the UK Government's spring statement on 23 March, we recognise that the key levers for tackling poverty, such as powers over the tax and welfare systems, are reserved powers, and they lie with the UK Government to utilise. I will call on the UK Government to do more to respond to the crisis we face, alongside continuing to urge the UK Government to provide us with the replacement EU funds, which has resulted in a cumulative gap of £1 billion in our budgets.

So, to conclude, Dirprwy Lywydd, I am proud that we have set out a budget that delivers on our values and provides a foundation for a stronger, fairer and greener Wales, and I look forward to the debate.

I call on the Chair of the Finance Committee, Peredur Owen Griffiths.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I am pleased to contribute to this debate on the Welsh Government's final budget in my role as Chair of the Finance Committee.

The committee's report on the scrutiny of the Welsh Government draft budget for 2022-23 included 41 recommendations. I am pleased that the Minister has accepted or accepted in principle all of our recommendations but one. Whilst this is a positive start to the committee's work in this Senedd, and something we can hopefully build on in future years, there are areas in the final budget that fall short of our expectations.

The committee welcomes the £162.4 million allocated in the final budget to help those affected by the cost-of-living crisis, with £1.6 million of that allocated for the single advice fund to offer advice and support on income maximisation. We recommended that the Welsh Government take steps to raise the profiles of grants and schemes designed to address the cost-of-living crisis, so that people are aware of the range of financial support available and how to access it. We are pleased to hear that the Welsh Government intends to run a campaign and is developing a suite of materials that will be delivered on numerous platforms to ensure that the Welsh public are aware of their entitlements. However, these campaigns must target the most vulnerable people to ensure they do not miss out. We have previously recommended that there should be a 'no wrong door' approach to accessing services, and we continue to call for a single point of access rather than multiple applications for support. Support can only be effective if it reaches the right people.

The final budget does not increase the support for business rates relief, something which the committee asked the Minister to consider in its report. We also asked the Minister to prioritise investment in digital infrastructure, and to pay particular focus to supporting investment in digital infrastructure and help small retailers and other businesses to develop digital skills and an online presence. In the Minister's response to this recommendation, she notes that Business Wales provides businesses and entrepreneurs with a single point of contact for information and advice, and that the Development Bank of Wales helps Welsh businesses get the finance they need to start up. However, no specific action seems to have been taken in this area.

Allocations for financial transactions capital were not included in the draft budget, with the Minister telling us they would be made as part of the final budget preparations. We recommended that an update on the allocations was provided to the committee before the final budget was laid. I am grateful to the Minister for providing this information. The Minister noted the constraints and complexities on how ring-fenced financial transactions can be used, and the timescales within which the Welsh Government had to develop proposals following the late announcement of the UK spending review. However, we are pleased to hear that this will not set a precedent, with the intention that future financial transaction capital allocations will be considered as part of the draft budget process.

Given the Minister's emphasis on building a greener Wales through this budget, it's disappointing that the Welsh Government has not clarified which specific Net Zero Wales commitments have been funded in the final budget. As a committee, we also asked the Minister to present budgetary information so that it is linked to outputs and impacts, as well as providing clarity on how the funding of policy commitments relating to the co-operation agreement is reflected in future budget allocations, but these do not seem to have been addressed either. Furthermore, it is not clear what impact inflation will have on Welsh Government costs, and we would like the Minister to confirm whether this will change the outcomes expected from next year's budget, assuming that no additional funding will be received from the UK Government. I would ask the Minister to respond to each of these points in turn.

Finally, given the seriousness of developments in Ukraine and the unfolding humanitarian crisis, I would like to ask the Minister what scope there is for additional support and funding to be provided for refugees. The First Minister has said that Wales aims to be a nation of sanctuary and has called on the UK Government to do more to help Ukrainian refugees. Clearly, there's a limit to what the Welsh Government can do in practical terms, given that visa arrangements are not a devolved matter, but could the Minister confirm whether funding will be available to support those fleeing the conflict so that they are able to come to Wales? 

There is much to commend in this budget. These are difficult times and the increased spending provided in this budget to help our most vulnerable is to be welcomed. However, there are clearly areas to work on too if we as a Senedd are to ensure that the Welsh Government’s budget works for the people of Wales. As a Finance Committee, we will take every opportunity during this Senedd term to make sure that that happens. Thank you very much.

First of all, I would like to thank you, Minister, for your statement, and also thank you and your officials for their engagement with myself over the course of the budget process—that's much appreciated. Can I also thank the Chairman of the Finance Committee for his report today, which sums up very well the points raised in that committee?

Deputy Llywydd, I don't think that it will come as much of a surprise to the Minister that the Welsh Conservative group will be voting against the budget motion today. Throughout the process, we on these benches have been pushing the Welsh Government to go further in its budget plans to tackle some of the long-standing issues in Wales that have been exacerbated over the past few years. Deputy Llywydd, for the sake of brevity, I won't repeat our policy calls—

Peter, will you take an intervention?

Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry, Mike. Please, yes.

Will you produce a Conservative budget?

Well, I tried to do—[Interruption.] Sorry. I tried this year to outline some depth into what we as a party were prepared to present, and I've made those points clear in this Chamber on two or three times. And in the future, I look to bring a full alternative budget forward, as I think it's the responsibility of an opposition to do that. Sadly, we don't see that too often. But we are, with the resources we have, bringing forward as strong points and cases as we possibly can, as we shared within our manifesto.

Throughout this process, we on these benches, as I've shared, were pushing the Welsh Government to go further on its budget plans to tackle some of those longstanding issues in Wales. Llywydd, for the sake of brevity, as I shared earlier, I won't repeat the policy calls, but the fact remains that there are a number of structural issues that will continue to hamper our recovery from the pandemic and limit the ability of the Government to achieve its aspirations.

We are not opposing the budget for the sake of it, and nor are we, supposedly, talking Wales down, like some on some of the other benches like to suggest. Instead, we have simply pushed for the level of action and ambition that is needed to put Wales back on the right track. It's not what we want, but what Wales needs, because we are all striving for the same thing: as the Welsh Government put it, to build a stronger, greener and fairer Wales.

However, despite the engagement that I referred to earlier, I am disappointed that Ministers have not listened to the calls from this side of the Chamber. As I've said previously, Welsh Ministers like to argue that they are not the only ideas factory in this place, and, back in July last year, the Minister for finance held a debate on the budget priorities to give Members an opportunity to shape those preparations, but I can't shake off the feeling that, as usual, the Welsh Government have gone for the easy option of a deal with Plaid Cymru. And yes, there are some parts of the deal—your deal—that we can broadly welcome, but there are also a number of elements of it that seem to take money from the things that our communities want and need.

Deputy Llywydd, let's be honest, despite what we've heard repeatedly from the Welsh Government throughout this process, the budget was a done deal before the ink on the co-operation agreement had even dried. I joined this place nearly 12 months ago, isn't it, with a sense of purpose and hope, but I was naïve in believing that our contributions could be considered and I could make a real difference to the direction of this Government. As such, I believe that the budget could have and should have gone further, recognising the significant resources made available to the Welsh Government by the UK Government, as well as the multi-year settlement previously requested by Ministers here in Cardiff Bay. In fact, the budget will need to go further, recognising the significant—. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm a bit deaf. I don't always hear when the intervention—.

It's all right. I didn't speak, actually. I just wondered, you say, 'recognising the extra we've had from the UK Government', but we've just heard in the statement of £1 billion less because of the money that's not come from what we usually got through the European budget. So, I think we're considerably worse off, not better off.

I think, sadly, there's a lot of smoke and mirrors around funding claims in this place, and there is—[Interruption.] There is a constant contradiction in perspectives from UK Government to Wales Government. The facts are that there was an extra £2.5 billion this year, or more, that has passported through to Welsh Government, to enable the Welsh Government to do the things it has aspired to do.

As I shared earlier, and as has already been talked about, there will be a need for further focus because of the significant economic impact that this horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine will have on the people of Wales, exacerbating the current cost-of-living pressures, and I welcome what the Minister has already said in her commitment so far.

However, to end on a somewhat more positive note, I do welcome the changes made in the final budget, which recognise the need to take actions to ease the current cost-of-living pressure, many of which we on this side have called for. I do hope that we can generally work together across the Chamber to tackle the issues head on.

To conclude, Deputy Llywydd, we stand at an unprecedented time in our history. A long and devastating pandemic, followed by a brutal and absolutely unnecessary war, has left people across Wales wondering what's next. Budgets are more than just numbers on a spreadsheet or complicated financial terms or eye-catching large numbers; they are about what real, tangible change they deliver for people. We in the opposition—

I have given extra time, but you need to conclude now, Peter, please.

Sorry. Yes, I am. Yes.

And we in the opposition will continue to press the Welsh Government to make every pound of investment count, not only to support the recovery but to deliver hope and aspiration across the country, because our communities need this budget to deliver. Diolch, Deputy Llywydd.

Just a few brief comments about the process maybe, initially. I think we're all looking forward to the budget returning to its normal timetable of eight sitting weeks of scrutiny. We haven't had that for a long time, and I think these condensed periods of scrutiny really don't help. And I'd make the point again: ministerial responses to committee reports on the budgets are arriving late in the day. I think the environment committee had ours 24 hours ago. It's an improvement on last year, where some of those responses came after the final budget vote, but we really do need to get back to a more level keel on this, I think, because it really isn't the way that things should be happening. And I know some of it is driven by UK Government timetables, and it's good that we can have a multi-year settlement for the first time in a long, long time this year, and let's hope that we don't row back from that position in future.

I welcome the fact that the Welsh Government is pressing the UK Government for greater flexibility, for example, around carrying over funding from one financial year to another, greater powers as well around borrowing. Anything we can do that gives Wales greater agility to respond to the challenges we face must be welcome, and I would hope that our colleagues on the Conservative benches will also take that message back to the UK Government as well.

I welcome the use proposed in this budget of the Welsh Government's borrowing powers. I also welcome greater use of reserves in the coming year and the over-programming of capital plans. It's high time that we made Welsh money work as hard as possible in the face of the challenges that we have before us. But, with that, of course, we would therefore expect more regular updates from the Government and greater scrutiny as well from the Finance Committee to make sure that we keep an eye on the funding contained in the Welsh reserve, given that the squeeze is going to be greater on those fundings.

It is frustrating that the money that should be coming to Wales is being denied to us by the UK Government, I'm afraid. We've heard a number of times that if funding to Wales had kept pace with inflation, we'd be talking about at least £3 billion more today in this budget. HS2 funding, many millions more should be available to us, as well as what we've already heard in relation to being short-changed on what was EU funding. We're not accusing the Tories of talking Wales down; we are actually accusing the Tories of holding Wales down by denying us money that is, frankly, being given to other devolved administrations in the UK, and all we want is parity in that respect. But we are where we are.

Now, Plaid Cymru outlined our proposals for our programme of government in our manifesto last year, fully costed, independently verified, so this isn't the budget necessarily that we would have tabled here today, but we can, as a party, be hugely proud that many of our policies—some, in fact, rejected by the Government in the past—now sit at the heart of this budget.

This budget does deliver on many of Plaid Cymru's main pledges in our recent manifesto. Two hundred million pounds in the budget to ensure free school meals for all primary school children, and that includes over £20 million in addition to extend free school meals over the summer holiday this year. Sixty million pounds to extend childcare to children of two years of age. Over £100 million of capital investment in national resilience and flooding, with an additional £24 million in revenue funding. Sixty million pounds in capital funding and £27 million in revenue for broadcasting, culture and the media. Many millions to promote renewable energy and to create Ynni Cymru—Energy Wales. Millions, too, to create Unnos, a national construction company to tackle housing problems. Millions for Arfor, for the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the National Centre for Learning Welsh, and millions too for mental health, in revenue and capital funding.

There's a series of investments in this budget that put right a number of social injustices, that tackle climate change, that build back from the pandemic as we face the major challenges that we've heard about in our discussions in this Senedd over the last months. Although we're an opposition party, although Plaid Cymru is an opposition party, we are delivering and we are working for the whole of Wales, which shows that we as a party are a party that makes a difference in this place, which is more than we can say about some others.

This debate would really be improved if we had alternative proposals, even if only at the level of ministerial budgets, from the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru. I welcome what Peter Fox said about producing one next year. Just a piece of advice: it has to balance, you can't keep on adding money in the expenditure column, taking money off the income column and call that a budget. So, I'm sure Peter won't do that, and I hope he'll take it up with his colleagues to explain to them that you can't do that.

There are alternatives to the Welsh budget in terms of priorities. I would, for example, increase support for education, training and university innovation, and reduce expenditure on attracting inward investment. Provide the research capacity in the universities, provide a highly skilled workforce and the investors will come.

Also, investing in early years education remains one of the most powerful levers to tackle inequality and invest in our future generations, so no-one is left behind. Far too many children start nursery school at three a year behind developmentally than the average, and two years behind the most advanced. That is a serious problem. How are they going to catch up during their time in primary education? You're asking, in some cases, over seven years, to make up two years. It's incredibly important that we make sure that children don't start behind.

If you have to bribe a company to bring a branch factory here, they do not want to come. I could spend the rest of my contribution listing companies who came, did not provide the jobs in their prospectus and then left. I will just mention the best known example: LG.

I will be supporting the budget, but the key question is: what will be achieved by the additional income and expenditure? I welcome the announcement by the UK Government of a multi-year budget settlement, and I'm pleased to see that the Welsh Government took the opportunity of a three-year spending review to give funding certainty to organisations, providing provisional allocations for 2023-24 and 2024-25. This is something I, and many others in this Chamber, have been calling for for a long time. Each year, many third sector employees get an end-of-December redundancy notice because of uncertainty of funding past 31 March. I hope this three-year funding will correct that.

I welcome the over-commitment of capital expenditure, which should avoid capital underspend as schemes slip during the year, and if they do not, the borrowing capacity can be used. I'm sure that people across the Chamber with senior local government experience have noticed how little support capital receipts give to the capital expenditure. It's easy to spend money; the challenge of Government, at every level, is to spend it beneficially and wisely.

I'm disappointed that the Welsh Government has not used the five Es. Effectiveness: was the expenditure effective in the previous year, and did it achieve what was required? Efficiency: were resources used efficiently last year, and if not, what is going to be done to ensure efficient use of resources this year? Equality: is the budget expenditure fair to all groups? Equity: is the budget fair to all of Wales, not just in one year, but over several years? And, environment: what is the expected effect of the budget on carbon and biodiversity? Whilst the future generations Act deals with the last one, the first four need addressing.

With the universal provision of free school meals in state primary schools—I emphasise 'state' primary schools—the use of free school meals as an indicator of additional educational funding will disappear. What is going to be used instead?

Turning to efficiency, the health service just needs to come into the twenty-first century. Prescriptions are printed, signed and hand delivered. Why don't we have e-prescribing? Why can't they be filled on an online form with an online signature and then sent to the relevant pharmacists? Fax machines are still used in the health service, including at a general practice that I contacted today, and I phoned the wrong number because the number on there was their fax machine. I'm not used to seeing fax machines on telephone numbers any more. They've got to come into the twenty-first century. I don't think I've seen a fax machine in the last 20 years and certainly not since I've been here. In 11 years I haven't seen a fax machine anywhere, but the health boards seem to keep on using them.

What do health boards propose will increase energy efficiency? With health boards getting extra money, how are they going to improve productivity in hospitals? How is the hospital at home going to be developed—something I've spoken in favour of previously? A prediction that I hope is wrong: the health boards will get the increase, and the share given to primary health will again decrease. The Welsh Government have created large organisations, such as Natural Resources Wales, Betsi Cadwaladr and the Welsh ambulance service. At what point is it decided they are not working and need breaking up into smaller units?

Finally, we need to solve the problem of operational management in the public sector to improve efficiency and effectiveness. We need to concentrate on outcomes. The money we spend is public money that has been paid in taxes at different levels by people. We have a duty to them to spend it wisely and fairly, and we have a duty to them to avoid being wasteful in anything that we do. So, I will be supporting this budget, and I hope it gets put past.

Good afternoon, Minister, and may I thank you on International Women's Day for your leadership, in terms of developing this budget, and also your team as well for the constructive approach that you've taken in engaging with me around Welsh Liberal Democrat priorities? I want to talk Wales up. I've never heard, in this Siambr, Wales being talked down. I think it's quite shameful, actually, that that should ever be suggested.

I want to welcome the additional investment in the pupil development grant, which plays an essential role in supporting pupils eligible for free school meals. I'm glad to see free school meals being developed in this budget. It's been a very difficult year—maybe two years even—for children and young people, and so the PDG, now in its tenth year, is really important in breaking the link between deprivation and educational attainment and engagement. I'm pleased to see the £20 million for care leavers, the additional costs to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, and the universal basic income pilot being funded at last.

But we see this budget against a backdrop of the Conservative Government in London failing to match their promises, their promises on fair and equitable funding for Wales: a loss of £1 billion by 2024 because of their failure to match EU funding commitments; a funding shortfall of £100 million for farmers; a loss of £5 billion pounds—and that's an estimate at the low end—of rail infrastructure investment because of us not getting HS2 consequentials; and, shamefully, the £20 a week loss in universal credit for our families. That is shameful, it really is, and this really makes the work of rebuilding after the pandemic and creating a fairer, greener, stronger Wales much harder than it need be.

Just to finish, of course I feel there are missed opportunities regarding support for small business, on mental health and on community energy generation, but I do welcome this budget, Minister, and I look forward to continuing to work with you and your team to deliver on our shared priorities for Wales. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

I'm sure that all Members would love to join with me in welcoming the UK Conservative Government's budget 2021 announcement of an extra £2.5 billion per year, on average, for the Welsh Government through the Barnett formula over the spending review period. And let us not forget that this is on top of its annual baseline funding of £15.9 billion. The Conservatives are giving Wales the largest annual funding settlement since devolution, and still you moan.

But are you planning to use it wisely? No. You're paying for school meals for some children of parents on very high incomes, putting unnecessary pressure on the public purse—and we're talking £90 million. You're showing your true socialist colours by wasting £20 million on a universal basic income pilot, and you are reducing the capital budget for health and social care, meaning a lack of investment in the NHS estate and equipment, despite the Welsh NHS Confederation stating that staff are more productive when they have the right, up-to-date equipment to efficiently treat patients. That is not good.

COP26 united the world in acknowledging the need to 'keep 1.5 alive' and achieve net zero. This Welsh Government launched the Net Zero Wales carbon budget 2021-25, but it is clear from the budget that not enough is actually being done to protect our environment. There's £37 million allocated to progress the shift to low-emission vehicles; however, Wales is sadly lagging behind much of the United Kingdom when it comes to the installation of fast charging points. In fact, Wales has only four more rapid charging points in the whole country than Milton Keynes, which has a population of just 265,000. Absolute failure.

Of the £1.8 billion in capital funding, £1.6 billion is spent on the decarbonisation of housing. Therefore, it's actually reasonable to question how £200 million can be effectively used to combat our climate emergency. The main body to help enhance environmental protection and monitor pollution incidents, Natural Resources Wales, is actually receiving a real terms cut in its funding, remaining the same at £69.7 million for 2022-23.

Despite declaring a nature emergency, this budget actually makes it challenging to understand the exact spend in relation to direct benefit for nature. It is really vital that the Welsh Government produces detailed analysis across budget lines as to how this budget actually does combat the nature emergency. In fact, this ambiguity is just further evidence that Wales Environment Link are correct that the scale and pace of action needed to address the nature crisis are simply not in place.

The budget does nothing to extend the rates relief for small-scale hydro plants, to encourage investment in such projects. Instead, we have a Welsh Government distracted by working towards the expansion of the state and the creation of Ynni Cymru, a publicly owned energy company for Wales. Have you not learnt the lesson, Minister, from Bristol City Council, which, despite investing £36 million to fund an energy company, went on to sell it for £14 million? But that is rather like this Government spending £52 million on an airport, plus a further £100 million, only to have it valued at £15 million. That is what we're dealing with here. I think you should leave those kinds of ventures to the private sector, where such expertise does flourish, and they have ambition and aspiration.

The same goes for the revenue allocation of £1 million to develop Unnos in 2022-23. Honestly, why don't you leave our house building to the developers who actually just want to get on with building those homes that you have failed to allow to be built over the years? 

Despite Net Zero Wales noting the Welsh Government's expectation that, by 2025, around 148,000 across Wales will receive retrofit measures to reduce heat loss, and a capital allocation of £72 million made in 2022-23 for residential decarbonisation, along with a total revenue allocation—

The Member needs to conclude now, please.

—of just under £1 million, the Local Government and Housing Committee have warned that tenants may have to carry a significant proportion of the cost.

I believe that this budget doesn't go anywhere near enough to deal with our environment issues and our climate emergency. I know there were voices over there about us putting a budget forward. Believe me, if we were in Government, we would and it would actually mean more. It would mean more to the people of Wales.

You need to conclude now, please. 

Diolch yn fawr.

Back to reality, I'd very much like to commend the finance Minister's management of the budget, because this could hardly be a more difficult set of circumstances that the people of Wales are facing. To enable you to identify £162 million extra for the cost-of-living crisis is hugely appreciated, and absolutely a sign of your excellent management of the Government's money.

This morning, I attended my local food bank and spoke to a lot of the people who were waiting to be served, and it is incredible, really, just how much people are suffering and what a difference there is between the rich and poor in our society. I thank the Bevan Foundation for their 'State of Wales' figures that show that low-income families spend £35 a week on food; high-income families spend £99 a week on food. Low-income families spend £60 a week on housing; high-income families spend £120 a week on housing. And it is ironic, isn't it, that this food bank that's in one of the poorest parts of my constituency is being served by people who are themselves on very modest incomes, and it is typical that it is the poor who are more generous than the people who have more money? And how we square that circle is a really important question in relation to what Llyr was saying: how do we make the money that Wales has go further? So, I think that's a really big issue for us all. 

In particular, I think that, in the context of what we ought to be able to see in front of us, things like the uprate in the pupil development grant, the holiday hunger payments, the discretionary advice fund and the winter fuel support are incredibly important. On the winter fuel support payment, I want to commend Cardiff Council for proactively going out to all their tenants who they have contact details for to make sure that they were claiming what they were entitled to. It is much, much more difficult to ensure that private sector tenants get that money because it's just much more difficult to identify who is eligible. And I think that one of the problems is that it sounds like the one that comes as a rebate from the UK Government for older people. Quite a lot of older people get confused—they say, 'Oh, but I've already had it', when, actually, they haven't claimed what the Welsh Government is offering. That's something that I would like us to think about as to how we're going to badge it a bit differently, so that people are clearer on that. And it would be useful to know at what point you could tell us what the uptake was of last year's winter fuel payment and whether it's possible to break it down by geographical area/local authority, so that we can see where people are not claiming what they are entitled to, because I think this is a really, really important issue.

I'm very pleased that the children's commissioner's budget has been given an uplift because I think, as other people have said, children have had an incredibly difficult two years, therefore the children's commissioner does have an extra workload and it's very important that that is properly funded. It's still unclear on what basis the other commissioners are funded. I know that there are negotiations going on with the future generations commissioner, but which budget are you going to raid in order to give any uplift if it's proved that she has a good case?

I wanted to just explore the financial transaction capital allocation. So, of the £83 million for the next year, £31 million needs to be repaid. Excellent news, actually, because it's a very useful way of ensuring that people get to do the things we need them to do if we offer them a loan and then they repay it. I wonder if you can say a bit more about that. Is this a pot of money that could be used to help landlords take out loans to decarbonise their properties, because some of the coldest homes are in the private rented sector? Could it be used to enable schools, hospitals and other public building to be rebuilt or retrofitted to decarbonise their existing buildings?

The Member needs to conclude now.

Or is this another pot of money that you might be able to identify in the future? Because there's no doubt that the decarbonisation of our homes in the context of the absolutely spiralling energy, oil and gas costs is something that we simply can't hang around for. We have to do it as soon as we possibly can. 

I call on the Minister to reply to the debate.

Diolch yn fawr. As ever, I do welcome the debate that we've had today and the comments from all Members, from all parties, because it's always illuminating if nothing else. 

Despite the challenging circumstances that we continue to face, we have maximised our available funding to respond to both the short-term and longer term challenges that we're facing. I think, as everybody has acknowledged this afternoon, many challenges remain, including the escalating cost-of-living crisis, alongside the terrible consequences of the invasion in Ukraine. The reason why we were able to provide a larger package of support here in Wales is because we've manged our money better. As Jenny Rathbone was saying, in Wales, you haven't seen those absolute scandals in relation to PPE, you haven't seen us giving out TTP contracts to our chums—absolutely not. We delivered the service through public services, where it belonged in the first place. People got a better service and, as a result, we were able to redeploy funding to support people and communities. Mike.

I would say, also, when Rhodri Morgan was First Minister, we didn't engage in PFI.

Absolutely right, and a further example through the course of the pandemic would be the fact that we took very great care and diligence in the support we were providing to businesses and, as a result, again, you don't see these big write-offs of fraud that you see across the border. So, we take care of people's money, and I think that you can see that in the budget that we've published today.

I will say that some references have been made to the funding available to Welsh Government. It's a Barnett share if we're lucky. Part of the problem is that we don't get our full share from the UK Government. Reference has been made to the HS2 project. Even the UK Government's own analysis suggests that that project will harm Wales, and yet they consider it to be an England-and-Wales project and we do not get a single penny as a result of it.

There have been requests for further funding to be injected into the NHS for capital spend. Well, it's a fact that, over the three years of the budget period that we're looking ahead to, in every single year, our capital funding falls. It will be less every year than it is this year, so it's impossible for us to provide additional funding when we have less. Our budget in 2024-25 will nearly be £3 billion lower than if it had increased in line with the economy since 2010-11. Imagine the budget we would be debating if we'd had that additional funding available to us. So, you know, we are still operating in a very, very complex and challenging period.

Reference to European funding has been made this afternoon, and, again, this is an area where we are absolutely desperately shortchanged. Under the UK Government's community renewal fund, we will receive only £46 million this year, compared to £375 million at least that we would have received from EU structural funds from January 2021. No-one can be okay with that, not even on the Conservative benches. This is just really ripping off Wales, and it shouldn't be something that any of us can be comfortable or okay with.

I was really pleased to see Mike Hedges make his annual call for an alternative Conservative budget. I am really looking forward to seeing that next year and scrutinising that. But I will say that I do recall a time, perhaps it was 2014, when the Conservatives last laid their alternative budget and they had their fingers so burned they haven't done it since, and that was because they showed that they were going to make massive cuts to education. I think it was 2014 when the Conservatives did provide an alternative budget. [Interruption.] It was 2010—okay, I've been corrected. So, it's a long time since the Conservative opposition put its plans on the table for people to take a view of.

But even if you won't do that, at least make some suggestions between the draft budget and the final budget as to where you will fund your calls for additional investment. So, we've heard lots of calls for additional investment right across the budget this afternoon from the Conservatives but not one idea between the publication of the draft and final budgets as to changes that they would make. So, perhaps we can see some of that next year, and I'm really keen to engage with those kind of ideas because I think that kind of challenge is helpful, but you do need proper plans to scrutinise. And on the challenge for us to go further, of course we want to go further, but, of course, that does rely on funding from the UK Government to help us to do that.

I don't want to be too negative, because there's so much in this budget to be celebrating, particularly, I think, our support for children and young people, because we've been really keen to ensure that we invest in the futures of those young people who have been hit hardest by the pandemic. And you'll see, particularly exciting, I think, continued investment in our apprenticeship programme, and continued investment in delivering on our young person's guarantee. Both of those things are going to be absolutely crucial if we are to ensure that no young person is left behind as a result of the pandemic. And, of course, the joint work that we're doing with Plaid Cymru is really important on free school meals, and the discussions we had with Jane Dodds in respect of supporting leaving care and in care, of course, will make a huge difference to those young people. I think that these progressive discussions that we have can only be for the good.

I'll just go on now, I suppose, to start to conclude by thanking all of those who set out representations, and those who have participated and co-operated through the process of setting the budget. Once again, we've delivered a budget in really trying circumstances, highlighting the strong working partnership that we do have in the Senedd and, of course, across wider Welsh society. And I wouldn't want to finish my contribution today without putting on record my sincere thanks to all of our Welsh Government officials whose skill, care and professionalism, and their attention to detail, is really evident in this final budget. And, I have to say, they have gone above and beyond to produce work of the highest quality, solve complex problems and think creatively, and I'm very, very grateful to them for that.

So, to conclude, this budget reflects what we can achieve in Wales through working together to use every lever available to us. We are responding to the pandemic and the emerging cost-of-living crisis, taking the vital actions necessary to address the climate and nature emergency, and we are taking steps to ensure that we are supporting not only the Wales of today, but fundamentally shaping the Wales that we hand on to future generations. 

Thank you, Minister. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes. I will therefore defer voting on this item until voting time. 

The next item is the debate on the local government settlement for 2022-23. I call on the Minister for Finance and Local Government to move the motion—Rebecca Evans. 

Diolch. Today, I'm presenting to the Senedd for its approval the 2022-23 local government settlement for the 22 unitary authorities in Wales. Firstly, I'd like to record my thanks to local government for both the way in which they have approached this settlement round, and for the critical work that they do day to day in our communities and for people and businesses across Wales, particularly, of course, given the events of the past two years. I hope that you'll join me in thanking them for their hard work and their dedication. In preparing for the Welsh budget, and this settlement, we have engaged with local government throughout the process. I am grateful to local government for the way in which those discussions have been held, and to my officials for the detailed and careful work that they have undertaken as part of this process.

This year, I am pleased to propose to the Senedd a settlement for 2022-23 that is 9.4 per cent higher than that in the current financial year on a like-for-like basis. This equates to an increase of £437 million over 2021-22, with the smallest local authority increase in this settlement, 8.4 per cent, higher than the increase for any authority in any prior settlement for at least 17 years. In 2022-23, local authorities in Wales will receive £5.1 billion in general revenue allocations, from core funding and non-domestic rates. This is a good settlement for local government, including Wales-level core funding allocations for 2023-24 and 2024-25. It provides local authorities with a stable platform on which to plan their budgets for the coming financial year and beyond.

We have worked closely with local government, and we appreciate the pressure that they're facing. We will continue to protect local government, particularly at this difficult and challenging time. In making decisions about the level of funding for local government, I responded to the need to ensure that hard-working staff receive a well-deserved pay rise in future. In particular, I've included funding to enable local authorities to meet our real living wage for social care commitment, as well as the increased costs of teachers' pay and, more widely, to cover the increased costs local authorities will face as a result of the UK Government's announcement to increase the national insurance contributions for employers.

In addition to the core unhypothecated funding delivered through the settlement, I'm grateful that my Cabinet colleagues have provided indicative information on revenue and capital grants planned for 2022-23. These currently amount to nearly £1.2 billion for revenue, and over £740 million for capital for our shared priorities with local government. General capital funding for local government for 2022-23 will be set at £150 million. This will increase to £200 million for the following two years, including £20 million in each year to enable authorities to respond to our joint priority of decarbonisation.

In addition, I wrote to local authority leaders last month to announce a further £70 million capital in the current financial year, to support authorities' overall capital programmes, including impacts on highways. I am also announcing today an additional £60 million, to be added to the current year's settlement, to support local authorities in managing their budgets more effectively over the period 2021-22 to 2024-25, against the context of inflationary and service pressures and the ending of the local government hardship fund. This funding will also enable local government to respond to their ambition to increase their domiciliary support service capacity, through funding driving lessons and providing access to electric vehicles. This will also help authorities continue to decarbonise their services and respond to the climate and nature emergency. The publication of the latest report on climate impact and adaptation by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows just how important it is that we all do so. I ask the Members of the Senedd to support the motion.

Thank you to the Minister and the Welsh Government for bringing forward today's debate on the 2022-23 local government settlement. At this point, I'll just declare an interest that I still am an elected member of Conwy County Borough Council, and, sadly, after 14 years, that will soon be changing this year. I'd certainly like to join the Minister in recognising the exceptional work carried out by our councils throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. They went above and beyond in providing those exceptional services to local people, and showed what can be done when they are enabled to do so. But it's crucial to note that this good work occurred before the pandemic as well, and will continue after, which is why this and future local government settlements are so important. Councils must be adequately funded, to enable them to deliver the high-quality public services that our residents need.

The settlement always has the potential to unleash councils and allow them to maximise their potential. On this side of the benches, we don't believe this has occurred in this here today. There are three areas that I would like to raise that highlight this issue in particular. The first is in relation to the local government funding formula. As council leaders and the WLGA have stated, a 9.4 per cent increase in funding is, of course, welcomed. I certainly acknowledge this significant increase in funding for councils. Nevertheless, this funding comes after years of underfunding. It's also important to note that, despite this 9.4 per cent increase, over the last decade, Welsh Government revenue funding in real terms has decreased by around 17 per cent through to councils. And despite this big increase, we're still seeing councils up and down Wales having to raise council tax significantly to deal with the pressures that they are facing.

An area this points to in the funding formula, which perhaps needs further consideration, is around the reserves held by councils. Some councils have significant usable reserves, which, in my view, should be used to benefit citizens and not held back. An example of this is that in 2021, the financial year previous to this year, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Swansea and Caerphilly councils had the biggest amount of usable reserves at £208 million, £183 million and £180 million respectively—nearly £600 million-worth of reserves between three councils there. Other councils such as Merthyr Tydfil, Conwy and Monmouthshire had reserves of £27 million, £30 million and £32 million respectively—less than £90 million between them. There's an issue there in how some councils are able to continue to have significant funding, with significant levels of reserves, but others will be struggling. Another issue around the funding formula is the data that's used, and I've raised this previously in the Chamber. Thank you, Minister, for acknowledging some work that you and your officials are likely to do on this and to review, because some of aspects of the funding formula are over 20 years old—some of the data points. Thank you for looking to review that and I look forward to an update on that as soon as possible. That's the first area—the funding formula.

The second area that is an issue, in my view, is a very recent one. I haven't heard anything today around how those who are fleeing Ukraine will be supported via councils. It's likely that councils will be housing those refugees coming out of Ukraine. I'd be interested to know whether consideration has been put into the funding formula and the settlement to enable councils to properly support those who are fleeing Ukraine over the coming weeks and months. We know that councils are already stretched in housing services. Many councils are having to put significant sums of money into housing at the moment. So, further support there, I'm sure, is needed to enable councils to deliver services properly.

Finally, there continues to be concern with councils regarding the Government and Plaid Cymru's co-operation agreement, specifically the effects it'll have on services delivered by those councils. We already know that the co-operation agreement has committed to taking some powers away from councils and radically changing council tax. Those will be significant new asks of councils in delivering many new policies, not all of which seem to be fully or appropriately funded. So, I'd be interested to hear if the Minister has any concerns with the financing and delivery of some aspects of the co-operation agreement that is in place at the moment.

And to conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, as I'm sure the Minister has already acknowledged, we do, in the Welsh Conservatives, support the increase in the local government settlement and appreciate the positives that this will have for councils. However, we do regret how the local government settlement continues not to deal with some of the issues I've raised today. In light of this and what I've outlined, we will be abstaining today. Nevertheless, I'd like to thank the Minister for the funding acknowledged in the settlement and for her continued co-operation and discussions on the settlement. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

I also want to start my contribution to this debate in the proper place by thanking councils, councillors and the staff of local authorities for the exceptional work that they've done over past few years. They have proved, if it needed to be proved—I don't think it does—the importance of that level of government, perhaps closest to the coal face. They stepped up, of course, and created the bespoke solutions, reflecting the needs of their local communities in a way that a national government couldn't have done. I think it's important that we recognise that and bear that in mind when it comes to discussing the shape of local government for years to come.

The increase of 9.4 per cent in the settlement is something to be welcomed. It is certainly a bigger increase than many in local government had expected, and we could say that it's generous. Certainly, at first sight, it is generous. But when you then realise that the reality is that many of the elements funded outwith the RSG in the past are now part of the settlement, and if you add that backdrop of increasing costs, inflation being significantly higher than some of us would have anticipated, and certainly higher than any of us would want, and the commitment to salary increases, which is of course the right thing to do, then all of a sudden the settlement doesn't look quite as generous as it would have done otherwise.

Year 1 tells one story, but years 2 and 3 tell a very different story, don't they? Because the settlement is flat for years 2 and 3, to all intents and purpose. If we do recognise that there are going to be challenging elements in the year to come, well, that's going to be intensified significantly in the years beyond that. So, I do think we need a reality check, although of course we do welcome the increase. It is greatly needed, because there will still be huge pressures on that funding, and the need to increase council tax will remain in order to respond to those pressures.

Although we're coming out of one crisis, the COVID crisis, we are entirely aware of the new crises facing us now in terms of the cost of living and the situation in Ukraine, and so on, and that's going to make a difficult situation more difficult. Food costs are increasing, fuel costs are increasing, and there are implications for local authorities, of course—in terms of schools, education services, care and all sorts of other services. The costs are increasing at exactly the same time as the demand for many of the services provided by local authorities is also increasing. So, the question is, essentially: how much scope is there to step into the breach next year if things deteriorate more than we are anticipating? To what extent does the Government have plans or funding in reserve in order to step in if need be?

I also want to echo the point made on the funding formula and to repeat what was said a few weeks ago in that debate. Whilst it's right that the Government looks at how council funding is collected through council tax, I think it's also appropriate that we look at how that is distributed. And not just look at the formula in isolation; we need to look at the bigger picture of the funding of local authorities. Because I hear in feedback from local authorities that many of the new responsibilities that have been handed to local authorities that are supposed to be cost neutral in reality do bring additional costs in many different ways. I don't think there's been an opportunity to look at the bigger picture when it comes to that funding scenario. The formula is dated. We would agree with that, and also agree that, whatever the formula is, there will be winners and losers. Of course that's the case. But I do feel that an independent review would be very timely indeed.

I'd firstly like to say it's really pleasing to see so many people sat in this room with very senior local government experience taking part in this debate. I think that can only add to the quality of debate on the local government settlement.

I welcome the settlement. It's good news for local authorities. Adjusting for transfers, the core revenue funding for local government in 2022-23 has increased by 9.4 per cent on a like-for-like basis, no authority will receive less than 8.4 per cent, and there are no smoke and mirrors involved. I think that we've seen in the past increases, and when you start digging into them, they didn't quite turn out to be exactly as much as we were expecting. This is really good news. Of course, it doesn't make up for previous budget cuts that have taken place, but it's certainly a step in the right direction in providing additional money for local authorities. It has been welcomed across local authorities. It's a good settlement for this year.

I can compare what I'm saying about this local government settlement to what I've said in previous years. I've described it as disappointing, leading local government to cut services, putting pressure on key services provided by local authorities, leading to the council being forced to increase council tax to make up some of the shortfall, not providing sufficient resources. This year, whilst not fully addressing previous cuts, it does allow local authorities to set budgets without cuts and without substantially increasing council tax. It's my expectation that, as local authorities set their tax rates, which most of them are doing around about now and in the next few weeks, most will set an increase of less than 2 per cent, and some will set a 0 per cent increase. The local government settlement is the aggregate external finance being provided to local authorities to top up its council tax precept in order for it to spend at the standard spending assessment level. Since business rates were centralised, this has meant that the aggregate external finance, which now includes business rates, makes up a bigger proportion of councils' income. What it is not is a total financial support for each local authority. Local authorities can raise money from council tax. They can raise income from charges and fees and this varies by authority. Some fees and charges, such as the cost of planning applications, are set centrally; others, such as car parking charges, are set fully at the discretion of each local council.

The local government finance settlement determines how much of the funding provided for Wales will be given to each local authority. This funding contains the revenue support grant and the non-domestic rate as stated earlier, and it is issued on the basis of a a needs-based formula. A Welsh Government and local authority working group, called the distribution sub-group, is responsible for ensuring the formula is reviewed regularly. I speak as somebody who once sat on a distribution sub-group and I hold my hand up: we got it wrong. It used to be 52 per cent of road was based on population, and 48 per cent on road lengths. We decided to make it 50:50. It doesn't seem like a big change, does it? Well, it actually moved several hundreds of thousands of pounds out of Swansea, Cardiff and Newport, and put them into Gwynedd, Pembrokeshire and Powys. So, little changes can have huge effects.

The distribution of properties in each band varies enormously. While some authorities have over half their properties in the lowest two bands, others, most notably Monmouth, have over half their properties in band D and above. We would thus expect that those to get the largest Welsh Government support per capita would be Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr and Rhondda Cynon Taf, and the three lowest per capita to be the Vale of Glamorgan, Monmouth and Cardiff, due to the scheme making up for the council tax not being able to be collected. This actually is what happens. I thought the relative annual increase was based mainly upon weighted changes in population. Traditionally, Cardiff is the fastest-growing area in Wales, and has the largest increase, but this year, the largest increase is in Monmouthshire, followed by Cardiff. Cardiff is the third fastest-growing city in Britain; the two that beat it are London and Edinburgh. And what do London and Edinburgh and Cardiff all have in common?

I always ask for two things during this debate, and I was not disappointed this year. Firstly, I'm calling again for business rates to be returned to local authorities. That would reduce the amount being paid centrally. My second request, and I don't understand why it cannot be carried out, is to publish the calculations that produce the aggregate external finance for each authority. This must exist; that is how the funding is calculated. The sums are there: show your workings. I always say that, and I've said that about central Government as well in terms of the money we get from central Government. I'd like people to start showing their workings. Publish the calculations: you've got them, you only have to put them on the website. It would allow academics, local authorities and others to check that the amounts according to the formula are correct. If the Welsh Government does not voluntarily provide them, eventually a freedom of information request will force them to provide it. But I think it's important for everybody to see exactly how the calculations are worked out, and if they are getting the most that they should.

Can I declare an interest also, as a councillor of Monmouthshire County Council for a short period longer? And I absolutely share the sentiments regarding our councils and all they do. I've said many times that the greatest resource that a council has is its staff, and their staff have done fantastically, and continue to do so, and I thank them for that.

Members will recall that recently in this Chamber, as Llyr pointed out, we discussed the local government formula, so we'll remember that many from this side of the Chamber, and indeed, colleagues opposite, argued that the distribution formula was out of date, and certainly not fit for purpose, and I'm going to focus on that area again today. Members will also recall how I argued for the formula in that it didn't sufficiently recognise the needs of rural authorities and the issue of sparsity in any meaningful way, and thanks to Sam Rowlands for raising that point again today.

Deputy Llywydd, to prove this point, Members of the Senedd only have to open the link in today's agenda to the local government finance report and scroll to annex 2, identifying indicators and values used to calculate standard spending assessments attributed to councils. My colleague Sam Rowlands raised again today, but previously pointed out, how much of that data was so out of date, especially the dispersion and settlement data that is stated in the report, dated back to 1991. That aside, I want to focus on the key tenets of my concerns on the formula—that it doesn't sufficiently recognise the rurality and the unit costs of delivering services in rural and sparsely populated authorities. If you look through the indicators used to build the formula, there is, it seems, only dispersion indicators, of which there are four, that can be attributed to touching on rurality. They are stated in the report as being

'designed to capture the additional time and distance costs associated with service delivery to dispersed communities.'

But look at their contribution to the building of the final formula—they are miniscule, they are pence. For easy reference, Members, the explanation to the indicator is item 21 on page 18 of annex 2. There are several other very interesting and questionable indicators used to contribute to the formula, but I won't digress.

Deputy Llywydd, there are many other points that can be made on the inappropriateness of the current formula, as I have raised before, such as the clear evidence that it allows some councils to accumulate huge reserves, whilst seeing smaller and rural councils seeing their reserves diminished. Indeed, you only have to look at Welsh councils' statement of accounts report for any given year to look at their movement in reserves statements to see the accumulation of usable reserves and how they're planning to or have used them. All that said, today, Deputy Llywydd, is not about criticising the quantum being made available to local authorities in the budget, but I will continue to argue that the way the cake is cut up isn't fair, with some councils getting huge wedges and the others, especially rural councils, being thrown the crumbs via this current formula. If the Welsh Government really does care about the sustainability of our councils across Wales, and believe in fairness and the appropriateness of how they are funded, they would realise their distribution method is out of date, not fit for purpose and needs to be reviewed. Minister, please don't hide behind the usual rhetoric that you would commission a review if certain council leaders wanted it. You know that won't happen because you also know as well as I do that some of those councils would have to lose a little to make the formula and its distribution fairer. I urge you, Minister, to look seriously, without political lenses, at the funding formula ahead of future settlements. Diolch.

Please could I also declare that I am Flintshire county councillor? I will be standing down after 14 years in May. During the budget debates, we have discussed the importance of the public sector in delivering front-line services, contributing to the well-being of the nation and employing local people right across the region. And councils—. Sorry, I'm looking at the wrong thing here. Sorry, could I just start again? Sorry.

Take your time, but you've got less time on the clock.

Sorry. I was nearly passing out before with a face mask on. If I take it off I can breathe again. Sorry.

Please can I declare I'm a Flintshire county councillor? During the budget debates, we've discussed the importance of the public sector in delivering front-line services, contributing to the well-being of the nation, and I know across—. Sorry. Can I just give up?

Carolyn, take your time. By all means, there's no rush. You're the last speaker before the Minister. I'll give you plenty of time. Do you want to continue? Do you want to continue? Go on. As someone has said, go for it. You are a county councillor, you know the score, so be confident.

Okay. Right. Sorry. Thank you. Okay. I declare I'm a Flintshire county councillor. During the budget debate, we've discussed the importance of the public sector in delivering front-line services, contributing to the well-being of the nation and employing local people. Along with the healthcare sector, the councils are one of the biggest employers, providing local jobs in local areas. And I am pleased that the Welsh Government have protected local government with an average of 9.4 per cent uplift, compared to English councils' settlement of a 6.9 per cent uplift, and a three-year settlement to give stability and help with planning, especially after 10 years of austerity. I also welcome that the Minister confirmed during the budget debate that the local government funding formula will be analysed by the WLGA finance committee.

When we walk in our communities, we can see the benefits of Welsh Government investment: twenty-first century schools delivering fantastic learning environments; investment in care provision; low and zero-carbon council and social houses; safer routes in the community; active travel schemes encouraging walking and cycling to school and shops and access to work in a cleaner, safer environment. Welsh Government are paying due regard to the future generations and well-being Act and putting sustainability and a green recovery at the heart of investment, giving regard for nature and creating areas for biodiversity.

The cost-of-living crisis is now one of the biggest issues we face and I welcome the packages of support given by Welsh Government and the additional £200 million to deliver the commitment to extend free school meals to all primary school children and expand free childcare. I do remain concerned about funding for highway maintenance—and I would not be me without mentioning this—and the ongoing deterioration of roads, pavements and structures such as bridges following 10 years of austerity and lack of investment. Infrastructure also caused by natural disasters is also a serious problem, but I welcome the additional £48 million revenue and total investment of £102 million capital that was recently announced to help improve flood management and mitigation measures. And also during the budget process, the Minister mentioned an extra £70 million capital funding this year that we can also use for investment in highways, so I really welcome that—thank you. I hope that the Welsh Government will work with local authorities through the Welsh Local Government Association to address the backlog. Over the years, there have been some good examples of joint working, including exploring alternative approaches to prudential borrowing. And also, the review of the building of new roads will see that the funding will be reinvested in the maintenance of existing roads, which will be welcome, as well as public transport, going forward. Diolch.

I call on the Minister for Finance and Local Government to reply to the debate.

Diolch yn fawr. I'd like to thank all Members for their interest and their contributions to the debate today. Like Mike, who has his own local government experience, I would like to join him in really recognising the level of expertise that we do have in the Senedd. I do make a point, I hope, of making the most of that level of expertise that we have on all benches and I'm keen to continue those constructive discussions that we have on all matters relating to local government.

While this is a good settlement building significantly on improved allocations in recent years, I do recognise that this is still not a settlement that can reverse the years of constraint as a result of overall austerity in public finances. Local governments will still need to make some difficult decisions in setting their budgets and it is important, of course, that they engage meaningfully with their local communities as they start to consider their priorities for the forthcoming year.

The core funding we provide to local government is distributed, of course, through a well-established formula and it is created and developed in collaboration with local government and agreed annually with local government through the finance sub-group of the partnership council for Wales. And the formula is free of any political agenda and is driven by data and it does have collective buy-in from local government. The formula is constructed and governed in such a way that it can't be manipulated unfairly by any one authority or group of authorities or by politicians, whether they're locally elected councillors or Welsh Government Ministers.

There of course have always been calls for a fundamental review of the formula and, indeed, I recall that we debated this point in detail in one of the opposition debates just last month, but these calls have been isolated and not collective, because, of course, any formula produces relative winners and losers. But all authorities, as we've heard, will see an increase in funding on a like-for-like basis next year of at least 8.4 per cent. And I do want to reassure all areas of Wales that there's no deliberate bias or unfairness in the formula and to suggest so is unfair to those who engage so positively in the work that they do to deliver it.

Of course, the formula is kept under review and it's right that the core revenue funding is distributed according to relative need. The largest drivers of service expenditure are population levels, deprivation levels and sparsity, and the formula uses indicators of need as opposed to direct measures of service use to ensure that funding allocations can't be directly influenced or manipulated. It is the case that around 72 per cent of the funding distributed through the local government settlement formula relies on data that is updated annually. As a result of the pandemic and the staggered roll-out of universal credit, a number of the indicators are currently frozen and undergoing investigation by the distribution sub-group. But, once these issues are resolved, over 80 per cent of the funding distributed through the local government settlement formula will rely on data that is updated annually. And, of course, we very much look forward to the results of the census, which will be published over a series of weeks and months in the near future. And, of course, there will be other data that is available to update the formula. And this is one of the reasons why, of course, we've provided those clear funding allocations for year 1 of the spending review, but, years 2 and 3, we gave that all-Wales figure so that we could allocate funding on the most up-to-date kind of data.

I will just refer to a meeting that I had with the finance sub-group on 9 February, where we did discuss the issue of the suitability of the local government settlement funding formula and the timeliness of the data that feeds in to the formula. Local authority leaders noted the need for any funding formula to balance the need for stability in funding and responsiveness to changing relative needs. But we will discuss—. At our next meeting of the finance sub-group, in July, we'll be looking at components of the local government funding formula and whether there should be work to review some of those components in particular. So, I think that that is a welcome step.

Any change to the formula, of course, would result in winners and losers, and these could be substantial, and that's why I've said previously that, if there is that kind of collective appetite from local government to have that fundamental review, then of course we would act on it together. I will mention, though, that we have agreed to—or we have committed to—making council tax fairer in Wales. Of course, this is something that we're doing in partnership with our co-operation agreement partners in Plaid Cymru, although I'm not aware of a commitment in that agreement to take powers away from local authorities—I'm not sure that's something that any of us would have signed up to—but we are absolutely committed to working to make council tax fairer. As part of that work, we will be considering how the funding formula needs to respond to this and to other changing circumstances when providing authorities with stability and certainty. So, the formula will form part of our thinking, particularly when we get the updated indications as to what the change might be for local authorities in Wales as a result of any council tax reform. And when we start thinking about whether transitional arrangements are needed, for example, all of these things will inevitably have a link across to the funding formula.

And then just finally, to respond to the point relating to the situation in Ukraine, we are a nation of sanctuary, we are very much ready and willing to welcome people from Ukraine. And we had an absolutely incredible meeting, I thought, with the leader of the WLGA, the leaders of all local authorities in Wales, the third sector and the police, and my colleague Jane Hutt, the Minister for Social Justice, was also at the meeting—

Would you take an intervention, Minister?

Yes, of course.

We all see the horrific—what's happening in Ukraine. The quantum of refugees leaving now is in excess of 2 million, I think, reported today. There was a meeting last week by Government Ministers with colleagues in local government and the health boards. As Minister for Finance and Local Government, are you in a position to update the Senedd today as to what Wales can exactly put on the table as an offer for the refugees that will ultimately be coming to the United Kingdom? Because I think it's really important to understand what we can do in a meaningful and positive way.

We will absolutely give a meaningful and positive welcome to people coming from Ukraine. Obviously, there are discussions with local government in respect of any funding required. But I will say that, just reflecting on that meeting, it really was an example of compassionate leadership in action. And that's the kind of leadership that we are all absolutely crying out for our UK Government now to be starting to turn its mind to. Because compassionate leadership isn't about being a pushover or an easy or soft touch, it's about seeing people as people. And, you know, we talk about one of these refugees coming to Wales, but, of course, in the UK at the moment, we've just got a handful of them. So, when the refugees do arrive, they will be assured of a really warm welcome. And that meeting that we had with local government leaders and others last week, really did make me positive that we will be able to provide that kind of warm and important welcome to them, and the support, of course, that they will need after fleeing such terrible circumstances.

We would expect that there would be consequential funding from the UK Government in respect of any resettlement kind of schemes that it would introduce, but, of course, we're still waiting, really, for the shape of those schemes to be clear from the UK Government, but, of course, local government and Welsh Government stand ready to welcome people.

So, just turning back to the settlement, Llywydd, I do commend it to the Senedd, it does reflect our commitment to public services and continues to support local government across Wales to deliver for the people of Wales. 

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] There is objection, therefore we will defer voting on this item until voting time. And we now reach voting time, so we'll take a short break whilst we prepare technically for that vote. A short break.

That brings us to voting time, and the first vote this evening is on item 8, the LCM on the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Bill. The vote is on the motion tabled in the name of Vaughan Gething. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 41, no abstentions and 13 against, and therefore the motion is agreed. 

We now move to a vote on item 10, the vote on the final budget for 2022-23. I call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Lesley Griffiths. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 28, 12 abstentions, 14 against, and therefore the motion is agreed.

We'll move now to a vote on item 11, on the local government settlement for 2022-23. I call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Lesley Griffiths. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 28, 25 abstentions and one against, and therefore the motion is agreed. 

That brings voting to a close for today. Thank you very much.