National Assembly for Wales

Good afternoon and welcome to this afternoon's Plenary meeting. The first item will be questions to the First Minister, and the first question is from Laura Anne Jones. 

The Welsh Government offers comprehensive business support to companies in Wales, including those within the defence sector. This support includes innovation, export and skills development. 

Diolch. During the rising global tensions, it’s imperative, of course, that Wales plays its part in the UK defence strategy. Last week, alongside my leader, Darren Millar, I visited Sierra Nevada Corporation Misson Systems UK in St Athan, a Welsh success story that develops and delivers critical defence capabilities to the UK and its allies. What I found—in my new portfolio role—so wonderful was that 60 per cent of its workforce is made up of veterans, as well as fantastic opportunities for STEM graduates as well, all to get to high-paid, high-tech jobs, and to be trained on the job, in terms of the veterans. What are you doing as a Government to foster connections and match-up more veterans with high-paid jobs across Wales? Diolch.

Well, thanks very much. And that’s really good news that they are using some of the skills and talents that they have developed whilst serving in the armed services, to use those transferrable skills to help support jobs and the economy locally. So, that is very good news. And we hope, of course, that there will be opportunities. We know there’s going to be a significant increase in the amount spent on defence by the UK Government. It’s very important that, in Wales, we get our fair share of that funding. There are 285 companies in Wales related to defence, and eight of the top 11 global air and defence companies have a significant presence in Wales. So, there’s a real opportunity, but that is something that is, perhaps, worth pursuing even further, in terms of just making sure we link up the armed services’ veterans with those potential new jobs.

First Minister, I welcome that response. I, too, have visited a number and met with a number of defence companies in the last week, and they are looking towards expansion at the moment. I’d like to invite you to visit a factory with me in the Heads of the Valleys region to talk about how the Welsh Government can proactively support companies that are seeking to invest in the defence of this country, our democracy and our values at the most critical time for the world, and also ensure that companies are able to work together as a cluster, reinforcing supply lines and supply chains, investing in training for local people, and investing in an infrastructure that means that the investments that we are looking at making today are investments for the long term and not simply the short term.

Well, thanks very much. You’re quite right—I think it is important that we seek out these opportunities, and that significant increase that is going to be undertaken by the UK Government. I’m determined, as is, I know, the economy Secretary, who’s been doing a huge amount of work on this already, identifying what are those companies that we have who could offer to support the UK Government in their endeavours, but also making sure that we work with the defence industrial strategy that’s arising from the UK industrial strategy, and how that can benefit Wales. So, I know that the economy Secretary is very keen not just to look at manufacturing and components and things, but also to make sure our universities are active within this space as well. But I’d be more than happy to undertake a visit with you in your constituency.

We have committed to improving health outcomes across Wales. The actions for 'A Healthier Wales' have been updated, and they include equal access to the health and social care system to improve fair outcomes.

I am concerned about a lack of significant progress with a scheme to improve health and well-being facilities in the Nantlle valley in my constituency. Despite several promises and consultations, for at least seven years now, the site earmarked for the Lleu health and well-being centre continues to be empty. There is no sign of any of the major changes promised and local residents are very disappointed, and I share their frustration. I'll be chairing a community meeting that is being organised for 7 April in Pen-y-groes. Could you support me, therefore, please, in joining the calls for an update on the situation by the health board and by Cynefin group? We really need a full update by the meeting on 7 April, and having the support of the First Minister of Wales to gain the latest information would be very much appreciated by the people I represent in the Nantlle valley.

Thank you very much, Siân. I know that there is great enthusiasm for developing a project of this kind in the Nantlle valley. You will be aware that the Welsh Government has already provided £1.2 million to the Cynefin group to develop this concept, so that's not a small amount of money to develop a plan. Whilst they were developing this, they were looking at a number of different independent funding sources, including Cyngor Gwynedd and the National Lottery. But the fact is that there are a number of partners that have withdrawn from the project, and that is not the fault of the Welsh Government. Now, I know that the Welsh Government has met with Cynefin in February, and that they are reassessing the original model proposed, and there will be an update at the end of this month. I think Betsi recognises that the surgery needs to be renewed, but I know that the health Minister had discussions with the chair of the health board yesterday on this particular issue, but we are awaiting that update that we're expecting at the end of the month.

Questions now from the party leaders. The leader of the Conservatives, Darren Millar.

Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, this weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the advent of lockdowns during the COVID pandemic that swept Wales. All of us had friends, neighbours or even relatives who became seriously ill. Some lost their lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, it's vital, of course, that we learn every lesson possible from what happened. To this end, my party has consistently called for a full, Wales-specific public inquiry into the response to the pandemic here—something that your predecessor, the former First Minister Mark Drakeford, rejected. Do you share his view?

Yes. I think it is important that we allow the public inquiry, which has spent a huge number of hours and has taken evidence from Ministers across the Welsh Government—. I can't tell you how many hours of work has gone into this by, certainly, Government Ministers, and certainly officials, and to duplicate that work I don't think would make sense for anybody. What we have done is we have said if there are any gaps that are not covered by the official inquiry, then the committee that has been set up in the Senedd will look at those. I know I'd like to thank the two Chairs of the committee for the work that they're doing in relation to that.

Well, that falls far short, frankly, of what the public want to see, and certainly what the older people's commissioner, the COVID-bereaved families and every other party in this Senedd want to see, which is a Wales-specific public inquiry. Now, your party blocked the delivery of a Wales-specific inquiry, but what was agreed was this compromise position, with a special purpose COVID-19 inquiry committee here in Wales, to consider those gaps, as you've just indicated. Now, in order for that committee to be taken seriously, it must have the powers that it needs and give confidence to the public that it is doing its job properly. That's why, in January, the committee wrote to the Senedd's Business Committee to request the power to be able to require witnesses, such as Ministers and senior officials, and former Ministers and senior officials, to give evidence under oath. That would give public confidence in their work. So, why did your business manager this morning block that particular request from the committee?

The answer is because it's not a public inquiry. That's the way the system works. We've made it very clear about how we're going to organise this. A vast amount of public money has been spent on this already, a vast amount of legal work has been done on this already. I recognise that people who suffered during the pandemic want answers. They are getting answers. It’s very interesting to look at the particular issue that they’re focused on at the moment, which is the personal protective equipment system. And we’ve made it very clear that, when it came to PPE in Wales, we did a much, much better job than the absolute scandalous waste that your party put up with, and the absolute corruption, where you had mates being given contracts worth millions upon millions of pounds for PPE that was unusable. It’s a scandal and I’m glad that it’s coming out in the public inquiry. You won’t find that in Wales.

I’m very disappointed by these answers, First Minister. The Government of Wales Act 2006 gives this Senedd the ability to call witnesses under oath to give evidence to our committees. Few will be persuaded by your argument that because this isn’t a public inquiry, the oaths ought not to be sworn. Why are you standing in the way of requiring witnesses simply to tell the truth by asking them to take an oath? Today, in Westminster, your colleagues announced a Hillsborough law, which will be passed this year to require officials giving evidence to inquiries to tell the truth. Now, that’s something that we on this side of the Chamber and, hopefully, everybody in this Chamber, would fully support. So, why are you blocking a simple request for a requirement to swear an oath before giving evidence to this special purpose committee of this Senedd? We know that the COVID pandemic destroyed lives, it destroyed livelihoods, and it’s consequences for people’s health, for their education and for their businesses are, unfortunately, still being felt across Wales. So, if your Government won’t agree to allowing that committee to take evidence under oath, will you at least agree to permitting this Senedd, in Government time, to consider this matter and give the ability for this Senedd to have a vote on whether to give these powers to that particular committee, because that’s what people are calling for?

Look, we have a public inquiry that is in the middle of reporting. It is a vast amount of work. I think it makes sense for us to allow that public inquiry to run its course. And what we’re doing is we’re looking at the various modules, one at a time, to see where the gaps are, and that is precisely what the special purpose committee is doing. If you started to introduce a different form, it would mean that many people would be excluded from being able to give their witness statements. What I can tell you is that that cautious approach that was undertaken in Wales was very much appreciated by the Welsh public, which is why they voted the Labour Party back in with a significant vote in the last election. I’ll tell you what they didn’t do is they didn’t appreciate the way that the Conservative Party partied in Downing Street on the day that the Queen was mourning her husband. That was scandalous. That is the kind of thing that needs to be exposed and none of that was happening here in Wales.

The leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Diolch, Llywydd. The UK Government has today announced punitive cuts to welfare that will, no doubt, lead to denying many disabled people a sense of dignity and trapping more people in poverty. There is a case to be made always for improving the welfare system, but cutting financial lifelines that allow the most vulnerable to undertake basic tasks is not it. Last week, I gave the First Minister two opportunities to condemn the actions of the UK Government in this respect, not least given the direct impact it will have on the Welsh Government’s own budgets. Twice she refused to do so. Now that she’s seen some of the detail, will she do so today?

Well, thanks very much. I know that there have been people across the whole of Wales who have been very concerned about the speculation that’s been going on over the past few days, and I recognise that concern. That’s why I personally spoke to No. 10 last week, to outline some of our concerns in terms of the potential impact on some of our communities in Wales. And I’m very pleased to see that many of those concerns have been taken on board and that the most vulnerable will continue to be protected. But I think it is important to recognise that there is a need for reform of the system. You talked yourself about people being trapped in poverty. Benefits trap people in poverty. We need to give people a ladder out of benefits and out of poverty. You need to do that through restoring trust and fairness, and I’m glad that that, in particular, will be addressed.

Again today we hear the First Minister here in Wales defend the actions of the UK Government that will have a detrimental impact on the people that she serves. When the Conservatives were in power at Westminster, the First Minister said, and I quote:

‘this is really difficult for us while the Tories are in power in Westminster making those kinds of cuts…I do think that the cuts that are being introduced by the Tory Government are absolutely unacceptable.'

Why is it that Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Manchester, is able to find it within himself to criticise the actions of the Labour Government, while she chooses not to? As I said last week, and I repeat today, decisions taken will have a direct impact on the people of Wales and will no doubt lead to increased pressures on Welsh budgets.

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice is a member of interministerial groups between the Department for Work and Pensions and the Welsh Government. In 2015, the Welsh Government published a paper entitled ‘Mitigating the impact of the UK Government’s welfare reforms’. So, the First Minister has to stop pretending that this isn’t a matter for her, or that decisions taken by Labour in Westminster don’t have a direct impact on her Government.

She mentioned some informal discussions she had last week. Did Liz Kendall formally consult with the Welsh Government prior to today’s announcement? And if not, did the First Minister, other than those informal conversations last week, make formal representations to the UK Government on behalf of those who will suffer as a consequence of Labour’s hostile welfare environment?

Yes, I did. I spoke directly to No. 10 myself, and I wrote to Liz Kendall making sure that she assessed how any changes might impact Wales and people in Wales. There is a Green Paper, as I understand it, that will be published today. There will be an opportunity to respond to that. As you can imagine, we haven’t had time to look through the detail of what’s been proposed. But one thing that I’m pleased to say is that we were able to demonstrate how actually standing by people and with people in their efforts to get back into work, as we have done with our young person’s guarantee, makes a difference. What we’ve seen in particular with youth unemployment is that Wales stands at half that of England as a result of the initiatives that this Welsh Labour Government has presented and is delivering. They were very interested to learn from our experience and interested to copy what we’ve been doing here in Wales with those results.

Again, no doubt, Labour supporters, people who have been faithful to Labour over the years, will be disappointed that the First Minister is again refusing to take the opportunity to criticise these decisions, which will impact heavily on people in Wales.

At the weekend, I was putting the finishing touches to my conference speech for this weekend. I don’t envy the First Minister, who presumably has to run hers past the Prime Minister as well. But if I were to say in my speech that I vehemently disagree with Labour’s cuts to welfare, that Labour’s refusal to devolve the Crown Estate and deliver HS2 consequentials is inexcusable, and if I were to say that it will be a win-win for Wales when we have a First Minister willing to stand up to Westminster on behalf of the people of Wales, how does the First Minister imagine the audience will respond?

I’ll tell you what they would respond to: they’d respond to the kind of priorities that we set out and that we’ve had as priorities in our budget—that you voted with the Tories on a couple of weeks ago, against £4 billion coming into those front-line services.

Let’s just be absolutely clear: we recognise that there is an impact in terms of welfare changes on Wales, which is why I personally got involved in this issue with No. 10. As I said, I’m very pleased that some of those points have been taken on board. I’m pleased that we will see a permanent above-inflation rise to universal credit, that we will see people on universal credit with severe lifelong disabilities not have to face benefits reassessment. Also, I welcome the fact that there will be a right to try work without the fear of putting benefits at risk. The fact is that there does need to be reform of the system. I don’t want to see people trapped on benefits.

I found it really fascinating to read this remarkable committee report, ‘Tackling the Disability Employment Gap’. This is what we should be focusing on: how do we get people who are desperate to get into work into work? We are very pleased that we have got a disabled people's rights plan, which will be published imminently, looking precisely at how we stand by and with people who are desperate to get into work. That's what the Labour Party is doing in Wales.

We are fully committed to the ongoing independent review of the water sector, commissioned jointly with the UK Government. This review will assess systemic challenges and provide recommendations for the future of Wales. After receiving the final report, the Deputy First Minister will outline the Welsh Government’s next steps.

Over recent years, the main water company in Wales has been behaving more and more like the private sector companies across the border, either by paying huge bonuses or releasing sewage into our rivers, while bills go up year on year. There is evidence from other nations that suggests that a public ownership model can bring better outcomes, but the commission that you've just referred to, First Minister, has shut out that option of nationalisation because of the cost in terms of compensation to shareholders. But in the case of Dŵr Cymru, that doesn't arise, because there are no shareholders. So, would the Welsh Government, alongside the work of the independent commission, be willing to commission independent advice on the model of creating a water authority for Wales that would be accountable not to a board of individuals but to the Welsh Senedd and the Welsh people?

Diolch yn fawr. We all know how sensitive the issue of water is in Wales, and it is important that we treat it as such. We've got a history of seeing things like Tryweryn and we need to make sure that we don't see those kinds of things repeated. This is one of the most extensive independent reviews of the water sector in terms of regulation since privatisation. So, this is a comprehensive review. The focus will be on restoring the health of rivers, lakes and seas, and also in driving economic growth. Nationalisation is not in scope because of the high costs, but also the delays that it would cause in achieving better outcomes for consumers and the environment. I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that the new UK Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 will provide powers for Ofwat to ban the payment of bonuses to water bosses if they fail to meet high standards in terms of protecting the environment, consumers and their companies' finances.

In the 2023 Natural Resources Wales performance report, Dŵr Cymru was responsible for 107 sewage pollution incidents. There have been improvements to self-reported pollution incidents reported to NRW, but at 70 per cent, it's still falling short of the 80 per cent target. However, Dŵr Cymru is currently accountable to NRW, with Natural Resources Wales issuing the company a stark warning that it needs to turn the tables on its downward performance trend. Dŵr Cymru are also taking steps, though, to invest £780 million in 2025-26 to improve services and to invest for the future. This will amount to around £4 billion over the next five years, and this level of funding will be difficult to replicate if the water industry is brought into public ownership. With this in mind, does the First Minister agree with me that keeping the water industry in Wales in the private ownership of Dŵr Cymru, as long as they show improvements, is the best way forward to see improvements to our water services, and when do you envisage the review being published? 

In Wales, of course, you'll be aware that the main water company is a not-for-profit model, so it is different from what happens in other parts of the United Kingdom. Sir Jon Cunliffe will present his findings in June, so that's the time to look out for. But the other thing that I think probably is worth noting is that water quality in Wales is improving and 40 per cent of our water bodies are now achieving good or better status. There's a long way to go, let's be clear about that, and we want to see that significant investment. We know, however, that there's poor performance when it comes to leakage, per-capita consumption, supply interruptions, drinking water quality, mains repair, pollution incidents and treatment work compliance. So, there's a long way to go and I do hope that this review will help to drive those improvements.

Privatisation, be it electricity, gas, rail or water, has been a complete disaster for most people. Whilst everything was not perfect when these were in public ownership, it's got a lot worse since privatisation. Water used to be run mainly by local authorities, very successfully, but we had the creation first of the national water body and then Welsh Water. What is without doubt is that the cost has increased from being a small part of the local government rates bill to being a substantial water and sewerage bill, and lots of people are contacting me on a weekly basis complaining about it. What does the First Minister think are the disadvantages of a publicly owned Welsh water company?

Thanks very much. I think if you look at the model across the border, which is one of privatisation, you'll see that actually there are some scandalous things that have happened in terms of lack of investment, in terms of people profiteering at the expense of the public. That is not the situation in Wales, where we have a different kind of model, which is a not-for-profit model. But it is true to say that there is a need for further investment, and it's important, I think, for us to listen to the concerns. That independent review is the beginning of a process to ensure that the water sector performs better for Welsh consumers, prioritises sustainability and delivers fair pricing.

The Welsh Government’s vision is to provide comprehensive specialist job coach support to individuals who need it, particularly those with learning disabilities and autism.

You made reference to the Equality and Social Justice Committee's report, and that is one of their conclusions: to provide job coaching. Engage to Change gave evidence to the committee and they're a partnership between the National Centre for Mental Health at Cardiff University and Learning Disability Wales. Since 2016, they've worked across Wales to support people with learning disabilities and learning difficulties and/or autism aged between 16 and 25. The good news is that they've provided job coaching across Wales and worked with over 1,300 young people and 800 employers. They've achieved a 41 per cent employment success rate, compared to 4.8 per cent nationally, where job coaching isn't provided in the same way. The Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership has visited, and on Thursday, the Minister for Mental Health and Well-being will visit, but unfortunately, Engage to Change closes its doors on 31 March. Their work will continue in other forms, but I would like to see the Welsh Government support job coaching fully, ensure that job coaching continues, and that their legacy is continued throughout Wales. Can the First Minister ensure that that happens?

Thanks very much, Hefin. Those really are staggering results. Clearly, we need to learn from those and make sure that we mainstream them. That's why the lessons learned from that Engage to Change project are integral to shaping future job coaching practices and policies in Wales. From 2027, the new Welsh Government employability support programme will include specialist job coaching services. We have, even on some of our current programmes, like Jobs Growth Wales and supported shared apprenticeships, already a system of job coaching services as part of the offer there. We're also piloting activities on ReAct+ and Communities for Work Plus. 

Question 5 [OQ62485] has been withdrawn. 

Our current list of strategic road network infrastructure improvements is contained in the national transport delivery plan. We are also devolving decision making to the north through its regional transport plan.

It's no wonder that the lack of strategy from 26 years of perennial Welsh Labour Governments has led to no solutions for motorists in the Vale of Clwyd. It's potentially a reason why Labour lost the constituency in 2021. Since devolution, there has been next to no investment in our roads. The last major project was in 1997, with the opening of the Rhuddlan bypass. The local population has increased, which is welcome, but local road infrastructure hasn't, with issues being exacerbated by your 20 mph policy, with just 0.6 per cent of roads currently being exempt, your long-standing failure to deliver Llanerch bridge, despite four and a half years of me asking, and the 'dizzy bends' connecting Rhyl and Prestatyn not expanding or becoming safer since the days of horse and cart. So, what reassurances can the First Minister give to my constituents that the Welsh Government does have future strategic thinking on the future of private transport for people in the Vale of Clwyd, or do we just have to endure future years of more Welsh Government and local authority failures in this department, which is keeping a foot on the throat of people wanting to get from A to B sufficiently and get on in life?

Well, thanks very much, Gareth. Look, if it was left to you, there would have been less money going into roads this year—that's the truth of it—and you voted against money going into precisely your constituency. So, when you go back to your constituents, make sure that they know what you did. You talk the talk, you don't walk the walk. I think it's really important for people to recognise that we are serious about making sure that we improve our roads, and that's one of the reasons why, this year, we're going to be giving £5 million in revenue to be able to unlock £60 million in borrowing so that we can fill 70,000 potholes. 

The EU is our most important trading partner. Figures vary, but we know Brexit has had a negative and damaging impact on Wales. The trade and co-operation agreement governs our relationship with the EU, but it cannot replace the market access we had previously, and it creates barriers for Welsh businesses.

First Minister, thank you for that answer. It's very clear that the early signs of Brexit are that it's had a devastating consequence and impact on the Welsh economy. I wonder if you could outline what steps the Welsh Government is taking to analyse the economic impact, so that we have the full facts as to the full scale of impact of Brexit on the Welsh economy, and also then to understand what the benefits might be to the Welsh economy of being part of the single market.

Thanks very much. Nigel Farage and his crew of Brexiteers, along with most of the Tories, told the people of Wales that they wouldn't be worse off when they left the EU, but now we know they were duped. They were promised more money for the NHS, they were promised that we'd have amazing trade deals that would boost trade with the rest of the world. They said we could control our own borders and reduce immigration. Well, what we did get? We got an 8 per cent reduction in exports, so that Welsh businesses, which employ thousands of people, are worse off. We've seen a 17 per cent drop in food and drink exports. We've seen a 29 per cent reduction in imports from the EU, and that's before we start on the £772 million shortfall when it comes to structural funding, and that's before, don't forget, the £243 million that we're not getting in terms of EU rural funding. And on that big issue of, 'Oh, yes, this is all about stopping the immigrants', well, we've had more people migrating into this country than ever before, and many of them are very, very welcome, because they are supporting our public services.

They are trying to repeat the same game with the public again in the repackaged Reform party, offering really simple answers to complex questions that are going to leave people worse off. We need a much closer relationship than one we have now, and there's an opportunity to make that happen at the UK-EU summit in May.

First Minister, as you will remember, areas like my hometown of Pontypridd were in receipt of large-scale generational funding from the European Union, such as the Objective 1 funding. It is widely regarded that this money was poorly administered and ultimately failed to create sufficient jobs and infrastructure to lift Pontypridd and other Valleys communities out of poverty. In fact, First Minister, after the initial two rounds of funding, the south Wales Valleys actually became relatively poorer. West Wales and the Valleys, joined by Malta, two regions of Portugal and four regions of southern Italy, are the only areas that became poorer despite the investment. And if I remember rightly, West Wales and the Valleys was the only region that continually qualified for the Objective 1 funding right from its inception. Sorry, Minister; I’ve got a bit of a cold.

This overall wastage and lack of vision for areas such as Pontypridd was the ultimate reason why the EU was rejected by them. First Minister, I was proud to be the Pontypridd constituency representative for Vote Leave, and I was there on the night when all three constituencies—Pontypridd, Cynon Valley and the Rhondda—declared for 'leave'. I have no doubt they would do it again. First Minister, rather than dragging up old news from nearly 10 years ago, what is this Welsh Government actually doing to bring prosperity to Pontypridd and the south Wales Valleys?

I'll tell you what we're doing to bring prosperity to Pontypridd. We've invested over £800 million in a new rail system, and you know what? Some of that money is from the EU. So, don't go and tell me that, actually, EU funding didn't help. It has transformed the transport mechanisms in the Valleys communities. I was really fortunate to go on one of those brand-new trains last week. What an experience. Trains that are made—half of them are made—here in Wales, jobs created in Wales. You want to talk about that relationship with the EU. That is fundamental. You heard the numbers that I quoted to Mick Antoniw earlier. It is clear that we are worse off as a result of the fact that we have left the EU.

You ask what we've done in Ponty—money was poured into Pontypridd as a result of the European regional development funding, and also to support people into work through European structural funding. It is unbelievable that you have the temerity to ask what has Europe done for Pontypridd. ‘A hell of a lot’ is the answer, and now we are going to have to find that money ourselves.

We’re working across the Government to prepare a response to the report’s recommendations. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language has already announced his intention to publish our response to the report at the Urdd Eisteddfod in May of this year.

Well, thank you very much. I'm pleased to hear that there is a clear date set, because you'll remember, seven months ago, you received the final report of the commission at the National Eisteddfod in Pontypridd. You know too that it is a very important piece of work that includes a number of recommendations in vitally important areas in terms of housing, education, planning, the economy, and so on. And this follows, of course, a crisis in those Welsh-speaking strongholds where Welsh is spoken as a language every day—the areas that you and I represent in the Mid and West Wales region. And in terms of Carmarthenshire, we've seen, of course, a decline from 50 per cent in 2001 of those able to speak Welsh to 43.9 per cent in 2011 and 39.9 per cent in 2021. So, it is a crisis.

You've responded to the question that I intended to ask at the end, namely when exactly this report will receive a response from the Government, and the additional question therefore is: will the recommendations of the report be acted upon during this Senedd term?

Thank you very much. I remember formally receiving this report. It was the first formal event for me as First Minister, and I was in a state of shock at the time, I have to say. I do think it is a very important report, and it's important that we take time now to look at the recommendations and consider which ones we can accept.

What I can say is that next year there will be a minimum of £100,000 to every menter iaith as a result of the budget—the budget that you voted against. But also we have allocated £1 million to support Welsh in Carmarthenshire. I think it's very important that we keep the level of Welsh up in our strongholds. There will be another report following on from this one that will look at the Welsh language across the whole of Wales. But you will receive a response from the relevant Minister at the Urdd Eisteddfod of this year. 

One of the things that this report notes is the importance of people being able to use services through the medium of Welsh if they wish to do so. I remember—I think it was last year, or perhaps the year before that—HSBC closing its Welsh language line, and there was a great deal of attention given to that in the Senedd at the time. But one of the reasons that HSBC gave as to why they got rid of the line was that people didn't know about it. So, what work is the Welsh Government doing with services, not just in the public sector but also the private sector and the third sector too, to promote the fact that services are available through the medium of Welsh and to help people to use them? 

Thank you very much. It is very important and I do think that we should thank those businesses who do value the Welsh language and use Welsh in providing their services. Of course, it is up to them to do that work of ensuring that their customers are aware of what is available in terms of Welsh language services. But, of course, we do have a Welsh language division within Welsh Government that does great work in promoting the Welsh language more generally.

Welsh Government manages the oversight framework for all its companies through framework documents, remit letters and accounting officer arrangements, agreed with companies and monitored by the partnership teams in the Welsh Government.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. There's an array of companies now that have been established over the last decade by the Welsh Government. A small but important one is Industry Wales that has had nearly £10 million of public money over the past decade. The Auditor General for Wales last week issued a report that said he was unable to sign off the accounts, and the principal asset of this particular company was a packing line. I'm not quite sure why the company that is there to promote business owns a packing line in its own right, and that packing line stands in the accounts at £0.75 million. I cannot hear the Deputy Minister chopsing from the side there. I appreciate he might want to contribute. [Interruption.] Former, sorry, former. If he wants to contribute, please do, but I'm trying to get answers—

[Inaudible.] He's not the First Minister.

I'm trying to get answers for the auditor general who's unable to get responded to by this company. Are you able to provide answers that say how this deplorable situation has been arrived at, where the auditor general finds himself in the position of not being able to sign off the accounts of a company that is wholly owned by the Welsh Government?

Thanks very much. I think it's really important that we correct some of the reporting issues in relation to this. I think that it's not true to say that £9.7 million is what the auditor general was concerned about. He was concerned about three fixed assets to the value of around £1 million. My understanding is that those were for lines in relation to a very quick response to preparing and supporting us in relation to COVID and the pandemic. It is important, though, that we get the financial statements correct. My understanding is that there haven't been any concerns in terms of the rest of the financial statements. My understanding also is that Industry Wales has implemented all the recommendations in the auditor general's report and is confident in its robust accounts procedures moving forward.

The Welsh Government supports new renewable energy projects to boost UK energy security, create valuable jobs and attract new green industries to Wales. Developers need to involve communities to deliver projects and impacts on communities and the environment, and they are considered through the planning system.

First Minister, many of my constituents are very concerned about the proposals by Green GEN Cymru to put pylons right the way through my constituency and other Members' constituencies within this Chamber. The Welsh Government set up an independent advisory body to look at the cost analysis of overgrounding and undergrounding cables. Many people would have thought that, actually, the analysis would have been done by now and that data would have been published. So, can you provide an update to me of when that data is going to be published? And, when it is, will the Government send it for independent academic analysis, to make sure that everything has been looked at independently, to make sure that nothing is skewed one way for one proposal over another?

Thanks very much. I know there's a lot of concern in certain communities about proposals in relation to energy grids. That's one of the reasons why we've established this energy grid advisory board, and they will be reporting very, very soon. One of the things that, obviously, they have been considering is the fact that we do need to see an increase in the amount of energy that is produced in Wales. The fact is that estimates suggest we'll need three times as much electricity by 2050 as we do today. And that's got to come from somewhere, and it's got to be transported one way or another.

Now, it is absolutely right that we look at what is the best way to transport this energy, and we have to do that in a way that is sensitive. We're working with—. I had a conversation with WindEurope last week, to talk about how they do it on the continent, so we will be doing further studies in relation to that. But you're quite right; I spoke to the company themselves as well, and emphasised that, actually, any analysis that they do needs to be independently verified.

All children in Wales up to the age of 16 have access to eye care services through NHS Wales, including a sight test. Children who require glasses to correct their sight receive these free on the NHS, following changes to legislation by the Welsh Government in October 2023.

Thank you for that response. It has come to my attention, however, that children  in Wales can be disadvantaged as compared to those in England and Scotland when it comes to the Vouchers at a Glance scheme. This is a voucher provided to parents where they need to buy glasses, but it's only half the value that it is in the other two nations that I mentioned. Now, clearly, those parents are aware, as are we all, that we have a relatively higher level of child poverty in Wales—30 per cent of children are living in poverty here—and a number of families are concerned, as a result of that, that the children can't access the glasses that they need. So, the question is: what are you doing to learn from other nations in this context in order to ensure that children in Wales not only have a level playing field, but also get the best possible care when it comes to eye care?

Thank you very much, and you'll be aware that the legislation in Wales is different to that in the remainder of the United Kingdom.

In Wales, we legally compel optometry practices to provide glasses at no charge, under the NHS, for children and qualifying adults across all prescription ranges. Now, a basic pair of spectacles must be appropriate in terms of prescriptions and frame fit for the individual and be within the value of the relevant voucher to which the individual is entitled. What that does is to ensure an eligible person will be entitled to a basic appliance without further cost, thereby ensuring equity of access across all prescription ranges, ensuring they remain accessible for the most vulnerable. Now, that is not the case elsewhere across the UK, where an optical voucher is used as a contribution towards the cost of glasses, but there's no legal requirement to provide a pair of glasses at no additional cost.

I thank the First Minister. The First Minister has managed to answer every one of the questions tabled for her, and that must be some kind of record. 

Item 2 is the business statement and announcement, and I call on the Trefnydd, Jane Hutt, to make that statement.

Thank you, Llywydd. There are no changes to this week's business. Draft business for the next three weeks is shown on the business statement and announcement, which is available to Members electronically.

Trefnydd, I'd be grateful if we could have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning on the next steps for the Celtic free port and for the free-port programme more generally. The Celtic free port will have an enormous impact on my constituency and, indeed, right across south Wales, providing thousands of jobs and attracting billions of pounds in public and private investment. Now, the Welsh Government has a significant role to play in the development of the free port, and it's crucial that we know what work is being done behind the scenes to develop the free port in order that we can better understand where the free port is in terms of issues like planning consents and, indeed, creating jobs. Therefore, I'd be grateful if we could have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary on this transformational project, and indeed the whole free-port programme, so that we can track the progress being made and learn more about the next steps forward. Diolch, Llywydd.

Diolch yn fawr, Paul Davies. Well, I know the questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning are an appropriate place as well to raise this, but I'm sure that the Cabinet Secretary, who has heard that question today, will be very willing to, as you say, update on this transformational development in terms of the Celtic free port, and indeed the wider free-port developments.

Trefnydd, I'd like to request a statement on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, because yesterday marked 10 years since this Senedd passed that Act. Since then, there's been international coverage, there's been a great deal of interest in the Act, but we do know that there are still some challenges in implementing the Act. We see it being challenged in the context of planning, for example. We're still seeing that child poverty is increasing here, although we have had this Act in place for 10 years. So, I think it's an opportunity for us to reflect on some of the successes as a Senedd, but also to look at the next decade in terms of this important legislation.

Thank you very much, Heledd Fychan, for your very important question to all of us in the Chamber.

I would be very happy to table—find a way and time to table—an oral statement, because we are very proud that Wales has led the way on the future generations Act and the commitment to the well-being of future generations. We work, obviously—. He's very independent, the future generations commissioner, and we value that independence, as do the people of Wales, but we will be marking the tenth anniversary throughout 2025. Indeed, there are events happening all the time. On Thursday, I'm engaging in Light up the Future, future design of the well-being of future generations Act. And I think, with his 'Cymru Can' initiative, Derek Walker has been very pertinent and inspiring for Wales and in the world. So, yes, we will find a date to table that statement.

I'd like to ask for two statements today. Could we have a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for housing on how the Welsh Government works with housing developers to ensure that housing in Wales is built to the appropriate standards? The St Edeyrns estate in my constituency is a new housing estate with over 1,000 properties, a new primary school and some retail units; it's a really lovely community in north Cardiff. But, over the past few years, constituents have continuously come to me for help as there are not enough bins, the roads are still not adopted by the local council, pavements and roads have not been finished to a proper standard, and it's also been reported that plumbing has not been fitted correctly in the houses, and, in one instance, a hair bobble was used as a washer as part of the plumbing. So, could we have a statement to say what the Welsh Government does to ensure that the developers are held to a very high standard?

I'd also like to ask for an update from the Welsh Government on the ways that we are supporting credit unions in Wales to counteract the appalling debt interest rates that were revealed by Michael Sheen in his programme, Michael Sheen's Secret Million Pound Giveaway. I know that Cardiff & Vale Credit Union are doing excellent work, and I'd like to congratulate them on winning the prestigious consumer credit award, but we know that people who are often hardest hit by the sky-high rates of interest are those who are also working very hard, often have multiple jobs. So, I think we should do all we can to support people who need the credit unions, and I'd value an update from the Welsh Government about what we're doing to support credit unions. 

Thank you very much, Julie Morgan, and thank you for that question about the way in which housing is developed. We need more housing, as you say, in Wales, both now and for the future, but it has to be a key principle—it is a key principle—of our national planning policy that the quality of the development must not be sacrificed as a result. And that is about the place where housing is built; we need good design, but we need sustainable places where people can live, work and socialise, and I'm sure many of us across this Chamber are very much aware of the circumstances where there hasn't been that engagement with the natural and built environment, between people and places. You'll be interested that we're working with the UK Government and other devolved nations on the development of a UK-wide statutory new homes ombudsman service that will provide dispute resolution between purchasers and new-build developers. But we want this to be embedded in the planning policy design in terms of how new buildings and the public realm fit together in terms of the relationship with the surrounding area. So, thank you for that important question.

And thank you for the question about credit unions and the role that they can play. It is interesting that we have provided funding to ensure that credit unions can actually support those who have not been able to get credit from anywhere else, and that's where the Michael Sheen programme, of course, exposed the horrendous situations that people can get into when they go to those high interest rate, secondary debt market lenders, and the interest rates just increase and increase. So, we're very pleased that, actually, Cardiff & Vale is one example that have taken on the ways in which we're supporting credit unions through these loan arrangements, and have also not only helped those people in getting support for credit, and it may be credit that's needed for something that they weren't anticipating, and that happens in people's lives, in terms of employment, personal circumstances, needs in terms of households.

But thank you also for congratulating Cardiff & Vale, which won the consumer duty award for leadership in consumer finance. And I think that's a real testament to the ethical nature of credit unions, putting customers first, addressing customer needs and focusing on positive customer outcomes.

Can I call for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary with the responsibility for the trunk road network in Wales? Unfortunately, on the A494 in Denbighshire, there are projects that were outstanding that were paused and shelved as a result of the moratorium on investment in new capital projects. One was the Lôn Fawr/Corwen Road junction, which the former First Minister visited to see for himself the dangers at that particular site, in Ruthin. And the other is the Maesgamedd junction in Gwyddelwern, which was also shelved, even though it had been on the schedule for capital investment for decades.

In addition, the A494 saw another fatality in Llanferres over the weekend, between Llanferres and Loggerheads. It is a dangerous road; there are safety issues that need to be addressed. Constituents are asking that these junctions be given a priority, and that the speed limit, particularly in Llanferres all the way through to Loggerheads, be reduced and average-speed cameras installed to prevent the sorts of terrible accidents—life-changing accidents and deaths—that we've seen in recent years.

Thank you very much, Darren Millar, for drawing attention, in your question, to those particular issues in terms of the management of our trunk roads. I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, coming together on those points, will want to respond to you and hear the evidence of the particular issues that are affecting people at this point in time.

Cabinet Secretary, several weeks ago my colleague Julie Morgan raised the issue of the contaminated blood scheme and raised a number of concerns about what seemed to be UK Government's failure to properly implement the recommendations of Sir Brian Langstaff with regard not only to the scheme and its independence, but also the speed at which payments were being made, and you indicated at that stage that there would be a Government statement. Could I ask if it's possible for that Government statement to be expedited? There's a lot of concern amongst the Haemophilia Wales group with regard to this.

Thank you, Mick Antoniw, for raising that question. And, indeed, I can report back that the Cabinet Secretary, Jeremy Miles, on 3 March, met with the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Nick Thomas-Symonds, and Ministers from Scotland and Northern Ireland, to discuss the arrangements to support people infected and affected by the infected blood scandal. And, of course, all those infected and affected by this terrible healthcare scandal are encouraged to register on the Infected Blood Compensation Authority website for regular updates, which include information about the next steps.

But I think it is important that there have been concerns raised about timeliness, as you said, from those who are affected. And, indeed, the infected blood inquiry chair, Sir Brian Langstaff, has now gathered additional evidence, and plans to publish a further report, and that’s going to consider the timeliness and adequacy of the UK Government’s response on compensation.

And can we also recognise Haemophilia Wales? And, of course, we have Julie Morgan here as well, and yourself, Hefin David and others across the Chamber, who have raised these issues. And I recognise that Haemophilia Wales, with Lynne Kelly, the chair, is one of the 27 organisations to submit a statement.

Can I suggest that when there is this report on the update, as Sir Brian Langstaff is engaged in this, that we then bring this back in an updated statement to the Senedd?

Trefnydd, could I ask for an urgent statement from the First Minister regarding the ongoing situation in the United States of America regarding a woman who has found herself detained in the country due to a visa irregularity? Now, we are all aware of the deeply unfair situation facing this young woman from my constituency, indeed from my village, who has found herself detained in the United States due to this visa irregularity. This is a distressing case, and it is vital that everything possible is done to support her.

The Welsh Government maintains several overseas offices in the USA to foster good relations and promote Wales on the world stage. Given that, I must ask: have any of these offices raised this case with the relevant authorities, to intervene and assist this young woman in any way they can? I fully understand that matters relating to visas are reserved to the Home Office, and issues for UK citizens overseas fall to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, but given that Wales has this presence in America, I would welcome a statement from the First Minister to ascertain if any action has been taken to date, and to ask what can be done by the Welsh Government to support this young woman, and, if possible, to make representations on her behalf.

Well, thank you very much, Peter Fox, for raising this question regarding this very unfortunate situation, where this woman has been detained in the United States. And thank you for raising this in the Chamber. I will, of course, explore this with the First Minister and our international relations officials, to see if they are aware. Of course, this is reserved to the UK Government and to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, but with the connections that we have, of course, to the UK Government, we will follow this up.

Trefnydd, I would like to request an oral statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care outlining what the women’s health implementation group actually achieved before being disbanded in 2024, as well as an update on its replacement, the women’s health strategic network.

I’m alarmed at the testimonies of women who experience endometriosis, living not just in my region of South Wales West, but broadly within Wales. At an event hosted by Endometriosis UK and Fair Treatment for the Women of Wales, I heard first-hand how frustrated many women were with an average diagnosis time of nine years, 11 months, which is compounded by the fact that waits before receiving an appointment are utterly unacceptable. We are forcing women to live for years in horrendous pain.

Therefore, Trefnydd, could we have an update from the Cabinet Secretary on how the women's health strategic network will help to reduce these totally unacceptable waits for endometriosis care? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Altaf Hussain, for raising that question. Of course, this is something that the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being is now leading on, our women's health plan. Endometriosis and addressing the needs, the clinical needs, the wider needs, of those women experiencing and suffering endometriosis is high up on the agenda. As you know, that will lead to the appointment of more endometriosis nurses. But I will share with her your concerns in terms of the women's health strategic network, the circumstances, and how this will have an impact on the work that we all want to do—and I know this is very much supported across this Chamber—to support those experiencing endometriosis. And of course, it is something where there is this new pill that's coming into consideration, and we need to look at that of course. So, thank you for raising that.

Trefnydd, Monmouthshire County Council will roll back their provision of school buses for children, starting in September, meaning that many learners in rural areas will have to rely on public transport or their parents' cars. But, unfortunately, in Monmouthshire, we're in a situation where a lot of public buses are often late, and sometimes don't even turn up, causing many young people who want to get to school to wait hours each side of school in the wet and the cold. I don't know if I have to declare an interest: my son is included in that. Many parents have already contacted me with major concerns about their children's well-being and safety, and I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's no start to a school day. I believe we have a responsibility to provide safe, reliable transport to schools, and especially at a time when we're trying to tackle soaring absenteeism, unreliable transport just isn't helping. I'm well aware of the ambition to save the council money, but the Welsh Government and council both have a responsibility to ensure that children get to school safely and on time. Children's welfare should be our No. 1 priority. So, Trefnydd, please can I have a statement updating the Senedd on learner travel policy, particularly in light of these concerns? Diolch.

Well, I think you'll be very glad to hear—and I'm sure you've seen that from the business statement—that we're having a debate next week, Laura Anne Jones, on learner travel.

I'm going to ask for a Government statement on Welsh Water—another example of the failure of privatisation. Currently, the major issue I'm receiving from constituents via e-mail is the increase in water bills, which are being described by many as 'eye-watering'. Can the statement outline any influence the Welsh Government have over Welsh Water and water bills? In 2021, chief executive Peter Perry received £892,000 in total remuneration. A previous chief executive said it was the going rate in the private sector. As Vincent Kane asked the previous chief executive, 'Who else can I get water from?'

Can I also ask for a statement from the Welsh Government on biodiversity and the introduction of apex predators? At the pinnacle of every food chain sits the apex predator. These formidable creatures are the top predators in the ecosystem, which means they have no natural enemies and play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance. The number of apex predators has reduced. Where we do not have the apex predators, rats, gulls, and, in Australia, rabbits, increase rapidly, causing huge environmental problems.

Thank you very much, Mike Hedges, for your questions too.

I think it's very important, the issue around water bills, and you do address that today, as we seek to support those who have low incomes in households. I would say, and there has been some discussion already this afternoon, that Dŵr Cymru does operate a social tariff. We have been calling for a social tariff in terms of our energy suppliers, and I'm meeting our energy suppliers next week. So, I think there are ways in which we must ensure that customers are aware of the social tariff, and, in fact, they've been piloting wider ways in which they can support vulnerable customers. But thank you for raising that again, and I know the Cabinet Secretary, the Deputy First Minister, is also mindful of these issues in his liaison relations with the water companies that serve Wales.

And you do raise important issues relating to biodiversity and also the apex predators. Just in terms of the apex predators, I understand that this is about ensuring that we have a really careful balance of the ecosystem restoration and that we balance that with public concern, so that any interventions are evidence based and sustainable. And that does include how we actually help deal with managing rats, and you’ve mentioned seagull populations, which can also be an issue. We know that fewer rats will be attracted to a site if food sources, such as spillages around refuse collection areas, are removed and supplies are protected by storing them in secure containers. There are many ways we know, in terms of just managing our waste, in terms of putting outdoor rubbish bags in metal bins where that might be appropriate to stop rats, and keeping gardens free from debris. This is something where, of course, property owners have a legal responsibility for taking steps within the law to control rodents. But this is important in terms of biodiversity and making sure, as we balance the ecosystem restoration, that we acknowledge these issues.

Can I just draw attention to the Nature Networks programme? The Nature Networks fund has had a significant positive impact, with 90 projects funded and over £54 million awarded since 2021, working with NRW and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This is important about resilience, the protection of protected land and marine sites, but also biosecurity, engaging with those other important third sector organisations, like RSPB, looking at non-native invasive mammalian predators, particularly rats. And also, the project includes Jinx, a three-year-old working cocker spaniel and the UK’s first conservation detection dog.

Horse racing is a vital part of Wales’s culture, economy and sporting heritage. Our three racecourses—Chepstow, Ffos Las and Bangor-on-Dee in north Wales—attract thousands of visitors each year, supporting local businesses, creating jobs and boosting tourism. The Welsh contribution to the sport has been big this year, with Welshman Lorcan Williams winning the champion hurdle with Golden Ace at Cheltenham last week, and Rebecca Curtis and Sean Bowen also bringing wins home for Wales.

The industry contributes millions to our economy, and it’s the third largest sport after football and rugby, yet it faces challenges from competition with other racing jurisdictions due to rising costs. During the pandemic, the Welsh Government rightly provided financial support to help the sector survive, but, as we look to the future, we must ensure it thrives. Increased investment in facilities, prize money and infrastructure will help secure its sustainability and maintain Wales’s place in the racing world.

The recent announcement on the banning of greyhound racing has reasonably caused a lot of anxiety in the industry that they could be next. So, given the cultural and economic importance, will the Welsh Government confirm its continued support for horse racing and its growing industry in Wales? Thank you.

Well, I can assure you that the Welsh Government recognises the importance of horse racing in Wales, and can we congratulate those Welsh horsemen and women on their success recently? But obviously then we need to see that in the context of all the welfare standards that we would expect.

I thank the Trefnydd.

The next item, therefore, will be the statement by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs on the flood and coastal erosion risk management programme 2025-26. Huw Irranca-Davies to make the statement.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I am very pleased to announce the flood and coastal erosion risk management programme for 2025-26. For the last two years, we have made over £75 million available to lead flood risk management authorities, the RMAs, right across Wales. This year, we will do the same again at £77 million, our highest ever level of investment, as we continue to deliver against our programme for government commitment to reduce flood risk to over 45,000 properties.

However, this winter showed us, yet again, the harsh reality of climate change. I need not remind Members of the impact of storm Bert in November, which affected more than 700 properties across Wales, nor the destruction that followed storm Darragh in December.

The First Minister and I were very glad to confirm the £500 and £1,000 grants for affected households through the emergency financial assistance scheme, and I very much welcome the opportunity to bring key agencies and responders together following those storms to reflect on what worked and the lessons learnt. In early January, I also confirmed up to a further £8.1 million capital funding to RMAs to undertake emergency repair work.

Dirprwy Lywydd, this is what delivery looks like in a crisis: rapid, practical support, when people need it most. These events reinforce how our flood programme must be, and indeed is: robust to deliver both a planned pipeline of works and to manage the demands of any required emergency response. I will shortly outline how we are delivering again this year. But first, however, I think it's important to pay tribute to the RMAs who continue their work, day in, day out, to help us reduce flood risk in the face of significant challenge. Our local authorities and Natural Resources Wales continue to develop new and construct defences, provide warnings, respond to incidents and maintain vast numbers of assets, often hidden assets, right across Wales. In fact, the success of flood risk management so often is what we don’t see, both in minimising the flood incidents themselves, and often through invisible infrastructure and tools. This could be an underground culvert, a small grass embankment in a park, or a swale by a road. Every single asset requires investment, monitoring and maintenance. This does not happen by chance; it’s because we continue to make it a priority, and we fund it, and risk management authorities continue their tireless work.

Over the last year, indeed, our risk management authorities have made real achievements, supported by Welsh Government funding. Take, for example, NRW’s £6 million scheme in Ammanford, which the First Minister and I were delighted to officially open back in September. The scheme was designed with climate change in mind, it futureproofs over 380 properties against the risk of flooding. And then there’s the Hirael bay coastal defence scheme, which I had the pleasure of opening last May.  The scheme is reducing the risk of coastal flooding to 186 homes and eight businesses, whilst also simultaneously rejuvenating the promenade and providing active travel routes for the local community and visitors. We also saw the construction of the final three schemes under the coastal risk management programme. We are investing £14.1 million in Kinmel Bay, £3.4 million in Llandudno, and £3.4 million in Barmouth viaduct gardens. This programme has now seen £291 million of investment from the Welsh Government over five years, and once all the schemes are complete they will benefit almost 14,000 homes and businesses.

And all of these schemes bring wider benefits to communities, including, by the way, job opportunities. For example, the central Rhyl coastal risk management scheme alone provided opportunities for seven apprenticeships and two graduate trainees. And during my recent visit to the £26.8 million coastal scheme in Aberaeron, I met apprentices who are actively involved in learning and developing skills and approaches to ensure sustainable construction methods. The construction company also visited local schools to raise awareness and encourage students to become our future civil engineers.

And, of course, there’s more work taking place that will benefit communities right across Wales. For example, I recently visited NRW’s Stephenson Street scheme in Newport. This flagship £21 million scheme, which is due for completion in early summer, will benefit an estimated 2,000 homes and businesses—2,000 homes and businesses. It is the largest scheme ever constructed by NRW, and I have to say I was also impressed by their innovative approach. For example, Dirprwy Lywydd, NRW used low-carbon steel for the 700m of sheet piling that the scheme required. They saved over 350 tonnes of CO2. These were installed using a silent sheet piler, which reduced noise and disruption to local people and businesses and, by the way, the wildlife as well.

But, that said, the success of our flood programme does not lie simply with major capital construction projects. Warning and informing are pivotal in ensuring communities are prepared to act. Back in July 2024, NRW launched their new flood warning information service for Wales, which received almost £6 million of Welsh Government funding. This was a business-critical capital investment project, which has enabled them to provide a service tailored to the needs of people in Wales. The new service has delivered improvements to warning message content and efficiencies that lessen the pressure on the duty officers during flood events, allowing them to focus on the big risks. And it also addresses learning from the floods in February 2020. Since it was launched back in July 2024, the new flood warning service has issued 553 flood alerts, 197 flood warnings and two severe flood warnings, and these alerts and warnings have been sent to over 42,000 customers.

This year, with our record levels of spending, we are investing £36 million in capital funding, which includes £22 million for NRW and £14 million for local authorities. So, we are funding flood alleviation schemes right across Wales, such as Bontnewydd in Gwynedd, Pentre in RCT, Gurnos in Powys, and Havens Head in Pembrokeshire. And, in addition, we will allocate over £24 million in revenue to NRW and nearly £16 million to our local authorities, including £11 million to support the continued construction of schemes under the coastal risk management programme.

And as we know, as well as building hard defences, working with nature is crucial in helping to keep our communities safe from flooding. An example of this is Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Parc Cwm Darren scheme, which involved planting 18,000 trees over 2.6 hectares to boost carbon sequestration, improve the soil health and slow the flow of the Nant Bargoed and Rhymney rivers. Now, moving forward, we’re investing an additional £2 million to support 23 similar projects across Wales, aimed at enhancing the natural environment and reducing flood risk for up to 2,800 properties.

This Welsh Labour Government is, and will continue to be, committed to helping keep communities safe from flooding. We're backing our words with record investment and tangible action to protect communities right across Wales, from Rhyl to Milford Haven and Newport. When we make promises, we deliver on them, and the communities we that serve can see the difference.

This is what, Dirprwy Lywydd, a delivering Government looks like. We don't just talk about climate resilience, we build it. We don't just sympathise with flood victims, we help them recover. And we don't just plan for the future, we secure the future. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement today. The capital projects that are undertaken by RMAs are intended to deliver the aims of the national strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management in Wales and the programme for government commitment. However, we all know here—we've all been witness in recent years—that Wales has suffered devastating impacts from flooding, such as the impacts to homes, rail infrastructure and businesses. We saw what happened in Rhondda Cynon Taf following storm Dennis, with more recent examples coming from storms Bert and Darragh, which followed each other almost simultaneously. Storm Bert brought rainfall that was between 50 per cent and 100 per cent of the total average expected in just the month of November and, as a result, some rivers reached the highest levels ever recorded. More than 700 properties were flooded during Bert and around 95,000 houses were left without power during storm Darragh. And storm Darragh was quite frightening, really, when speaking with the Meteorological Office and the National Grid, about how that storm changed from being one where they were expecting a lot of rain to the massive and huge winds and turbulence that we had. Llandudno pier in Aberconwy suffered severe damage. Several kiosks were ripped from their foundations, causing £250,000 worth of damage.

Now, Natural Resources Wales are reporting that 272,817 properties are now at risk of flooding in Wales, and that's one in seven. So, that's actually seen an increase of 132,817 properties that will be at risk in 20 years. Now, we know from research undertaken that these flood incident levels and storms will increase, and will increase more frequently. You marvelled earlier about NRW and the money you've put into that, about flood incident alerts, but there have been concerns as well—you know, Cabinet Secretary—when we've been taking evidence on these in our committee, that it was storm Darragh that was issued as an amber, when, in real terms, it should have actually been a red. So, we really do need to be sure, when these alerts are going out, that they are accurate and that they don't allow any complacency in the system.

Now, with extreme weather events set to become more frequent, and flooding set to increase along the line, throwing money at NRW is not necessarily the answer. We know, don't we, that there were over 70 members of staff needed just to deal with our flooding responsibilities, going forward. What are the numbers now? How is the recruiting of people to work in that area taking place?

I know that my colleague Carolyn has often mentioned this, about riparian owners and ordinary watercourses across Wales. Sometimes these riparian owners do not know their own responsibilities. So, how can you bring this more to the fore? Will you also clarify what enforcement can be taken against riparian landowners that do not take any responsibility? Can the Cabinet Secretary clarify who will take responsibility where there is no identified landowner?

And finally, in the climate change committee, we have recently considered the problems caused by the lack of one register of vulnerable people or people in priority need. During the recent water outage that my colleague Darren Miller and I experienced, it turned out to be a gold command, but all the different responders and emergency services were using different lists. Dŵr Cymru themselves have 3,500 on their list. At the end of the few days of the crisis, it was up to 7,500, which tells me those figures were inaccurate at the start. So, how can we make sure we've got one, all-encompassing register? I know there are GDPR issues, but, in moments of crisis, that has to be the priority, that those people who are classed as vulnerable and those people classed as priority need get the help they need.

And also, finally, can we, as Members of this elected institution, be advised when a crisis incident occurs and it's a gold or a bronze or a silver command? Elected county councillors get to know, but we don't, and we are on the front line when these incidents occur. Diolch.

Diolch yn fawr iawn, Janet. Thank you, first of all, for what I'm taking as support for the level of investment that we're doing. We need to keep this investment going, but, simply to make the point, we need to vote for this investment as well, when the budget is in front of us, because that is a real issue. If we want to actually lever in the hundreds of millions of pounds on the scale I described, then, for all Members, it is incumbent upon them to make sure that the means are there as well as the will, and that means voting for the budget.

But in terms of flood alerts, you raise an important point there, because one of the things, in my short tenure in office, after storm Bert, storm Darragh, and after the incidents on the water outages as well in in north Wales, we've done is a very rapid, quick debrief, and I think it's been the right thing to do.

And the issue in terms of the storms, the flood alert system, and the need to learn lessons, I'm glad the committee is looking at this, and I'm looking forward to what recommendations they might bring forward. It doesn't take away from the fact that our investment into that now has been significant. If it needs to be fine-tuned and addressed, how they're used, particularly when we have rapid flash flooding on rivers, for example, then I'm sure NRW and the other agencies will want to fine-tune them to get that right.

In terms of the people in priority need, that was another thing that flowed out of the debriefing of the resilience forum themselves. But also, the debriefs that we did identified that it seems that different companies have slightly different lists of priority customers. Bear in mind that people can self-identify to go onto these lists, and what we saw in the north Wales example was that over the course of that event, hour by hour, two times, three times the number of people were coming forward saying, 'I'd like to be on the list as well', and they were trying to respond in live time to people putting themselves on the list. There is something about the joined-upness that has flowed out of recent events that we're doing work on, and I'm hopeful that we can come back to the Siambr at some point and give you an update on that, because I think there are ways to deal with this, but it does mean getting through some of the data constraints as well, so that we can actually, without jeopardising an individual's human rights, make sure that we can share, where necessary, where people are deemed to be vulnerable for one thing or another.

On the issue of recruitment, we've convened a round-table to discuss this matter with members of the flood committee to discuss skills. The skills piece goes right across NRW, contractors, local authorities and more. We need to lift everybody's boat with this and get more of those skilled people in it. I've committed Welsh Government resource into taking this forward. I've put money behind this as a result of the recent budget into a plan to develop the skills base as well.

And just to be clear on riparian owners—Janet, I’m glad you raised it, and Carolyn regularly raises this as well—local authorities have powers under the Land Drainage Act 1991 to enforce riparian responsibilities. Lots of people, I have to say, are unaware of their responsibilities. We frequently talk about this, and I frequently say here on the floor that the landowner has riparian responsibilities. NRW do have, by the way, information about the rules and responsibilities. You can look on their website. And I'd ask all Members to help spread the word on that, because it's not simply for our agencies to deal with this; we need landowners to step up to the mark as well.

Thank you for this afternoon’s statement.

You'll know that flooding is a major issue in the region I represent, but obviously, it’s also of huge concern to so many Members. Not only have we seen serious instances of flooding, but also a number of near misses. There was a really close call in February in my region. You’ll know Clydach Terrace very well in Ynysybwl: it is one of the schemes listed. But obviously, you’ll also know that they were seriously impacted by flooding in 2020, again impacted to a slight degree last year during storm Bert, very nearly seriously flooded last month, but a solution won’t be in place till at least 2029. That’s nine years of having the highest risk to life of anywhere in Wales, nine years of watching that river every time it rains heavily.

Of course I welcome the investment, but we know that some of it will take time in order to be able to save lives, not only to keep properties from being flooded. But there will still remain many communities where that risk cannot be mitigated. Also, looking at Natural Resources Wales’s own report last year, they very clearly stated, looking at the long-term investment requirement for flood defences in Wales, that over the next 100 years, 24 per cent more properties will be at risk from river flooding, 47 per cent more from tidal flooding, and 34 per cent more properties also at risk of surface water flooding. That’s also the figure if we don’t build any more homes in Wales.

I know you know this, Cabinet Secretary, but in order for us to keep pace for all existing flood defences, it will require 3.4 times the current funding level, so it is an extremely serious situation, and obviously, with more extreme weather as well, it is extremely difficult for the work to be kept at pace. We know Natural Resources Wales have been through an extremely difficult and challenging time financially at a time when we’d want them to be able to put all their focus into this work and responding to the climate emergency. Obviously, they've also had to look at restructuring. Janet Finch-Saunders mentioned the 70 jobs that were highlighted after storm Dennis. I would like clarity in terms of where we're at in terms of staffing numbers and resources, because indications are that they are still desperate in terms of staff in order to be able to keep pace. So, I'd like clarity on that.

In terms of the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales's report, published in October, I would like to know when the Government intends to respond to that, because of that flood resilience piece that's required. I obviously appreciate that you mentioned the funding available to businesses and residents after they've been flooded. It's nowhere near enough, as you'll know, for those that fail to get insurance, especially businesses, because there is no insurance available for some businesses where they are at risk. It's welcome. But when you are, perhaps, flooded four times in a year, the costs are not just hitting you financially—it's that emotional cost as well. Many residents in my region have told me that they are now reliant on antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication. So, there are costs to the NHS—some have said about declining health, some have developed heart conditions. Obviously, they can't say it's because of this, but doctors are fearful. So, I fear that we don't understand the holistic impact it's having on our communities.

I was also extremely worried during the February weather that we had that people within our communities are desperate to go out and help others who are at risk, and that they are in danger of putting themselves at risk, because we don't have formalised systems to have flood forums locally where volunteers are trained to understand the risk. I had to encourage people not to go out when the river was about to burst its banks. We know how dangerous fast-flowing water is. So, how can we ensure that, in those communities that are at risk, people and volunteers understand those risks and are trained in order to not put themselves in danger?

Similarly, Janet Finch-Saunders mentioned some of our most vulnerable. I had instances where nobody was able to get to people, and, had it flooded, they would have been at risk of perhaps dying in their homes. So, I'm sorry for all the questions, but it's just to understand that bigger—. This is obviously welcome investment, but as every report says, it won't save every home, every business. I'd like to understand how we're supporting communities to ensure that no life is lost trying to help those who are being flooded, or that people die in their homes because they don't know to keep themselves safe.

Heledd, thank you very much, and thanks for your ongoing engagement with this, not just with Clydach Terrace, but on the general issue. You're absolutely right that the scale of the challenge that we face and the risks to homes and properties and, potentially, lives will increase as the years go by. We know this is coming. This is global warming made very, very real, both with rising sea levels and also the increasingly traumatic weather events we have. It'll manifest itself in very different ways, but we know it's going to get worse. In which case, we do need to keep that quantum of investment going, and we do need to grow that investment, actually, as we go forward as well.

Let me turn to some of the specific questions that you raised. On the staffing, in response to an earlier question from Janet, I mentioned that I'd commissioned work to look at those skills, because keeping the investment going is one thing, we also need the skilled people coming through. We face a not dissimilar challenge in other civil engineering/hydrology areas as well. So, for example, ramping up the work we need to do on coal tips as well. We also need to grow that cadre of people. Some of them are overlapping skills, but what we need to do is, and it comes back to this point, to lift everybody's boat, local authorities, NRW and others. So, I've commissioned some work on that. The good thing about this is that if we can grow that skills pool, these are really well-paid jobs, and they're jobs that are in our local communities, working in our local communities and recruiting from our local schools, colleges and universities as well. So, I think we need to do more in there and excite people about the opportunities in responding to climate change challenges.

In terms of insurance, just to say I'm meeting shortly with insurers to discuss a range of things with them. I'll be discussing how Flood Re is going in terms of the offer to householders. But, of course, you rightly flag that there is no similar offer in terms of businesses. There are reasons why the insurance industry says that that cannot be done, but I want to explore that with them and I want to talk about whether there are ways forward, either at a Wales level or at a UK level. This is something we do need to look at. But meanwhile, some of this investment is part of the deal, if you like, with the wider insurance industry, to say, 'We will keep our investment up as long as you can also provide that insurance to people, as well'.

You talked about responding on the climate adaptation piece, and we've had really good engagement with the NICW from my officials on that. We know that we need to bring forward the response very, very soon. So, we're working on it. It's good to see the anticipation here of that work coming forward.

Finally, on Clydach Terrace—very, very important—I often find that the best way to learn about what it feels like to be flooded is to meet people face to face. I know that you and I, and Andrew Morgan and Vikki, were up there together with residents in Clydach Terrace back in September. They're still very much in my mind. I know, as you know, that the work on the developing outline business case is due to be published this spring. It'll need to identify at least a potential option for addressing the flood risk to the community. We need to have that business case completed so that people can see it. But we know that there are real particular challenges; the characteristics of that community—being in a very short, steep catchment, with a very fast flash flood propensity within the river there—mean that the engineering options for that community are quite limited. But we want to see that coming forward.

Just to be clear, I want to continue engaging with you and with others on this as we go forward. It is difficult to justify what has been put forward as the possible feasibility of a buyout without first actually considering all other potential options to reduce risk to the community. I have met with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language and the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government to discuss Clydach Terrace. I will update you and Vikki and other local representatives, including Andrew Morgan, in due course. We're trying to think this through. There is no precedent for the type of initiative that has been mooted by some, but we are exploring what options there could be for that particular community.

The one thing we can be certain about is that climate change is no longer a distant threat; it's here and it's happening now. Coastal erosion is accelerating and reshaping our communities, and that includes most of my area of Mid and West Wales. The Welsh Government has responded, and you mentioned the record investment of £75 million this year alone and £300 million since 2021. I was in Aberaeron on Saturday, and it's incredible to see the work that's going on there, the involvement in the community and the schools. And £26.8 million is significant, as is the £3.4 million for Barmouth Viaduct Gardens and also the £6 million in Ammanford. But what we can be sure of is that we won't know where the next flood is going to happen.

I'm concerned that, this week alone, the temperatures are rising rapidly. It's about looking at those weather patterns now, because very often, after a sudden increase in temperature, the following week you have downpours of rain that will fall unexpectedly and flood unexpectedly. So, my question to you, Deputy First Minister, is that we work with all agencies to deliver, where possible, all the tools that are available in the toolbox, and that isn't just those schemes that we've mentioned in terms of infrastructure—

You need to ask the question, please, Joyce.

It's also about the natural solutions, because the other thing that's happening, of course, is the biodiversity degradation.

Indeed. Thank you so much. You've taken us in a very important different direction here. There are two particular points that you raised there. One is that we are getting much better now at knowing, for example, where the threats of coastal inundation are: a combination of high tides, storm surges and traumatic weather incidents. You will know that we've put out there, for the public to see, those maps, but what we've also done—because that can be terrifying—is said, 'And this is how we can mitigate them on a priority basis.' So, we identify those communities where the business case is strong, because there are homes, there are businesses and there are lives to be protected and so on. That does mean that other areas may not have heavy embattlement protection, but we might be working with natural processes there as well. So, I think the piece of using natural processes, such as catchment management, what we do with the sustainable farming scheme, what we do with other ways of land management, planting, woodland creation—our woodland grants are still in place and so on—. We slow the flow of the rivers down as well, as we, at the same, improve biodiversity, carbon sequestration and so on. All of these things have a role to play. As you say, every tool in the toolbox needs to be deployed.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement today. It's important that we visit this issue on a regular basis. In February we marked the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Towyn floods, which I experienced, along with thousands of other people, when the sea defences in Towyn gave way back in February 1990. It was the largest evacuation since the second world war, with thousands of people having to be rehomed after the sea swept in. And, quite rightfully, the Welsh Government is now investing in the Towyn and Kinmel Bay area with those coastal defences. However, the biggest risk of flooding, once those defences have seen the investment take place, is going to actually come from the River Clwyd, and the west bank of the River Clwyd, which also desperately needs improvement. I wonder what discussions the Welsh Government is having, both with Natural Resources Wales, Conwy County Borough Council and other stakeholders, about making sure that those defences are fit for purpose, and that the drainage system in the Rhuddlan Morfa area is also improved, because that is causing, I’m afraid, flooding, whenever there are heavy downpours, in places like Belgrano, Abergele, Pensarn and, unfortunately, in Towyn as well.

Darren, thank you so much for that, and thank you as well for the welcome of the investment that we're taking forward in Kinmel Bay. You rightly remind us that we have seen, down the decades and down the generations, horrendous flooding incidents around Wales, and England as well. We need to keep learning from them and we know we need to keep a high level of investment going, and all the tools as well, I have to say, relating back to Joyce’s question, including natural flood management as well.

What I’d really strongly encourage you to do, and other Members who are looking at their own local areas, and their local watercourses, traditional drainage patterns, ditches and so on, is to engage with the RMA, who need to bring forward schemes that are properly joined up and holistic, and every asset actually plays a part within this. They’ll always do it on the basis of a business case. They’ll always do it on the basis of what they think those assets can contribute to the flood alleviation, and preventing floods as well. So, rather than me double-guessing what should happen on the ground, because what I have, very often, is lifted to me—the advice that says, 'Here’s the advice that comes from the RMA, from NRW and from my officials as well'—engage directly with them, because sometimes local knowledge is very important as well.

And finally, Carolyn Thomas.

With one in seven properties, I think—one in seven or one in eight—at risk of flooding, it’s a really frightening statistic, and this funding is very much welcomed. I walked from Rhyl to Prestatyn a weekend or so ago and saw the massive coastal defence—that rock armour being put in place. I see there’s a new golf club being built as well, as part of that, which is really welcome. But one of the biggest issues that we have is from surface water flooding, and when it happens, it happens really quickly and it’s really scary. So, I want to know what you are doing regarding capture in the uplands to prevent it.

And going back to this riparian ownership, we need to bring people along with us, to make sure they’re resilient, but people on the ground really need to know who’s responsible for those ditches, culverts et cetera. Local authorities are asking, so, please, can you support them, when they go out to say to landowners, 'You are responsible, not us, the council, not NRW'? I know you said there's information on NRW's website, but landowners aren't going to go to that. So, I'm asking, can you produce a leaflet or something that councils can hand out, and also for residents to know themselves who's responsible, so they can get involved and be more resilient? Thank you.

Carolyn, thank you very much. And do you know, I'm saying how much we've progressed now in terms of mapping things such as coastal inundation, and our Met Office engagement and weather forecasting allows us to be good at seeing when the traumatic incidents are moving to—not entirely 100 per cent, but far more than we were. But surface water is one of the biggest challenges, because with surface water, you cannot accurately map how a particular street, a townscape, will behave.

What we do need to do is actually work now with planners, both in terms of retrofitting and adjusting street design, but also as new communities are designed, to make sure that they're better. So, one example is the sustainable urban drainage that we see now in places like Cardiff and elsewhere, in my own community, using the natural assets, using water run-off into culverts and filtration, which is also a nice amenity, quite frankly, for people as well. But, yes, the surface water piece—that's why we need all partners engaged in this.

And on the riparian management and ownership, it is the landowners that have responsibility. I mentioned that NRW have very good, very comprehensible information on their website. I'll go back to NRW and ask them whether they also have leaflets and so on and that they can also engage with RMAs and local authorities, because we do need to get this out. But to go to a landowner and say, 'Well, look, you've also got a role'—it's what we should be doing. We can't expect the state to come in and do absolutely everything. If you have a watercourse, if you have a bund or an embankment that is part of the flood assets, whatever, then they need to be maintained by you as well. But I'll take that away and have a look at it.

But you rightly say, Dirprwy Lywydd, as many have said, that the scale of what we're now facing means this is why we have to keep this investment and expertise and skills going: 273,000 properties at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea and surface water; 400 properties at risk from coastal erosion. As the climate changes, these risks will heighten, so we need to lift our game to deal with it as well, and this Welsh Labour Government is proud to do so.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary.

Item 4 this afternoon is a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care: NHS dental reform. And I call on the Cabinet Secretary to make the statement—Jeremy Miles.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. NHS dentistry was one of the services most affected by the pandemic restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and has been slow to fully recover from the impact of the pandemic. Over the course of the last five years, there have been challenges in the service. More than a million people are now routinely receiving treatment every year, and new adult and child patients are being seen, thanks to the work done to expand access through a variation to the contract.

But too many people are still experiencing difficulties in accessing an NHS dentist in some parts of Wales. I'm determined that we will make it easier to access NHS dentistry, and our aim is that everyone who wants to be seen by an NHS dentist will be able to be seen by one.

At the heart of this is a new contract for general dental services, and this new contract changes things fundamentally. The current model is based on the so-called 'treadmill' of units of dental activity. This model was introduced almost 20 years ago in 2006. Since coming out of the pandemic, we've introduced annual contract variations to address some of the issues in the UDA contract. But without a substantive new contract, we cannot go far enough to address all of the problems that the unit of dental activity measure has created.

Instead of automatically recalling everyone every six months for a routine check-up, the new contract will be based on prevention and on the provision of dental treatment on a risk and needs basis. It will also provide a fair and attractive remuneration offer for the dental profession. This will ensure that NHS dentistry continues to be attractive.

Making such a fundamental change is no small task, and it must be the product of detailed engagement with everyone who has an interest in the matter.

Dirprwy Lywydd, tripartite negotiations between the Welsh Government, the NHS and the Welsh general dental practice committee, which represents the dental profession in Wales, took place between September 2023 and October 2024 to design and develop the new contract. As is the case in all negotiations, there are aspects that all parties can readily agree on; there are some points that may be more contentious. Not everyone gets everything that they want, but it is an improvement for everyone.

The proposed new contract marks a significant change to the old 2006 contract. Some of the key aspects that are changing include: creating a single route of entry for people to access NHS dental services; implementing a different remuneration system that is fairer and more transparent; disincentivising unnecessary routine examinations; adjusting patient charges due to changes in the remuneration system, and a shift in how these charges are to be collected; changes to contract terms and conditions, such as around parental leave. Therefore, given the scale of the changes that affect both the public and the dental profession, I will be putting the new proposed contract out to consultation, to give the wider dental profession in Wales and the public a say. I can announce today, Dirprwy Lywydd, that the consultation will launch before the end of this month, and I would encourage all of those with an interest in NHS dentistry in Wales to consider the proposals carefully and to respond to this consultation at the earliest opportunity.

The contract has taken a long time to develop to this stage, and I want to see the new contract implemented from April 2026. In the meantime, I will continue increasing access to NHS dentistry within the limits of the current contract. Since April 2022, we have offered all practices a contract variation, which includes a requirement to see new patients. This has seen about eight out of 10 practices choosing to work under these arrangements, which ensure that people with the greatest need who don't have an existing relationship with an NHS dentist can be seen.

Dirprwy Lywydd, management information tells us that the variation arrangements have already resulted in more than 445,000 new patients receiving a full course of NHS dental treatment since April 2022. A further 163,000 appointments for new patients have also been provided since April 2023. There is much more to do but this variation is helping to open up access to NHS dentistry.

We are making it easier for people to find an NHS dentist. Last month we launched the digital access portal across Wales, which allows people to register their interest in receiving NHS dentistry if they haven’t had access to an NHS dentist in the last four years. This fundamentally changes the way people gain access to NHS dentistry, and there is no longer a need for anyone to ring around multiple practices to find one that might be taking on new patients.

People who have registered on the portal are allocated an appointment with an NHS dentist as they become available. It provides a single national waiting list service for the public who don't currently have access to a dental care service and will, for the first time, provide a clear picture of the true scale of demand for NHS dental services across Wales. Anyone with an urgent dental need can contact NHS 111 for help.

Dirprwy Lywydd, I want to close by repeating what I said in January. We've taken a series of small but important steps to make changes for the better as we have emerged from the pandemic over the last few years, but we are now focused on achieving what will be the biggest change to NHS dental services in nearly 20 years. I am committed to introducing a new dental contract that is truly responsive to and prioritises patient need, and is both fair and attractive to the dental profession, and to do so by April 2026.

Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’d like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today. In your statement, Cabinet Secretary, you state that over 1 million people receive NHS dental treatment annually. But your own Government figures show that patient numbers remain 30 per cent lower than what they were in 2019, and many people across Wales are still struggling to access an NHS dentist, with some waiting years for an appointment. So, I’d like to know: does the Welsh Government actually know how many people are actually waiting on a waiting list for a dental appointment?

You have announced a digital access portal, which you claim will make it easier for patients to get NHS treatment. However, all this does is register demand; it doesn’t actually increase the number of available NHS appointments. So, I’m just interested, Cabinet Secretary: how many patients have successfully received an NHS dentist through this system since its launch? And will you acknowledge, today, that, unless more NHS dentists are recruited and retained, the system will only serve as a waiting list rather than a real solution to the problem?

You state that this new general dental services contract will provide fairer, more transparent remuneration. But, let’s be clear, negotiations ended without full agreement between the Government and the British Dental Association. Since 2022, 189 NHS dentists have left the service in Wales. That represents 13 per cent of the workforce, and the BDA have warned that, in 2025, we could see the largest number of contracts being handed back in history, with more dentists reducing their NHS commitments due to financial pressures.

So, I’d be interested to know: how do you expect to prevent further dentist departures, when the contract has not been fully agreed with the profession, and what assurances can you give to NHS dentistry across Wales that they will remain financially viable for practices under this new contract? And how will you address the pay challenges faced by trainee dentists, with the issues with backpay in their salaries?

Cabinet Secretary, your statement outlines that the new contract variations have helped improve access. However, practices are facing severe financial pressures, including underfunded rises in employer national insurance and living wage costs, which are imposed by your Government in Westminster, and a 6 per cent contract uplift that the BDA says, in real terms, is a pay cut, due to double-digit inflation. This Government has said its hands are tied, yet it’s secured an 11 per cent uplift for GPs, while NHS dentists were given just 6 per cent, with added conditions. I’d just like to know: why is the Welsh Government failing to provide a fair financial settlement for NHS dentists across Wales, and what immediate support will you offer to dental practices struggling with rising costs to prevent further contract hand-backs?

You say that this Government is committed to improving access, but investment in NHS dentistry is actually declining. Your own figures show that, last year, less was spent on NHS dentistry in 2023-24 than in the previous year, despite an increase in patient demand. At the same time, patient costs have skyrocketed. Urgent care charges have more than doubled, and many patients are now paying up to 85 per cent of their treatment costs. I’d like to know, Cabinet Secretary: how do you justify record increases in patient charges, when overall spending on NHS dentistry in Wales is actually falling? And will you commit to freezing or reviewing these charges to ensure that patients are not being priced out of essential NHS care?

You say that this new contract will fundamentally reform the model to move away from the outdated units of dental activity system. However, the BDA has warned that the negotiating process was flawed and lacked the financial envelope to deliver real change. They argue that this contract is not the fundamental reform of the profession that they were promised, and patients were promised. So, can you confirm whether any additional funding will be made available to support this new contract beyond the existing budget, and how will you ensure that this contract doesn’t simply shift costs onto dentists and patients, rather than fixing the deep-rooted financial issues in the system?

Cabinet Secretary, NHS dentistry is in crisis. Patients are paying more while receiving less. Dentists are leaving in record numbers, and practices are struggling to stay afloat. What they need to see is action, not warm words, and a real commitment—a real commitment—to investment and reform. The new contract, though presented as progress, was not fully agreed upon with the profession. It lacks the funding that’s needed to make it more sustainable across Wales. As I said, patients charges are at a record high, while Government investment is falling. Practices are buckling under increasing costs, and, without urgent intervention, they’re all going to hand back their contracts, pushing NHS dentistry closer to collapse. So, Cabinet Secretary, will you act now to properly fund NHS dentistry, retain the workforce, protect patients from spiralling costs, or will you just stand by, as other Cabinet Secretaries have before, and just see the system fail?

Well, the Member's questions bear absolutely no relationship to reality or to the statement that I've just given today. The truth of it is—[Interruption.] I take from the fact that he presented almost no challenge to what I said about the new contract that he at least accepts the principles that we're trying to deliver through the reforms. He asked a number of questions, and I will do my best to answer some of them.

The dental access portal has been in operation for, I think, four weeks at this point. So, the true effect of it obviously will not yet be felt, as the Member wouldn't expect it to be. It does, as he says, help us understand the true level of demand for NHS dentistry in the system in Wales. It is a portal, and, therefore, self-evidently, does not itself provide access to more NHS dentistry overall. However, it is important—which I presume is why the committee recommended that we explore this—in providing a single point of access and a more convenient way for those members of the public seeking NHS dentistry to get access to it without having to ring round a number of practices, which has been what's been required previously. So, I think that is a positive step forward. We know that, broadly, half the population have access to NHS dentistry, and we absolutely understand that there's a greater level of demand than there is supply of the service at the moment.

He makes the point about the change in the number of dentists. My figures tell me that the number of dentists providing NHS treatment has actually remained broadly static over the last 10 years. So, in 2023-24, there were 1,398 dentists that recorded NHS activity, which is about 40 fewer than 10 years ago. There is clearly more demand than there is supply, but I think the position is not quite as the Member described it. What we want to make sure is that doing more NHS activity is attractive to more dentists. So, the purpose of the contract is to seek to improve that, both from the point of view of dentists, so that they get a fairer package of remuneration—and he will see, when the consultation is published, that some of the points he made about that will have been addressed in the contract—whilst also making sure that we extend NHS dentistry to more of the public.

He made some points about charges for patients. He will, I'm sure, be pleased to know that the overall effect of the new contract will be that more people will be paying less for their dental treatments than would be the case under the current regime. So, that is a positive.

He made a point about pay. I think it's important to bear in mind that the arrangements that I unilaterally introduced at the start of this year, a few weeks ago, represented the single biggest increase in dental independent practitioner pay ever. So, he may make whatever comments he wants about that; that is in fact the position. I was not prepared to delay any further providing—[Interruption.]—providing dentists with the funding that they need, and that is why I took the decision that I took—[Interruption.]—a few weeks ago.

Ignore the Member's commentary from a sedentary position.

I'm pleased that we have been able to do that. Dentistry required the funding, and we were glad to have been able to make it available. It is the Government's position, for which I make absolutely no apology, that, where we provide significant uplifts to independent contractor contracts, we do and will and always will require in return modifications and reforms. That is a perfectly reasonable position for us to take, and it's completely consistent with wise stewardship of public funding, and I make no apologies for doing that. And, by the way, I think my experience to date suggests that that broad package has been generally welcomed by the profession, and I think that is a positive thing.

He makes an important point about viability of dental practice. Clearly, we need to make sure that the contract is attractive to dentists, because what we want to see is more members of the public having access to NHS dentistry, and we will only achieve that if dentists choose to take on the NHS contract. The variations we've seen so far have been taken up in very large numbers. They do not, by any means, solve all the challenges. And whilst it is the case that not all aspects of the contract on which I’ll be consulting from next week onwards have been agreed with the BDA, large parts of it have been; I would contend that the most important parts of it have been. And I’ve made an offer to the BDA to continue discussing with them the refinement of those elements that have not yet been agreed, but I was simply not prepared to wait any longer. It is clear that there needs to be contract reform; it is clear that dentists expect and are entitled to a lead-in time for those arrangements to be in place. And so I'm absolutely clear that we want the new contract to be in place by April of next year, so we are consulting on it, we will take the views of the profession and the public, and we will respond accordingly.

If we are to believe this Government's spin, and, indeed, the UK Government's spin, then dentistry is the one area where Wales is doing very well in terms of health provision. Everyone remembers the statement made in the autumn conference of the Labour Party in Liverpool, as the new Labour Government in Westminster said that they would take inspiration from good practice introduced by Welsh Government in dentistry. And since then, the First Minister here has repeated many times that Wales is ahead of England when it comes to unlocking dental appointments within the NHS here. But when the BDA accuses the Government of failing to be honest on the number of appointments, saying that there is a dental desert spreading across Wales, and when we hear of patients having to remove their own teeth, then clearly there is something rotten in Welsh dentistry. 

These problems have been glaringly apparent for some time. Back in 2019, the then Health, Social Care and Sport Committee held an inquiry on dentistry, in which the BDA and the chair of the Welsh general dental committee warned of the demoralisation of the workforce as a result of contract reforms and the widespread disaffection, in particular, with arbitrarily determined unit of dental activity metrics that have, essentially, disincentivised NHS dentists from taking on new patients. But, instead of engaging constructively with these concerns, the Welsh Government has ploughed ahead on the same road to ruin and, in characteristic fashion, simply turned a blind eye to the rapidly unfolding crisis in the sector. This issue was left unresolved for many years, and things have consequently worsened to the extent that the NHS work is no longer financially viable and dentists are handing back their contracts in droves. So, when the Cabinet Secretary talks about improved remuneration, does this mean scrapping the UDA completely? And what system is he proposing to put in its place to make NHS work as appealing as the private sector? 

The Cabinet Secretary describes the contract reform as the result of a tripartite negotiation, but the BDA have been kept in the dark since September. Does the Cabinet Secretary recognise the BDA as a key stakeholder—after all, the Government’s own legislation stresses the importance of social partnership—and is he confident that their members will, overall, support these new proposals? There seems to have been a breakdown in relations between the Government and the BDA. On the one hand, this Government says that it is unlocking hundreds of thousands of extra appointments, but the BDA accuses them of cooking the books, saying that the Government’s statements are not an actual reflection of enhanced provision in the dental services. So, we need honesty and transparency from the Government. Can the Cabinet Secretary account for this discrepancy? And can we have confidence that your figures—the figures that this contract will be based on—are rooted in facts?

Moving on to the limited detail that was announced, the Cabinet Secretary referred to a consultation period. Firstly, can he confirm that the points he made have been negotiated in good faith and are not being imposed on the sector? And how will the Cabinet Secretary ensure that the 12-week consultation process is genuinely inclusive and that dental professionals’ concerns are actively listened to, especially given that the Welsh Government has already pulled out of consultation with the BDA, as I mentioned earlier? With data showing that 35 of 55 practices in north Wales failed to meet existing metrics in 2023-24, why is there a move to make these metrics even more challenging for the coming year?

Dental practices are already full and struggling with capacity. So, what additional funding measures are being introduced to support practices in meeting new patient targets and to ensure that practices are not financially penalised for taking on more work? How does the Government plan to safeguard patient choice in the dental access portal system, ensuring that patients are not randomly allocated to practices against their preferences? Finally, once this contract, post consultation, becomes active, how confident is the Cabinet Secretary that these reforms will put NHS dentistry on a more sustainable footing and will stop the rot that has been allowed to set in over the last decade?

The contract is a contribution to solving the overall challenge, as I made clear in my answer to James Evans. I don’t think it’ll solve all the challenges in the system, but it is intended to extend access to NHS dentistry and to do that by making it more attractive to dentists and to provide that greater resilience for dental practices. I think I’ve set out our position in relation to that.

He asked me some specific questions in relation to UDA, and it is the case that there will be a new mechanism for charging and remuneration in the new contract, which will be more reflective of the activity undertaken and address some of the challenges that dentists have told me themselves they face with the current broad banding of activities. So, it will go to the heart of that. That is one of the most important aspects that have been agreed.

Just to be clear, there have been tripartite negotiations. I spelt out in my answers to the previous question why it is that those negotiations had to be concluded in the autumn of last year, but they extended over 13 months and were very, very detailed. Everything that we know from the profession is that they want a new contract in place that gets to grips with the challenges that we’ve all articulated perfectly reasonably in this Chamber for some time. This contract addresses most of those larger challenges.

We will listen to the response from the dental profession at large, and importantly the public, and we’ll take those comments and responses into account as we do in any consultation. We’ve already had some consultation events with dentists, to make them aware that this is coming, so that people are prepared and are engaging with the process. It’s really important that people do that.

I think that the best means of progressing discussions around pay and other terms and conditions is in social partnership. We’ve done two years’ worth of negotiations in that spirit, certainly—[Interruption.] Sorry?

With the BDA?

With the BDA. We’ve done that over two years in relation to the last two year settlements. We concluded the first year in agreement; the second, as I said, we were not able to reach agreement, and I made a unilateral decision earlier this year to increase independent contractor dentist pay by the largest ever single payment, and I’m pleased that we were able to do that.

There are some matters that have not been resolved in relation to the contract in the discussions over the 13 months with the BDA, and when I last met with them, which I think at this point was probably about three or four weeks ago, I made the offer to be guided by them about whether they wished to continue those discussions in social partnership, in parallel with the consultation, or whether they wished to be at one remove and simply comment on developments. It’s entirely in their hands which they would prefer. I’m certainly very clearly of the mind that a social partnership approach is the better approach. I’ve advocated for that in previous Government roles with some success, and I’m committed to that, as is the Government, but at the end of the day, we will proceed in whatever way works for both parties.

There is a period ahead where we will listen to the profession, the public, and comments the BDA will wish to make to us, either in social partnership or in some other way, and we will reflect on those at the end of the consultation period. I would encourage people to engage with this. It’s one of the biggest changes, probably the biggest change in dentistry within the NHS in coming up to close to a quarter of a century, so it’s important that we hear all those voices.

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement? Pre-COVID, large numbers of dentists left the NHS because they could make a lot more money in private practice. Those left behind were committed to the NHS principles. Following withdrawal from the European Union, eastern and southern European dentists stopped coming to practice in Wales in the numbers they previously did. I speak as somebody who had both a southern European and an eastern European dentist at my local practice. Too many people have experienced difficulties in finding an NHS dentist. I never understood why six-monthly check-ups were needed, or even more why a qualified dentist was needed to clean my teeth at the end of the check-up. 

Contracts in recent years have been over-complicated and served neither patients nor those running dental practices well. Can I urge the Welsh Government to produce a system that funds individual treatments rather than, as happened at one time, paying the same for one or three fillings to the same patient? If we want NHS dentistry to continue, we need a fair remuneration system, acceptable to dentists, and the Welsh Government need to take advice from current or previous dentists who have worked in community practices and who know exactly what it's like running those practices.

I thank Mike Hedges for that. I think I agree with all of that. I certainly do want to make sure that we're hearing the voice of dental practitioners in a range of different settings in response to the consultation. I do think that he makes a powerful point in relation to how we remunerate, and the current banding arrangements are challenging from a dentist's perspective, and so I think that the Member will be happy when he sees the consultation when it's published before the end of this month. And he will know that it is the Government's existing position that moving away from routine but unnecessary check-ups will free up capacity for a more needs-based service, which is after all the basis upon which the entirety of the NHS is predicated, and so that should apply in dentistry as elsewhere. And my understanding is that with the steps that we've been able to take, as it were, within the framework of the existing contractual arrangements, which will be superseded by the new contract, we've been able to make some changes to disincentivise, if you like, those unnecessary check-ups, to apply the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, which move us in a different direction, but we'll be able to do much more of that with the provisions in the new contract as we plan to consult on that. 

'For too long the Welsh Government have offered spin, half-truths or doublespeak on dentistry.'

Those are the words of the British Dental Association; not mine. That was from the industry themselves, in their open letter last month. And I would suggest that you need to take the industry with you. I'm sure you would agree. But, clearly, there has been a breakdown between the Welsh Government and the industry themselves. How are you going to address that? I appreciate that, in your statement, you talk about the negotiation that takes place, and there will be different positions, but surely you've got to build back that trust with the industry, and I wonder how you're going to do that.

In your new contract, I wonder what assurances you can give in terms of the future negotiations to deal with cost pressures, rising costs and also workforce retention, because in terms of rising costs, it's a big pressure on practices, particularly the national insurance contributions. How are you going to factor that into your negotiation and the new contract?

And finally, just this afternoon, a constituent contacted me. For regular check-ups, four times he has had his appointment cancelled, and this afternoon it was cancelled again with just 15 minutes' notice. Five times the constituent's regular check-up has been cancelled. Can you outline how the Welsh Government intends to address the ongoing regional inequalities that exist to access an NHS dentist, particularly in rural areas? There's a problem everywhere, but particularly in rural areas, how are you going to sustain and attract dentists to come and work and remain in areas like mid Wales?

Thanks to Russell George for those questions. So, there have been fruitful discussions with the BDA over a period of more than 12 months to get us to the place where we are now in relation to the new contract. There is a pressure of time that everybody in the system would recognise as important. There is a need to put in place contractual arrangements. They won't give us everything we want, they won't give the NHS or the dental profession everything that each of us wants separately; that's obviously the nature of a negotiation. They were productive discussions for 13 months. I had a meeting myself with the BDA a few weeks ago to explore the next period ahead in terms of the consultation and the approach that they wanted to take, recognising, as we both do, that there are some aspects that have not been negotiated, but actually this is for consultation with the public. So, it is important to hear from the public and the wider profession about how the proposals work for them as well, in the way that any consultation hopes to achieve.

So, from my point of view, there is no question of trust. I try to be very straightforward about these things. I've tried to set out today what I think we ought to be trying to achieve, and I've set out, from my point of view, my approach to how we've addressed contract variations so far. Whether people agree with them is up to them, but I think it's a perfectly reasonable position to have taken.

He makes a number of very important points about cost pressures and, you know, viability, I suppose, in that broader sense, and the new contract arrangements, the proposals, are designed to address some of those. So, there are issues around cash flow and clawback in the system, which I'm sure he'll be aware of, and there will be some adjustments to that, which I hope will be attractive, from a practitioner point of view. Those are things that won't affect the public and their experience, but it'll be, I hope, helpful and positive from a practitioner's point of view.

He makes an important point about regional inequalities, or making sure that provision is available in all parts of the UK. So, from a demand point of view, the dental access portal is a national portal, so that enables us to have a clearer understanding of demand in different parts of Wales. We already have incentives to encourage dentists to train in parts of Wales, including in mid Wales, so we plan to continue with that. But at the heart of it, really, is to try and make sure that more and more of the profession that we have are spending more and more of their time, wherever they are in Wales, delivering services through the NHS, and that's why it's really important to have arrangements that are attractive. I would say, in Powys, for example, they've been very innovative, actually, from the health board point of view, in using some of the funding from contract returns. So, they're funding a dental therapist who works through the waiting list, identifying children who need to be prioritised for their treatment. So, there is actually quite innovative work happening in mid Wales, in Powys specifically, in dental treatment, even within the constraints of the current arrangements.

The truth is, of course, is that we in north Wales have lost seven dental practices that have announced that they will be returning their NHS contracts and they'll be moving into the private sector: in Buckley, Valley, Llandudno, Rhos-on-Sea, Denbigh, Coedpoeth and Colwyn Bay. Thousands have lost access to NHS dental services. Now, you say in your statement that you hope that the new contract will be implemented from April next year onwards, well, that's another 12 months, isn't it, of people possibly voting with their feet, the dentists giving up and leaving the NHS. Do you foresee, under the new contract that you hope will come into force in a year's time, that some of those will return? Do you truly expect, once they've gone to the private sector, that the contract that you will be able to offer will attract them back to the public sector? May I also ask—? I'm aware of one constituent who started dental treatment on the NHS, but is now going to have to pay for private treatment to complete that work, because the practice has gone into the private sector. Do you agree with me that dental treatment that has been started on the NHS needs to be completed on the same terms, in order to be fair to the patient?

Well, that's what I would like to see happening. In terms of the list that the Member gave of the practices that have handed back their contracts, he will also know, in terms of the procurement work that's been done by the Betsi Cadwaladr health board, that NHS activity has extended in Amlwch, Connah's Quay—there's a new surgery in Connah's Quay; the Member is shaking his head, but it's there. In Dolgellau, Caernarfon and Colwyn Bay, there's been an extension to NHS dental services. So, that's encouraging. I'm sure that the Member would welcome those developments, because it does show that, despite the limitations of the current contract, people are eager to do more work on the NHS too.

I don't doubt the figures that the Member mentioned, those losses, but there is also demand among practices to do more NHS work, and we see that as being a positive thing, of course. I would agree that we would want to see the new contract attracting dentists who've moved out of the NHS back into that public provision; that's what's at the heart of the reforms, to ensure that we have a contract that is attractive to the public, but to the profession too.

Finally, Carolyn Thomas.

Thank you. I welcome this statement and all that you're trying to do to improve the situation with dentistry. At the moment, many dentists only offer an NHS appointment in an emergency, so, will this be the case going forward, that somebody needs to have a toothache to be able to get an appointment? And what about prevention, is that part of this as well, going forward? I welcome that there will be a portal, so that people won't have to phone round to find an NHS dentist. Will those appointments be local? Will they try to aim to be local for people, so that they don't have to travel very far? Recently, a local dentist did offer NHS appointments again, which was really welcome. Somebody local advertised it on Facebook, and within a day, they were full. I just wanted to get that across. So, there have been some new NHS appointments coming up, but they've been taken very, very quickly. But I welcome the statement. Thank you.

The portal is already in existence; it has been up and running for about a month. It was trialled previously in parts of Wales, but it's now a national offer. That's been available since, I think, 12 February, so your constituents are already able to register their interest in NHS dentistry. As the Member says, the intention is to be able to point them in the direction of the nearest convenient provision. I think part of the objective is to seek to avoid the scenario that she described in her question, which I do recognise: when there are new places available, clearly there's a level of demand for those places that is often very immediate. The portal, I hope, will bring some element of order to some of those situations.

The Member made an important point in relation to urgent treatment and in relation to prevention. Some of the challenges in the current arrangements have been around making sure that practices are able and are required to provide more urgent treatment, but in a way that is also predictable from their point of view. Finding that balance has been critical. I think she'll be pleased to hear that, in the new arrangements, when she sees the consultation published, there is an element of the contract that's bespoke to urgent treatment for new patients, and an element of the funding that is dedicated specifically to prevention as well—whether that's around the 'Delivering better oral health' compliance or consultations specifically in relation to prevention. I hope that she will find that her concerns are allayed by that.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary.

The next item is a statement by the Minister for Children and Social Care: the transformation programme for children's social services. I call on the Minister to make the statement—Dawn Bowden.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Today is my opportunity to update Members on the delivery of our transformation programme for children's social services in Wales. The transformation programme has a framework of eight programme for government commitments and three key themes: radical reform, future provision of services, and the whole system working together. At its core is the voice of care-experienced children and young people. 

Our annual care experience summits and the resultant declaration, the first of its kind in the UK, have enabled Ministers to hear directly from care-experienced children and young people about their experiences and thoughts. At the last summit, in March 2024, we fed back on progress towards the vision in the summit's declaration, and we will update participants on further delivery at our next summit in May.

Our transformation delivery group is about driving change. With representatives from across the sector, and, most importantly, care-experienced young people, it is currently focused on data and metrics, and early help and prevention, recognising the need for intensive support to reduce the risk of children coming into care.

We are working hard to deliver what we formerly referred to as the national practice framework to improve consistency of practice, engaging with local authorities, health, the third sector, police, and safeguarding boards to gather opinions and evidence about how it can most add value. We've shared drafts and we've listened to feedback resulting in greater strategic emphasis on multi-agency practice. We will publish the now retitled multi-agency practice framework this April.

The Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill completed the final stage of the Senedd scrutiny process on 4 February, with Royal Assent expected later this month. Implementing the eliminating profit provisions as quickly as possible, in a way that minimises disruption to the sector and to the placements of individual children, remains a very high priority for this Government. We're working closely with our sector partners to ensure rapid progress and will provide regular updates on implementation.

We are investing heavily in the development of therapeutic residential accommodation and specialist services for children and young people with complex needs through regional partnership boards. This year, seven new residential homes for children with complex needs have already opened, with a further 14 homes in development that are expected to complete by the end of March. In line with their placement commissioning strategies, local authorities have embarked on the planning and design stages of another eight homes to complete next year.

We are committed to supporting vulnerable families to remain together through early intervention and support, and we continue to collate and analyse information on the performance of the edge-of-care services funded through the regional integration fund. In the first half of 2024-25, specialist edge-of-care services supported close to 1,800 families and 3,300 children.

We know, of course, about the benefits of parental advocacy, which supports parents to positively engage with social workers, third-sector organisations, the family courts and other professionals to resolve issues that are negatively impacting their family. With £1.6 million invested in this Senedd term, existing parental advocacy regional projects have now been rolled out on a regional basis. These projects support parents whose children are on the edge of care, helping to avoid statutory social services involvement, escalation of needs, and reducing the risk of children entering the care system.

I'm also delighted to have the opportunity to work with the Fostering Network to deliver the Step Up, Step Down pilot in Wales over a three-year period within Pembrokeshire and Powys local authority areas to support children to remain with their families. I recently visited Northern Ireland to see first-hand how it is delivering this pioneering approach to reduce the number of children entering care. The project has seen great success by offering a flexible, nurturing and trauma-informed approach to supporting families to stay together. I now look forward to observing how this new preventative approach can benefit families on the edge of care here in Wales.

In Wales, we treat all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children as children looked after. We're proud to take a 'child first' approach, which upholds the best interests, rights and entitlements to providing care and support to all children in Wales.

We continue to invest in our national fostering scheme, Foster Wales, to improve the ability of local authority fostering services to recruit and retain foster carers. We're seeing a positive impact from our investment, with a rise in the number of enquiries from prospective fosters carers, alongside an increase in the number of foster carer households.

We're committed to ensuring that kinship foster carers receive the same support as mainstream foster carers and, through the Foster Wales national commitment, we're working towards an agreed package of training, support and rewards being consistently available to all foster carers through all 22 local authority fostering services in Wales.

Finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, I'm pleased with the progress our corporate parenting charter has made, with 64 organisations now signed up to date, including all local authorities and local health boards. We continue to encourage all public bodies, as well as private bodies and the third sector, to sign up and to become corporate parents. Last month, I opened the first national corporate parenting best-practice event, with over 100 attendees. There was a real energy in the room, and care-experienced young people were able to share their ask of corporate parents directly with those organisations signed up or those wanting more information. Before the end of this Senedd term, we will strengthen current guidance on corporate parenting with a dedicated chapter on corporate parenting within the Part 6 code of practice under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. 

In conclusion, Dirprwy Lywydd, considerable progress has been made, but we still have much work to do, and our focus will be on delivery for the remainder of this Senedd term and beyond. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement today. I think I speak for all of us here when I say that providing the best possible service for children in care is paramount. While we have a different outlook on how this can be achieved, I hope that you nonetheless agree that robust scrutiny is always needed, not for any political gain, but in the interests of those children in care.

Previously, the Welsh Conservatives have argued that the private model is better suited for delivering children's care services, and I won't labour on this point any further. It's ultimately your prerogative as Government to set out how you believe these services can be improved. However, I do, nonetheless, have a few questions on how the eliminating profit provisions are going to work, and how you believe it will improve on the current situation.

At present, all 22 local authorities in Wales are members of the Children's Commissioning Consortium Cymru, which, as you will be aware, supports them to comply with their duties of sufficiency, affordability and sustainability. This is by analysing the need to identify gaps in the market and leading developments on a national, regional and local level to respond to unmet needs. However, even when future needs are anticipated, local authorities have said that they struggle to convert this understanding to current care providers, who, through the profit model, are themselves incentivised to understand as best as they can what local authorities will need in the future.

How is the not-for-profit model you propose going to help improve this? How will you ensure that non-profit care homes are incentivised to look towards future demands? I ask this because I believe that the not-for-profit model is not incentivised enough to understand future needs, and since local authorities would only be paying for the services offered, not-for-profit providers won't, unlike for-profit providers, have the additional income to build capacity, even if they know what capacity they need.

Another major issue that we face in Wales across many sectors is that we do not have enough trained people for specialist roles. It takes years to train people, and, in general, people access courses based upon future job prospects. The for-profit model has capacity within it to fund upfront for personnel to provide a future service, meaning that you can start planning for jobs and training people for the jobs that you will need in future. The not-for-profit provider won't be able to do this, meaning that there could be a greater shortage of specialist workers in child services in the future, because people will be accessing courses and training ahead of demand. Therefore, Minister, how are you going to encourage not-for-profit providers to continually invest in people to access specialist training for future child services if they don't have the financial capacity to do so?

As you are aware, one of the current major issues facing this sector is that around 31 per cent of looked-after children in Wales are placed outside their local authority area, including 5 per cent who are placed outside of Wales and away from family networks. This has a negative impact on maintaining fragile family relationships. The reason behind this, it would seem, is that it's extremely difficult to find placements for older children and for children with more complex care needs. You have mentioned that seven new residential homes for children with complex needs have already opened, with a further 14 homes in development that are expected to be complete by the end of March, and another eight homes to complete next year. Are these homes strategically placed so that looked-after children with complex needs are not placed outside of their local authority? Will some children still be placed outside of Wales? I ask this because I'm wondering if you have considered enforcing a minimum requirement for distance away from family.

It has also been almost two and a half years since the publication of the child practice review into the death of Logan Mwangi, which made it crystal clear that change is absolutely necessary and that there needs to be an improvement in safeguarding practice. Although there has been some improvement in regional safeguarding boards' joint working, those working on the ground still feel that there isn't improved practice. They believe that rather than an improved 'learning from mistakes' approach, it's a systematic change that is needed in the way that vulnerable children are identified and cared for, which ensures that vulnerable children have a full offer of support, from universal through to edge of care. What actions are you taking to address this, in particular reviewing health, social care, education, police recording, information gathering and the ability to share information? At present, there are still far too many information systems, which inhibit decision making.

This brings me to my last point, Dirprwy Lywydd. Minister, it's a long-term issue in Wales that we have seen varying degrees of co-operation between local authorities. Despite some regional collaboration being widely seen as beneficial, local authorities are still struggling to collaborate successfully, due to risk aversion, budgetary constraints, differences in governance and the difficulties of aligning priorities and sharing costs. For children's services, this means that departments within the 22 local authorities are not working well together. The Welsh Government have, as far as I can see, made no clear progress in encouraging them to do so. So, with this in mind, Minister, what plans do you have to set a minimum level of activity at local authority children's services that must be carried out collectively? Thank you.

Can I thank Joel James for those series of questions? And he’s quite right, of course, to point out that we take a very different approach to where we think the care of looked-after children should be developed, but we are where we are, and I think it’s probably incumbent on me in response to those questions to set that out in a little more detail.

You’re quite right to point out, Joel, that all local authorities have to undertake their sufficiency assessment to identify what the requirement is for looked-after children, identify the gaps in the market, and you were asking the question specifically: how will not-for-profit organisations help with that? I think it’s probably important to say that what we’re talking about here is not a like-for-like replacement of existing for-profit provision for looked-after children just transferring to not-for-profit provision for looked-after children, although that will be the ultimate position once we get to the end of the transition period. But the whole of the transformation of children’s services programme is about reducing the number of children that will ultimately need to be looked after, and the whole provision around the moving from profit to not-for-profit is actually the complete reverse of the scenario that you set out, with for-profit organisations having profits to be able to invest in training and staffing and so on.

What we are saying is that moving to a not-for-profit model is not to suggest that in any of those organisations don’t make a profit; they will have to reinvest that profit back into the services that they’re providing, rather than paying out into the pockets of the shareholders. So, the not-for-profit organisation, once it takes out its operating costs and the running costs that it will need to provide the service that it has to provide, will be able to reinvest all of the rest of those profits into the service for delivering better outcomes for the children who are looked after. And that absolutely is about the determination of need, and that will involve the investment in training and support and recruitment of the appropriate staff.

So, you also ask about safeguarding and how we are working with local authorities to improve the situation following the very tragic case of Logan Mwangi. And I think one of the things that is important to identify here is that, following on from that, we were looking at the national safeguarding review. We’ve done two things, really. One is we have introduced now a single unified safeguarding review, which actually deals with the very specific point that was identified not just in the Mwangi case but in other cases of safeguarding, where we know that the agencies are not sharing information, they’re not talking to each other, and as a result of that, opportunities to safeguard the child have been missed. So, very much the single unified safeguarding review is about seeking to address that so that we have one safeguarding review involving multi-agencies, and we will be introducing, as I’ve said in my statement, the multi-agency framework in this year, which will be setting out the way in which all of the agencies will have to work together on both the SUSR and the way that they develop safeguarding practice and investigation into those safeguarding areas.

May I declare an interest at the start? My wife works for a charity in the sector.

All of us want to see the best for our children, and we know that social workers and those who work in children's services do vital work in exceptionally difficult circumstances and they too want to see the best for the children and young people under their care, but the right systems needs to be in place, the right resources and the right leadership in order to do that effectively. And as things currently stand, those foundations aren't sufficiently robust. In the past decade, the number of children in care has increased by almost 30 per cent, but behind the statistics are children and young people who have experienced trauma and loss. They want to see action in this field, not warm words and promises alone.

So, we need radical change. Care-experienced people have been clear: they want to see change. They want to know that the children who will follow them will have better experiences than they did. The Government made a promise to them, signing up to the declaration. These young people deserve to see change, therefore, for the better, and see the declaration being lived up to, but the steps forward have been very small and a long time coming.

The Children, Young People and Education Committee's report, 'If not now, then when?', gives clear recommendations on how to improve outcomes for children in care. Despite this, progress has been frustratingly limited, and the delay in publishing a clear framework leaves us uncertain about how success will be measured. Real reform must be backed by clear outcomes, or how can we ensure that resources are being used effectively? While there have been some improvements in safeguarding collaboration, front-line services are still failing too many children, so we need systemic change, ensuring children and families are supported at every stage, from universal services to intensive interventions when needed.

Placing the corporate parenting charge, therefore, on a statutory footing is one way that the Welsh Government could drive real progress. Yet they continue to resist this. How can we expect every local authority to raise standards if there's no legal obligation for them to do so?

Lastly, the Welsh Government's commitment to improving support for kinship carers and those with special guardianship orders is welcome. But it must be properly funded. Without the budget to match these commitments, promises risk becoming empty words. We all want Wales to be the best place for children to grow up, but to make that happen, this Government must turn promises into action. Our children can't afford to wait any longer. Diolch yn fawr.

Diolch, Mabon, for those comments, and I've said on many occasions when we've been across the Chamber here that we're not on different pages on this. We have absolutely set out very clearly through our programme for government what we're seeking to do to transform children's services. We have eight programme for government commitments that focus on that new vision for children's services. That is about making a whole-system, radical reform. Now, it doesn't happen overnight. I think we have made a good start on that, but as I said in my statement we've certainly still got a long way to go.

We know—. Sorry, Joel, I should have answered your further question as well about collaboration; Mabon has raised it as well. What we do see with local authorities and health boards is really good practices across Wales in particular areas. So, we have excellent examples of collaboration and what we need to do, and part of the process of the transformation of children's services is about scaling up those good practices.

The new residential centres that we're introducing for those children that have got the most challenging and complex needs—we will expect to have those regional centres right the way across Wales, close to where those children are living and their families and connections and communities exist. There will be the odd occasion where the need will be so specialised that it may not be available in Wales, and there may be the odd occasion where a child will still have to be placed in England, but we expect that to minimise as we develop the further regional centres that we are rolling out.

As I say, there is no question that these are hugely challenging times, and the financial element of all of this is hugely challenging as well. But to be very, very clear, particularly around our work on the elimination programme, the option of doing nothing is not an option. If we carry on the way that we are, seeing how much it's costing to look after children, particularly those children with the most challenging and complex needs, then the prices that local authorities have to pay will be absolutely off the scale. So, moving towards a new model where we reduce the need for the number of children to be in care is absolutely something that is important for us to do. And through the work that we have been doing thus far, what we have seen is very specialist work, the kind of wraparound work that we've been doing with children and their families, and we've seen somewhere in the region of 360 children who have been prevented from having to go into care. So, this is work with children on the edge of care who, had we not had those interventions, we would probably have seen ending up in care. So, I am anxious to see the number of children we have in care reducing and we are seeing very small movement around that at the moment; it's not quick enough and we still need to do more work around that. But if we hadn't been doing the work that we have been doing, those 360 children I just mentioned would also be added to those figures of looked-after children. So, we are seeing progress around that.

In terms of—

Corporate parenting?

Sorry?

Corporate parenting.

Corporate parenting—I'm just coming on to it. So, in terms of corporate parenting, we do intend to strengthen the guidelines, and there was a very good reason why we didn't put it into legislation—I'll come onto that in a moment, about what we are doing. But we made it voluntary because we wanted those organisations that were signing up to become corporate parents to understand and to commit to what they were doing and not feel that they were being forced into doing it and not, then, taking that step voluntarily and with the commitment that it needed. We've had these conversations before about certain things that you can put into legislation, the offer of statutory advocacy for children who are looked after, the carers' assessments, and we know that there is still a huge amount of inconsistency and work to be done with those. And what that demonstrates to me is that just the act of putting something into a piece of legislation doesn't, in and of itself, deliver the objective. What delivers the objective for us, as far as corporate parenting is concerned, is to get organisations to sign up in the willing knowledge that they have a piece of work to do and that they're prepared to do that.

But we are going to be strengthening the guidance to them, and we are putting a dedicated chapter on corporate parenting into Part 6, the code of practice, of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, and that chapter is going to set out what the local authorities' duties, as corporate parents, are. And that will help to support a more strategic approach to that. So, that is work in progress and that will develop. But certainly, the 64 organisations, including all local authorities and health boards that we have signed up at the moment, are absolutely on board for doing what we are doing. But that is not to say that we won't explore the possibility of legislation as we grow the number of organisations that become corporate parents.

The other issue that you raised with me was foster carers and kinship and I'm very aware—and we have commissioned a piece of work around this—that, not only do we need to do a lot of work on it—. And I would have to say that I don't think that, generally, foster carers go into foster caring because of the money that's available to them for doing it; I absolutely don't think that that is the case. But that is not to say that we shouldn't give them fair recompense for doing it, because it is a hugely, hugely important thing that they do. But one of the things that I am particularly concerned about is that kinship carers are not getting the same recompense as foster carers, who are registered through Foster Wales and so on. So, we are looking at that, because I'm absolutely determined that there should be equity there, because whether you're a kinship carer or a registered foster carer, your expenses in looking after a child are exactly the same. I can't pretend to you that we have the immediate answer to that yet, but we have done this piece of work, we are working with our stakeholders and it is our ambition. But you will appreciate it when I say to you that that is also a hugely expensive ambition and it's probably something that we would have to look at phasing in over a period of time. But it's something we're absolutely committed to doing.

I am pleased to see that all local authorities and health boards have signed up to the corporate parent charter, and also a number of private and third sector organisations as well, and that they have all voluntarily committed to spread the principles of corporate parenting beyond their own organisations. I think this will help us build a Wales where we provide the support needed to care-experienced children and young people to ensure that they have the same life chances as other young people in Wales, which is really important. 

Strengthening public bodies in their role as a corporate parent was a programme for government commitment, so I’m really pleased to see this progress now. When I was a county councillor, we had corporate parent training, and I attended an annual event where we celebrated the successes of the looked-after children, which was a lovely event. But, when I talked to the young people at the event, their biggest ask was for continuity of care, whether it’s a social worker or staying with the same family. Could the Minister say something about how the transformation of children’s services will help to improve that continuity for our looked-after young people? Thank you.

Thank you, Carolyn Thomas, for that question. I think you’re absolutely right. The whole concept of what we’re trying to do is to ensure that care-experienced children get the best start in life that they can, the best outcomes, and the fact that they are care-experienced shouldn’t interfere with their life chances. And so that is absolutely part of what we are seeking to do.

One of the things that struck me—. We had our first corporate parenting charter event with all the organisations that had signed up and a number of organisations that were wanting to find out more about what being a corporate parent was. We had this event just back in February, so not very long ago, and we had this event with care-experienced ambassadors. And if you’ve ever had the opportunity to talk to some of these young people, they are quite inspirational. One of them said something to the gathered audience there, who were, as I say, both corporate parents and potential corporate parents; when being asked what it is they should do, and what would a corporate parent be looking to do, what they said, what one of them said, and that stuck with me, is: ‘What would you want for your own child?’ If you start from that basis of, as a corporate parent, you have this overarching responsibility, and it may seem huge in terms of what you have to do, but, actually, if you funnel that down and just say, as somebody who is responsible for this, ‘What would I want my own child’s life to be like?’, and if everything you do is guided by that, then you should be getting the outcomes that you need. And the outcomes that we want are that care-experienced children should not have those different experiences and not be hindered in the progress that we make.

The continuity of care, Carolyn, is an issue, because we have 22 different local authorities, and they do things differently. But the work that happens on the regional footprints and through the regional partnership boards is shifting that, and we are seeing, as I said in the answer to Mabon earlier, really good practice in some areas. It is just a question of how we upscale the good practice, so that’s rolled out and it doesn’t become a bit of a postcode lottery in terms of it's where you are that determines that you get the best care.

Minister, I’ve got two issues I’d like to raise with you today—one I’ve raised with you before, about the personal expenses allowance that young people in local authority residential homes get. I was in contact with a very young individual who told me that they only get a certain amount of money every week to pay for toiletries, sanitary products and little expenses. It’s about £39 a week that they get to cover that. Children who are in foster care get an awful lot more money than they do living in residential care. There is a disparity there. So, I’d like to understand why there is the difference and what could be done to bring them more in line together.

And my second question, Minister, is around those young people who are having children who’ve been in care before. Because what we do know is those people who are having children do tend to face discrimination from the social care sector, and people automatically are put under care orders because they’ve been under care proceedings themselves before when they were children. That is discrimination against those people. It's something that was raised in the report that the Children, Young People and Education Committee did, and I'm just interested in what work is the Government doing around this area, because I don't think in Wales we should have any place for that sort of discrimination against children who have been in care.

You have raised the issue of the personal expenses allowance, and I think I did write to you about it. Did I not write to you about it? I do apologise, James. Maybe I spoke to you about it, then, rather than writing to you about it. So, I will write to you about it, because the official position is that there shouldn't be a difference, and if that is happening then we probably need to have a little bit more information about where that is happening so that we can do some further exploration on that. So, thank you for raising that again.

And in terms of care-experienced parents, we know only too well, as you quite rightly say, that if a mother in particular is care experienced herself then she is at greater risk of her children also being taken into care. But that is exactly what this programme of transformation of children's social services is about.

And in answer to the question from Mabon earlier, with that kind of work that we've been doing with children on the edge of care, and this is what we're talking about here—. So, these are children that are born at risk of going into our looked-after system, and the services that we now have in place to wrap around those families have prevented 360 children over the last couple of years from entering the care system. So, it is about that early intervention, and this is exactly what this programme is about. It's not making an automatic assumption that a child born to a mother who was care experienced herself should be in care, but obviously acknowledging that there are determining factors in those cases that need early and immediate intervention. But working with those families at an early stage is exactly what we are trying to do to prevent that child from being taken into care. With a number of children it is working out very successfully; for some, it doesn't work, and the ultimate assessment will always be the safety of a child and whether that child can remain with their family safely, and that's the work that we undertake to try to ensure that that happens.

And finally, Lee Waters. 

Thank you, Deputy Minister. I just want to acknowledge what a significant series of reforms is contained in the statement, and to thank you for bringing them forward, and recognise the sincerity of your commitment and the commitment of others who have come before you, particularly the former First Minister, the former deputy children's Minister, Julie Morgan, but also others, people like David Melding, who led the ministerial advisory board, Sally Holland as the children's commissioner, committees of this Assembly, both the children's committee and the Public Accounts Committee in the last Senedd term. So, it's fantastic to see these therapeutic residential centres now beginning to start taking young people into them.

In terms of the next steps you mentioned around the corporate parenting statutory guidance, I'm very conscious that the next step that young people make after these homes is often that sharp transition from children's social services to adult social services, and, when you speak to people working in the system and the children who've gone through it, it is a traumatic and often a very blunt transition. So, in terms of these summits you've been holding and the gathering of good practice, can you give some reassurance that, as part of the next guidance you are developing, this transition will be addressed?

Can I thank you, Lee, for that question? And I also add my thanks to my predecessors, both the former First Minister, Julie Morgan, David Melding and others who really blazed the trail for these very, very significant changes that are making a huge difference to the lives of some of the most challenging young people in society—or, rather, the young people with the most challenging sets of circumstances, yes.

The very point that you've raised, actually, was a point I've raised just recently, because I've seen this in my own constituency casework, where children are transitioning from children's social services into adult social care, and it is hugely traumatic when all of the relationships and the services that have been built up around the child are then pulled away as they're then moved into adult services. I want to see a piece of work being developed—and this is what I've been discussing with officials—where we have that softer transition from children’s to adult social services. What we have, unfortunately, is a system where we have children's social workers and adult social workers and nothing in between, and we don't really seem to have transitional social workers that can that can help ease that path through. Now, I don't know how difficult that is. It doesn't seem to me as though that should be as difficult as it presents itself as being to the system. But, actually, given that everything that we are trying to do is about this process being child centred or person centred, it should be that the needs of the person going through the system and has to experience it that actually determines how the policy direction goes. So, it is absolutely a piece of work that is on my radar and is something that I think will be one of the next phases of how we can deliver the improvements in children's services. 

I thank the Minister. 

Item 6 today is the debate on the second supplementary budget, and I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language to move the motion—Mark Drakeford.

Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. The supplementary budget introduces the final spending plans of the Welsh Government for the current financial year. This second supplementary budget regulates a number of changes and allocations that were made during 2024-25. This was mainly because of the significant increase in the Welsh Government budget contained within the UK Government's budget at the end of October.  

As a result, Dirprwy Lywydd, our overall spending limits have increased by £629 million in revenue and £256 million in capital. The single largest new investment reflected in this second supplementary budget is the £264 million allocated to cover the impact of public sector pay awards announced in December. The additional funding fully covers the difference between original budget planning assumptions and the agreed awards for staff in the health service, teachers and other public sector workers. 

And as you would expect, investment in the health service features prominently in the decision Members are asked to make today: £25 million for superannuation contributions; £50 million to reduce waiting times; £27 million to support the 50-day challenge; £31 million in capital investment in digital and diagnostic equipment; £26 million to invest in general practice; and £15 million to address a shortfall in the immigration health surcharge funding. 

Beyond the health service, this second supplementary budget reflects the major additional investment we've been able to make in education in this financial year: £63.5 million to improve school standards, support additional learning needs provision and to support education at all levels, with a further £53.5 million for school and college repairs and maintenance and digital costs. 

Dirprwy Lywydd, transport and active travel remain a priority of this Welsh Labour Government. The figures available to Members today include a further £167 million in investment to support rail and to secure a pipeline of future active travel schemes; £147 million of that additional expenditure has been invested in the core Valleys lines, the single greatest investment of its sort anywhere in Europe.

Dirprwy Lywydd, climate change isn't just a threat to future generations; it impacts on the way that we live today. That's why we have to change the way we travel, and that's why the Welsh Government has stepped in again this year to help local authorities to respond to storms Bert and Darragh. Ten million pounds of emergency support is reflected in the determinations before you. 

Although the second supplementary budget includes significant spending, this is essentially a technical step. Behind the headlines, there are allocations of sums into and out of reserves, reform to the block grant adaptation, reform to the devolved taxes forecast, the UK Government's supplementary forecast and virements within and between departments. 

The purpose of the second supplementary budget is to bring the decisions together in one place, so that they are clearer and so that one can identify individual changes in the context of the broader work of managing the budget during the year. I am particularly grateful to members of the Finance Committee and the Chair, Peredur Owen Griffiths, for their careful consideration that lies behind their report. I also thank them for being willing to discuss not only the significant detail contained within the documents, but also the broader arguments and decisions behind the individual elements.

I urge Members to note the conclusion of the committee that this supplementary budget is similar to previous supplementary budgets, because it regulates expenditure within Welsh Government and explains where virements have taken place. The committee has made nine recommendations, and I look forward to responding to them in due course. Llywydd, I urge Members to support the motion.

I call on the Chair of the Finance Committee now to contribute. Peredur Owen Griffiths.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. I'm very pleased to speak in this debate today on behalf of the Finance Committee. The committee scrutinised the second supplementary budget on 6 March, and I'd like to thank the Cabinet Secretary and his officials for their attendance. Our report makes nine recommendations and comes to one conclusion.

Firstly, on a general point, the committee welcomes the increased funds in this supplementary budget. Nonetheless, we have identified areas that would benefit from further clarity. In particular, while we are grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for explaining how he is managing departmental underspends as we head towards the end of the financial year, we do ask for details to be shared on the mechanisms used by the Welsh Government when deciding how such underspends are allocated. We also believe that consideration should be given to making additional allocations to bodies that can carry funding forward into 2025-26, to help with funding pressures, such as local authorities, and we ask the Cabinet Secretary to respond to this suggestion.

With regard to capital funding, we share the Cabinet Secretary’s anxieties about the ability of public sector budgets to absorb increases in this area before the year end, and have called for assurances on how this is monitored. We also welcome that funding relating to the First Minister’s priorities are clearly visible in the supplementary budget. However, it is not immediately clear to us whether the First Minister or another member of the Cabinet is accountable for these areas, and we have asked for further clarity on this.

Llywydd, turning now to other areas within our report, we welcome the arrangements in place within the Welsh Government to monitor in-year spending across budgets and recognise that having access to accurate and readily available data is essential for this purpose. Although we welcome the Cabinet Secretary’s explanation of these mechanisms currently available to capture data, we ask for more information on the initiatives that exist within the Welsh Government to improve existing processes.

In terms of specific allocations, we believe that spending in the transport main expenditure group needs particular attention and are particularly concerned with the unanticipated pressure of £100 million within that MEG. That is why we have asked for a breakdown of costs relating to these pressures, so that we can get a firm idea of the reasons behind them. We are also concerned that overspends in this area may indicate wider weaknesses in financial planning processes within the transport MEG, and have asked for further information on forecast spending to cover costs relating to Transport for Wales.

It was also interesting to hear that the Cabinet Secretary remains in discussions with the UK Government on recognising the condition of the rail assets transferred to Wales, and that discussions around funding for enhancements to the core Valleys lines will form part of the UK spending review, and have asked for updates on these points. The committee also wanted further clarity regarding the additional £25 million allocated to the central services and administration MEG. Although we note the Cabinet Secretary’s explanation that this allocation covers staff pay as well as tribunal costs, we believe they warrant a further breakdown, and have asked for this to be provided.

Finally, the committee welcomes the details provided by the Cabinet Secretary regarding both the UK and Welsh spending reviews, and the fact that the Welsh Government will have opportunities to inform the progress of the UK exercise ahead of the review's publication on 11 June. We were also pleased that the relationship between the Treasury and the Welsh Government has improved, and we particularly welcome the fact that steps are being taken to establish a rulebook to codify the sharing of information between Governments. As a committee, we have long called for this, and we are pleased to see progress being achieved. However, we have called for an update on these discussions, including details of what will be codified.

As ever, we welcome the Minister's continued engagement with us as part of our continuous scrutiny of the Welsh Government's budget, and we ask that the areas that we have identified in our report are taken forward. Thank you very much.

I'm grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for his statement here this afternoon. I'm also grateful for the continued engagement through this process with myself and others. I'm very conscious that this is my first supplementary budget to be commenting on in my shadow role. I'm also conscious that this particular supplementary budget has movements that are of a larger scale than usual. As the Cabinet Secretary has pointed out, there is a reason for that, with further allocation of funding within this financial year.

But I think there are a couple of areas that, perhaps, would warrant a little further commentary. The Chair of the Finance Committee has already pointed to the increase in the central services and administration budget. On top of the £117 million increase in the last two years, there's a £25 million additional budget for that central services and administration budget. So, I'd support the Chair of the Finance Committee's calls and the calls of the committee for that clarity as to how that additional £25 million is likely to be—or has been—spent through this time. Granted, there are explanations around increasing tribunal fees, as has already been described, but I'd appreciate the Cabinet Secretary commenting on that in particular in his response at the end of this. 

I share the concerns about what looks like a regular intervention requirement in terms of funding for TfW. I think my question to the Cabinet Secretary is really to understand the assurances that he has around the controls that are in place within TfW to be able to properly manage their budget year on year. So, I'd be grateful if the Cabinet Secretary could comment on that point as well.

In terms of the First Minister's priorities, we've clearly heard that a significant amount of the reallocation of funding within this year is the result of the First Minister's priorities. As well as having some clarity as to who should be scrutinised for the spending of that money, whether it's the First Minister, the portfolio holder to whom it relates, whether it's the Minister for delivery or somebody else, I'd be grateful to hear from the Cabinet Secretary whether he believes that, as a result of that movement in money within the First Minister's priorities, we'll see concrete and sustained improvements in those areas in the time we have ahead of us within this Senedd term.

I think it's particularly important that the auditor general, as you'll be aware, has previously called for a change in approach from what he described as relentless firefighting to, instead, executing sustainable public service delivery. So, I ask the question: does the Cabinet Secretary believe that the First Minister's priorities and the second supplementary budget as a whole, and other fiscal measures at hand, embrace that drive for sustainable public service delivery and address the long-term challenges in areas of responsibility, in particular health and education? Diolch yn fawr iawn.

May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for providing an update earlier today too? It's good that we have been having regular meetings in order to understand this additional funding. Clearly, when we had a debate, some months ago now, on the first draft supplementary budget, Plaid Cymru, of course, welcomed the investment in terms of public sector pay. We knew that that was entirely essential, and it's critical, of course, that we can continue to invest in public sector pay. You'll know that it's difficult to look at this supplementary budget without also looking at what's to come next. And whilst there are things to be welcomed, of course, in terms of public sector pay, you will know that there are also concerns regarding what will be possible in future years, particularly given the situation around national insurance.

Representing South Wales Central, of course I've seen the core Valleys line investment. I think everybody that came to Pontypridd for the National Eisteddfod saw that investment, and, obviously, it's incredibly welcome. Of course, I share some of the concerns that have been raised, both by the Finance Committee and by the shadow spokesperson from the Conservatives, in terms of that expenditure with Transport for Wales, and I think trying to understand why there is such a vast difference in terms of what's budgeted and what needs to be allocated in order to realise such ambitious projects is something that I think we would all appreciate clarity on.

Of course, I also welcome the emergency funding and support that's been provided in terms of storms. I wonder, in future years, given that we are seeing this having to happen so frequently and more extreme weather events—. We had a discussion earlier in terms of funding being allocated for flood protection measures, but I wonder how you see, or foresee in future years, having funding available for those unexpected weather events that are, unfortunately, becoming much more frequent, and understanding how that investment is value for money.

Looking at the investment in terms of £20 million of capital funding allocated to school buildings, of course we welcome the investment, but Cefin Campbell recently questioned the Cabinet Secretary for Education, following a freedom of information request, in terms of the maintenance backlog faced by schools across Wales at present, which showed £543 million-worth of backlog. So, it's really to understand how do we ensure that continued investment.

In terms of the First Minister's priorities, we note that investment. Obviously, I think every Senedd Member would welcome anything that gets to grips with waiting lists, but one of the things that were raised in the Finance Committee's report—and can I thank the Finance Committee for their detailed work and report on this—were the questions around data. And I note that, in your responses, you'd mentioned, Cabinet Secretary, in terms of ensuring that whatever investment was put in, in terms of that supplementary budget, was something that you were monitoring very carefully, as well as the Cabinet Secretary for health, in terms of how effective those interventions were. I assume, therefore, from the allocations in next year’s budget, that that funding has proved to be effective. I think that's one of the things that we would all want to see.

On the question on data, though, raised more broadly by the Finance Committee, I think one of the things that many of us have been calling for, in terms of that prevention agenda and where we will be able to see a measure, is that data comes up time and time again in different areas of not being quite clear where that connectivity is between that investment and output and results. So, I wonder, therefore, in terms of that additional expenditure in health, which has been considerable and has been consistently considerable in recent years, we still failed to meet the Government's own targets in these areas. So, it's to understand whether you think this has been effective. Has it achieved what you hoped it would when that money was allocated?

As this is money already spent, Plaid Cymru will be abstaining on today's budget. As I've said, there are things we welcome and, of course, if we had the opportunity, there are areas where we'd spend differently, but I think there are some points of clarity that would be welcome, and specifically in terms of what the impact has been of that further investment.

I will be supporting this second supplementary budget and ask those opposing it a question: what would you do differently? It's easy saying, 'We'd spend it differently.' Where? And what would you not spend it on? This is always a strange debate, following on shortly after the main event, which was the 2025-26 budget. I was a member of the Finance Committee that scrutinised this budget and thank the Cabinet Secretary and his officials for giving the explanations and the thinking behind the decisions made.

I welcome the increase in funds in this second supplementary budget. This is how having a Labour Government at both ends of the M4 works for public services in Wales. This supplementary budget regularises allocations to and from reserves, transfers within and between portfolios, and includes adjustments to the Wales budget to reflect the impact of UK Government fiscal events. In the second supplementary budget, the money, or almost all the money, has been spent. It has all been allocated. Most has been spent. I'm not sure what happens if a supplementary budget is rejected. Are you going to take money off people? Are you going to tell hospitals that they have to stop doing anything in the next two weeks, in order to bring the budget under control? I think that sometimes we have some of these debates and there's only one possible answer, and sometimes people voting against or abstaining are very pleased that the Government actually wins.

I have a number of points. The movement of money into and out of reserves, and revenue to capital, or capital to revenue, should be the decision of the Welsh Government, not the decision of the Treasury. The money's been allocated to Wales; how we spend it should be the decision of the Welsh Government, supported by the Senedd, not be decided by the Treasury, which doesn't seem to have grasped the fact that it is not another Government department, it is a devolved institution and is a Government in its own right. That's a problem we've had with the Treasury for the whole time I've been here, and I expect it to continue. I'm not convinced that movement within departmental budgets needs to be approved. A written report on such movements would be sufficient. However, more detail is needed on how departmental underspends are reallocated to other departments, including the cause of the underspend, and an explanation of why other departments need it.

I'll ask the Minister some questions. Can the finance Minister assure us that no money will be paid back to the Treasury? If that assurance cannot be made, can I suggest that the money is spent? I would suggest giving it to local government, which always has a need for additional money. We could pay any organisation the Welsh Government funds that is not part of the Welsh Government consolidated accounts. Why can't updates on expenditure be given more regularly to the Senedd, even if only in written form to the Finance Committee?

I'd like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for finance for his update today. An issue I want to raise, Cabinet Secretary, is something I've raised before, and it's about the time that we give to consider everything to do with the budget here within the Senedd. It's a £23 billion budget, and we debate it over the stretch of a couple of hours. I personally believe that we should look, perhaps with the Business Committee and the Government, at how we allocate more time within this Senedd to look at individual policy matters. In Westminster, for example, they spend a whole four days going over different policy areas, which gives an opportunity for all Members who've got an interest in other areas, other than just the committees they sit on, an opportunity to ask Ministers and the finance Secretary directly about issues that they want to see brought up in the budget, or how the budget could be improved. So, I think that's something that we really do need to look at going forward, especially in the context of Senedd reform—[Interruption.] Yes, I'll take an intervention, Mike.

I've raised it several times that we treat agreeing the budget here with the same level of importance as a one-hour opposition debate.

I don't disagree with you, Mike—I totally agree. I think, from a personal perspective, that setting the budget here is probably the most fundamentally important thing we do. It sets the tone for how we fund public services across Wales. I think when I was back in council, we gave almost more time to debating our council budget than what we do actually to the budget setting the strategic priorities of Wales. So, I think it does need to be looked at.

There's one final thing I'd like to raise with the Cabinet Secretary. Ahead of the UK Government's spring budget announcements coming, I think, next week, I'm just interested to know what discussions you've had with the Chancellor or the chief finance Secretary around some of the national insurance issues that are facing some of the public sector bodies across Wales—mainly the third sector, our dentists, our GP practices, who are all really struggling with the rising costs of NI. I want to know what representations you've made ahead of that statement around that. And also around that, do you see any impacts for Wales ahead of that statement, and if there are, how are you factoring that into the budget discussions here? Diolch, Llywydd.

The Cabinet Secretary for finance now to reply to the debate. Mark Drakeford.

Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you to everyone who has contributed to the debate. Thank you in particular to the Chair of the committee. I agree, of course. We are always looking for ways to simplify things that are complex, that are technical in nature, and where there are many moving parts, particularly when we come towards the end of the financial year.

I will respond, as ever, to the constructive proposals of the Finance Committee to see how we can make more progress in that area.

A number of colleagues, Llywydd, have mentioned the transport MEG, and I, too, as the finance Secretary, would like to be at a more settled position than we are in relation to investment in rail. I’d just caution Members against too simplistic a view of how the transport MEG, and rail particularly, operates. Members here will know—as Heledd Fychan said—there’s been an enormous investment in rolling stock to make sure that we have modern trains that people can travel on. Transport for Wales is not always in control of when that rolling stock arrives with them. It’s very largely in the hands of manufacturers, and sometimes you can be expecting quite a large bill to arrive in one financial year, only to find that the rolling stock arrives a few weeks later than was originally planned, and now the bill appears in another financial year. So, some of these big movements are not necessarily to do with the way Transport for Wales manages its budget; it’s just to do with where particular expenditures happen to fall.

I agree with Sam Rowlands, of course, that the key difference between this supplementary budget and others is not in the job that it does, but in the scale of investment that it represents, and that, as Mike Hedges says, is because we have a Labour Government now at Westminster, and the additional money we were allocated in-year was significantly higher than it would have been in earlier years. As a result, we have a greater flow of funding through this second supplementary budget.

Sam Rowlands also asked me about the £25 million in the CSA MEG; again, I’d just ask colleagues to make sure they’ve looked at the detail of some of these movements, because I am not just the Cabinet Secretary for finance, but Cabinet Secretary for the Welsh language. All the budgets that are associated with the Welsh language have now been moved into the CSA MEG from elsewhere, so although that one budget appears to go up, it’s not a real increase, it’s just a movement of funding between MEGs to reflect ministerial responsibilities.

More generally, let me say, Llywydd, that it’s been a rule of mine in earlier years that, when our budgets were under very significant strain, and we weren’t always able to fund those who rely on the Welsh Government to the extent that we would have liked to, I would never fund the Welsh Government better than I was able to fund, let's say, the health service or local government. Conversely, when we are in a better year, and there is more money to invest in those other services, I don’t believe that the Welsh Government should be treated worse than any other public service. I’ve faced complaints on the floor of the Senedd here before that there are things that we want to do as a Senedd but we don’t have the capacity within the Welsh Government to take those things forward. That is a reflection of more than a decade of austerity and treating ourselves no differently to the way we would treat any other public service.

On the issue of the £50 million that was provided to the health service for waiting times—Heledd Fychan raised this, as well as Sam Rowlands—I think we can see the impact of that. I met recently with the health Secretary. He has the most detailed weekly accounts of how that money is being spent and the difference that it is making. It gave me significant confidence to sit in on one of those meetings to hear those reports, and it is as a result of that evidence that the money invested is making a difference that we will go on investing in that way next year.

On the points that Heledd Fychan asked about funding for local authorities following storms, I completely agree with what Heledd said. We’re going to have more of this in the future, not less. There are two sorts of help that are provided. The £10 million was the result of what used to be called the Bellwin formula, which is for immediate and emergency action. There will be a need for some additional funding for the longer term impacts of storm damage, and I’ve recently been in discussions with the WLGA about all of that. 

Finally, Llywydd, I was asked by Mike Hedges to give a confirmation that no money will be paid back to the Treasury this year. I give you that assurance. We have been able to manage the year end in a way where the Wales reserve for next year can accommodate money that I'm keen to make available to colleagues to manage pressures in the next year and that there is no need, in managing the budget, to hand money back to Whitehall. With all of that, Llywydd, again, I ask colleagues to allow the second supplementary budget to proceed.

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] There is objection. Therefore, we will defer voting until voting time.

Item 7 is next: the debate on the Estyn annual report for 2023-24. The Cabinet Secretary for Education to move the motion. Lynne Neagle.

Diolch, Llywydd. I would like to open this debate by thanking Owen Evans, His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales, for his annual report. This report is a vital, independent reflection of how our schools and education and training providers are performing and helping our learners progress. For us as a Government, and indeed everybody invested in education, it provides a crucial evidence base. It helps us understand not just where we are, but what we need to do to make progress in classrooms across Wales.

Llywydd, I want to express again my heartfelt thanks to all school leaders and teachers in Wales. Their unwavering dedication and commitment to learners does not go unnoticed. I have the privilege in my role as Cabinet Secretary of meeting many leaders and teachers, and seeing their passion first-hand is both humbling and inspiring.

I share the chief inspector's overall assessment: we have significant strengths within our education and training sectors. That is reflected in a number of case studies Estyn highlight in this report that showcase many of the strengths across our education and training sectors. But I know too that we need to address the challenges we still face.

I welcome Estyn's approach to publishing the report in two phases, as it has done over the past couple of years. The sector summary report published last October offered an early insight into what's working well and where improvement is needed. The full annual report published in February provides a deeper analysis, including cross-cutting themes that provide valuable insights into our system.

The report identifies some key challenges: attendance, skills development, pupil progression, teaching quality and assessment, recruitment and self-evaluation. These are consistent with the issues the Welsh Government is tackling head on. As I have said on many occasions, if learners are not in school or alternative provision, they aren't going to learn. While mainstream school isn't right for every child, we must ensure that all young people have the support they need to learn. Our attendance figures are showing signs of improvement, but progress has been too slow and there is more to do.

I want to see pre-pandemic levels restored within this Senedd term. That will require a collective, sustained effort, supporting individual learners while addressing disparities across local authorities, year groups and between learners from different backgrounds. The significant amount of learning lost by those eligible for free school meals is a particular concern and must improve. I am making significant investments to support this improvement, particularly in family engagement officers, whose work is crucial in keeping children and their families connected to their education.

Linked to attendance is the issue of behaviour in schools. Recent discussion and incidents have reinforced our concerns about school environments and staff safety. As I have said before, schools must be safe spaces. No-one should go to work or attend lessons fearing for their well-being or safety. But we all need to recognise that behaviour issues are complex, often rooted in broader societal challenges that schools cannot address alone. Estyn's thematic review on behaviour expected in May and our upcoming behaviour summit will explore these complexities and help to address this issue.

Literacy and numeracy are the foundations of learning and are key to improving the Welsh education system. We will consult later this year on a revised literacy and numeracy framework that will provide teachers with the tools to develop these skills across the curriculum regardless of their specialism. This will become statutory guidance reflecting its importance in driving improvement. Alongside changes to the guidance, I've invested an additional £1.1 million this year in successful programmes to support literacy, numeracy and science. This includes extending the research on the instruction of language with literacy programme, which has already seen learners improve their reading skills by up to 20 per cent. The additional work streams including whole-class RILL for seven to nine-year-olds, developing a junior RILL programme for younger learners aged five to seven years old and expanding professional learning on the science of reading and spelling in up to 40 schools.

We are working with local authorities and other partners to develop a package of national support for literacy and numeracy that will ensure that all practitioners have access to high-quality training to improve the quality of teaching in these areas. This will be based on evidence about how learners develop and what effective practice looks like. I have allocated a further £10 million to support this in the next financial year. I recently announced that Wales will now participate in international assessments for literacy, numeracy and science for year 5 learners. Participation in PIRLS—progress in international reading literacy study—and TIMSS—trends in international mathematics and science study—will offer an opportunity to provide national-level assurance on the achievement of learners at an earlier stage and to support teaching and learning.

High-quality learning is not possible without high-quality teaching. Teachers need access to the best professional learning to meet the needs of their learners. From September this year a new national body for professional learning and leadership will be established to simplify and streamline support for schools. I've also recently announced that we'll be working with local authorities, trade unions, Estyn and other stakeholders to develop a strategic education workforce plan. Addressing how we improve the quality of teaching will be a key part of this plan. 

As the annual report highlights, there are difficulties in the recruitment of teachers in some secondary subjects. To tackle this, we are providing targeted incentivisation to graduates in priority subject areas. This offers up to £15,000 for students training to teach in these subjects. Further incentives are offered for students who train to teach through the medium of Welsh. Again, recruitment and retention will be key to our strategic workforce plan.

Our review of school improvement arrangements across Wales affirmed the key role and commitment of schools leaders and teachers to drive a self-improving system through high-quality collaboration. This chimes with Estyn's ongoing emphasis on self-evaluation and the opportunity to provide all our schools with the tools to improve consistently across Wales. We are working closely with Estyn to ensure that we provide school practitioners and local authorities with the support to take forward this new model of improvement. Local authorities will now lead on local school improvement arrangements, enabling them to develop a holistic local improvement system that meets the distinct needs of their communities. This provides clear accountability and ownership for the full range of education policy, from curriculum, additional learning needs, improvement, to equity and well-being. We know that some schools need more intensive support and intervention from their local authorities. That's why, in 2024-25, I have made £5 million available to local authorities to provide more targeted support for schools causing concern.

At the same time, national leadership is essential. To strengthen our shared efforts, we’ve established a new education improvement team within the Welsh Government to work directly with local authorities. This will drive a focus on shared priorities between Welsh Government, local authorities and schools, and a national commitment to sharing good practice across Wales.

To ensure rigour and independent oversight of the system, Estyn is now undertaking more frequent inspection activity—a core inspection and an interim visit within a six-year period to every school in Wales. This provides regular independent advice and challenge for the system. The interim visit will support providers with self-evaluation and improvement plans.

I’ve already discussed the report in detail with the chief inspector and look forward to continued engagement with Estyn on their work. Llywydd, it isn’t possible for me to cover every aspect of the report in this opening speech, but I have focused on areas where the Government is taking, and will continue to take, action. I’m determined to build on the progress made already to drive improvement and deliver the very best education system for Wales, and I look forward to hearing the contributions from Members. Diolch yn fawr.

I have selected the three amendments to the motion, and I call on Tom Giffard to move amendments 1 and 2.

Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. Before starting, I just wanted to declare an interest for the record that a family member of mine does occasional work for Estyn, but wasn’t involved in the production of this report.

The report, I think, is the latest, isn’t it, in a long line of depressing reports that lay bare the awful state of education in Wales after 26 long years of hard Labour. The Programme for International Student Assessment report told us that we have the worst educational outcomes anywhere in the UK. The Institute of Fiscal Studies report made clear that the failings of the education system in Wales were not to do with our demographics or poverty, but decisions taken by this Welsh Labour Government. And now, today, the Estyn report shows a Welsh Government asleep at the wheel, failing to support teaching staff and failing to take seriously the problems in our education system. Llywydd, we need a Government that prioritises the evidence over the ideology in education, to follow what has worked in other parts of the world, rather than a 'we know best', centralised approach. What we need is an education revolution, and that means we need a Welsh Conservative Government at the next election.

One of the areas of concern that the report identifies is the recruitment and retention of our teaching staff, and it’s one that I know I and other Members have raised with you several times in this Chamber, Cabinet Secretary. The report noted that the decline in recruitment is of, I quote, 'significant concern', with secondary schools in particular suffering exponentially, as the number of initial teacher education students has reduced by nearly half since 2014. That is a plummet virtually beyond comprehension and something we probably yet haven’t even felt the full force of to date. In addition, the chief inspector cited concerns around the impact of these recruitment issues on specific subject areas, such as maths, science and Welsh. And given that Wales’s latest PISA results for maths were the lowest in the UK, that makes those concerns all the more urgent.

And whilst the recruitment and retention of Welsh teachers is an issue that runs through the report, we still don’t have an adequate workforce plan to accompany the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill. The Bill is ambitious and it’s one that’s been supported in principle by my party, but we, as well as the Children, Young People and Education Committee, have raised concerns that the whole thing will be undeliverable unless it is accompanied by an adequate workforce plan that delivers the teaching staff we need to actually deliver it. Instead, the onus has been put far too much on our schools to sort out workforce shortages themselves, without one iota of responsibility being taken by the Welsh Labour Government to deliver it.

The report also focuses on two further areas that I wanted to make reference to: the curriculum and around attendance. On the curriculum, we know that this skills-based approach is one that has failed practically everywhere it’s been rolled out, and yet, this is the exact model that the Welsh Government seeks to copy. When countries like Scotland and New Zealand introduced this model, they ended up having to roll back on it because it failed their children. And we know that this Welsh Labour Government, at some point, will end up having to do the same thing. Even so, the report notes that, quote, more support is needed to help teachers understand the curriculum in the first place. How can it be that a failed model is being copied and adopted, and even that is not sufficiently understood by our workforce? It beggars belief.

Finally, on attendance the report highlights the percentage of secondary-age pupils who are absent for more than 20 per cent of sessions more than tripled from 4.6 per cent to 16.3 per cent between 2018-19 and 2022-23. We've previously seen the Welsh Government welcome the slight increase in attendance numbers in Wales compared to the last academic year, but again completely ignore the fact that our numbers are so much lower than the rest of the United Kingdom.

The inspector reported that schools and local authorities don't have the capacity to cope with a substantial increase in persistent absences, so it's down to the Welsh Government to take a lead. But time and again, whether it's workforce attendance, curriculum, educational standards, we've got a Government here in Wales that doesn't want to take responsibility. Year on year we see attendance, recruitment, retention and support with the curriculum raised, with significant concerns, and yet year on year we see no real plan to fix any of those concerns. It's time we implemented a radical, fresh approach that is so desperately needed in our schools, the kind of approach that education saw under a Conservative UK Government that followed the evidence, looked at what actually worked, pursued that evidence when implementing that policy, and watched results climb year on year as a result.

These are our children's futures, not Welsh Labour's ideological experiment. They deserve better, along with our Welsh teachers, who work tirelessly year-round to help them build those futures. It's clear that having had 26 years to progress in education, this tired Welsh Labour Government has no plan and no direction when it comes to education in Wales. Only the Welsh Conservatives have that plan. It's an approach that is proven to work when it comes to fixing it, and that is what we will relentlessly pursue ourselves from now until the next Senedd election in a year's time.

Cefin Campbell to move amendment 3.

Thank you very much, Llywydd, and I'm very pleased to move the amendment. It's good to have the opportunity to discuss this report by Estyn this afternoon. May I too, in the same way as others, thank the chief inspector and the Estyn staff for their hard work in preparing this report, and the teachers and staff in our schools across Wales too for all of their hard work on a day-to-day basis for the benefit of children and young people in Wales.

Now, Plaid Cymru acknowledges the challenging context that schools have faced over recent months, with challenges in implementing a number of changes and reforms to the education sector while school budgets are shrinking at the same time. Despite all of the hard work by teachers and pupils, the challenges continue, as we've heard, and that is as a result of a lack of purposeful action by this Labour Government. That's why our amendment is similar to the Conservative amendment, and draws attention specifically to these challenges.

May I begin with some points emanating from the Estyn report. Attendance: we've already heard that attendance levels in schools since the pandemic have declined. The report notes the following:

'At the current rate of improvement, it would take over 10 years for secondary attendance to recover to pre-pandemic levels.'

The latest Welsh Government data show that the average rate of attendance in 2023-24 was 90.5 per cent. That was four percentage points down on the figure five years ago. And for those in receipt of free school meals, the rate is 84.8 per cent. That's a decrease of over six percentage points in five years.

We know how important attendance at school is to ensure that pupils receive full access to the curriculum and that they also have the opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge that they need, which is such an important foundation for their future lives, be that professional or personal. We cannot allow the next generation, particularly those who are most disadvantaged, to wait as long as a decade to see improvements. May I ask the Cabinet Secretary whether she can give us an assurance that things will improve more swiftly than the 10-year timescale stated by Estyn, in terms of attendance levels in school, particularly in secondary schools? 

The next point is with regard to teacher recruitment; the report notes a number of issues that raise concerns, and, I quote,

'recruiting suitably qualified teachers remains a risk for the education system.'

The report goes on to state that the recruitment challenges are more acute for secondary education, particularly for mathematics and sciences. Worryingly for all of us, the lack of suitably qualified teachers able to teach through the medium of Welsh is a particular issue, and is of particular concern as we see the journey of the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill through this Senedd, which sets out very ambitious aims for developing bilingual skills for our children, and for the aim of reaching a million Welsh speakers. The lack of recruitment into initial teacher training is also a problem. 

So, bearing all of this in mind, what we see happening all too often is that teachers who aren't experts in a particular subject have to teach that subject because there are no specialist teachers available at that school. It is therefore no surprise that the Estyn report states that: 

'In too many cases, the quality of teaching and assessment is not high enough.'

The report also suggests that we must look again at the incentives that are available to attract teachers into the profession, and to attract young people into being trained as teachers. This is something that experts from Cardiff Metropolitan University have noted recently. So, I would like to ask the Cabinet Secretary whether the two work streams she has referred to several times in this Senedd are going to be acted upon, namely the research on the incentives system that will be published before the end of this Senedd term, and will we also be able to see the fruits of the work on the strategic plan in its entirety before the next election?

Just to conclude, one point on standards. We've already heard about the poorest standards in the history of Wales. Can the Cabinet Secretary give us an assurance that plans are in place to ensure that progress is made on standards over years to come? Thank you. 

I read a different report to Tom Giffard, because I thought there was an enormous amount to celebrate in this, and I think we should commend the work of all our teaching profession in the work they're doing.

There are lots of challenges that have been presented; particularly, many of you will have seen Panorama last night about the problems generated for children during the COVID pandemic, having had much of the ways in which children normally learn denied to them by simply not being allowed to go out, unable to meet their grandparents, not able to experience going to the park and all those sorts of things. These children are now in the reception classes and year 1, and we have to acknowledge that and some of the problems it's created for our schools.

Particularly in the school where I'm a governor, I know that some young people have simply lost the habit of getting up in the morning, and they're spending the night watching television or other screened programmes. Clearly, they're exhausted first thing in the morning and they don't make it to school on time, and that is a very challenging issue and one we need to continue to try and work on.

On behaviour, I do want to reiterate the results of the randomised blind controlled trial that took place at the young offender institution in Aylesbury, which is in Kevin Morgan's latest book, where people fed a nutritionally rich diet reduced their offending behaviour, in the case of the most violent offenders, by 37 per cent. I do hope that, in the conference that you're going to be holding in May, you will look at this in the context of our secondary schools, because I'm afraid the cafeteria provision in secondary schools encourages people to eat all the wrong things, and that obviously impacts on their behaviour.

I think that the new curriculum is working well, and I think we should celebrate that. There was a wonderful quote in a report on the Chuckles Nursery in Bettws, in Newport:

'The New Curriculum...is now allowing children to be children and to grow and learn in a way that is fun, which means they are so willing to experiment and take new things on board.'

That's absolutely what we need, and that nursery is designed to ensure that happens, and they see the results every day. They spend time on creating activities for their children that challenge the children and are not buried in meaningless paperwork. So, these are things that we really, really must celebrate. That's fantastic news for both the children and for the teachers who are doing such great work.

I want to just go back briefly to the importance of universal primary free school meals, because I think it would be wonderful to see that more embedded into the whole curriculum, the whole concept of what food is, what's good for you, where it comes from, seasonality, as well as obvious things like how to count, how much do things cost, where do they come from, what's the carbon cost, what's the cost to the environment, and just to acknowledge that some local authorities are more advanced in the journey of using the procurement of local food, which is obviously fresher, more nourishing, than others. I'm shocked to learn that most local authorities are still procuring Thai chicken, rather than Red Tractor.

But, today, I met year 2 pupils from Glyncoed Primary School in Pentwyn, and, when I asked them whether they were growing any vegetables and fruit, they gave me a huge long list, which was absolutely fantastic—year 2 pupils this was. One of them told me that she was growing watermelon, and I thought, 'Hmm, maybe not.' I said, 'Well, I'll have to come and see that.' But I think there are so many benefits in schools that do actually have good outdoor provision being able to grow food, and it has such a calming effect on anxious children, if they're going through some trauma in the rest of their lives. And it also supports family learning. Chuckles Nursery was really good at laying on healthy food workshops, cookery days, providing food and menu cards for families to use at home. I think these are all really good ways in which family learning, along with school learning, is so important, because the child's only there in the school for six hours; the rest of its waking time is in the home, and so we have to have a partnership.

I see that I've run out of time, but I think there's a really key issue around additional learning needs. We have fewer children with additional learning needs but more children who are getting that top level of a statutory plan, and we have to ensure that all schools are good at intervening early in order to reduce the likelihood of them ever escalating into a statutory plan.

Well, I welcome the report. It's key to giving us an insight into the health of our education system and a barometer of progress that we know is so desperately needed. Educational improvement is fundamental to ensuring our young people have the skills they need to reach their full potential. Children have only one formal education, and, if not delivered well, the effects are profound not only for the individual child but for society as a whole. So, I welcome the positives in the report, notably the care and support offered in our schools at both primary and secondary; I welcome that safeguarding and well-being were strong and that early years was performing well—absolutely key in laying the foundations for what lies ahead. However, it was concerning to read that there is still an inconsistent approach across schools in many areas, including attendance and curriculum development. It was also concerning to read that the quality of teaching and assessment was found to be under par, leading to shortcomings in teaching that will directly be affecting learners. Robust and consistent school improvement is absolutely a necessity in driving up standards. If strong self-assessment and performance management aren't in place, standards won't improve. In my past experience, where I've seen these things lacking, there's often been a clear link with school leadership. Without strong leadership—in any service—improvement is unlikely.

Sadly, this report shows that there are still far too many areas of concern and inconsistency. We all know the implications of what a weak education system brings; we only have to look at our own PISA results in Wales, as well as the shocking number of pupils leaving our schools illiterate.

Challenges facing our schools: as we've already heard a couple of times, one of those key issues is the retention of teachers. That's the same within the health service: retention of professional people and recruiting are really quite fundamental. And as we've heard—and, again, I don't want to repeat what others have said—clearly, it's been difficult to recruit staff to the right subject areas, leading to teachers delivering subjects outside of their main areas of experience, which can cause a problem.

Now, we also heard about Estyn suggesting those incentives for teachers. I know that the Cabinet Secretary mentioned some of the interventions that might be put in around some of that, so you've partly answered some of my questions there. But I'd also like to further understand what further interventions the Government can put in place to drive up teaching standards across our schools—and we heard some of that, I know—especially secondary schools, where things have been far too varied, with the quality of teaching and assessment not being high enough.

The report highlights how around a third of schools inspected received a recommendation to address inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. Often, in these schools, teachers did not provide purposeful feedback to pupils to help them understand the how and the why of learning, as well as the what. This feedback and assessment is key in order to allow our pupils to push themselves and to improve their own learning.

The poor standard of education is one of the reasons that too many people are leaving Wales in an attempt to ensure that their children get the best education. So, we can't afford for our children to fall any further behind the rest of the UK if we really want the best for them. Welsh Government really do have to get to grips with the state of education here in Wales. Things can't go on like this. Perhaps it might be better still if they step away and let the Welsh Conservatives have a go. Thank you.

I will be making a short contribution today in my capacity as Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee. We appreciate the open and constructive engagement from the chief inspector and his team, and would like to thank them for their time with us in committee on 5 March.

We heard that, since arriving in post, more frequent school inspections have been the priority. During the 2023-24 academic year, Estyn used these visits to hold school leaders to account and to offer practical support for schools. We welcome this approach. Improving attendance, driving up standards, implementing reforms and supporting the well-being of both pupils and staff are all significantly difficult challenges for our schools. The school system needs Estyn's front-line support in developing solutions, alongside robust accountability, to overcome those challenges.

Estyn's report sets out some examples of good practice, but it is also clear that, in some areas, the school system in Wales is not performing as it should. I would like to bring Members' attention to two forthcoming pieces of committee work that draw heavily on Estyn's findings. The first will look at teacher recruitment and retention. The chief inspector has stressed that teacher shortages are having a tangible impact on the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in certain subject areas. We know that effective learning is impossible without effective teaching, so learner outcomes will suffer if schools continue to struggle to recruit and retain high-quality teachers.

The second will focus on school improvement and learner attainment. The Welsh Government is in the process of dismantling the regional consortia and placing school improvement services back in the hands of local authorities. This is a big change, as regional consortia were established just a decade or so ago, and will have significant implications for schools. We will consider how well placed local authorities are to deliver school improvement services, alongside the new national bodies that the Welsh Government has recently established to help them. And we will look in more detail at Estyn's concerns about the quality of teaching and learning, particularly amongst secondary schools.

I'm looking forward to working with my committee colleagues, Estyn, and a range of stakeholders to scrutinise the Welsh Government's plans. As always, I hope that our work, carried out on a cross-party basis, can set out practical steps to help the school system deliver for learners across Wales. Diolch.

I welcome the opportunity to have a debate on this important report today. I would like to give my own thanks to Estyn and also, of course, to all our education providers. I know there's been a focus today on schools, and, of course, that's one element, but obviously this is a report that looks at education in its life-long learning entirety, and there are some very important comments, I think, that we need to reflect upon in that regard too.

I did want to ask specifically, Cabinet Secretary, in terms of comments on the Welsh language. Clearly, this is a very definite focus in terms of this report. Of course, there are some case studies that are wonderful to see, they're inspiring, but there are also clear concerns that have been outlined in this report—the inconsistencies, particularly, therefore, in terms of schools that are not Welsh-medium schools. I would like to know what steps you have taken as a result of some of these issues. Clearly, we have the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Bill, but there are major concerns in certain areas reflected here.

I know myself from casework in my own region, that in some English-medium schools they don't provide A-level Welsh, although there are learners that want to study A-level Welsh. So, how do we ensure that that provision is available? I’m also aware of some Welsh-medium schools, where the numbers that want to take Welsh as an A-level have been low, where they've been encouraged not to run that particular course. I think that that's entirely unacceptable. We know, in terms of ensuring continuity, in terms of those who have Welsh language skills, in terms of future teacher recruitment, how important A-level Welsh is as a subject. So, I would like to hear some of the Government's reflections on that.

One of the other elements that were highlighted, and if I can quote the report here:

'Often, pupils’ exposure to Welsh history and culture was limited to narrow events such as the school eisteddfod.'

I think, once again, we return to that inconsistency in terms of experiences. So, I wanted to ask, in terms of some of the things that have been happening, in terms of the teaching of history in our schools: how do we ensure that that experience is consistent for all?

I would like to draw attention to one success in terms of the Welsh language, which is the Welsh for adults sector, where the report draws attention to the fact that this sector is showing great strength once again. The National Centre for Learning Welsh is also praised, as is the partnership with the Welsh Government, so it's important to highlight that.

I think, in terms of our prisons, there is still inconsistency in terms of learning experiences. We know how important that is. So, some of the comments I'd ask you to reflect on, beyond schools: how are we ensuring that those experiences are consistent? How do we ensure that those experiences are also available through the medium of Welsh? And how do we continue with the excellent work being done in the Welsh for adults sector, while ensuring that we don't fail our young people in this area? We don't want them to have to wait until they're adults to have these opportunities to become confident Welsh speakers, so it's a matter of consistency more than anything.

May I also refer to some of the comments on additional learning needs? That's also reflected in this report. I know that there has been investment, but the one thing that I would think that we would all want to see would be that these particular case studies wouldn't be ones that deserved to be highlighted, because these experiences would be consistent across Wales. It should not be a postcode lottery in terms of your right to access the kind of education that enables you to achieve your full potential. The same, of course, is true in terms of the Welsh language. So, may I ask in terms of the challenges here, how will we ensure good practice, that teachers across Wales have the opportunity to implement these kinds of case studies in their own schools, and have the time to replicate some of the things that we know are working well?

I want to concentrate on 14 to 19-year-olds, which I think does require some focus and some greater attention and improvement. I've mentioned before, a number of times in Plenary debates and questions, that I often get complaints from parents and pupils that, at 14 years of age, they want a more vocational offer than is available in their school. But, of course, the colleges of further education are not funded to provide that vocational education at that age, and the schools are very keen, understandably, to retain their budget for those pupils, and that does then impact on the quality of the education that some of these pupils receive, and indeed their attendance. Sometimes, they lose interest in school and disengage, because they're not having the choices that they want and the education that they want. And if their attendance falls off, then of course when they may be ready and able to undertake a vocational course at 16, and they go along to their further education college, they may well not have the required standards in English or maths that would enable them to do those vocational courses that they wish to pursue. So, then, they have to try and attain those standards before going any further. Sometimes, they lose interest completely and fall into the NEET category—not in education, employment or training.

So, I think it's a very strong set of issues for those learners, those families, those communities, and indeed our economy. And it does require much greater collaboration between our schools and our colleges of further education. It requires much better advice in terms of careers and a more independent element of advice for those school pupils. I think many of these issues have long been recognised, but we haven't really seen the level of progress that's required if we are going to make major inroads into providing solutions or at least making progress. And I think these sorts of issues would be an important part of a vocational education and training strategy that would look at all aspects of taking forward those vocational choices, extending choice and opportunity. So, I do hope that we see more focus from Welsh Government and key partners on these issues and substantial progress in the near future.

The other issue that I wanted to mention today is the Estyn report's mention of Langstone Primary School in Newport East, which is very good to see, given they're cited as examples of good practice in implementing the new curriculum and providing a sort of quality and imaginative education that makes it a big step forward for our learners here in Wales, and that, of course, includes the leadership in a school finding these effective ways of engaging learners' attention and imagination. And I do think that it's absolutely right that we recognise good practice when it's cited and when we know about it, because it's important to make sure that it's recognised and spread. And of course, those schools, those school teams, those pupils and the families that support them, deserve recognition and deserve the encouragement of mention in reports, such as this year's Estyn annual report.

So, I'm very pleased to see that, Llywydd, and I know that there's much other really good practice across Newport East and across Wales, and it's making sure that all of the standards are of that particular value that would really take education forward here in Wales.

I just want to focus my remarks on one particular area, and that's around child poverty. The Estyn report actually highlights the impact of child poverty on education. We know that the projection is that child poverty in Wales may reach over 34 per cent of our children by the end of this decade, so we must take the bold steps that we need to break the link between poverty and low educational attainment. In the report, there is definitely inspiring leadership and dedication in many schools across Wales, and they are going above and beyond to support children facing hardship, but despite the dedication of our school leaders, we can't ignore the troubling trends that continue to affect our poorest pupils. 

As Cefin Campbell pointed out, one the most alarming is around a lower school attendance. Since the pandemic, we've seen only a small, 0.5 per cent, increase in attendance, and many of those children are from poorer backgrounds. So, I wonder if I could ask the Cabinet Secretary to outline what plans she has to reduce absenteeism and, in particular, to close that gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.

One of the other major barriers to school attendance is the financial cost of education. The 2024 Children in Wales annual survey on child and family poverty found that 25 per cent of parents have kept their children home due to financial hardship. Many felt that they had no choice but to do so to spare their children the embarrassment of not having the right clothing or equipment, ultimately impacting their children's confidence, development and sense of belonging.

School uniforms, as we know, are a particularly heavy cost. Over 80 per cent of parents find them the hardest school-related expense to manage, with 73 per cent having to buy uniforms from specialist retailers, which are much more expensive than high-street alternatives. The school essentials grant offers crucial financial support to many families, and it's good to see that the eligibility has expanded. However, as the survey highlights, the grant's criteria remain restrictive and the amount provided is still insufficient. For low-income families, even a shortfall of just £12 or £20 can make a significant difference. So, could the Welsh Government please outline the action you plan to take with schools in terms of those children who have to buy their uniforms from those specialist retailers, and also whether you're going to raise the school essentials grant in line with inflation?

And finally I want to focus on early years education. The Estyn thematic review highlights the ongoing and stubborn impact that poverty and disadvantage have on our youngest children. The findings are sadly familiar: access to early education remains inconsistent, with huge disparities across regions. Estyn reports a deeply inequitable system, where many parents have no choice where to send their children for early years education. They report that early years settings are overwhelmed, providing food, clothing and practical support to families experiencing hardship at levels far worse than previously seen. So, could I ask the Cabinet Secretary about the steps that you are planning to take to address poverty, particularly in our early years settings? Diolch yn fawr iawn.

We need inspectors’ reports to present a warts-and-all snapshot of our education system. We should welcome that; we should not be defensive in response to it. It’s helpful that an honest challenge is presented about the state of the schools in our country, and it’s clear from the report that there is excellent practice right across Wales—initiatives to improve attendance at Pontarddulais comprehensive, curriculum reform in Langstone primary in Newport, and sector-leading numeracy numerous rework in Ysgol y Creuddyn in Conwy. There is excellent practice, but it’s also clear that there continues to be very uneven professional practice too. Estyn reports over half of all secondary schools have teaching and assessment that isn’t good enough—over half. It says that there is too much variation on the teaching of maths and a real problem with teacher recruitment, particularly to teaching maths, science, digital, geography and languages. The Welsh Government is targeting a range of incentives at priority subject areas where there are shortages—in fact, a £15,000 sum for students training to teach maths, chemistry, physics, biology, design, technology, IT, Welsh and modern foreign languages, as well as a range of other targeted measures, and that’s needed because we have a clear problem. Estyn says that, since 2014, the number of students training to be secondary school teachers has declined by nearly a half and, in the most recent year, recruitment is, what they say, 'well below pre-pandemic levels'—a 'significant concern', the reports says. And heads report to Estyn that the quality of candidates is

‘too often not up to the required standard’.

And that puts pressure on the existing workforce, because they then have to teach often outside of their area of expertise and that adds to retention problems. Let me just quote a very brief section from the chief inspector’s report. He says,

‘Despite recent increases in the starting salary of new entrants to the profession, there are several underlying issues that hinder effective recruitment. These include the relative inflexibility of teachers’ working conditions, a decline in the number of people aged between 20 and 25 and the poor public perception of teaching as a profession.’

And I think we should reflect on this:

‘the poor public perception of teaching as a profession’.

When you consider the public debate about teaching that we’ve had over a generation or more, it’s been a very negative one, and we all know what the power of good teaching is, and can be, and we know teachers who see the job as a vocation, as a calling. I was fortunate to have a number of teachers who made an impact on me, one in particular at Amman Valley comprehensive, as it was called at the time, my A-level politics teacher, Adrian Phillips—and I’m sure colleagues can imagine what I was like as a 17-year-old; much as I’m like today, to be honest, but with a few rougher edges, believe it or not—and he was somebody who harnessed that, who challenged that, who channelled that, and had a profound impact on me, which, over 30 years later, I still cherish and value and think about often, and I’m still in touch with him. Good teachers change lives. Good teachers inspire a generation of people, and I’m not convinced that we’ll inspire a new generation of teachers by taking an instrumental approach. We don’t talk enough about teachers as public servants, teachers as inspirational figures, teachers as people who can lift up others, and that’s what I think we should start talking about again as a motivation for getting people into teaching and for keeping them there.

I’m not overly worried about people leaving teaching; I think that’s a good thing. It’s a tough job and we all know people who’ve just had enough, and it’s good for them and it’s good for the system that they move out to do other things, but we need to be attracting a new generation.

And I think and I’ll finish on this, Llywydd: it’s dangerous to reflect on anecdote, but, as a father of children in the education system, I’ve been struck by how joyless we have made the teaching of some subjects and how joyless we’ve made learning of some subjects, and I think we all know, even in subjects we may not be necessarily inspired by, a good teacher can bring it alive and a bad teacher can kill it to death. I think we've created a system where we teach to a test, we push for a set of results and metrics, and it's killed the joy of learning and the spirit of inquiry too much. So, I think, as part of engaging more people in teaching, we need to talk more about its power to inspire and its power to change. Diolch.

The Cabinet Secretary now to reply—Lynne Neagle.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. Obviously, there were a lot of points there that I've listened to carefully. I'm not going to be able to respond to them all, but I'll try and pick up on the main ones.

Tom, like Jenny Rathbone said, I think you read a different report, and can I say to you very clearly that, for me, the Estyn report and my speech are all about taking responsibility, and I will never shirk our responsibility to deliver the best possible education for our children and young people? I really do regret that, unlike Peter Fox, you didn't focus on a much more balanced assessment of the report and chose to parrot the usual points that you make, which are actually inaccurate. It is not a solely skills-based curriculum; it is a curriculum that involves skills and knowledge, and the reality is that you need both of those things in order for children and young people to succeed.

Cefin Campbell, thank you for your contribution and your acknowledgement of the work of the teaching profession. Obviously, I am really concerned about the messages in the report about attendance, and I can say to you absolutely that we are not waiting 10 years to restore our attendance levels to what they need to be. That's why I announced £8.8 million to tackle the attendance challenges that we face. A lot of that money will go on family engagement officers who will work directly with children and families to tackle those barriers into education. We've got lots of them already, and we are seeing really good evidence of their work, and that additional funding will enable us to really build on and enhance that work.

Several Members have made really important points about recruitment and retention, and I just wanted to say that I do take those issues incredibly seriously. I think it's important to note that they are not just issues that are unique to Wales. This is a problem that we are seeing across the world, actually. We are doing well on primary recruitment. It is much more challenging in secondary recruitment, for those specialist subjects in particular, and we are also having challenges recruiting to Welsh language teaching, which we absolutely have to address.

I have announced the new strategic workforce plan, which we are going to be working on in a holistic way to look at the range of challenges that we're facing across the board, and they all feed into this. It's about well-being, it's about behaviour, it's about attendance. I do agree very much with what Lee said about the status of the teaching profession and the difference that I get between what we hear in this Chamber about the negative aspects of this and what I get when I go out and talk to school leaders and teachers. I've had quite a few teachers and heads say to me, 'Best job in the world,' and it is really inspirational. We have to draw on that, because I think teaching is a vocation. It has changed—it's not just about transmitting information to children and young people any more; it is about that range of support wrapped around children and young people. We have got the research on the incentive payments, and, obviously, we need to evaluate those, but we will also be looking at what more we can do in this space and looking at international good practice to tackle these challenges as well.

Cefin, you raised specific concerns, as did Heledd, around the Welsh language, and, on the Welsh language, there were concerns in the report that were very important, that need serious consideration, particularly in English-medium schools. We've got work to do there. It's a key part of our new curriculum, enhancing what we're offering through Hwb. We're also investing lots in enhancing the skills of our practitioners to teach through the medium of Welsh, but we are going to have to have a step change to deliver that legislation, and we're all committed to working on that.

Peter and a number of other Members made points about the quality of teaching, and thank you again, Peter, for your balanced contribution, and for welcoming the positives about well-being, and a number of Members have mentioned the positives around early years as well. Estyn are currently undertaking a thematic review considering how well schools are teaching. That will provide us with more information to help with our work in this space. We're continuing to invest around £35 million every year in the professional development of the workforce, and in this coming year, this will involve £13.5 million directly to schools to invest in professional learning. And as I said in my speech, we are establishing a new national body for professional learning and leadership, which I hope will help with a more coherent offer in that space. And on top of that, we've got our national support programmes. I've introduced national support on curriculum design and assessment, which responds to the concerns some schools have raised about curriculum development, and we also have national programmes on support for literacy and numeracy as well.

If I can just turn to Jane Dodds's points about poverty, I know this is something you feel very passionately about. I think we have a good record in Wales of supporting children who are living in poverty in schools, and, as you'll have seen in the Estyn report, the work that schools are doing in that space is commended. We're already investing over £13 million in the school essentials grant. That's a demand-led grant and we do promote the uptake of that grant, as well as our offer around school food, which is really important. We've also recently funded poverty-proofing pilots to work in schools, and we support the Children in Wales work around training on the impact of poverty in schools. But that goes along, then, with our funding for the PDG, which is being protected to make sure that we can focus specifically on those pupils, and we also have a partnership with the Education Endowment Foundation to tackle those issues around poverty. But that is, obviously, going to continue to be a focus for us as we aim to close the attainment gap.

And I can see, Llywydd, that I am out of time. I tried to respond to some of the points in the round. If I can just thank everybody for their contributions, and I do welcome us having our feet held to the fire on this report. As Lee said, it's important we have that warts-and-all feedback, and I do take that seriously and will continue to work with Estyn, with our local authorities and with our school leaders and teachers to tackle these issues. Diolch.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree amendment 1. Does any Member object? [Objection.] There are objections to amendment 1. Therefore, we will defer all voting under this item until voting time.

That brings us to voting time and, unless three Members wish for the bell to be rung, we will move directly to our first vote, and that vote is on item 6, the debate on the second supplementary budget 2024-25. I call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Jane Hutt. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 24, 23 abstentions and none against. Therefore, the supplementary budget is agreed.

Item 7 is next, the debate on the Estyn annual report 2023-24. The first vote is on amendment 1 tabled in the name of Paul Davies. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 22, no abstentions, 25 against. Therefore, amendment 1 is not agreed.

Amendment 2 is next, again tabled in the name of Paul Davies. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 22, no abstentions, 25 against. Amendment 2 is not agreed.

Amendment 3 is next, and this was tabled in the name of Heledd Fychan. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 23, no abstentions, 24 against. Therefore, the amendment is not agreed.

The final vote is on the motion tabled in the name of Jane Hutt. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 47, no abstentions, and none against. Therefore, the motion is agreed.

That concludes voting for today, and brings our business to a close. Thank you.