National Assembly for Wales

I call Members to order. 

The first item on our agenda this afternoon is questions to the First Minister, and the first question is from Leanne Wood. 

We were accredited as a living wage employer in 2015. The Welsh NHS has paid the living wage since January 2015, and strong progress is being made across other employers both in the public and private sectors.

That sounds great, First Minister, but workers at Cardiff Airport would appreciate deeds rather than warm words. You bought this airport in 2013, yet we still have workers, some of whom live in the Rhondda, who are being paid less than this living wage. An agreement with the General Municipal Boilermakers will see the airport, and I quote,

'working towards being in a position to implement the Foundation Living Wage by the end of 2020.'

If that does happen, then it will have been a full seven years on what has been called 'publicly funded poverty pay.' Many of these employees are security staff, performing vital functions that keep airport security in place and keep passengers safe. What pressure can you now exert to ensure that this asset becomes a living wage foundation accredited employer by the next Living Wage Week in November?

The airport has made a firm commitment to working towards achievement of the real living wage. A proposal has now been submitted to both recognised unions—the GMB and Unite—that the real living wage will be paid as a minimum to all directly employed airport staff by April 2020. Now, the unions will be taking this proposal to ballot and we understand the unions will be making a positive recommendation to members. That uplift is proposed to take place in two increments—the first in April 2019 and the second in April 2020—and that builds on the progress already made at the airport, which includes the eradication of zero-hours contracts and the introduction of enhanced rates of pay for both overtime and bank holiday working. 

As a member of the real living wage leadership group, I was pleased to hear from the accreditation body Cynnal Cymru that 143 employers have been accredited in Wales, including private as well as public and third sector employers. Would you agree, First Minister, that we need to embed commitment and progress towards the real living wage in the economic action plan and, indeed, the gender review, as it's clear this will help address low pay and inequality in the workplace in Wales?

Well, we are firmly committed to addressing low pay and inequality in the workplace in Wales. You're right, of course, to say that low pay impacts disproportionately on women, and our gender review will pick this up. In terms of the economic action plan, it will introduce a new economic contract that will require firms seeking Welsh Government business support to commit to investing in their workforce through high-quality employment, skills development and fair work. 

First Minister, 20 years ago, Welsh and Scottish workers had identical pay packets of about £301 per week. Twenty years later, the Welsh pay packet contains £498 a week, whereas the Scottish pay packet contains £49 more at £547. Despite the important contribution of the living wage and the benefits system, I'm sure you'd agree that we do need to ensure fairness, particularly for those on lower incomes. What's your Government doing to close this gap and ensure that there are higher paid, better quality jobs for people living in Wales, and what discussions have you had with the UK Government with regard to the Taylor review on modern working practices?

[Inaudible.]—the UK Government is the mess they're making of the benefit system, particularly with regard to universal credit, which will affect disproportionately and very negatively so many people in Wales. We've seen the removal of in-work tax credits as well. That hasn't helped people in terms of their incomes. We've seen, for example, the refusal of the UK Government to fund Wales properly, and, indeed, the UK Government have given Northern Ireland £1 billion, whereas Wales has had absolutely nothing. There's a great deal of work I think the Member can do with his own party in terms of making sure that Wales gets fairness, because we don't get it from the Tories. 

First Minister, one of the fundamentals of economics is the law of supply and demand. If supply exceeds demand, the price of a commodity falls. This applies as much to the supply of labour as any other commodity. Would the First Minister not agree with me that it is the over-supply of cheap labour, especially in the semi-skilled and unskilled marketplace, caused by uncontrolled mass immigration, which has allowed big business to exploit workers with low wages?

There are many, many sectors of the Welsh economy that depend very much on labour from outside the UK. If we look at the food and drink sector, there are many firms who'd simply not be able to survive, because there are other options available for local workers that are seen as more attractive. Our abattoirs, for example, would struggle hugely if they weren't able to recruit from other countries. So, no, I don't agree that it's a question of over-supply. If you look at unemployment in Wales, it's historically very, very low—4.5 per cent. That's, effectively, full employment in terms of economics, which is why, of course, there's a need to be able to recruit skilled workers, and workers who are semi-skilled, from other countries. Where would our NHS be, for example, without the doctors who we recruit from outside Wales? I prefer to have a situation where people have the treatment they need, rather than obsessing with where they're from.

Can I commend the Member, first of all, for his interest in this? I know he has a very deep interest in digitisation and the opportunities that it affords, not just the threats that are sometimes perceived as being there. We are reviewing progress on the use of digital and data in public service delivery, to ensure we are maximising the potential for digital to contribute to our approach to public service delivery in Wales.

Thank you very much. It takes 55 days to start the recruitment of a nurse, after they've handed their notice in, and we're spending some £59 million on agency nurses. NHS Shared Services estimate that, using existing technologies, they can take 30 days off that time, saving some £13 million. There are opportunities like this right across public services to free up resource to deliver front-line services. The Welsh Government has announced a review of automation and digital, and I recently met with Professor Phil Brown, who is leading that, and I must say we are very fortunate to be having him leading that work and the expert panel that's been put together. I think it's a very exciting piece of work, but it's a piece of work that looks primarily at skills, and at labour force issues, not at the whole raft of issues right across the public sector. Both use artificial intelligence but, crucially, existing technologies we have available now that are not being harnessed. So, would the First Minister look into the whole piece and not just the labour market dimensions?

I agree, and it's an issue I know the Member has raised with me privately: how do we look at digitisation as a way of improving public service performance? He's given an example there, which he's given to me before, and it's hugely important the recruitment process is speeded up. The question is, then, how do we do it. Well, there are a number of recent or current reviews that cover aspects of digitisation—the parliamentary review on health looked at it, for example, in the field of health; the Reid review, in terms of innovation; and the Bowen review in terms of the workforce. Now, within health, 'Informed Health and Care' sets out the vision for the delivery of digital services to support health and social care services and policies. The parliamentary review made a specific recommendation on digital services, which will be taken up within the transformation plan, which is part of a paper that will be considered by Cabinet. And of course, we have in Julie James a Cabinet Secretary who is taking forward the digitisation agenda. What I want to avoid is for digitisation to be taken forward in different compartments rather than taken forward as an opportunity across Government.

Of course, First Minister, access to the internet and, indeed, good broadband speeds are now considered as one of the main utilities that a family or a household should have. However, the latest communications market report for Wales found that just over eight households out of 10 actually can access the internet—83 per cent. So, that leaves 17 per cent of people who cannot access the internet. Now, when they cannot access the internet for services that are only available online, then they are at a great disadvantage. Now, at present, for example, also, to register as a landlord under Rent Smart Wales costs £33.50 if you complete the application form online, but £80.50 for a paper-based application. And in Aberconwy, a number of my constituents have actually had to pay this extra money and found it quite an unfair system. Will you commit to reviewing processes across all Welsh Government public service providers to ensure that such discrepancies and, indeed, these natural barriers are removed?

I think I have to say to the Member that I think the information she's using is out of date—possibly a year out of date. That is my understanding. We look at Superfast Cymru, for example, and what we have done with that. It has meant that a substantial number—nearly, not 100 per cent, but more than 90 per cent—of premises in Wales have access to superfast broadband. That would not have been done without Welsh Government intervention. If this had been left to the market, many of her constituents would have been left without broadband forever and a day. So, the intervention that we have put in place as a Government has ensured that many, many people will have access to broadband that otherwise they would not have. There will be a small percentage of the population who will need to look at other solutions in terms of accessing a broadband speed that people will find acceptable. We are proud of our record in rolling out broadband across rural communities in Wales that would otherwise have no access at all. 

Questions now from party leaders, and the leader of the opposition, Andrew R.T. Davies. 

Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, today the Public Accounts Committee have brought forward their report looking at the expenditure around the Circuit of Wales, and just before I ask you the question, I'm sure you'll join me in congratulating the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, who announced that he and his wife are expecting their first child in a few months' time.

When you look at this report, it really does make for depressing reading, to say the least. It doesn't look at the policy position in fairness, because that's not the Public Accounts Committee's role; it looks at the expenditure of money. It indicates a lack of ministerial oversight on many of the decisions that were taken, and press releases that were put out were contrary to the evidence that the committee then uncovered that showed that the department was aware of what was going on with this money. You are head of the Government. How on earth can a Government department operate in such circumstances as the report identifies today, which basically indicates that the department was being run by the officials rather than the Minister? 

Well, first of all, could I join him in his congratulations to Nick Ramsay? I found out about his good news on Facebook. So, that is something that certainly all of us on these benches would offer him congratulations on, of course—him and his wife. 

In terms of the issue that's raised by the leader of the opposition, there are questions that we will need to address in the response to the committee's report, but, of course, as the committee has reported, it's absolutely right that there should be a full response at the right time. 

And I fully accept that, First Minister, but I note the Government response to date, which didn't seek to refute the allegations that the officials were running this department at the time. And that's a very serious accusation based on the evidence that the committee has put together. It's a cross-party committee, it was a unanimous report and it was indicating as well that some of these oversights were happening into this current administration as well, as recently as 27 April last year, when the current Cabinet Secretary was in place. It refers to the press releases that were put out and the Government's written statement.

It is deeply troubling for many people who look in on this, and you'll be aware of this through your constituency work—and all the other Members—when you go to organisations that say the Welsh Government demand paper A and paper B and due diligence reports, so that they can get a very small grant of maybe a couple of thousand pounds—. Here, we are talking millions of pounds and hundreds of thousands of pounds on specific projects. I put it to you again that what I'm trying to elicit from you, as head of the Government, is how on earth can the officials run the department without the Minister having oversight of these decisions? That's a very serious accusation that needs and answer and surely, today, you, as head of the Government, can give us that answer and that reassurance that the changes in place will not allow this situation to happen again. 

Well, the leader of the opposition will be aware of the Carltona principle and the way that operates, but it wouldn't be right for me to prejudge a full response. This is a serious report that deserves a serious response, and that has to be done at the right time. At that time, of course, it's absolutely right that Members should have the opportunity to scrutinise what the Government has done and the response that Government puts in place. 

It doesn't look as if I'm going to get an answer. I appreciate that, but I'll look forward to the answer when it comes. But will you give us an assurance, then, this afternoon, First Minister, that if the Government acknowledges these accusations, these assertions, based on the evidence that the committee took—the cross-party committee that looked into this—. To date, no-one has, from what I can understand, been disciplined or been sanctioned because of the very serious allegations that have been substantiated in this report. Will you, therefore, commit to a Government response that indicates that sanctions have been taken where they need to be taken, because, as I said, it cannot be right that people can have such leadership in a department and who aren't elected Members—the Ministers or the Cabinet Secretaries—and that the officials are running those departments? This department clearly seems to be out of control, First Minister.  

Well, first of all, there are a number of issues that the committee raises that we have to consider, but we are entitled to put forward a response as a Government and, at that time, Members will want to weigh up, of course, what the committee has said and the important points that the committee has raised, together with the Government response, and that, to my mind, is the proper way of doing things. It's at that time, of course, that there will be scrutiny of Government decisions, but I don't think it's right to prejudge any response that we might put in place. But it is obviously a report that we must look at very, very seriously, because there are issues there that we will need to address as Government, but they will be addressed when the full response is produced.

Leader of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood.

Diolch, Llywydd. A third of Welsh children live in poverty. Does the First Minister believe his Government or the Conservatives in Westminster are best placed to tackle this national crisis?

In terms of being 'best placed' to tackle it, there's no doubt the UK Government has a very strong role, through the welfare system, through the way it can look at tax credits, but it has unfortunately walked away from the role that Government should have, which is, firstly, to reduce inequality in society and, secondly, to ensure that money goes where money is needed most around the UK. That is something that they have not taken forward over the last eight years.

First Minister, you are the Government of Wales and you can take responsibility. You can lift people out of poverty, yet you are choosing not to. Your Ministers claim that the devolution of welfare administration would undermine the social union of the UK. Now, putting aside the fact that every other Government in the UK has power to administer welfare, does he think this reckless undermining of the social union is what has driven calls for the devolution of welfare from the Institute for Public Policy Research, Shelter Cymru, the Assembly's cross-party equalities committee, the Bevan Foundation, the Trussell Trust, the Scottish Labour Party, the Scottish Liberal Democrat Party, the UK Labour Party, the Labour mayor of Manchester—and there are many more? Do you think all of these are divisive nationalists, seeking to undermine the social union?

Well, I have to say, I find it extraordinary to be accused, as a progressive politician—and all of us are on these benches—that we are choosing not to address child poverty. That is a profoundly— [Interruption.]—a profoundly unfair allegation to make, but that is the allegation that she has made. I have to say, the suggestion that this is entirely within the hands of Welsh Government is simply fallacious. We know the UK Government has substantial levers in terms of welfare, in terms of the benefits system, in terms of employment law, in terms of the setting of the real living wage. Yes, we can do it, in terms of the reach that we have to the public sector and to the third sector, to an extent, but not to the private sector. What she is doing is absolving the UK Government of its responsibility, and that's where responsibility must lie. Now, it's one thing to say, 'Let's administer benefits', but there are two problems with that. First of all, the Scots are spending money on bureaucracy—on bureaucracy. They are actually spending money on administration that could be going to recipients. That is clearly an issue that we have had to consider. Secondly, administering the benefits system is no good if you can't control the flow of money; you just get the blame, in those circumstances. People will then say, 'Well, you're the ones administering the benefits system; why don't you put more money into it, why don't you do this, why don't you do that?' when, actually, you can't. So, I've always been very, very reluctant to take on board the administration of something when I think it's a trap set by the UK Government.

So, these levers exist, yet you don't want to have control over them. You talk of strategies, and you bemoan the Tories' welfare policies, while your only real action is to cut the benefits under the responsibility of your own Government: school uniform grant, cut; independent living grant, cut; the education improvement grant, cut; Communities First, cut. A third of Welsh children are living in poverty, thousands rely on food banks for a decent meal, and this is the best that you can do. First Minister, I've got a simple question: are you willing to take responsibility or are you happy to just carry on blaming the Tories in Westminster?

Let's look at this very carefully. The leader of Plaid Cymru represents a party that wants to see an independent Wales—

I knew that was coming. Surprise, surprise.

Well, I know. Yes, I know it's the case. And the reality is—[Interruption.] The reality is that we are recipients of transfers of money through the benefits system because of our membership of the UK. If she wants to make the case to the people of Wales that we should be independent, and therefore have less money than we do now, less money to pay benefits, less money to support jobs, less money for the health service, less money for education, let her make the case. That's what her party exists for. For me, I am a devolutionist. I believe the people of Wales deserve a strong voice, but we also have to make sure we are part of the social union of the UK that provides so many benefits to so many of our people. And what would make it even better is the election of a Labour Government in Westminster.

Leader of the UKIP group, Caroline Jones.

Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, last week, the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales was appointed to the national criminal justice board and has vowed to fight to have policing devolved to Wales, saying that the time was right and that the policy was supported by all police and crime commissioners in Wales. Do you support this stance taken by your two police and crime commissioners? And what sort of timescale would you envisage to have policing devolved to Wales? Do the actions of Labour's PCCs undermine your Commission on Justice in Wales?

Well, first of all, could I welcome her to her new role as leader of UKIP?

Thank you.

It is true to say that all four police and crime commissioners, both Labour and Plaid Cymru, are in favour of the devolution of policing, and that is something that I have supported for many, many years. Of course, this will form an important part of what the Thomas commission has to look at. I believe it's always been the case that it makes little sense for policing not to be devolved when every other emergency service is. [Interruption.] This comes as news to Plaid Cymru. They should read the news over the past few years, shouldn't they? They will then find out. But it is the case—[Interruption.]

Allow the First Minister to answer the question, please.

It's unbelievable, isn't it? We get accused of shouting and then we've got—[Inaudible.]—in the Chamber. There we are. I don't mind a bit of life in the Chamber; that's something that adds to its character. But the answer is 'yes'. I do support the devolution of policing, and I know all four police and crime commissioners do.

Thank you for your answer, First Minister. Since their creation, the police and crime commissioners' budget has skyrocketed. The Labour PCC for south Wales indeed has a budget of £1.3 million and 28 staff, plus a deputy commissioner. So, this has meant an increase of 40 per cent in the budget and double the amount of staff, yet, in the last three years, there has been a 33 per cent increase in violent crime in South Wales Police force. So, should you get your wish and policing is devolved, will the Welsh Government abolish the role of police and crime commissioners, which divert resources away from front-line policing?

Well, it's right to say that, if policing was devolved, it would be a matter then for this place to decide whether or not to keep police and crime commissioners. That is a judgment that would have to be taken when—rather than if, I trust—policing is devolved.

Thank you. The role of the police and crime commissioner was meant to bring local accountability to the police service, however the majority of the Welsh public appear to be disengaged at the polling booths, and the figures are barely in double figures when people vote for police and crime commissioners. There are elections in less than two years, so what can be done to increase participation and engagement with PCCs in Wales? And do you think that the role should be overhauled to remove party politics and give more of a voice to community leaders rather than politicians?

Well, these are matters for the UK Government, given the fact that PCCs are not devolved—

Yes, they will be, but if it was devolved.

—so, it's a matter for them to examine how best to increase turnout for police and crime commissioners and the elections that are held for those positions. But my position is very clear: I think it should be for this Assembly—Parliament as it soon will be, I trust—to take the decision as to what sort of structure should exist in terms of the oversight of the police.

Yes. Our future objectives and priorities for rail across Wales and the borders are outlined in the 'Rail Services for the Future' document that was published last year.

Thank you, First Minister. You may be aware that, in response to my campaign, Arriva Trains Wales have announced an extra four Sunday train services from Aberdare, with a first service that now reaches Cardiff before 10.00 a.m. This is great news for commuters from the Cynon Valley. What assurances can the Welsh Government give that these services will be carried forward and included in any future timetabling under the new franchise?

Well, first of all, can I congratulate the Member for what she has done? I know, in the press release that was sent out on 24 April, Arriva Trains acknowledged the work that she had done to get the services running on a Sunday. There will be an announcement tomorrow, of course, on the rail franchise, but, as part of the work that's been put into that, we would want to see enhanced Sunday services.

First Minister, I'm sure that one of the key objectives of the Welsh Government is to upgrade the current infrastructure in order to improve the passenger experience. It's crucial that all parts of Wales feel the benefits of any investment by the Welsh Government, and, since you’ve been First Minister, I’ve raised the case of Milford Haven station, which needs substantial improvement. Now, unfortunately, this station isn’t on the Government’s list of stations for improvement, and I understand that there are specific criteria used to decide which stations should receive investment, but there are concerns that these criteria aren’t appropriate, considering stations such as Milford Haven are left behind. Given the circumstances, are you as a Government willing to look at these criteria to ensure that all parts of Wales receive the investment that they deserve?

Well, there are examples where stations have received capital investment in both rural and urban areas. I’m not aware of anything that falls outwith that and would mean that the station in Milford Haven wouldn’t get the investment. Perhaps, if the Member would write to me, I could consider the matter to see whether there’s anything that can be done to move Milford Haven up the list.

First Minister, there’s been a great deal of concern in the Neath area on the possible proposal to exclude Neath station from the main line as a new line is built. Now the Petitions Committee has confirmed to me in an e-mail that the reason a petition on this proposal has been judged to be valid is because it’s the Welsh Government that has commissioned the initial scoping work on this particular proposal. Is the Petitions Committee right in that regard?

Well, from what I can see, this came from something that was said by an individual who had no connection to the Government, is not a member of Government and not a civil servant of the Government. As I said in this Chamber last week, Neath is an exceptionally important station and there is no kind of threat to the services in Neath.  

First Minister, you will be aware of the great deal of frustration at the lack of progress in establishing a Newport to Ebbw Vale passenger rail link train service. That's been the case for quite some time and there's a great deal of concern in the area. Given the long-standing economic, social and cultural links between Newport and Ebbw Vale, do you understand those concerns and is there anything you can say today that would give comfort to those with these concerns?

Our aspiration remains to have two trains an hour operating along the Ebbw line from 2021. We want to see trains going into Newport, but it's a matter for Network Rail, an organisation that we can't even direct. That's part of the problem we have with the current settlement. The Scots can do it; we can't. That said, we want to work to make sure that the service is introduced in the near future and to work with Network Rail to identify the technical solutions needed in order for that to happen.  

Yes. Orthopaedic surgery is provided at each health board across Wales and we expect all patients to be seen as quickly as possible and in accordance with Welsh waiting times standards.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a constituent who had seen a news report on tv the night before of waiting times of as much as 18 months for hip operations. But she noted that this didn't mention knee operations, having been informed that see wouldn't get an appointment for two years minimum, but if she wanted, or could afford, to go private she could have it done within six weeks at a cost of £11,000. How do you respond, therefore, to her statement to me, and what will you tell her regarding this statement, 'It seems so unfair that I have to suffer constant pain, loss of sleep and a great deal of trouble just because I can't afford to pay over £11,000 for my first operation'? She's a 75-year-old lady.

Well, obviously, she's in a great deal of pain and, of course, that is something that nobody would welcome. It's very difficult to give an opinion on an individual's case without knowing more about it. If the Member wants to write to me, then, of course, I will look at it. Generally, if we look at Betsi Cadwaladr, well, BC have received £11 million out of the performance money specified for referral-to-treatment times last year. What we have seen is that the March 2018 position was 39 per cent lower than the original profile. We've seen, for example, a reduction since October 2017 of people waiting for more than 38 weeks and I can say that BC are developing an orthopaedic plan for the region, looking at models of care and service redesign. That's been to their board on several occasions I understand, and officials are discussing that proposal with BC.

Rhun ap Iorwerth. 

Question 5, Mick Antoniw. 

Problem gambling has the potential to harm not just individual gamblers but also family, friends and society as a whole. As we all know, hardships can include financial hardship, psychological distress and the breakdown of personal relationships. We do support a range of measures to address this, including support, advocacy, information and appropriate regulation.

Thank you for that, First Minister. Like everyone here across the parties, we welcomed the announcement by the UK Government the other week of the intention to reduce the maximum bet for fixed-odds betting terminals to £2—something that we've discussed in this Chamber on a cross-party basis for almost five years. Of course, we'll need to see legislation, we need a timetable to make sure that this thing actually happens, and I wonder if you've given some thought to the issue as to whether this has implications in respect of the Wales Act 2017 with regard to our devolved responsibility, whether an LCM will be required, and whether there is an opportunity through an Order in Council for the devolution of gambling properly. Because, in terms of dealing with the health implications, we know of the significant issue with regard to young gamblers, 11 to 15-year-olds, we have powers already in respect of education and planning, and what we really need is to develop a strategy to deal with the growing problem, recognised by the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, of problem gambling, online gambling, using the powers that we've got at the moment, but also the opportunity to get proper devolution of full gambling responsibilities so that we can actually have all the tools to tackle this emerging epidemic.

I agree. It would appear that the announcement that was made last week means that the powers that Welsh Ministers have under the Wales Act become moot. What the powers actually say is that they give us the ability to limit the number of machines with a stake of more than £10 in respect of new betting premises licences. Well, if the maximum stake is only £2, then those powers are academic. So, I think it is appropriate for us to look again at what would be appropriate for Wales in terms of further powers over gambling.

First Minister, recognising the symptoms of gambling isn't always that easy and neither is providing the appropriate support, as people respond differently to interventions, but for the more intractable problems, if you like, I wonder if you could tell me whether Welsh Government is able to identify how many people in Wales have been allocated a social worker to help them with their problem, or indeed have accessed rehabilitation residential centres, either in Wales or elsewhere. I appreciate you may not have the answer today, but if you could write to me with that answer I would be grateful, because I'd like to know who's actually picking up the tab for the support that we're offering.

I'm happy to write to the Member with that information, and will do so.

Further to the questions and answers so far, a 2016 report published by the Institute for Public Policy Research suggests that problem gambling costs the Welsh Government between £40 million and £70 million every year. Since gambling and advertising are reserved powers, you can't be proactive on gambling, you can only react to the problems. So, for clarity, and following what you said to Mick Antoniw, why don't you demand that Westminster gives us the powers we need to minimise the financial cost, but more importantly the human cost, of problem gambling?

What would need to be addressed is online and tv advertising, because that's where a lot of gambling comes from now. For a long time, it hasn't been possible to advertise tobacco on tv. For a long time, it hasn't been possible to advertise alcohol on tv. And yet, gambling advertising has increased. If we're saying that, for many people, gambling is an addition, as alcohol and tobacco can be for some people, why is it the case that gambling advertising has gone up? For example, there were 152,000 adverts in 2006 but 1.3 million adverts shown in 2012—and those figures are already six years old.

Anybody who watches any kind of sporting event will notice the invitations for people to put a bet on there and then about who's going to score the next goal in the second half, who's going to score the next try, what the final score will be. It has the potential to cause huge addiction. So, if we look at gambling, we have to look at what happens in terms of internet regulation, what happens in terms of broadcasting. So, it does impact on other areas. By far, to my mind, the easiest way of dealing with regulating gambling is to do it on a UK-wide basis, but certainly one of the things that I would want to look at in the future is what would we look to do in Wales that takes us beyond the powers we were given in the 2017 Act, which now appear not to be worth anything.

The Wales for Africa programme supports individuals, community groups and organisations in Wales to combat poverty in Africa in ways that deliver benefits both to Wales and Africa. We recently awarded a three-year grant to Hub Cymru Africa and opened a small grant scheme to support activity across Wales.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. I'm a huge advocate of the programme, and I think it's been doing some excellent work. Just last week, I returned from western Kenya, where I saw the work that's being done by Just Earth, which is a Welsh-based charity helping subsistence farmers in that part of the country; it's also doing some work in Uganda too. As a result, they're increasing their crop yields and it's helping to eradicate poverty in that neck of the woods. Will you join me in congratulating Just Earth on their work? What action is the Welsh Government going to take in order to identify other organisations like them who may not be engaged in the Wales for Africa programme, so that we can maximise the opportunities that working together collaboratively can bring in sub-Saharan Africa?

I support any organisation, of course, that is providing support to those most in need. He asked the question, 'What are we doing as a Government?' Well, Hub Cymru Africa, as I've said, has been awarded a three-year grant of £349,000 per annum for 2018-21. The hub provides advice, training and support for the hundreds of groups in Wales that are active in Africa—that support is available to any organisation. I can say that in terms of grant funding, we received 105 grant applications during 2017-18, so it shows that there's a great awareness of what we have to offer in terms of grant support. I'd encourage any organisation to engage with that process.

First Minister, I very much agree with Darren Millar, and I know with many across the Chamber, on the value of the Wales for Africa programme. I too have been lucky enough to see at first hand in Mbale in Uganda the value of the educational and health links. In addition to what you've already mentioned, in terms of Hub Cymru Africa and the grant scheme, will the Welsh Government look at how further work could take place to build on the community-to-community links? I know there's a great deal of interest right across Wales in our communities, in terms of how people can play their part in building on the progress already made.

Yes, I can. What I'd direct communities and community groups to look at is the Wales for Africa small grant scheme. It was launched recently and it's designed to focus on enhancing Wales's contribution to combating poverty in Africa, but also designed, of course, to help community groups and community links to contribute to that agenda. That grant scheme is open to established organisations—there are many across Wales—but also new organisations with new ideas. So, it would be that scheme that I'd suggest that people look at in order to see how they can be helped to help others.

First Minister, I'm sure you are well aware of the fantastic work that is being done by the Pontypridd-based charity PONT, which has developed links with Mbale in Uganda, and the considerable way in which that has developed to the benefit of the people in Uganda and Mbale. My particular, I think, praise is for the actual educational work that that charity is engaged in within schools in Taff Ely, so that in every school you go around there, you now see young students who are actually engaged in monitoring what's happening—in understanding and engaging with it, and really developing a sort of traditional Welsh spirit of internationalism, in terms of our responsibilities to the rest of the world and vice versa. At a time when barriers are going up around the UK and so on, isn't this a fantastic example for our schoolchildren of how we can contribute to all of the global issues that affect us all?

I've been fortunate enough to see PONT's work at first hand in Mbale—I was there in 2014. For example, I saw the PONT motorcycle ambulance service. It provides emergency treatment for women in labour, getting them to the main hospital from quite inaccessible areas with poor roads—I saw that being demonstrated. There is a PONT co-ordinator, who spends time in Mbale working with partners to drive up standards. And I've seen, of course, what PONT has done in terms of providing infrastructure in Mbale as well. It's a tremendous story over many, many years, and one that I was privileged to see. 

The development of nuclear policy lies with the UK Government. We support new nuclear on existing sites to maximise the legacy benefits of any planned investment. So, it means not just supporting a power station in the right place but the growth of a supply chain and the development of skills and research, whilst protecting our cultural heritage and environment. 

Thank you for that answer. First Minister, I understand that the UK Government is currently talking to Hitachi about the funding package for Wylfa Newydd, and that the outcomes are currently hanging in the balance. You will know that the people of north Wales are waiting patiently for the jobs in construction at the power station and in the supply chain that will be generated by this scheme. What words of comfort can you offer them? 

It's a matter for the UK Government rather than for us, but there are two points I think it's important to make. First of all, the UK Government seems insistent that we need to leave Euratom. I've absolutely no idea why we would leave Euratom—I can't remember anybody saying that to me on the doorstep in 2016—and put in place what seem to be identical regulations for no purpose at all. I don't think that helps, I have to say, in terms of the level of uncertainty that might create. 

But secondly, I think it's hugely important that there's an understanding in Whitehall that we do have to pay to contribute towards the building of power stations; we can't expect other people to build them for us all the time. There were issues around Hinkley, and we still have nothing on the tidal lagoon, one of the most innovative schemes probably in the world at the moment. Let's see if the UK Government can be innovative and enterprising in the future, but it is hugely important that the financial issues are resolved so that there is a power station and, importantly, there are jobs on Anglesey. 

First Minister, radioactive waste management is a devolved issue, and we currently have no high-level waste disposal site in Wales. Now, a consultation was launched in January to see if anywhere in Wales would volunteer to be the home of a nuclear waste disposal site. Have you had any responses and can you report any progress to the Chamber? 

Not that I'm aware of. I remember doing this when I was environment Minister. It is something that we investigate from time to time. Of course, the reprocessing facilities in Sellafield are available to Wylfa. They're hugely important for the nuclear industry in the UK. But no, no community, as far as I'm aware, has volunteered. 

If we look at 'Prosperity for All' and the Valleys taskforce, for example, they are about improving people's lives through delivering good-quality jobs and the skills to do them, and, of course, supporting better public services and strengthening Valleys communities.

Thank you for that, First Minister. Securing the well-being and prosperity of our Valleys towns and communities remains a significant challenge, as shown by a number of health, social and wider welfare indicators, and I was alarmed by the recent report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission that suggested more people would be driven into poverty by UK welfare reforms. That follows closely on the heels of reports by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Bevan Foundation, which state that the next wave of welfare reform will push even more people in our Valleys communities into poverty. Now, as my constituency of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney prepares for the roll-out of universal credit next month, will you join me once again in urging the benches opposite to raise their voices alongside ours to persuade their Government in Westminster to stop this reckless policy of austerity now, before any more damage is wreaked upon the most vulnerable in our society? 

They will have heard that call. We've written to the UK Government asking them to reconsider the damaging changes that their tax and welfare reform policies are having on households in Wales. All I'm concerned about is, if we look at the Equality and Human Rights Commission's report published in March, that suggests that we will see the reforms that they are proposing in Whitehall push an extra 50,000 children into poverty by 2021-22. Now, the whole point, surely, of Government is to look to find ways to even out inequality and look to reduce it as much as possible, not to increase it, but that is where the UK Government are. And I'm deeply concerned about the fundamental flaws of universal credit—they've been well rehearsed in this Chamber—but despite those flaws, the UK Government is rolling the programme out. We need to have a benefits system in this country that helps people rather than penalises them, which is what the current UK Government seemingly want to do.  

Does the First Minister agree with me that work is one of the best ways out of poverty? And will he join me in welcoming the fact that unemployment in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney has fallen by 52 per cent since 2010? 

I have to say to the Member that work is important, but well-paid work is crucial. We have always said—. We used to say to people, 'If you get a job, you'll be better off', yet why is it that there are people in work using food banks? Why is it that there are still stories of people who find themselves in a job but yet unable to afford the basic necessities of life? Why? Because of the benefit cuts, particularly in-work benefit cuts, that we've seen from the Conservative Government, because we have a Conservative Government that doesn't value work, because we have a Conservative Government that doesn't believe in fair work. We believe in all those things. We want to see fair work for our people in all parts of Wales in the future.

The Welsh Government works with devolved public sector employers and trade unions through the workforce partnership council to ensure that strategic workforce issues such as public service changes are discussed. Locally, public sector employers are committed to similar social partnership arrangements. 

I've raised concerns on the privatisation of dialysis services with you previously, and that, of course, includes the possibility of staff moving from the national health service to the private sector to work, something that they have been entirely clear in their opposition to. Now, major questions have been raised by these staff on the process that has been undertaken in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board, to the point that they've written a letter to the board, and I will quote from that letter:

'It's a disgraceful way for a responsible employer to conduct itself in such a process.'

—say the workers.

'The staff feel that, throughout this process, the communication has been poor and not undertaken in a timely manner, effectively preventing union representation and causing serious distress and worry to all staff concerned. The staff therefore request that you investigate and remedy deficiencies in the processes that have been highlighted to you.'

Now, Betsi Cadwaladr, of course, is under your Government's direct control, so will you also undertake to investigate why the staff are so aggrieved at this process, because in your previous answer you talk the talk; shouldn't you now walk the walk?

Well, can I say that no member of staff will be forced to move to the independent sector. It's hugely important to make that point. Secondly, my understanding is that patient representatives, trade unions and human resources representatives have been invited to participate throughout the process of developing renal services in the north of Wales. No decision has been made as to the final service model. However, he has read directly from a letter, and I feel that I need to look at that letter to give the assurance to those people who've written that letter that this matter is being looked at, and I give him that assurance.

And finally, question 10—Julie Morgan.

We continue to implement the seven key parts of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016. That puts in place a plan to manage Wales’s natural resources and environment in a proactive, sustainable and joined-up way.

I thank the First Minister for that response. Last week, it was very pleasing to see that Wales had been awarded 47 blue flag beaches, which means that we have more per mile of coastline than any other country in the UK. So, that was very pleasing news. But what, First Minister, do you think the effect of leaving the EU will be on environmental standards, as it has meant until now that we have had to have a high standard for things like bathing water and coastal management?

Well, it has to be said that it is our membership of the EU that drove up environmental standards in the UK. Our standards were appalling; the rivers were awful. There was one river in greater Manchester that was flammable in the 1980s if you've threw a match into it. My own river, the River Ogmore in Bridgend, would run different colours according to what had been thrown into it up river. I was looking at it on Sunday—crystal clear. We often used to see diseased fish in the river in the 1980s. There was a major pollution incident there that killed all the wildlife around the river. We are a long way from there, and the last thing we should be doing is going back to those days.

In terms of blue flag beaches, I very much welcome the fact—and I have nearly 10 per cent of them in my own constituency—that we can say that our beaches meet a European standard that is a high standard. The last thing we should do is have a lower standard for our beaches. To my mind, it makes perfect sense to stay as part of the blue flag scheme or, if that's not acceptable or palatable to the hardline Brexiteers, to have at least an equivalent scheme that's recognised as equivalent by everybody else in the world, but not to go backwards and go back to the days that I remember in the 1970s and 1980s when basically our beaches were filthy and our rivers were polluted.

Thank you, First Minister.

The next item, therefore, is the business statement and announcement, and I call on the leader of the house to make the statement—Julie James. 

Diolch, Llywydd. There are no changes to this week's business. Business for the next three weeks is as shown on the business statement and announcement found among the meeting papers available to Members electronically.

Leader of the house, could we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for rural affairs in relation to the horrendous story that's running today about badger baiting here in Wales? I appreciate it's cross-agency and cross-sector, and some of the responsibilities are in Westminster, some of those responsibilities around animal health and welfare are here in the Assembly. But wherever that responsibility lies, it is an horrendous story of animal abuse that should not be tolerated in any civilised country, and we need to act on this evidence that has been brought forward by the BBC today. In particular, it does indicate—and I appreciate the individual who's indicated and said that he does not participate in any of this—that an individual has an order against him about owning dogs for breeding purposes, and yet the evidence points to the fact that he is breeding dogs.

We as a country need to show a lead on this, and I would hope that the Cabinet Secretary would bring forward a statement on how she, with her officials, could bring the agencies together that can look at this, and, wherever it is happening across Wales, make sure that it is stamped out and stopped here and now.

I think we all share your concerns; we've all heard the trailers and so on for the programme, which I believe is going out tonight in its entirety. We will be very carefully looking at that and looking at the evidence, and the Cabinet Secretary's indicating to me that, of course, she shares your concerns and we will be responding appropriately to that, because I think we were all appalled by some of the stories of cruelty, both to the badgers and to the dogs involved, actually.

I've got three requests for statements, if that's okay; I'll try and be brief. I've been told by residents and councillors in Bridgend that they've been unable to access the council's planning portal for a number of months now, and it's been on and offline in a very ad hoc fashion. I'm raising it here because the constituents are coming to me saying that they want to look at current planning applications—to have views on them or to appeal against them—and they can't seem to do that. So, I was wondering whether we could have a statement from the Welsh Government to councils generally about guidance as to how those planning portals should operate, because these constituents of mine may miss opportunities to put views forward on planning applications if the current situation is maintained.

The second request for a statement is with regard to the touring circus of wild animals that is currently taking place. There's a tour in south Wales and in north Wales—it was in Porthcawl last week. I had a meeting with RSPCA Cymru this week, and they said to me that the reason why it's in Porthcawl is the fact that there's a lease with Bridgend council of events that then ties them into a long-term contract with this particular exhibitor. I'm wondering if you can give us a statement on what research you've done of other councils, and this particular council, who are in similar situations, because if they're in these long-term leases, and if there is a move to ban wild animals in circuses—a move I hope we will get a statement on soon—then we need to be aware that these long-term leases may impinge on that particular process.

My third request is with regard to a statement—the UK Government's report last week—on cladding as a result of Grenfell. I know that the UK Government has said that they're going to consult on banning inflammable cladding, and on a UK level, the Labour UK group has said, 'Don't consult on it, ban it', and here the Minister has said that she's going to take some time to consider the options. I would like to have a statement sooner rather than later to understand what is going to be the Welsh line, because, of course, people are coming to me as housing spokesperson to ask us what is happening in Wales. So, I'd appreciate a statement to that end.

Thank you for those three very important issues. On the first, the planning portal, it would be really helpful, if you haven't already, to write in and say what the specifics are. There is guidance already in existence for the running of the planning portals, so it will be interesting to see whether there's some particular issue of not complying with that guidance. So, I'm not sure if you're written already—if you haven't, then I would suggest you do so. And then if there is a general issue with the guidance, we can have a look at that.

In terms of the circuses and animals, as you said, we're in the process of considering what to do. There's a consensus view in here that wild animals in circuses is not a good thing to see. I'm certain that part of the legislation that comes forward will deal with existing leasehold arrangements and the protection for people who might be caught in such a situation. But it's worth while to have brought it forward, and I know the Minister was listening carefully to you as you mentioned it. There will be other peripheral issues as well—that we need to make sure that any ban has complete effect, and that we make the legislation appropriate to that, which is what the Minister is considering.

And then, in terms of Grenfell, and the Minister is nodding vigorously behind me, we will be looking carefully at what's happening and bringing a statement forward as soon as we're in a position to do so, because that's—. Obviously, we've all been reminded of the appalling tragedy of Grenfell over the last few days, and I don't know about you, but some of the reports in the media yesterday had me in floods of tears all over again. So, clearly, we need to do something to make sure that no such tragedy can ever happen again.

I would like to ask for two statements—the first statement on Welsh Government action to improve electrical safety, following electrical fires in Mid and West Wales in the last two years. There have been 121 due to faulty equipment or appliances, 119 due to faulty electric supply, 15 from faulty leads and 52 from overheating. Those are serious problems. I'd like to have a Welsh Government statement on that.

I don't make any apologies for going back to the job losses in Virgin, yet again, for the second statement I'm going to ask for, because, as you know, it's a matter of grave concern in our part of the world. We met with representatives of the workforce last week, who came along, and they were concerned about when they would, firstly, start having people going in to talk to them and to see them, and, secondly, a number of firms, including Admiral—who have gone public on it—have offered to speak to them and to see if their skills meet Admiral's skills shortage. But if they're leaving because they're about to be made redundant, they believe they ought to get their redundancy pay, because they're declared redundant, rather than having to wait until the last day. The third one is that some of them would want to use their redundancy pay in order to support additional training, of which only a certain proportion would be paid for by ReAct, in order to upskill themselves. If they have their redundancy pay, the courses might start before the end of the closure. So, really, any updates would be really appreciated by the—sorry, why am I telling you? You know this. [Laughter.] Any updates would be really appreciated by the people working there.

Absolutely. Thank you for both of those important issues. On electrical fire safety, as I'm sure we all remember, Carl Sargeant said to the Assembly last year that we had real concerns about the growth in domestic fires originating in the electrical supply, and he commissioned in-depth research into the problem, which is now complete. It examines the extent and possible cause of the trend in detail and recommends further action by the fire service and others. The Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services is about to publish that research, and then we'll be able to react appropriately to the research and put the appropriate measures in place. I know the Member has had a long-standing concern about such matters.

In terms of the Virgin Media situation, indeed, obviously, we share a number of concerns on this, as do all of the AMs in the region. We've all attended a number of meetings. We have now given assistance to the staff association there to come up with a possible alternative bid, as discussed at the meeting we were at. We've also put the taskforce in place, so that funding will be available as soon as the taskforce is allowed entry, and my understanding is that that will be as soon as the consultation process is finished, which is any minute now—at the end of this week, I think, but I'll check on the exact date on that. My understanding is that, in line with all the other events that we've, unfortunately, had to deal with, the taskforce will then go in, once that consultation is complete. If something changes on that, or there's some difficulty with the company in allowing access to those funds, I will certainly report back to the Senedd, because it's a matter of huge concern to us that the workers are treated fairly and appropriately during this really very unsettling process, and that the Welsh Government can give them as much assistance as we possibly can.

May I ask for a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on schools admission policy in Wales? Assembly Members will be aware that compulsory school age is the beginning of the term following a child's fifth birthday. However, this puts children born between 1 April and 31 August, known as summer-born children, at a disadvantage. Parents of four-year-old children who have not reached emotional, social or academic maturity and readiness for school are being forced to enrol their child a whole year earlier or to have the child's education entitlement reduced by one year with obligatory entrance to year 1. I have been contacted by a parent in Newport who, in spite of evidence from professionals confirming her child will suffer if forced to start school this year, or year 1 next year, is still being denied a reception start in 2019. In England, the UK Government has indicated its intention to give summer-born children the right to start in reception at the age of five. Can I ask for a statement on what action the Cabinet Secretary for Education will take to end this injustice forced upon summer-born children in Wales please?

Well, of course, a large number of children are covered by the foundation phase in Welsh schools, which takes away some of those difficulties. But if the Member has a specific problem with a particular child, I suggest he writes directly to the Cabinet Secretary with that specific problem because I don't see any reason why that child wouldn't be normally covered by the foundation phase arrangements, which smooth out the specific problem that he mentioned for most children in Wales. 

Could I ask for two statements or actions from the Government? Fist of all, can we start with the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill? Since we passed the legislative consent motion as an Assembly, the Lords has amended the Bill. As it happened, it placed the environmental principles on the face of the Bill, something I support, but we weren't consulted about, so we see what this process leads us to. Professor Tim Lang yesterday told an Assembly committee that Wales was now steamrollerable on agricultural policy due to our acquiescence on the Bill. Michael Gove told a policy exchange think tank yesterday that, in fact, the work had not ended on deciding which areas were going where when they returned from the European Union, potentially adding to the 26 that are already set out in the inter-governmental agreement. And, ironically, after we passed our LCM, the House of Commons has decided that it's not going to deal with the EU Bill for some weeks now, rather underlining the point I was making that you had plenty of time to do a better deal.

So, what now? Can we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, who's responsible for this, setting out exactly how the Assembly will now be kept informed as regards the changes to the Bill? We have no further control over this; we've passed the LCM. But amendments will be made. Timing will happen. Things will have happened at a different stage in the House of Commons, and there's a potential for ping-pong back and forth between the Lords and the Commons on this. I think it's important for us to understand how we will now be kept informed of that. The spirit of informing the Assembly is in the inter-governmental agreement and you've signed up to that. So, can we have a statement setting out how this will be taken step by step and whether perhaps, if necessary, we will have some further debates in Government time on some principles that might emerge over the forthcoming weeks, because we don't think the work is finished on what the Government thinks it's going to do on these areas yet? So, that's one area. 

The second I'd like a statement on from the Government, if possible—or perhaps a letter to Members would be appropriate in this regard as well—is, of course, regarding the referendum in the Republic of Ireland on Friday—a referendum called 'Repeal the 8th'. This is nothing to do with the Welsh Assembly, of course, nothing to do with us, except that, in a way, it is, because many Irish citizens live in Wales and are able to vote in this referendum. Many colleges, I read elsewhere, have been helping students to return home to vote in the referendum, and I'd be interested to understand whether that process has been followed here in Wales. If Repeal the 8th is not successful, then we can assume that Irish women will continue to travel to Wales and the rest of the UK in order to have abortions. This is the kind of strange situation that the Republic's in at the moment, that it tolerates abortion as long as it doesn't happen within the Republic of Ireland, of course. So, there is an interest here, and I'd be interested to know whether the Welsh Government has had any interventions with Irish citizens, with the Irish Embassy, supporting the ability for Irish citizens to return to vote in the Irish referendum. And perhaps all of us can say 'Tá' to Repeal the 8th. 

On that one, I'm afraid I just don't know the answer to that, so I'll make sure that all Members are written to to say what the situation is. Obviously, many of us have been following the situation there with keen attention, (a) because it impacts on our services, as the Member has pointed out, but, actually, (b) because we have a long-standing commitment to proper services for women and the situation in the Republic of Ireland is outwith a large number of liberal democracies and all of the values that we stand for. So, we've all been following it with some interest, but I'm afraid I don't know the specifics about citizens returning home, so I'll make sure that a letter is given to all Assembly Members saying whether we've done anything. I'm not aware if we have or not. 

In terms of the EU withdrawal Bill, yes, there's a certain amount of disarray, I think it's fair to say, in what's happened with the Lords and so on. We're obviously keeping a keen eye on that. I disagree with the statements made by both of the Ministers that you quote for reasons that I won't spend 25 minutes expanding on or the Llywydd will be cross. But of course the Cabinet Secretary will be updating the Senedd very frequently as the situation changes, and indeed it's very possible that some of the amendments will be lifted out and put into the next Bill, for example, and a number of other things are now on the cards. So, it's extremely important that this Senedd is kept completely up to date with where we are. And, obviously, as the Cabinet Secretary said during the LCM process actually, if the situation changes in any material way, then of course we would have to reconsider it. So, absolutely, the Member raises a very important point, and the situation is—I think the standard phrase is—'fluid' and 'interesting', and, Llywydd, I think we all now live inside the Chinese proverb of 'living in interesting times'.

Formerly known as Dementia Awareness Week, 21-27 May is Dementia Action Week 2018, and I call for a Welsh Government statement accordingly. As most Members are fully aware, there are 45,000 people in Wales estimated to have dementia. This is expected to rise 35 per cent over the next couple of decades, yet only around half of individuals in Wales with dementia have a diagnosis. Four years ago, I became a dementia friend. Three months ago, my father, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia, died after a fall. My eldest son is having his hair shaved on 1 June to raise money for Alzheimer's Society. He says, 'I can't change what has happened, but I can help to find a solution.' If any Members feel able to go on to Just Giving, even with £1, that would be much appreciated.

On Wednesday, BBC One are showing a programme, The Toddlers who Took on Dementia, following a recent experiment conducted by Bangor University in Old Colwyn's dementia care home, Llys Elian, with a group of young toddlers sharing three days with older residents, to see whether spending time with them may help fight the effects of dementia. Again, I've been asked to commend that programme to this Assembly, and to others, hopefully, outside who are hearing this.

In May 2016, Alzheimer's Society hosted many AMs at their event in the Wales Millennium Centre, about their work on creating dementia-friendly communities in Wales. In February, Alzheimer's Society and Ageing Well in Wales held a 'What next for dementia-friendly communities in north Wales?' event.

We know that the Older People's Commissioner for Wales's 'Dementia: more than just memory loss' report in 2016 identified a continuing lack of knowledge and understanding of dementia. We also know, at that stage, Alzheimer's Society were calling for the then proposed Welsh Government dementia strategy to set out clear targets for increased dementia diagnosis rates, currently then the lowest in any UK nation. In February 2018, the Welsh Government launched its dementia action plan, but delivery, I think as the Minister said in his foreword, will be the measure of its success. So, the dementia challenge we all share is the one that we must all rise up to. And I therefore call for a Welsh Government statement in Dementia Action Week 2018 accordingly.

The Member makes a series of very important points about dementia. It's a horrendous illness, syndrome, to have to live with, and we've all been, I hope, supporting dementia-friendly week; I'm sporting the badge myself. Also, I'm a dementia friend, and my whole office did the training; anybody who hasn't done it, I would highly recommend they do. Of course, we have just put out the action plan. I'm delighted to say that a large number of people living with dementia, and groups supporting or representing people living with dementia, were very much part of that process. And one of my own constituents took a very prominent role in it, and I've had the opportunity to discuss that with the Cabinet Secretary on a number of occasions. So, it's a very important matter that the Member raises, and I'm delighted to see both that we have an event here in the Senedd today highlighting it, and that the Member has been able to do so.

Leader of the house, as members of the cross-party group on vision, we hear some pretty distressing stories of eye care patients suffering horrendous delays to their treatment, and delays to follow-up care is a major issue across Wales. Last week, I asked Welsh Government to release data around the extent of the follow-up care problem in Wales, by health board, as these figures are not reported publicly. The data is shocking, and shows that, of the 114,000 patients waiting for a follow-up appointment in Wales at the end of March this year, 54,000 of them have waited in excess of their clinically agreed review date. Why is that important? Well, clinical audits have shown that around 90 per cent of patients on ophthalmology follow-up lists suffer from conditions such as wet age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy—conditions which if not treated within the clinically agreed follow-up interval mean that patients are at risk of irreversible harm or blindness. The situation is scandalous and there is a clear mismatch in terms of capacity and demand within the system, a situation that has been going on for years. In light of these shocking figures, will the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services agree to bring forward a statement to this Chamber that will outline how he is going to tackle these scandalous waits for eye care patients? 

Yes, it's a very important matter. Actually, Llywydd, can I just declare a personal interest? My husband is actually waiting for a vision appointment just at the moment, and I know various Members are aware of that. So, I just want to put that on record. 

I know that there's a national pilot out at the moment. The Cabinet Secretary is indicating to me that once the national pilot has reported, and in light of the matters raised by Dai Lloyd, that he's more than happy to update the Assembly at that point. 

You mentioned the dementia friendly event upstairs at lunchtime, leader of the house. Next door was the event—. You probably can't see, unless you have got super-duper vision, my badge there for the occupational therapists who were in the room next door. It was great meeting occupational therapists from across Wales, including from Neath Port Talbot Hospital, who enlightened me as to how much work they do dealing with mental health issues as well. So, it occurs to me that occupational therapy isn't just about managing the traditional areas, it's also very important in taking strain off other areas of the health service in terms of dealing with those people, so I wonder if we could have a statement from the health Secretary on support being given to occupational therapists in Wales. 

Secondly, and finally, we've got the summer recess in the not-too-far-distant future now. I wonder if we could have an update from the Cabinet Secretary for infrastructure on the Heads of the Valleys road. I know that the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services was visiting that scheme recently. I have visited as well; it's a fantastic scheme. I'm very impressed with the design and the people working on the scheme, but we do know it's had problems with being over budget and over time, and not just the normal type of slippage times but by a considerable amount of time, and local people have expressed concerns about that. So, could we have an update from the Cabinet Secretary as to when we envisage that phase of the project being complete, and also how we intend to capitalise on that scheme in the long run, so that the Member for Blaenau Gwent and I, as the Member for Monmouthshire, can say to our local populations that the Welsh Government really is going to hit the ground running once that development is complete and we can build the economic growth in that area? 

Yes, I think there must have been a procession of visits, because I've also been. It's very impressive indeed. Both Cabinet Secretaries are nodding happily at me and saying that there'll be an update before the summer recess on that matter. 

In terms of the occupational health, absolutely, it's a very important element in some of the mental health arrangements that we have and the Cabinet Secretary is reminding me that, of course, we've increased the amount of training and recognition that we give to occupational health practitioners and that they are, of course, a very important part of the structure of clinicians across Wales. 

Many of us will have been shocked by the statistics published last week that over 77,000 work days had been lost in the Betsi Cadwaladr health board because of stress and anxiety amongst staff. Now, not only has that cost almost £5.5 million to the board, but it represents an increase of 17 per cent in absences in just six years. This board, as I mentioned earlier, is under the direct management of this Government. I note in the business statement that the Cabinet Secretary will give an update on the situation at the Betsi Cadwaladr health board next week. Can I, therefore, ask you to ensure that there will be a direct response to the situation that I’ve just referred to, because, to me, that is one of the fundamental problems? It reflects the failure of your Government to tackle ensuring that there is sufficient workforce in place and that is having the impact that I’ve just described.

Yes, the Cabinet Secretary is indicating that he is going to do exactly that when he updates the Senedd next week. 

I rise, once again, with regret, to raise concerns about governance at Caerphilly County Borough Council, increasingly the wild west of Welsh local government. A freedom of information request by Plaid Cymru has revealed that nine former members of staff have been re-employed after receiving early retirement, severance or redundancy. This is, of course, contrary to the council's own policy and raises real concerns that pay-offs could have been received by individuals who were consequently re-employed by the council. Can we have a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for local government on whether or not he deems that the local authority has acted appropriately on these occasions? Indeed, can we have a broader statement from the Cabinet Secretary on governance in Caerphilly council more generally?

Yes, there is, of course, as I'm sure Steffan Lewis knows, a very serious set of rules and regulations around what can be received by way of payments once you're in receipt of a local government pension. The scheme is very rigid in that regard and there are a very serious set of rules around that. So, if you have details of those, I'm sure, if you write in to the Cabinet Secretary, he'll take very seriously looking at whether those schemes have been adhered to.

Thank you, leader of the house.

The next item is the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport on the economic action plan. Ken Skates. 

Diolch, Llywydd. When I launched the economic action plan, I made it clear that I was introducing a new approach to deliver public investment with a social purpose in support of our national strategy 'Prosperity for All' and its five priority areas of early years, mental health, employability and skills, housing, and social care. Through the plan, we are building on the excellent progress we have made. With over 37,000 jobs supported across the whole of Wales in the last year and over 190,000 in the last five years of the Government, our record is strong. However, our economy is changing and we must change with it to be inclusive and competitive in the future. Today, I am pleased to announce a major step forward in delivering the plan and its compelling vision to strengthen our economic foundations, futureproof businesses and empower productive regions and people.

Since launching the economic action plan five months ago, I have been encouraged by the positive way in which it has been received. We have travelled the length and breadth of Wales to talk to businesses, representative organisations and others about the plan and to seek their input on how we implement and deliver its commitments. These conversations have been stimulating, challenging and, above all, hugely interesting and informative. What we have heard has been invaluable in shaping the way forward, and I'm very grateful to all those who took time to talk with us. The nature of those conversations has been as diverse as the participants, but a number of common messages have come to the fore time and time again. Firstly, economic development is underpinned by strong relationships not just between business and Government, but also with a range of other partners, too—our learning institutions, trade unions, local authorities, third sector, and, of course, people. Secondly is the importance of proportionality and flexibility in addressing varying needs of businesses of different sizes, types, and locations across Wales. Thirdly, making a difference is about more than simply changes in policy; it’s about cultures, behaviours and ways of working.

We have used this learning to develop the new operating model that I am launching today. Through the economic contract, we will develop a new and strengthened relationship with business to drive inclusive growth and responsible business behaviours. Businesses seeking our support will enter into an ongoing dialogue with us—one that shifts from co-existence and moves to collaboration. We expect businesses to commit to growth, fair work, reducing carbon footprints, health, skills, and learning in the workplace. These are the behaviours already exhibited in many successful and responsible businesses. We'll recognise those businesses already taking steps to adopt responsible business and employment practices, and we'll encourage and support others to take a similar path. This is about engagement, incentive and spreading good practice—a reciprocal something-for-something approach. 

If the economic contract focuses on what businesses are doing today, then it is our calls to action that will prepare businesses for tomorrow. We want to work with business to co-invest in the types of investment that will futureproof them and strengthen our economy today and for future generations. From today, five calls to action will be the new lens through which we will channel our direct business finance. 

The calls to action challenge Government and businesses to look at future investment through the contribution it will make to innovation and entrepreneurship, research and development and automation, exports and trade, high-quality employment and skills, and decarbonisation. These are some of the key strategic challenges we have to address if we are to secure growth not just today, but growth that is futureproofed to maximise opportunities that lie ahead. Taken together, the economic contract and calls to action form the basis of our new operating model targeted at ensuring public investment with a social purpose—driving wealth and well-being, inclusive growth today, futureproofing business and the economy for tomorrow.

From today, we will switch seamlessly to this new approach. All new business investment proposals that come forward for direct financial support under my direct control will be subject to this new prism, with the former way of working only applying to legacy projects to guarantee business continuity and a smooth transition. As we implement this new approach, I am determined that we capture learning and use this to refine and drive continuous improvement. This is part of our new way of working, and so I will be carrying on the conversation with business to get their feedback on how the new operating model is working in practice so that we can continue to evolve and shape our approach accordingly. My vision, and that of Cabinet, is that, over time, we will broaden the scope of this new approach and embrace direct financial support to business across all of Government. However, this is a significant change and I want to ensure that we implement it well and use our learning for further implementation.

I recognise the calls from businesses and others to simplify and streamline our approach wherever possible. One of the areas where we hear this plea loudest is in relation to our financial support. There is no doubt that businesses value the financial support that we provide and it plays a big role in helping some businesses to fulfil their aspirations to sustain and grow. However, sometimes, the sheer range of schemes, programmes and funds that we offer can be confusing and complex. I am responding to these concerns and, as part of the new operating model, I have taken the step of consolidating a number of current schemes within a new economy futures fund. I want the direct financial support that we offer to business to be clear, easily understood and responsive. The economy futures fund will make an important contribution in that regard. 

In line with this simplification agenda, I am pleased to announce the establishment of a new overarching ministerial advisory board alongside a parallel process to streamline existing advisory bodies where possible and practicable. The new ministerial advisory board will complement existing social partnership arrangements and provide a strong external mechanism for challenge and advice to support effective implementation of the economic action plan. I am establishing the ministerial advisory board on a transition basis to allow time for a public appointments process to be undertaken. It will be chaired by Sir Adrian Webb, and a full list of its members will be published on the Welsh Government’s website.

Implementation of the economic action plan does not end with my statement today. We have important work to do in implementing other key aspects of the plan—our new approach to regional economic development and wider cross-Government activity. These will be the areas that we will focus on in the second phase of implementing the plan, and, to help take this forward, I am establishing and will chair a cross-Government delivery board of senior civil servants. 

As we deliver this plan, we will learn from international best practice, and this includes taking the bold step of opening ourselves up to constructive challenge from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and from other international experts in the economic development field. I'll be in a position to provide further detail on this work in the next phase of implementation. 

I look forward to keeping Members updated on these developments in the weeks and months ahead. 

Thank you. Russell George.

Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. I think my genuine fear is that businesses up and down the country, if they're listening to this, will be scratching their heads thinking, 'What's all this about?', and that's part of the issue for me. I was waiting for something tangible in your statement this afternoon, Cabinet Secretary. When you got halfway through and started talking about the economic contract and your aims, I thought, 'That's great; now you're going to come on to talk about the how and the detail', but that didn't come forward—certainly not in my view. Of course, this is the fourth economic strategy relaunch since devolution, so I am wondering whether this signals an abandonment of the Welsh Government's long-standing approach to economic policy in Wales.

What you have said in your statement today actually contains nothing that I can fundamentally disagree with in principle, but, for me, there's no new information today here, and, more importantly for me, there are no targets on which we can actually hold the Government to account, and that's our job in this Chamber and as Assembly Members—to hold the Government to account. We can't do that unless we've got some tangible targets to measure you on.

Now, you say, Cabinet Secretary, that the economic action plan sets out an ambitious agenda for change, but I can't see anything that spells out any concrete proposals whatsoever about raising productivity levels across the Welsh economy—plenty of aims, but no concrete proposals. Now, at a meeting of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee in January, you stated that work was under way in delivering this new economic action plan, and there was some frustration from Members that there was no further detail at that time. When committee members asked you about that, and asked about the detail, you talked about how discussions were under way between Welsh Government and relevant stakeholders and said that more details would follow. But three months later, I put in a written question to you and asked you about the progress, and you answered that,

'We have been discussing our approach with businesses and other organisations across Wales.'

Well, that's the same as you told us three months before. So, it just seems to me that little progress is being made. So, can I ask: when will we finally see some meaningful action take place in relation to the delivery of the plan? Can you outline what measures there will be for success, because, as far as I can see, there's a strategy that contains 17,000 warm words but not a single target?

Now, as far as I could also gather, the economic contract provides no meaningful detail as to how the Welsh Government plans to support businesses going forward. What I can see is lots of red tape and admin. So, in that regard, can I ask you to outline what simple, practical and meaningful policy solutions are included in your economic action plan to help tackle Wales's productivity crisis, which will make a practical difference to the day-to-day operations of businesses up and down Wales and, ultimately, enable them to increase wages for their workforce, which is, of course, what we all want to see? So, I'm looking for areas of solutions in your answer, Cabinet Secretary. Also, how do enterprise zones and the attraction of foreign direct investment fit into your action plan? There's no mention at all of those in your action plan or in your statement this afternoon.

Now, I suspect this is an area that you will agree with me on. I'm sure that you would agree that the Welsh economy does need to transition to an investment culture that supports Welsh firms and delivers value for the Welsh taxpayer. So, how does your strategy make progress towards that investment culture? What focus is there on supporting our current SMEs? If there's an SME watching today, listening to this, help them to understand how this is going to support them. What intention does the Government have of using public procurement to support the Welsh economy, because, as far as I can gather, the action plan contains no practical measures to boost the level of support that Welsh firms receive from public spending in Wales? Also, how will the UK Government's industrial strategy be integrated into your economic plan? And how will you address the regional inequality that exists in different parts of Wales?

On increasing wages, export activity is absolutely crucial, of course, for increasing growth and jobs and wages across Wales. When I asked you about this in a written statement just a few weeks ago, you talked about publishing details on your website and some engagement via ClickShare and video links on social media. But are you completely satisfied, Cabinet Secretary, that the economic action is doing the job for boosting Welsh exports over the long term?

Finally, Cabinet Secretary, aside from threatening, of course, to introduce a crippling new tax on the tourism industry in Wales, what specific measures are contained within the action plan that are going to be implemented by the Welsh Government to support the tourism sector in Wales going forward? What is it that the tourism sector can be pleased about in your action plan this afternoon? So, I am sorry to say that, for me, the document doesn't have the practical solutions to address the economic challenges that are before us.

Can I thank the Member for his questions? I'll start by saying that I think, perhaps, there is misunderstanding of what an action plan is about. We're not going to be prescriptive in addressing the productivity gap. As I said in my statement, this is about ensuring that we move from a position of Government being prescriptive and co-existing with business and co-existing with learning institutions to being collaborative, to seeking out solutions to problems that may be distinct for discrete areas of the economy, but also solutions that may apply to the whole of the economy.

Now, the Member asks, 'What is it all about?' It's about making sure that we drive investment with a social purpose, that we drive inclusive growth, and that we futureproof the economy. In order to drive inclusive growth, we've developed the economic contract. In order to drive up productivity, we have the calls to action, and each of those calls to action mirror the factors that are contributing to our lagging productivity. Therefore, by making sure that funding from Welsh Government is only channelled through those calls to action, we will also be channelling our money into those areas of activity that need to be addressed if we are to improve the productivity of the economy—for example, the diffusion of innovation, relatively poor leadership. Relatively poor leadership also will be addressed through the implementation and adoption of the economic contract, because too many people go into the workplace unable to contribute as fully as they could do because they feel too stressed or too anxious or too depressed, for example. That will be addressed through the economic contract by making sure that employers commit to improving the health—and particularly the mental health—of the workforce. Raising wage levels will be dealt with through placing an emphasis in the economic contract on fair work and through placing within the calls to action an emphasis on high-quality employment and skills—skills contributing probably more than any other factor to improving wage rates and progression in the workplace.

Now, in terms of—. And I was very pleased to hear the Member say that he had little to disagree with in the economic action plan. In terms of how it can fit with the UK industrial strategy, I think—or I would hope—that the Member would recognise that the five calls to action actually mirror very, very neatly the UK industrial strategy's call for a challenge fund, applications for innovation, for, essentially, a way of doing business that irons out regional inequality. There is a common theme across both plans that concerns inequality across the UK and inequality across Wales. So, our plan is designed to dovetail with some of the challenge fund opportunities—the big money that can come from UK Government—by ensuring that we use our plan as the vehicle to drive collaboration across businesses and between businesses and learning institutions.

In terms of what success will look like, given that the focus is now on inclusive growth, success will be measured by how we drive up wealth in the aggregate, for sure, but also how we drive up levels of well-being, whilst also reducing inequality between the two. Now, we're taking a step ahead of where many other countries are going in terms of inclusive growth. The Member may have noticed that an appointee to the ministerial advisory board is the director of Purposeful Capital, a global organisation that looks at best practice and at disseminating best practice in driving inclusive growth. It's one example of how I wish to have external challenge inform the development, the implementation and the future implementation of other phases of the economic action plan to ensure that we do deliver against what I see success to look like.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, and for micro-sized enterprises, Business Wales will continue to offer expert advice. Business Wales will go on working more closely than ever before with Careers Wales. We now have a record number of business births, a record number of active enterprises, and all activity that Business Wales will be conducting will be aligned to the calls to action and the economic contract. So, any small and medium-sized or micro-sized business that fails to meet the criteria of the economic contract will get support from Business Wales in order to come back to the door to re-apply for direct financial support.

In terms of red tape and administration, I can guarantee to the Member that we are simplifying our approach through the economy futures fund, and that bureaucracy will be kept to an absolute minimum in terms of the application process for the economic contract forming one sheet of a contract. It will not be burdensome. The contract is about making sure that we maintain a constructive ongoing dialogue with businesses so that we don't just hand out money, wait for it to be spent, and then monitor it in years afterwards, that we actually go on conversing with business about the best way to modernise, the best way to be more productive, the best way to adopt fair working practices. I recognise that this is a very different way of doing economic development and, in the future phases, there will be another major shift, and Russell George mentioned regional inequality. Well, the next phase of our work will involve the establishment of new spatial, place-based economic development ways of working—I've already appointed the chief regional officers for the three regions—and that will be looking at how we can ensure that the regional plans are agreed to by local authorities and other stakeholders across the regions, so that, in the three regions of Wales, all partners, in the spirit of the Be The Spark initiative, are working to the same ends.

We always welcome any new thinking in economic strategy and the Cabinet Secretary will be aware that I'm myself trying to engage positively with him. It's in all of our interests that, actually, the high-level goals at the heart of any economic strategy are achieved. But, I have to say, if what we get is an ever lengthening series of vague statements, that initial enthusiasm, that there is a genuine paradigm shift in thinking here, will soon be dissipated, and what we were left with is a growing sense that what this is is an economic inaction plan.

Can I ask him—? There was precious little detail really in the statement that he just read out or in the press release. Is there anything more than that? Is there more detail in documents around the calls to action, on the economic contract, and on the economy futures fund? And, if those documents exist, why haven't we got them, so that we can ask more intelligent questions of you? I think our own Standing Orders, actually, dictate that if a statement refers to Government documents then they must be provided for all Members. Now, I've seen Labour Members, actually, with some glossy document on the economic action plan, which the Cabinet Secretary may be about to hold up. Well, maybe he can confirm that an advance copy wasn't given to Labour Members in the Labour group meeting, because that would be, absolutely, an abuse of Government resources. We need all Members to be involved in the development of Government policy.

In terms of the detail of what he said, the cross-Government delivery board that he mentioned—can he just explain to me how is that different to, or is that taking the place of, the strategic delivery and performance board that, certainly up until recently, I think the Permanent Secretary chaired? And how is it different to the delivery unit, the First Minister's delivery unit, which was launched with a great fanfare in 2011 and then sort of disappeared with a whimper in 2016? Isn't there a danger that we've been here before? And where's the sense of urgency, Cabinet Secretary, in what you've said today and what you've said previously? There are great opportunities: the lowest interest rates in history, a massive increase—you've got to applaud the UK Government—in terms of research and development, the biggest R&D investment that we've ever seen across the UK, and all the potential in terms of technology, industry 4.0. Are we grasping that, and where's the urgency in what he has said? And, indeed, on measurement as well, how can we get the critical challenge that he referred to in terms of the ministerial advisory board if we're not clear what we are measuring?

Finally, the First Minister earlier said that the Public Accounts Committee report was a serious report, and there will be an opportunity for the Government to respond in full, but it does say that the project 

'created a strong impression to the committee of a department'—

his department—

'which was not properly in control of its business'.

Are the changes that the Cabinet Secretary has announced today a candid admission that this was a dysfunctional department, and isn't the first step in changing that an admission of previous failure?

Thank you. Can I assure the Member that the changes within the department had already taken place before the publication of the report that he refers to? And changes include the new way of working on regional economic development. Changes at a senior level, as the Member is aware, were made as well. We have new officers taking charge of business and regions who have been working relentlessly in order to produce the implementation plan and we have new officials working on strategy as well. So, those changes had already taken place.

I think it's worth just taking a step back and looking at where we stand right now, with record employment levels, record low unemployment levels—the inactivity rate is at or near a record low, and the Welsh economy is growing faster than any other nation in the UK. But what this plan seeks to do is ensure that, from a relatively strong position today compared to the 1980s and early 1990s, we leapfrog some of our competitors, rather than allow them to embrace technological change, to embrace new ways of working, faster than us. Because, frankly, if we don't shift, if we don't move towards inclusive growth, if we don't move towards embracing what we've described as calls to action, we will be left behind by more dynamic and more nimble economies and countries.

We do not wish to have that happen, which is why we've developed a way of working with the calls to action, with the economic contract, that—. Sure, it doesn't enable Government to state what all of the solutions are to all business difficulties and challenges, instead what it enables us to do is to invite businesses to work with us collaboratively, and with one another, and bring forward collective challenge opportunities to Government in order to solve their own particular issues that are holding them back, that are preventing them from going from good to great. So, I don't think Members should necessarily look to Government for all of the answers to every single business problem that exists across every single part of Wales. This is a plan that is designed to enable and empower businesses and regions to work together in order to present the challenges that they face, and for us to then fund them, to work with them, in order to make sure that we do have sustainable economic growth.

The details that the Member refers to are indeed in the glossy brochure that I have a box of today and I'm happy to distribute to as many Members as possible. I thought the Member had taken one this morning, but, if not, then I have one here for him right now. What it does contain for businesses—it does contain information on the various initiatives that form the heart of the economic action plan. But, as I said, we're now moving forward with the second phase of implementation, which involves regional economic growth, in order to get maximum buy-in from across Government, from across departments.

I think I've already said to the Chamber that many Ministers are already enthusiastically embracing the principles of the economic contract, but, in order to ensure that we get maximum buy-in, I've decided to chair a cross-Government board of officials. This will operate in parallel with the Permanent Secretary's performance board, which is designed for the Permanent Secretary to ensure that, right across 'Prosperity for All', there is cross-Government activity. Insofar as the economic action plan is concerned, I take the implementation very seriously myself, and that's why I wish to chair a cross-Government board, to ensure that all departments are working towards successful application of all components within the plan.

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for bringing this very important statement forward today and praise him for the work he's done so far on this issue? I also want to thank the Cabinet Secretary for coming to my constituency last week to attend a jobs and prosperity summit, which I held at Deeside Sixth. It was a great opportunity to discuss with the local business community and others some of the issues that are outlined in this plan. And it's also great to see the Airbus Beluga on front of the brochure there as well. 

I want to focus part of my time on the section of the plan relating to the calls to action, particularly in automation and digitalisation. The Cabinet Secretary will know that I recently referred to the fact that Alyn and Deeside was highlighted as the area with the highest percentage of jobs at risk of automation, with 36 per cent. The impact of automation on work is most prominent in manufacturing, but is increasingly affecting traditional white collar services jobs. I wonder if the Cabinet Secretary could say a little bit more about some of the plans to deal with automation and some of the investments that the Government could be making to deal with the challenges and opportunities of automation—things like investing in professional development and skills, but also some more radical, long-term thinking and developments, perhaps, like the universal basic income, using our future tax powers and looking at a type of Government jobs guarantee.

On digitalisation, I wondered whether the Cabinet Secretary could outline how he is working with the leader of the house, the business community and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport at a UK Government level to explore the concept of gigabit hubs; for example, Flintshire and Wrexham could link together to be a gigabit hub, working closely with border cities such as Chester. Through the design and deployment of this type of futureproof full-fibre infrastructure, we could help bring the benefits of unlimited bandwidth and gigabit-speed connectivity to entire communities.

Finally, if I have enough time, I'd like to touch briefly on regional economic development. He will know, as a fellow Member from north Wales, that people do sometimes feel isolated, and there is a feeling at some times of a north-south divide—I'm sure the same could be said for many other parts across Wales. We've got fantastic developments already taking place in north Wales, just like the advanced manufacturing research institute in my own area, but will he agree with me that the economic action plan gives us a real opportunity to realise even further the potential of north Wales by embracing effective regional collaboration, but also using the levers, as outlined in this action plan, to work with our neighbours in the north-west of England? Thank you.

Can I thank Jack Sargeant for his contribution? It was a pleasure to be able to join him at his recent jobs and prosperity summit and at the launch of the advanced manufacturing research institute, where we cut the sod, which will be a world-class research institute contributing something in the region of £4 billion in gross value added to the regional economy.

I know that this is a particular scheme that other Members have been keen to learn more about—Steffan Lewis, I know, raised it some time ago in the Chamber. It's a prime example of how the Welsh Government has been able to respond to the calls of the local enterprise zone. This, perhaps, is an example of the good work that can come from enterprise-zone activity, which was referred to by Russell George. Without the Deeside enterprise zone board, this project would not be where it is today—we probably would not have considered it. This was a specific bespoke project that was brought forward by a board that was acting in a very dynamic and informed way.

I was also pleased to, on the same day, launch the Wrexham enterprise hub—a hub that is being supported by us, the Welsh Government, which will create 100 new business and is expected to create 260 new jobs. It's fair to say that many of those businesses will not go on to be significant in size, and there may be some failures—we would expect that. However, we would only need one or two of the businesses that are being created in that hub to be the new Moneypenny or Chetwood Financial in order to justify not only our financial contribution but also to add very significantly to the employment rate in the Wrexham area. These are two really good examples of how the Welsh Government is using money strategically and smartly in order to drive the industries of tomorrow. Those particular issues comply perfectly with the economic contract and with the calls to action, with a sharp focus on research and development, skills, entrepreneurship and embracing new digital technology.

This week, we've seen the Digital Festival take place at the Wales Millennium Centre. That is a particular event that is growing year on year. It's now recognised not just as a Wales digital festival but an international festival that takes place in Wales, such is the calibre of the people who attend from around the world. I think that the presence of such a festival in Wales on an annual basis highlights how the emerging tech sector in Wales continues to go from strength to strength, often with direct help through Business Wales or through our business development managers.

I also think another prime example of how we are investing in the industries of tomorrow—embracing automation and embracing artificial intelligence—comes with the investment that we're making in the Tech Valleys initiative, with £25 million over the next three years and £100 million over the next decade, designed to attract businesses and to grow businesses in Wales from scratch based on tech and on emerging digital technology. Included within that particular region, in this area of activity, will be an enterprise hub along the lines of that which I opened in Wrexham.

I was particularly interested to learn about the proposal for gigabit hubs in north Wales. I think this could be a project that should be considered by the growth deal board in north Wales, not least because it would dovetail with some of the programmes that are being explored just across the border, and there's been a very clear direction that any growth deal in north Wales should dovetail with the growth deal in the Cheshire and Warrington local enterprise partnership in order to capitalise on collaboration and co-operation, and to avoid any unnecessary competition.

In terms of regional economic development, I know that the Member is very keen to ensure that north Wales gets its fair share. The second phase of the implementation plan will concern regional economic development and the development of regional economic plans, which are designed to empower the regions of Wales and to ensure that local authorities, Welsh Government, businesses and other stakeholders are all investing in the areas of expertise that currently exist, and in areas of economic activity that will be futureproofed.   

It is gratifying to see that the Welsh Government now has a clear idea of its role in supporting the business community in Wales, especially with regard to investment. It appears we now have a framework within which the Government can achieve its objectives. This is an essential part of delivering that much-needed boost to prosperity so desperately needed by the people of Wales, especially those in the lower-end skills sector. The new economic contract is also to be welcomed. We particularly like the Cabinet Secretary's objective to ensure that with all contracts, each party gets something for something and that it is to include an ongoing dialogue with business. We all acknowledge the considerable challenge Wales faces with the relatively small amount of money companies are investing in research and development. So, it was good to see that this point is dealt with in the financial contract that would ensure that companies improve productivity, upskill workforces and invest in R&D. 

Turning to Government investment in the business sector, I have long called on the Government to simplify pathways to investment for businesses, and it is to be noted that this was one of the key issues raised in your consultations with the business sector. I have some concern that you feel the best way to deal with these issues is, in consort with the consolidation of some funds under the economy futures fund, to advocate yet another advisory board. Is this introducing yet another tier of bureaucracy? There is no doubt that calls to action should very much concentrate financial assistance to those businesses involved in developing the goals that the Government has outlined in other statements on economic policy, but there are many business types out there that may not, because of the very nature of the business, be able to comply with the criteria set out under the calls to action. Are those to be excluded from investment entirely as a result of the implementation of this action plan? 

We do note the considerable engagement the Welsh Government have had with industry in developing this new economic strategy and welcome this constructive process, especially as the business sector seems to be fully engaged. It is to be hoped that this consultation process will continue in order to help facilitate the goals set out by the Welsh Government. Whilst, as has been indicated, we welcome many of these proposals, I must agree with both of my fellow AMs Russell George and Adam Price. We note that, however, there are no well-defined targets other than the stated goal of seeing productivity and gross value added per head narrowed to 90 per cent of the UK average by 2030. We urge the Government to give more clarification regarding timelines and targets, so that the Chamber can scrutinise the delivery of those targets. After all, measurability is a crucial part in triggering corrective actions in order to bring plans back on track.   

Can I thank the Member for his contribution and for generously welcoming the statement today? I'm very pleased, in particular, by his recognition of the public investment with a social purpose ethos that is right at the heart of the economic action plan. Investment clarity and simplicity was something that many, many business stakeholder groups called for. I'm pleased that we've responded with the establishment of the economy futures fund, and that Business Wales will be working more closely with Careers Wales, so that we will have a far clearer and far simpler method of drawing down not just financial support but also advice from businesses.

I should assure Members that the ministerial advisory board will not have a role in determining funding applications. There will be no additional bureaucracy associated with the establishment of the ministerial advisory board with regard to any applications that come forward from businesses for the economy futures fund, or any other fund for that matter. The ministerial advisory board is there to provide challenge and advice to us as we implement further other parts of the plan and as we test its impact.

One of the early pieces of work that the ministerial advisory board will be undertaking will be a review of the impact of the economic contract. It's absolutely vital that we're able to demonstrate that the contract is indeed leading to improvements in terms of quality of work and working practices, that it is leading to an accelerated pace of decarbonisation within the workplace, and that it's contributing to growth—either directly to a business concerned or within the supply chain. And we have fully engaged with the business community—the Member is right—during the process of designing the plan and designing the implementation of it. I can assure Members that any business failing to comply with the economic contract—while they may not be able to apply for direct financial support in that instance, what they will be given is support and advice in order to improve their working ways so that they can come back round to the door and reapply.

I know that a large number of people want to speak, so I'll be brief. About 20 per cent of the people working in my constituency are on less than the real living wage, and a considerable proportion of them are also on zero-hours contracts, and that is a massive problem in terms of the well-being of their children, because if people don't know when they're supposed to be working they can't make suitable childcare arrangements if they haven't got the money to pay for it. So, I wondered whether the Cabinet Secretary could say a bit more about how you're going to tackle the issue of fair work and particularly the role of the fair work board—how are they going to actually influence this agenda and drive down this casualisation of all our workforces?

Can I thank Jenny Rathbone and recognise the difficulty of low salaries and also zero-hours contracts for the working population of her constituency and Wales as a whole? The fair work board will become the fair work commission, tasked with bringing forward recommendations and a clear definition of fair work by the spring of 2019. On an interim basis, we have adopted a definition of fair work that's been agreed by social partners. It will apply to the economic contract until the fair work commission bring forward a clear definition, but clearly the real living wage, zero-hours contracts, the right to be heard, the right to participation—these will all be factors very carefully considered by the commission and we look forward to adopting that new definition when it is presented in the spring of 2019.

Can I ask the Cabinet Secretary why the concept of the multiplier effect through the supply chain is not so fundamental that it wasn't considered to be a fifth pillar of social purpose?

Well, multiplier effects are included in the action plan—

Not as a pillar.

It's one part of the economic contract, ensuring that we don't just see growth within a business in its own right but that we actually look downstream at the supply chain, at the impact that a business can have on the wider business community within any given area or within the sector as a whole.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, and it was a pleasure to join you yesterday at Abercynon-based Pinkspiration for the launch of the economic contract. I'm sure that, like me, you were struck by the way that Pinkspiration supports women in the business world by mentoring and also into non-traditional areas of work like construction. I was struck, for example, by the fact that their construction sites have a 50:50 gender split. How can this sort of advancement be captured in the contract, and in what way will it be used to encourage the participation of women in particular in the economy?

Secondly, I'm keen for further information about the position of smaller firms that may not be directly accessing Welsh Government contracts or support, but may be part of a wider supply chain. How will the experiences of these businesses be embedded into the contract, and also how will Welsh Government ensure that they are supported to maximise the benefits in turn to their workforces?

Can I thank Vikki Howells for her questions and say what a delight it was to be able to join her in her constituency at Pinkspiration, who provided a very clear idea of what it is to be a fair employer, an employer that values a diverse workforce, and values fair work and the principles of fair work? What the plan is designed to do is to drive behavioural and cultural change within business, and with some companies, we've already seen that accomplished. Pinkspiration is a great example of a company that does comply already very clearly with the criteria of the economic contract. Others need encouragement. This plan gives that encouragement. It gives it in the form of significant financial resource if they should apply for Welsh Government support. 

The behavioural and cultural change that is required, though, won't happen overnight. We will need further work to be undertaken in terms of collaboration across the business community in order to influence and inspire the sort of change that we require, because inclusive employment is something that really has been a challenge in many parts of Wales, for many communities, for many people. I met yesterday with Daniel Biddle who was a survivor of the 7/7 bombings. Daniel will be providing me with advice on inclusive employment, and what he was able to highlight were the multiple challenges facing disabled people in accessing work and then remaining on the employment escalator. In order to bring about cultural and behavioural change, it will require leaders in business to inspire other leaders in business to change their ways, and this is something that I'm particularly keen to see happen through the calls for action and the economic contract. 

Thank you very much, Cabinet Secretary. 

The next item is a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: National Academy for Educational Leadership. And I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Kirsty Williams. 

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I believe that the key to building success in any organisation is good leadership, and nowhere is that truer than in an education system. Time and time again, evidence shows that a good school leader is essential in transforming a school environment so that its students and teachers can flourish. A common trait amongst great leaders is that they communicate a clear vision—a vision that establishes a clear sense of direction and destination. In Wales, our national mission is unambiguous: together we are working to raise standards, close the attainment gap and deliver an education system that is a source of national pride and public confidence. To deliver on this mission, Wales must nurture our leaders. So, last week, I was delighted to launch the National Academy for Educational Leadership, a vital component in supporting and reforming the way that we support our leaders.

Deputy Presiding Officer, I’d like to begin by thanking everyone who has worked so hard to establish the academy. In particular, the task and finish group, led so very ably by Ann Keane, has made an invaluable contribution. They have identified the academy’s vision and principles and have engaged with the profession to identify what is needed and why it's needed. They have provided the academy with sound foundations for the future. But I am keen that everyone involved in Welsh education sees the academy, whose headquarters will be in Swansea, as a fundamental part of the education landscape. It will be there to support all leaders at whatever stage of their careers—whether they are just thinking of taking the next steps into formal leadership or are experienced leaders. It will give them the confidence, support and the development so that they can achieve and be the very best. It will support all leaders across Wales, whether they are working in local authorities, schools, colleges, within English or Welsh-medium settings, or, indeed, other educational organisations, making leadership in Wales world-leading.

One way in which it will do this is through an endorsement function. Last week’s launch included a call for providers to submit their provision, in the first instance for the newly appointed and acting headteachers, and I expect that up to 300 individuals will be within the first group to be targeted. This endorsement process will be one of the key functions of the academy, ensuring that the provision available to our education professionals is high quality, accessible, and meets the ambitions in our national mission action plan. Above all, the academy will be looking to ensure that the provision is underpinned by international evidence of what makes effective leadership. And as a result, all leaders can be confident that the leadership development that they invest their time in will have a positive impact on the outcomes of children and young people.

The academy may be a small organisation, but its influence and impact needs to be—and, I believe, will be—extensive. The academy already embodies our coherent and collaborative approach to leadership development—even the way the organisation has been created has been collaborative. Academy quality criteria also include a requirement to engage serving leaders in the design, development and facilitation of provision. Whilst collaboration is a feature of much of the provision currently available in Wales, it will also provide more consistent opportunities for leaders to be engaged in all aspects of leadership development.

The academy will draw on and reflect the practice of inspirational, experienced and effective leaders already working in the Welsh system, as well as internationally. And the academy associates programme embodies just this. It is a development programme that is being co-developed by the first cohort of inspiring leaders, and represents a real opportunity to ensure that the programme stretches and challenges some of our highest performing educational professionals. I met the first cohort of associates recently, and their enthusiasm for the mission of the academy, and their role within it, was very inspiring.

As befits a flexible, innovative and small organisation, the academy will need a great online presence. It will enable a virtual community to develop, as well as making research and international evidence accessible to all. And this will continue to grow as the academy matures.

I have said before that the evidence is clear that the quality of an educational system depends not only on the levels of its professional capital but also on the levels of its leadership capital. And we have acted on this, and throughout the development of the academy, there has been a real consensus on the critical role of leadership, and it has been a valuable opportunity to collectively refocus our attention on leadership.

The development of the academy is an integral step forward, alongside our new professional teaching standards, reforming initial teacher education, and curriculum reform, in our collaborative approach to leadership development. Deputy Presiding Officer, I am truly excited that the academy is now in place, to support our leaders to make a difference to the lives of children and young people across Wales.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement, and for an advance copy of it. It is all about leadership, in terms of making sure that all of our children have the very best opportunities to thrive during their time in school and the education system here in Wales. I know that this is something that you are passionate about addressing, in terms of the deficiencies in the system. And I too want to thank Ann Keane in her role as chair of the task and finish group, indeed along with the other members of that group, for her work.

I'm interested to note that the new academy is going to be based in Swansea. It's good that it's not going to be based within the Cardiff bubble, if you like, and that it's actually going to be elsewhere in the country. But I wonder why that decision was taken, and whether there were any bids from other parts of Wales, in terms of being the host of such a prestigious organisation. I'm sure that many others will be interested to know why Swansea was the successful bidder.

I assume now that there is a budget in place for this organisation; I haven't seen any details of that budget. I don't know how many employees—you kept referring to it as a relatively small organisation, I noticed, during your statement. But I would be interested to know what sort of budget this organisation has at its disposal, in order that those resources can be effectively spent on the things that we want them to be spent on, i.e. making sure that there's adequate professional development and support for school leaders and others in the education system here in Wales.

I noticed that there's also a focus very much on headteachers and senior members of staff in our schools. But, of course, the educational leadership that we have in our country goes beyond just headteachers. There are many organisations, like further education colleges et cetera, that may be able to benefit and, indeed, there may be an exchange of support from FE colleges and the universities sector, which may be of benefit for this new organisation. So, I wonder whether you can tell us how you expect them to be able to engage with the new national academy and what benefits you expect to be able to derive from their expertise. One of the features of recent Estyn reports has been the good leadership in our FE sector in particular, and I'm passionate about making sure that they have the opportunity to support the development of good leadership also in other parts of the education system. 

I wonder also—. I notice that there's an emphasis on the co-development, if you like, and collaboration with leaders in terms of developing the role of the new academy. But I wonder to what extent people will actually have the time, frankly, to be able to have an input into the development of this new organisation, given that most of them will have a day job to do, and they already feel very squeezed in terms of their time. All of the headteachers that I speak to, frankly, seem to have very little time other than to firefight in their schools at the moment, because of the work pressures that there are. So, I wonder if you could tell us how you're making sure that they have the capacity to engage in a meaningful way with the new academy in terms of developing its programmes, because I think it's very important that they're given some space to be able to do that in a meaningful way. 

I'm pleased to see that there's going to be an emphasis on an accreditation scheme, if you like—a quality mark scheme—for some of the tools that are already out there, and that they will be assessed against an evidence base to show that they are effective tools for leaders to be able to use in their professional development. Can you assure us, then, that those things that don't meet the mark, if you like, will be scrapped, and that we won't see Welsh taxpayers' money wasted on certain things, which we've spent money on in the past? Because I know that many people are frustrated sometimes that a lot of money is being spent on professional development, which has not delivered on the promises that have been set out at the start.

And just one final question: I know that this is an independent organisation, but it's obviously very important that there's an accountability structure in place with the organisation, which is ultimately accountable to this National Assembly. So, can you tell us what the arrangements for accountability of the new academy will be? Will it be subject to inspection by Estyn? How do you expect this National Assembly to be able to interface with the organisation? And do you see a role for local education authorities and the regional consortia in being able to do that, or are there other mechanisms that you feel should be at our disposal? Thank you. 

Can I thank Darren Millar for his positive welcome of the development of the academy? He's quite right to say that this has been a priority for me since coming into office. If we look back at a series of educational reforms in Wales, there has been a glaring gap, I believe, in the focus on leadership support within the system. It was identified in the 2014 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report, and on coming into office I was determined to do something about that. And I was very glad to see, when we invited the OECD back, that they were urging us to get on with the job of creating the academy. It is crucial if we are to transform Welsh education that we have a greater focus on the quality of leadership. So, I'm grateful for his welcome. 

My understanding of the decision to place it in Swansea was a recommendation that was made to me by the task and finish group. I've made it clear that my desire was that the organisation should be set outside the bubble, so to speak, and the task and finish group spoke to a number of locations, I understand, looking for good-quality accommodation at a decent price, and the recommendation came back for an office in Swansea. I believe that they will be up and running fully in that office a little bit later on.

We expect the academy to have a small staff of around seven to eight individuals. So, this is not a top-heavy organisation. Again, that's on the basis of the work that has been done by the task and finish group to look to create a form after they had decided on what the function should be. So, form follows function, and the recommendation was a small staff group was required.

With regard to financing—of course, subject to any votes in this National Assembly—but in the draft budget papers that have already come before Members, we've identified £1 million for the next three years to support the work of the academy.

Darren, you're absolutely right that this academy needs to be for all people involved in education in Wales. There are already some very, very strong programmes that support FE leadership, and you're quite right, strong FE leadership has been a characteristic of many, many of the Estyn reports that have come through. And there is an opportunity to learn from what has worked well in FE, as well as what has worked well in HE, but eventually, I want the academy to encompass leadership roles in education right the way across the board, and I would include in that educational leadership roles at all levels in school. So, not just headteachers or the senior management team, but actually, middle leadership—so, the heads of department, heads of subject, not just the top echelons in our school community. We're also looking at FE as well. I would also include in that local education authorities. I would like it to stretch to regional consortia, and I'd like it to stretch to Welsh Government as well, including my officials who are engaged in education roles within my department. So, actually, I want the academy eventually to be able to provide opportunities across the piece. But of course, as a new organisation, we need to crawl before we walk, before we run, and the priority has to be supporting those who are new to leadership at the moment and our existing leaders. Once we've got that right, the academy will look to expand the provision it is able to go into next. It's early days and we need to get the basics right before we move forward, but I want it to be for everyone.

Darren, can I give you an absolute reassurance? One of the most important jobs the academy will do will be to quality assure provision. There are vast varieties of programmes out there, and we need to know, and leaders need to know, that what they're investing their time in, and what we're investing scarce public resources in, are programmes of professional development that are evidence based and work. And that will be a crucial role. I have no problem in assuring you that if those programmes aren't up to the mark, I don't want my professionals taking part in those programmes; they will not be quality assured. What's really important is that assurance process will include our academy associates. So, these are people who are already at the highest point in their career, but even then, have identified that there is more that they can learn about running great organisations. And they will be an integral part of advising the academy on what those provisions will look like, so that they really meet the needs of professionals. But crucially, in meeting the needs of the professionals, it will impact on our children.

This leadership academy is there for a purpose, and it's not just for the individuals who participate, but it will be to allow those individuals who participate to have an impact back in their institutions on the standard of teaching and learning, and ultimately, the outcomes for our children.

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary as well for her statement this afternoon, and reiterate the thanks to Ann Keane and others who brought us to this point and, of course, extend our best wishes to those who are now charged with moving this work forward over the coming period?

As you say, leadership has been recognised as one of the weaker aspects of the Welsh education system for several years, so it's crucial that we do get this right. We know—Estyn tells us, and you've told us what the OECD have been saying—that successful leadership is a key factor in achieving the best possible outcomes for learners. So, the leadership academy is very welcome in that respect, and Plaid Cymru have been clear all along that we want to ensure that all leaders, and potential leaders, have access to good-quality professional development, so that we can start addressing some of the issues such as a lack of succession planning.

Many of us will be governors, I'm sure, who've been in a situation where we've tried to recruit school leaders, and we've found the pool to be inadequate, quite frankly, from my experience, certainly, in the past, and growing that pool is essential. You didn't really address—well, you didn't at all, I don't think—the point around the fact that leadership has to be a more attractive proposition. We're in a climate with contracting budgets, reducing capacities, increasing workloads and, really, I'm not sure whether it is the attractive proposition that we would like it to be, these days. So, I would ask again about ensuring that there is the capacity in terms of resources available to release people to undertake some of this training, to give them that space to allow schools to bring in cover or to pay for some of these opportunities, if there is a cost, but also in terms of time—that teachers are afforded more time to be able to take advantage of professional development, so that we can start truly realising the potential that a number of these individuals have.

I'd like to ask about the NPQH—the national professional qualification for headships. There's been some debate about it in the past. Clearly, you've expressed your intention that it is here to stay, or at least that's my understanding, and I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just wondering whether the academy now has a role in that discussion as well, and where they see it sitting, because, clearly, some people see it as a barrier, others see it as a useful reflective learning opportunity. So, it would be good to see how you see that fitting in to the medium-term work of the academy.

Now, on September the seventeenth—no, September last year, that's what I'm trying to say, you announced funding of over £1.28 million to establish school business manager pilots in 11 local authorities, a very welcome step, hopefully to address many of the administrative burdens that some of these leaders find themselves having to grapple with. I was wondering if you could give us an update on those pilots and how you see those, or when you would see those, potentially, being rolled out to other areas, or when you would think that you'd be in a position to make that call, as to whether they are, actually, a valuable addition to the support that leaders in our schools have.

You mentioned that the academy would have a broad remit in terms of the cohort of people that it would target—not just schools, but local authorities, consortia, et cetera. Would that extend to the youth service? I'm just asking the question whether it would extend that far, reflecting, of course, for example, the remit of the Education Workforce Council in that respect.

It's going to have, as you say in your statement, a very strong online presence, and a virtual community is going to be one of the cornerstones of this provision. I'm just wondering how that'll link into or dovetail with other online platforms and resources available to many of these teachers and leaders, such as Hwb, such as the Education Workforce Council's professional learning passport, as well, which draws much of this together. Is the vision that the academy becomes some sort of focal point for all of these and draws these together, or is it a means of feeding material into many of these? Does it bring that coherence to the myriad of provision that is out there, or does it add to some of those platforms?

Finally, how are you going to measure the impact and the potential success of the academy? What, in your mind, are the milestones, the targets or the aspirations that you have and how will you be able to demonstrate that it is actually having the impact that we all want to see?

I thank you very much, Llyr. I think, to begin with, I would acknowledge that being a school leader is a challenging, time-consuming, sometimes difficult, job to do, but it is also an extremely rewarding job to do. The impact a school leader can have on the lives of the children and young people who travel through their institution can be absolutely immense. Most recently, I was talking to an ex-headteacher who had gone out for a celebratory birthday meal with some of her own children and was served by an ex-pupil. She stopped to have a conversation and that pupil said, 'I can't believe that you remembered me. I didn't know whether you would remember my name,' and went on to tell them about what they were up to in their lives and how that person had made a difference to their lives. There are few professions, very few professions, that will have a lifelong impact on an individual, but being a headteacher, and being an excellent headteacher, is just that.

It's also crucial, as the OECD and Estyn have identified, in terms of the teaching profession: being managed by a leader that is not good adds to your workload as a teacher, adds to your stress as a teacher, and doesn't help you be the best that you can be. But good leadership in our schools raises everybody up.

One of the focuses of having the academy is to say to people who are thinking about leadership, but at the moment don't want to take that commitment and that step, because it's such a challenging role, the academy is there to say, 'We will support you. You won't be on your own. This is a career step that you can take safe in the knowledge and the confidence that there is a structure and an organisation that will provide you with the support to be the very best that you can be, and to make a success of your journey into leadership. We'll support you to do that.'

So, you're absolutely right: there's a range of things that we need to do to make leadership more attractive. You'll be aware of our written statement last week, about a more sophisticated way in which people manage performance in schools, the establishment of the leadership academy, new leadership standards—together as a package, it's all about making leadership an attractive proposition.

You talk about the NPQH. As somebody who foolishly agreed that I would hand sign all the certificates for the successful NPQH participants this year, I had a nasty shock yesterday when they handed me a box with approximately 140 of them in. If I'd have known that, maybe I would have had my signature printed on them. But I was very pleased last night to sign every single one of those certificates for those who have successfully completed their NPQH in the most recent cohort. So, there's no lack of appetite for participation in that programme—no lack of appetite at all.

My officials and the regional consortia have worked really hard together to offer an enhanced NPQH programme for this academic year. But moving forward, you are correct, Llyr, that it is my intention to keep NPQH, but moving forward my officials are currently undertaking procurement for further delivery of the programme, and I will have further information once this process has been completed, which I will be very happy to share with you.

We're very keen, my officials and I and the academy, to ensure that the NPQH reflects the new leadership standards that have come in from the Government, and is a well-thought-through development programme that will support those aspiring to headship even better. So, it is staying. Already, ahead of the academy, regional consortia have been working together to ensure there's a more consistent approach, depending on where you are in Wales, and the leadership academy will have a crucial role in ensuring the NPQH, and what lies behind that qualification, is fit and robust.

I must admit, Llyr, I haven't given any consideration to the inclusion of youth work at this stage. But as I said in answer to Darren, I am looking to make this a leadership academy for all those who have a role in educational leadership, and I'm sure that there will be discussions about whether the youth service at some stage would want to participate in such a programme. What I am clear on is that good youth work alongside really great education can have a fantastic impact on children and young people's lives.

With regard to space and time, you'll be aware that we are in the process of rethinking our professional learning opportunities across the board, with a new national professional learning offer hopefully—no, not hopefully; it will be ready in September, and that will give further details on the availability of staff of all levels to participate in national leadership programmes. But what we saw from the associates, the people who applied to be associates, there is again no lack of appetite for people wanting to take up these opportunities. There were more applicants to be an associate than we had spaces for, and I think that puts us on a really good trajectory of establishing the academy as something that is really worthwhile, and people wanting to be a part of it.

The website is up and running, although I think Members might find it difficult to Google from this computer, because I've just tried to do that on mine and the Assembly's system has blocked it. So, it's one of those websites, one of those weird websites, that, for some reason, the filters here don't want you to have a look at, but, when you get home tonight and you're on your own computers, please do have a look at it. And, again, that digital online presence gives us an opportunity to reach all parts of Wales. I don't want anybody to be logistically disadvantaged because they are leading a school in a more remote part of Wales. That online presence and making sure that there are online resources, online communities, allows everybody to participate on a more equal basis. But I would urge Members to have a look, and maybe the Deputy Presiding Officer could have a word with the technicians here and maybe we could unblock that site, Deputy Presiding Officer.

Okay. I will, if Members promise to answer questions—or Cabinet Secretaries promise to answer questions quite quickly and Members ask questions quite succinctly. Michelle Brown.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you for your statement, Cabinet Secretary.

Recent Estyn reports have noted that, in terms of quality leadership in schools, there has been a lack of succession planning, a limited number of well-tailored professional development opportunities for senior and middle-level leaders and teachers and that school leadership is not being considered an attractive profession. Estyn inspections identified only a small number of schools as having excellent practice in leadership and planning for improvement. I'm sure that these statements are not news to you; you've acted on them to create the academy, and I welcome the creation of that academy, because its focus on developing and supporting leadership is a good step. However, this broad welcome must come with some caveats. Any initiatives must be cost-effective and also effective in terms of the results that they deliver. In terms of ensuring effectiveness, I very much welcome the appointment of former chief inspector of schools, Ann Keane, to, amongst other things, oversee the instigation of the academy. Ann has a great breadth of experience acquired from working as a teacher herself, including in schools in England. She's also delivered extremely detailed and helpful material during her time with Estyn.

In terms of funding and costs, Estyn's roadshow report in October 2017 stated that there was uncertainty around whether the academy can have sufficient leverage without managing all leadership development funding. So, that's one thing that I would like to ask you: how is that funding going to be managed and how is it going to be controlled? The attendees were concerned about sufficient funding for leadership development and suitable management of it. However, on the other hand, there's also a concern about taxpayers receiving value for money and the costs of the academy being proportionate. We don't want funding of this programme to take significant funding away from front-line teaching services, and I'm sure the Cabinet Secretary would agree with me on that.

The Cabinet Secretary discusses the need for the academy to have a big online presence. What are the forecast costs associated with achieving the online presence the Cabinet Secretary has in mind? I'd also like to ask the Cabinet Secretary what mechanisms of scrutiny and review does she have in place to ensure that the costs associated with the National Academy for Educational Leadership remain proportionate and deliver value for money. A concern that's also been raised is the relatively small number of women in senior leadership roles in the education system, which is surprising, given the number of women who actually go into teaching. Will the academy address this and how do you see the academy addressing it?

It's also intended that the academy endorses provision from providers. I'm assuming that you mean there that it's going to be training, professional development, et cetera. I think that is a good idea; it makes sense. But how is she going to ensure that leaders and teachers wishing to take advantage of that provision have the time to make the most of them? And how are you going to ensure that leaders and teachers have the time out of their working day to develop their leadership skills? Or is this something that they're going to be expected to do in their personal hours, as is so often the case with CPD? Thank you.

Can I thank Michelle Brown for her observations? It's important for Members to understand the way in which the leadership academy has been set up, as a company limited by guarantee that is arm's-length from the Welsh Government, because I wanted to be able to create some kind of independence, on a day-to-day operational basis, from Welsh Government. We announced last week that the organisation will be led by a new chief executive, Huw Foster-Evans. Huw is somebody who will be known to many people here as a—. He started his career as a classroom maths teacher and moved up through the ranks. He's been a headteacher, understands very well the workings of regional consortia, local education authorities, and is extremely enthusiastic with regard to the potential for leadership. Having spoken to him following his appointment, he sees leadership being the core on which we will deliver our educational reforms. The board has an independently appointed chair as well as a number of board members, all of whom have recent experience in business and in education, that will oversee the day-to-day running of the academy. I expect to receive regular reports from both the chair and the chief executive about the work and, of course, I'm sure Members here and, as you are a member of the children and young people's committee, that the committee itself will want to have an in-depth look at the work of the academy and will want to meet those personnel. An invitation was issued, I believe, for people to come along to the event last week, so people could have met at the official launch. I know people's diaries are incredibly busy over lunchtime and that's almost impossible. Llyr was there and I hope, Llyr, that you would say to colleagues who weren't able to attend that there was a real sense of excitement and anticipation and enthusiasm for what we are doing. 

Equality issues in education are really, really important ones, Michelle. It's really interesting; you say about lack of female leadership roles. Well, many, many, many, many of the headteachers I meet in leadership roles—headteachers of schools—especially in the primary sector, are female, and that reflects the nature of the primary school workforce, but we need to see greater diversity in our teaching profession across the piece. I want those at the front of our classroom to reflect the nature of the classroom itself. We are a diverse community with a diverse population and I would like to see a greater diversity in the teaching profession and, of course, the leadership academy, I'm sure, will want to give advice to me about what needs to happen if we're to encourage that diversity and we're able to take action with that. Again, one of the things I expect the leadership academy to do is to feed into public policy advice, to give advice to me, as the Minister, about what more we need to do to support the very premise that you painted: a diverse, successful set of school leaders and a school leadership system that people aspire to be a part of; they want to be a part of that system—rather than seeing leadership as a career-ending opportunity, rather a career-enhancing opportunity. So, that's very important to me, that we get that diversity.

The usual accountability and assurance measures will be put in place, and the chief executive and the board will be held publicly accountable for the way in which the budget of the organisation is spent. As I said in answer to Llyr Huws Gruffydd, as we approach September we will be in a position to give greater detail to Members about the new national professional learning programme that is available. We're already working very, very hard with the OECD to develop our system of schools as learning organisations, and we have to recognise that the old ways of doing professional learning, which often involve coming out of your classroom for an entire day, coming to sit in a hall, being lectured at by the stage, on the stage, and then going back to your classroom and it having no impact on your practice—those days are over. Often, the very best professional learning opportunities come when the children are actually in the room. They come by liaising, not with another school, but actually with your colleagues within the school, or having the opportunity to work across a cluster, and our new national professional learning opportunity programme will reflect that when we launch it in the autumn.

Cabinet Secretary, we all know that the challenges of taking forward education in schools serving our most deprived areas are a major issue for us here in Wales—and further beyond our borders, no doubt. We've discussed in the past the importance of leadership in those particular circumstances, Cabinet Secretary, and we all know it's very important generally, but, in considering these matters, part of our discussions previously was about the particular attributes and characteristics that are necessary to be part of that leadership team and to perform effectively in those schools serving our most deprived communities, and you set out how there would be a bespoke approach and a particular concentration and focus within the generality of what you've described today. So, I just wonder, at this stage in the development of the academy and our new regime for leadership in education in Wales, whether you could update the Chamber on how everything that you've described today will also include this bespoke provision for those particular leadership skills and characteristics.

Thank you, John. Well, great leadership and great leadership development impacts upon all of our children, but I would argue that it impacts disproportionately on those children from a poorer background. Undoubtedly, leadership in different settings requires sometimes a tailor-made specific programme for support. So, it's not for me to dictate all the time to the academy, but I do envisage a situation where we will be looking at supporting leaders, leadership, in a range of educational settings. And, if our national mission is to raise standards and close the attainment gap, which it is, then paying attention to what it means to be a leader in a school in a really economically challenged area with significant social issues that impact upon the life of that school and the well-being of the children and the ability of those children to access the curriculum, that is going to need a certain skill set to make the most of it. So, I would like to see that reflected.

Alternatively, we're seeing new forms of education all the time. What does it take to be the leader of a through school, for instance, where we've had, traditionally, a separation between primary and secondary? We're seeing a growth in the number of through schools. What does it take to be a leader in those circumstances? What does it take to be the leader of a cluster of primary schools? If you find yourself the head teacher of two, three, four primary schools in your local area, which is now happening in an attempt to keep rural schools open, what does it take to be a leader in those circumstances? What does it take to be a leader in a school where you've got very small class sizes and you're trying to teach a number of children across a wide age group, plus you've got a teaching responsibility on top of your leadership responsibility? So, there are many, many different characteristics of leadership. So, if it's generic, there are specific things that we can do to support leaders who find themselves working in very specific circumstances.

I was remiss not to talk about business managers. This is one of the ways in which we can take the burden off headteachers whose passion is for teaching and learning and not necessarily working out how you can fix the boiler or fix the leaking roof or where you can get the cheapest paper and toilet roll from. That's not what we want headteachers to be spending their time on. They tell me far too often they're spending far too much of their time doing that kind of thing and not focusing on teaching and learning and pedagogy. We're already investing in business manager pilots. We'll wait to see the results of those pilots, but, again, it's about supporting leadership in a variety of policy programmes so that people want to be a leader in a Welsh school, and I really hope that people will want to be a great leader in our schools in some of our more challenging communities. Because it's not just financial resource that can make a difference for those children, it's about deploying our very best human resource too.

And, finally, Rhianon Passmore.

Thank you. Many of the points that I wanted to make have already been stated, but I want to welcome the statement today. As a former teacher and lecturer, and a former cabinet member for education, I very much welcome this ongoing reform in terms of the potential that this new academy has. I'll go straight to my questions. How can the Welsh Government then ensure that the educational leadership academy and its online work will be accessible throughout Wales to education professionals on a consistent basis, and how does the Cabinet Secretary envisage that best practice will cascade from the academy in Swansea through the doors and windows of the classrooms across Wales? And, yes, the educational leadership academy has the potential, along with a suite of other Welsh Government pedagogical measures, to place excellence in leadership across Welsh education as one of the greatest assets of the Welsh people and, I believe, ultimately, the Welsh nation.

Thank you very much, Rhianon, for your welcome to the academy. Obviously, our online resource is absolutely crucial to making sure that the academy is accessible, as is one of the crucial roles of our first tranche of associates of the academy. So, these are people that have applied to be part of the academy, they are from the length and breadth of Wales, and part of their role is to be out in the educational communities from where they come to be able to disseminate information about the academy, and to work with their colleagues who are not associates, but to be able to inform them of the work of the academy and encourage them to be a part of it. So, we don’t just have a digital presence; we will have a human presence on the ground—some of our most outstanding teachers from the secondary sector, the primary sector, Welsh medium and English medium—and they are out there at the moment developing their own skills even further, but actually out there spreading the message of the academy and feeding back to the chief executive and the board about what it is leaders need from the academy to support them, as well as developing future programmes, so that we can be much more proactive in career development for people who aspire to leadership.

Thank you very much, Cabinet Secretary. 

The next item is a statement by the Minister for Children, Older People and Social Care on transforming social care in Wales: the implementation of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016. Huw Irranca-Davies.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Since April 2016, we have seen the embedding of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 across Wales. I see good progress in some areas, and on the other hand I see that there is more to be done in others. In moving forward, I want us to focus on supporting all services to reach the best standards. To date, there are three things that are cause for encouragement.

Firstly, I hear our stakeholders such as the older people’s Commissioner telling us that our statutory framework is broadly the right one, although only if we ensure that it is properly implemented. Secondly, I see for myself that the structures we tasked our partners to put into place, such as regional partnership boards and the safeguarding boards, are becoming embedded in our landscape of delivery in Wales. And I hear partners talking about the value that they bring. And thirdly, I have noticed, and continue to see day to day, the real commitment that staff and stakeholders from all parts of the sector have brought and continue to bring to this agenda. Whether it is helping to shape the statutory framework, challenging us to make sure we are heading in the right direction, or working hard to bring our shared aspirations to fruition, their effort is vital and it is ever-present. I look forward to the new impetus provided by the parliamentary review and our response to it, the long term plan, helping to take us further along this road of transformation.

Now, we've always been clear that this is a journey that we want to take with our stakeholders, with our social care staff and with our citizens, together. We've also been very clear that it will only be successful if all stakeholders and parts of the sector are co-operating and working together. And that does not just apply to the hands-on delivery of high-quality care and support, and the vital back-room functions of planning, commissioning and co-ordination that will make it happen. It also applies to how we value, regulate and support our workforce, to how we galvanise the sector to improve quality and become even better at supporting people to achieve their well-being outcomes, and to the crucial question of how we give public assurance that the sector is a safe, nurturing place for individuals who receive care and support.

Our Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, the companion to the social services and well-being Act, is the mechanism for addressing that key set of challenges. I'm therefore pleased to update you today on our progress with this aspect of the transformation journey. We are now into the third phase of implementation of the regulation and inspection Act. Since Royal Assent in January 2016 we have seen workforce regulation entirely changed, we've seen Social Care Wales stepping into a new quality improvement role, and now we see the regulation and inspection of care itself shifting to a new focus on outcomes.

In phase 1, in 2016-17, we worked with the sector to shape the arrangements by which service providers could register with Care Inspectorate Wales and shared our thinking about what information providers should, through their annual returns, put into the public domain.

In phase 2, in 2017-18, we worked extensively with our stakeholders and Care Inspectorate Wales to develop those service standards that will apply to care homes, secure accommodation services, residential family centres and, indeed, domiciliary support services as well. This Assembly agreed those requirements last December and I am very pleased that CIW, starting last month, are now in the process of registering our major groups of providers in the residential and domiciliary care sectors.

So, I now turn to phase 3, which covers adoption, fostering, adult placement and advocacy services. These services have their own distinct special features and complexities, which is why my predecessor in this post, Rebecca Evans, resolved to allow a longer development process and a staged implementation. I am very pleased to acknowledge here the commitment and the energy that stakeholders interested in these sectors have devoted to working with us to help shape those requirements. You should expect to see consultations relating to fostering, adult placement and advocacy services launching imminently, to be followed by a consultation on adoption services in the early autumn. And, subject to the agreement of this Assembly, I hope to see registration opening and the standards we have consulted on applying to service providers in these critical areas from April 2019.

But, our journey does not stop there. It continues further into the future, because the market stability provisions in the Act will be developed over the next year, to come into operation in 2020. These will add another layer to our arrangements for understanding the local and, in turn, the national care market, to support good planning, good commissioning and management. At the same time, domiciliary care workers will be required to register with Social Care Wales as the workforce regulator. This is being facilitated by our recent decision to allow voluntary registration for domiciliary care workers from this year. Similarly, registration for residential care workers will become mandatory in 2022, following a two-year voluntary registration period. These are important parts of our valuing the workforce agenda, giving these vital workers the protection, the recognition and the support accessible through registration. Underpinning all of this work will be the lessons of review and evaluation, in the shape of a formal evaluation of the social services and well-being Act, to be tendered for shortly, together with suitable and proportionate arrangements in respect of the 2016 Act further down the line.

In concluding, I would like to thank you for your support and your insightful scrutiny thus far. We all have an aim in building a sustainable system of social care here in Wales, which respects and values the people it supports, and helps them to achieve their personal well-being outcomes. We can only achieve this by engaging the energy of policy makers, staff and stakeholders in the social care areas as well as citizens and their representatives. Thank you very much. 

Diolch ichi, Weinidog. Thank you for the update and an indication of next steps. I suppose my first question is the obvious one, which is: when is your consultation going to be launched? If you can give us something a bit more detailed rather than 'shortly', I think we'd all be grateful. Similarly, when is the tender likely to go out for the evaluation of the social services and well-being Act, rather than the regulation and inspection Act?

Perhaps you can help me with just a few of these questions, though. The recent regulations, which basically implemented the regulation and inspection of social care Act in care homes, secure accommodation and domiciliary support services—we only passed those regulations a few months ago, I accept that, but I'm wondering whether, as CIW is already involved in the registration process now, you're getting any anecdotal feedback—I think I'd better call it that at this stage—about difficulties in implementing those regulations and whether care homes in particular are coming across unexpected difficulties that perhaps they hadn't anticipated, which of course I accept they'd be helped through rather than be punished for that. But, it would be quite useful to know if something unlikely or unexpected has occurred for those that are being registered now. 

With regard to the domiciliary care sector in particular, one of the reasons why domiciliary care workers fell out of the regulatory regime, if you like, several years ago was the issue of CPD and professional development as much as anything else. As you know, it's a very high-turnover area, where there are lots of people jumping at the chance to go straight through the pipeline then through to healthcare and public sector social services care, if they get the chance. So, with the voluntary registration—again, I appreciate it's early days—is there any way of telling at the moment whether the prospect of being able to move on from zero-hours contracts in some cases, or indeed of getting Social Care Wales-approved qualifications, is having any effect on retention? As I say, I recognise that this might be quite difficult to answer. Or, is there any evidence that the requirement for registration and CPD, if you like, is prompting any early exits?

Regulations for phases 1 and 2—are we going to be getting any further guidance or, in fact, any further regulations on the first two phases? I don't know whether you can answer that today. In respect of adoption and other placement services, which are what we're talking about now—phase 3—I wonder whether you can take this opportunity to make it clear that you'll be resisting some voices that are being heard through campaigns at the moment against private and charitable agencies. That sort of request, if you like, would fly very much in the face of the recommendations of this Assembly—sorry, the fourth Assembly—where the children and young people committee strongly endorsed the retention of those agencies, and agencies generally. Obviously, we've no objection to you clarifying and improving standards there, but I hope that you will be looking to expand provision of these services that we're talking about in phase 3, not restricting them.

Finally, do you anticipate that the regulations emerging from this new consultation will include standards for the much-needed post-placement support offered by these agencies, including adoption? Just because you've ceased to become a looked-after child doesn't mean that the family and the child cease to need any support. So, I'm hoping that that particular aspect of the standards won't be overlooked. Thank you.

Suzy, thank you very much for that series of questions. Let me turn to them one by one. First, have we picked up with regard to the drive towards increasing standards in residential sectors—is it having any impact, anecdotally? I am having the occasional piece of correspondence or representation from individual Assembly Members, which the care inspectorate is trying to deal with sympathetically. I know I convey any concerns from individual Members directly to them and have a look at it myself. They will try to deal very sympathetically on the ground with this.

But, of course, the regulations that we've been driving towards have been a long time coming as well. They've tried to work very constructively with individual care homes, some of which are smaller, coming from a more traditional set, perhaps in a rural area as well, where we can least afford to lose good care home provision. CIW are very conscious of this and are very keen to work with those homes to make sure that they can meet the new standards. But, what they will not do—and I know that you'll understand this, Suzy—is sacrifice the standards that this Assembly has actually agreed on that we need to drive towards—so, those things such as having a 15 per cent maximum on the amount of shared accommodation within a home, and that shared accommodation should be by agreement by the individuals who are sharing it. Things like that—the move towards en-suite facilities et cetera, et cetera. All of these have been quite some time coming. There are occasional anecdotal reports or otherwise, brought to me by Assembly Members, or the odd letter that says, 'We're struggling to meet it', and CIW will try to encourage those homes, then, to work with them, but we have to meet those standards, because at the end of the day these are the outcomes to do with those individuals within those areas.

You mentioned the impacts of registration. It is a little bit too early to say yet in detail. We're at the stage where we know that we have people coming forward and voluntarily registering now, which is fantastic—that's what we want to see. It's part of this transition from voluntary to mandatory registration, but it's probably too early yet. As soon as we can see what impact that is having, as part of the overall uplift of the value of those workers, to try, indeed, to encourage them to stay in this as a profession, as a career—. Part of that, as well, is what we do with the qualifications and workforce strategy development generally, and it was interesting that only recently—I think in the last two or three weeks—we announced the level 2 qualifications that were health and social care, very much in line with our thinking that what we want to do is pathways that cross across these disciplines, so that people can see there's a career, not simply an opt-in or opt-out job there. 

The private charitable independent sector, and also, I have to say, the social enterprise sector, are part of our vision for a diverse sector that can underpin a resilient sector, both within residential care but also within domiciliary care, alongside in-house provision as well. So, we certainly do not see them as anathema to the sort of vision we have for improving quality of care across the piece—they are part of that process. And I'm encouraged, actually, by the way that the independent charitable sector and the social enterprise sector have really engaged with this alongside other stakeholders, and are fully supportive of it. 

On the issue of post-placement support, well there is scope within what we're doing to go further. It's interesting if you look at, for example, the complexities around moving to regulation of adoption services or advocacy services. These are complex areas. Post-placement support in adoption is one of those areas that we can actually encompass within these regulations, but we're testing it on others first, learn the lessons and then we'll be coming back again, I'm sure the Assembly will be glad to hear, to do it.

Finally, if I can touch on the aspect you first turned to, which is the timescales. So, the draft regulations—I can't give you a precise date, but it is very shortly that we'll be consulting on the draft regulations in respect of fostering, adult placements and certain advocacy services for children. And then in terms of the adoption, because of the complexities around that we will consult later, probably in the early autumn, on that, but with a view to actually bringing forward all of these together for implementation in the spring of 2019. So, even though one set will be slightly delayed in consultation, our intention, subject to agreement of the Assembly, is to bring them all together for implementation.  

Can I thank the Minister for his statement: transforming social care in Wales—implementation of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, RISC? Can I first of all thank him for being willing to listen and to engage with various issues I've had with the regulatory mechanisms as they have been unfolding, and I'm grateful for his meetings and for his advice? 

In terms of the statement, obviously, this refers to the implementation of the regulation and inspection of social care, and it focuses a lot on the registration of care support workers and providers. Obviously, registration of care support workers is a very welcome step. Doctors are registered, nurses are registered, and it's only right that care support workers, increasingly involved in the most intimate of personal care, should also be registered. And, obviously, those processes are part of an obvious requirement in improving the outcomes in social care that we all want to see. 

But obviously the elephant in the room here is that you can't achieve all this whilst care support workers are low paid, still subject to casualisation, occasional zero-hours contracts, and that they don't have proper career paths that would lead to the equality of esteem that health professionals do have. Now, changing this requires significant increases in the wage and training bills at a time when local authorities can ill afford to do so. So, can you tell us, Minister, this afternoon, how the Government is putting its money behind this Act, and will you accept that the implementation of the spirit of the Act requires this injection of significant funding? Transforming social care demands no less.     

Thank you very much, Dai. 

First of all, can I thank you and other Members who've come to me with details of individual providers who may be facing difficulties in meeting the challenges? Hopefully, we've taken a proportionate but sympathetic view and tried to put them in touch with the right people to help them along the way. So, I thank you and others for continuing with that, and also for your support for the registration process. I know this has been quite a challenge, particularly for the domiciliary care sector, because this is entirely new. But, to be honest, exactly as you say, Dai, we should be saying to the workforce, 'We value you, and part of that valuing is professionalisation of what you do, recognising it. Registration is part of that process; it's not the silver bullet, but it's part of it, and then the continuing professional development, then the NVQs, then the process of crossing across from health and social care in that seamless way.' We're having good feedback, I have to say, from both the agencies out there but also from individual front-line workers on it. We took a proportionate approach to it. We didn't set—. We've done it voluntary first, moving to mandatory; we consulted extensively on how we should set the fee, because this is the first time that there would be a fee in the sector, so we think we've set that right and so on.

But you also rightly point out on this issue that it's not simply about saying that we value the workforce and professional development and so on; it's how we value them monetarily in terms of their pay packet, what they take home at the end of the week. Now, we've already started to move on this. So, on the zero-hours issue, we've already said that, through phase 2 of this, what we will be doing is saying that, if you have a three-month contract where you are on regular hours, you have the right to be entitled to a regular contract for that. It seems absolutely common sense, I have to say, to people out there. This is one of the areas that is within our gift as an Assembly and as Welsh Government to effect, so we have taken that through already and I look forward to that being taken forward.

And, by the way, we have from the sector—the sector will say that this is a challenge for them, but they also acknowledge that it's the right challenge to have, because if they value their workforce they want to also say to them, 'You are a full-time employee with us, not casual, not zero hours and so on.' We've also moved, of course, on the issue of call clipping, that old shibboleth where people would be paid only for the time that they were actually there as a domiciliary care worker and not the time they were travelling back and forth. We've dealt with that in the phase 2 regulations as well, and we'll keep on going.

But you are right in saying that underpinning this is the overall issue—bearing in mind what we know is happening with the population by 2036. Studies will tell us that we will have a doubling of the population that is over 85 and a significant increase—over 30 per cent—of those who are over 60, bringing with it the complex care needs that they have. Is there sufficient in the system? One of the things we have done—. There is no magic money tree, but we have here in Wales invested in—I'm looking to my colleague in front of me on the bench, and as I say this I'm reminding him of the importance of it as well, of course—. The fact is that we have actually increased in Wales by 5 per cent in cash terms over the last five years the money going into the social care sector, compared to, I have to say, cuts of around 10 per cent across Offa's Dyke on the other side. It hasn't solved everything but it's helped us to do some of these things and to work in partnership with it.

Some of the market stability things that I alluded to in phase 3 in terms of the stability of the sector will help as well, but going forward, of course, you will note that I have been put in the position of chairing, taking forward the work that the finance Secretary has done with Professor Gerald Holtham on the concept of a social care levy. This will take some time to work through, but I'll be chairing the inter-ministerial group looking at that, looking at the complexities of it, to see whether there is both the public appetite and the political appetite and logistically whether it can deliver an alternative approach to lever additional funding into the system, knowing those huge population challenges that are facing us.

But even with what we've got now, Dai, I think we can do some great things here with the powers we currently have, regardless of what we might do in the future. 

Thank you for your statement, Minister. The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 and the wider Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014 are amongst the greatest achievements of this institution. The RISC Act should ensure that the appalling abuse exposed by Operation Jasmine can never happen again. We are ensuring that all those who work in the care sector have the necessary skills and training and ensuring that service providers are fit and proper to undertake that provision. This is truly a journey of transformation, and as we enter its third phase, I would like to put on record my thanks to all those working in social care for the positive approach to this transformation.

I look forward to working with you, Minister, to deliver all the improvements envisioned in the Act, particularly the market stability provisions. As we look to the future, unfortunately more and more of us will be reliant on care. A healthy and vibrant care home sector will be essential. Minister, ahead of the implementation of the market stability provisions, what assessments, if any, have been made of the current state of the care home sector?

Finally, Minister, I welcome the decision to allow voluntary registration of residential care workers from 2020. So, can you tell us what proportion of the domiciliary care workforce has chosen to voluntarily register?

Once again, I thank you for your ongoing work, and that of your predecessor, Rebecca Evans, to deliver improvements to social care in Wales, and would like to assure you that you have my support in transforming social care in Wales. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Caroline, and thank you as well for the recognition that you made there very clearly of those who work within the sector. Too often, you only see the bad headlines when they hit, and we forget about the army of people out there who are doing tremendous work every single day. So, thank you for that.

You remind us as well of how far we've travelled with the backing of this Assembly for a different approach towards how we provide social care and well-being and quality-of-life outcomes for individuals in Wales—in difficult times as well, but we are changing the whole landscape of how we deliver social care.

It's too early, I have to say, as I mentioned to Suzy as well, to give any feedback on the voluntary registration for domiciliary care, but I anticipate that sometime in the autumn we'll be able to give an update on how many people are availing themselves of that, and I'll come back to the Assembly with that.

If I turn to the issue of market stability, the Welsh Government are going to be working with Care Inspectorate Wales and other stakeholders to develop regulations in terms of market stability and financial oversight of service providers of regulated services, with an intention to implement arrangements from April 2020. Now, we've decided—or I've taken the decision—to implement these provisions from April 2020 as this actually coincides with the completion of the re-registration of existing providers under the new system. So, this provides a good opportunity, a nice synchronicity there. The nature of the care market may change as well as a result of this process. For example, some providers may use this, this process, as part of an opportunity to restructure or to merge the current portfolio of services. So, it's probably prudent to allow enough time for these changes to take place and to learn from them.

It also allows us the opportunity to consider how market stability reports required under the Act will align with our population assessments, which I mentioned, and our area plans under the 2014 Act. But in the meantime, that's not all—there are a number of interim measures in place to support market stability. So, Care Inspectorate Wales will go on doing the work it currently does to gather intelligence on care providers, which can, and is, shared with local authorities as necessary, in terms of contingency planning and so on. And it's also looking to prove its oversight of larger providers through link officers and seeking to improve intelligence sharing with other social care regulators throughout the UK.

And finally, on that market stability, it's a critical issue, because we know the stresses within the providers at the moment—big and small. The Regulated Services (Notifications) (Wales) Regulations 2017, which came into force this April, prescribes specific notification requirements on social care providers. So, through enabling Care Inspectorate Wales to share key information about changes to providers, these regulations give local authorities notice of key changes affecting the market in their areas, and it can better inform decisions when planning and commissioning future services. So, we can do things now, as well as looking to the future as well.

Thank you, Minister.

The next item, therefore, is a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education on relationships and sexuality education, and I call on the Cabinet Secretary to make the statement—Kirsty Williams.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Many of you will know that this month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the introduction of section 28 that forbade schools to promote, or treat with equity, non-heterosexual relationships. Though section 28 has been consigned to history, its effect can still be found within our education system. Schools often find it difficult to provide fully inclusive sex and relationship education, and can struggle to respond to the diverse needs of their learners, and instead follow a one-size-fits-all approach.

Presiding Officer, this has to change. I believe Wales must do more to support all of our young people to develop healthy relationships, maintain good mental health and keep safe.  

Last year, I established the sex and relationship expert panel to provide independent advice on these matters, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the expert panel members and its chair, Professor Emma Renold, for their excellent work. Their report recognised that there is some excellent practice happening in our schools. This, however, is not happening in all of our classrooms, with many only focusing on the biological aspects of human relationships. But, sex cannot and should not be taught in isolation. It should be placed in the wider context of the social and cultural issues that affect how we perceive ourselves and build relationships with others.

The expert panel made 11 recommendations that, together, form a holistic plan for enhancing provision, for both our current cohort of learners and those who will learn under our new curriculum. One recommendation is that this area of study should be a statutory part of the new curriculum for Wales. Statutory status will protect access to traditional sex education, but also encourage schools to engage with the broader range of topics identified by the expert panel. It will also enhance the new curriculum’s focus on health and well-being.

As we change the way we think about sex education, the panel recommended that we should also change its name to better represent the broader array of topics that it covers. I intend to rename this area of study as 'relationships and sexuality education'—RSE. This is to place the emphasis on learning about the formation and maintenance of healthy relationships as a key purpose of this area of study. 

'Sexuality education', as defined by the World Health Organization, is learning about the wider social, cultural constructions around relationships. This includes how we form beliefs and attitudes, how we establish a range of relationships and how cultural issues, such as gender identity, stereotypes and inequality, shape our values. This wider learning, which is included under 'sexuality education', is critical and crucial to developing young people’s understanding of a broad range of issues, issues such as consent, violence against women, other forms of gender-based violence, domestic abuse and respect for diversity. Through learning about relationships and sexuality, learners form a rounded understanding of how the values of the individual, community and society can affect our ability to establish respectful and fulfilling relationships. 

However, I will not be waiting for the new curriculum to take forward this name change; it is something that we can do immediately. My officials will be updating the current guidance for schools to reflect this change in name, as well as providing greater support on a range of topics.

Statutory schooling in Wales starts at age five, therefore, statutory relationships and sexuality education will also start at this age. I want to make it clear, Presiding Officer, that we are not looking to teach children about topics for which they are not developmentally ready. We currently have the foundation phase, which provides learning for our youngest children, and this already includes an area of learning for personal and social development, well-being and cultural diversity. Within this area, children learn about relationships with friends and family and how to keep themselves safe. Therefore, as learning regarding this area is already well delivered in early years education, I would expect to see similar approaches taken under the new curriculum.

Making RSE statutory is not, on its own, enough to ensure we realise this vision of high-quality provision in our schools, for both our current and future learners. Professional learning, supporting our teachers to become knowledgeable, confident and responsive to learner needs, is essential. The expert panel emphasised the importance of establishing specialised professional learning pathways for RSE, both within initial teacher education and for the existing workforce. I agree that, as we move to a system that is school and teacher led, we must start the process of ensuring that they have the training and the support they need to provide effective teaching.

I am therefore also minded to accept, in principle, the other recommendations from the expert panel in order that we take a strategic and holistic approach to improving RSE. I am not looking to tinker around the edges; my vision is that we transform the way this area of study is delivered, now and in the future. To kick-start this process I have made £200,000 available to consortia to begin the process of identifying professional learning needs in this area. A further £50,000 has also been awarded to Welsh Women’s Aid to develop resources and training for teachers.

Presiding Officer, what we are doing is of profound importance to the well-being of the next generation. The relationships that we form throughout our lives, from our family to our friends to our romantic partners, are essential support networks. They make us feel safe, they make us happy and they give us comfort, or at least they should. How we are able to form these relationships is determined at a very young age, and they are essential to our ability to prosper. By taking forward the recommendations of the expert panel, and so driving real improvement in the quality of RSE provision, we will be contributing to making Wales a healthier, happier and more connected place.

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement, and for foresight of it before it was made this afternoon? Can I also put on record my thanks to the chair of the expert panel for the work that she and her fellow panel members have done? Emma Renold, I think, has produced a very decent report that considers thoroughly many of the issues that relationships and sex education present.

You'll have to forgive me here, because I'm a bit of a prude when it comes to these matters, but I do think that some people will have some concerns about the fact that you are talking about the possibility of introducing issues into the classroom for five-year-olds that they may not be prepared for developmentally. I notice you made reference to the development of young children and making sure that there was appropriate sex and relationships education for them. But, clearly, children develop at different rates, and in different ways, and we must ensure that this sort of education can be flexible enough, even within the classroom, to be targeted at individuals and not just whole cohorts of young children.

I think that many people will want to protect the innocence of children and that parents will question how it's going to be possible to ensure that there is appropriate education, in a sensitive way, that also meets the requirements that faith groups might have, for example, where they may raise concerns about the breadth of the education, if you like, and the information that is being relayed. So, I wonder what guidance you will publish to go along with the new regime to make sure that those concerns can be addressed, while still maintaining a very high-quality input for children of all ages, and at all stages of their development, but which doesn't unnecessarily introduce young children in particular to things that clearly are inappropriate for them to be able to digest.

You made reference, I noticed, in your press release, which was issued yesterday under embargo, to the issue of online safety. I notice that you haven't referenced it in your statement today, but I know that you share my concerns about making sure that young people, particularly 'tweenagers', shall we call them, are properly prepared for the challenges that online social media in particular can present them with. I wonder whether you can just expand on the comments that you made in the media regarding the content that you expect to be delivered in respect of online safety in terms of relationships and sexuality education.

You've also said that you want this revolution in relationships and sexuality education to start immediately, and yet you've said that you've made £200,000 available in order to educate people. Well, it can't start immediately if they've not been educated in how to deliver these things first. So, can you just tell us how you expect things to be delivered immediately without equipping the teachers in the classroom with the skills, with the knowledge, with the expertise to be able to deliver this new set of educational standards in terms of relationships and education on sexuality? Because I think that, again, many people will be concerned that you're going to rush to roll this thing out, without it being fully considered in terms of the way that that is going to be implemented.

Can I also ask how you expect to monitor the implementation of this? You've quite rightly said that there are some excellent examples of schools that are getting this right and there are some very poor examples of schools that get it absolutely wrong. How do you expect to be able to monitor the way that schools are implementing the changes that you've proposed? Do you see a role for LEAs? Do you see a role for the regional consortia? Are Estyn expected to inspect against these new standards, and if so, how are they going to get a holistic picture across a whole school if you've said it's not going to be a fixed prescription, as it were, but that there's going to be some flexibility within it? So, perhaps, again, you could just touch on how you intend to do that to make sure that it's going to be handled in the proper way.

Just finally, obviously, for many children, the only example they have of relationships are those around them, either within the family or beyond the family, or those that are portrayed on the television or in the media. How is this going to fit in with other work that is being done by the Welsh Government on issues such as parenting and relationship support more widely? Clearly, that example in the home is going to have an even more profound impact than a teacher discussing this on an infrequent basis in a classroom. So, perhaps you could tell us how joined up this is across Government. Thank you.

Thank you, Darren, for that series of questions. If I didn't make it clear, Presiding Officer, in my initial statement, let me say it again: I have no intention of teachers in our schools teaching children this topic that they are not developmentally—I can't even say the word—that they are not ready to learn [Laughter.] It's age appropriate and I've got no intention of doing that and I've made that very, very clear.

Yesterday, I was at a school in Newport, and from the very earliest age, that school is teaching their children about the concept of difference—that we're all human beings, but each one of us is an individual and that's just fine, and you need to celebrate who you are. They don't talk about it in any other way, but they start from the very youngest age, saying, 'We're all different, but essentially, we're all the same as well.' And as they go through the school, they learn about other issues. So, I was talking to young girls yesterday who were expressing their frustration that, because they are girls, they're supposed to dress in dresses and they're supposed to like pink. I talked to primary school aged boys who, already, at that age, feel the pressure to be strong and not to show their emotions. Those are the types of issues that we're talking about teaching our children at the very youngest age—how they conform, healthy relationships and respectful relationships with their family members and with their friends, and how they can keep themselves safe and secure. So, I want to be absolutely clear that this will be delivered in a sensitive way that is age appropriate for children.

Your point about online, Darren, is so well made. And this is precisely why we have to up our game in this regard in our schools. Because, where children are getting their information from now is they are Googling it; they are Snapchatting it; they're WhatsApping it; they're Facebooking it and they are living in that world. Now, we, as adults, maybe don't like that world, but we can't dream about—. We can't go back. We are where we are and we need to give our children the information that they need. And when they come across this material online, they can keep themselves well and they can keep themselves safe. Because if we create a vacuum in our schools and we don't address this, children will look for this information in some other way and that won't necessarily be in a reputable way or in a way that gives them a real picture, a proper picture, about what a healthy relationship looks like.

I met a young man recently who had been severely disturbed by viewing pornography online, how that had affected him, how that had coloured his view of what a sexual relationship was like, what he, as a man, was supposed to be about and how he was supposed to treat a woman in a sexual relationship. We need to give these children a more realistic and holistic and true picture of relationships, not just leave them to the mercy of what is online. That's why we've got to change it, and that's why the Government, as you know, is producing a new online safety programme to address some of these issues, because, at the moment, in too many cases, we're leaving our children to flounder out there, Darren, in a digital world that is not pleasant.

We will have new guidance for the new curriculum in the new year. So, we're starting that process now. You're right; there's a job of work to do, but we're kickstarting it by having training sessions before the summer to identify what the learning needs are, and by refreshing the guidance. So, we can't just wait until the new curriculum comes along; we need to up our game at the moment. With regard to inspection, well, Estyn already look at well-being in the current inspection framework that they have. And, of course, in our new curriculum, one of the areas of learning and experience is health and well-being, and we would expect RSE to sit within that AoLE, and when Estyn is making a judgment on the quality of education within that school then that would be addressed via that mechanism.

Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for your statement and also thank Professor Renold and the expert panel for their work, and all of those who contributed to the report and its recommendations? I disagree with Darren Millar. It isn't a decent report; I think it's an excellent report, and I think it's exactly the kind of report that Cabinet Secretaries should expect from these kinds of expert panels, with clear recommendations—ones that I would urge you to accept in their entirety. Maybe, just to start, I'd ask: what needs to happen for you to decide on the other ones then? How long do we have to wait, because you did receive the report at the end of last year, a full six months ago? When can we expect a full response to all of those recommendations? It would be good just to have an idea of what the hold-up is or what the reasons are for you to be reticent to confirm today that you're happy to accept all of the recommendations.

I would also challenge the assertion that children aren't ready at five. I have a five-year-old son, and I find myself already challenging some things that are said in our house, and to have the reassurance that the school will be reinforcing those messages, for me, is very, very important. 

Now, I'm slightly confused, but I'm looking to you, clearly, for confirmation here, because I've seen some of the news coverage around the statement being made today, and they say that there'll be no change for religious schools. So, I just need clarity that all schools, including faith schools, will now have that statutory duty upon them, because children and young people who attend religious schools face the same challenges and need the same information as children who don't. I just need to be clear what the situation is, because in your statement you say:

'Wales must do more to support all of our young people to develop healthy relationships, maintain good mental health and keep safe.'

I presume that we share the same aspirations for children no matter what schools they attend. So, I just want to hear it from you this afternoon. 

Clearly, it won't be rolled out as part of the new curriculum until 2022. Now, there are four years until then, and only then does it start to be rolled out. You've mentioned a few things: you want to push forward with the name change, you want to provide greater support. I'm just wondering how soon can we really effect some of these changes in the classroom, without having to wait until 2022. You've mentioned new guidance; I just need to be clear when exactly that will be expected to be reflected in what's happening in our classrooms across the country. And I won't miss the opportunity, as well, just to remind the Government that SchoolBeat is a programme that does cover some of these areas, albeit not with the focus that the changes being proposed would do, but it could reinforce many of these issues, as it does in terms of bullying, domestic abuse, sexual abuse and healthy relationships. I would press on you, once again, to influence your colleagues in Government to secure the long-term funding for SchoolBeat.

Now, we know, because the expert panel tells us, that a third of schools in Wales don't provide any staff training in safeguarding young people. You've clearly signalled that that's going to change. You've highlighted the £200,000 for the consortia, which is, what, £50,000 each—£50,000 to Women's Aid as well. Now, clearly, as welcome as that is, it isn't enough, I'd imagine, to have the broad and the deep impact that we are hoping this policy change will have. So, I'm just wondering what more the Government can do in the medium term in that respect. You said that you're not going to tinker around the edges. You said that your vision is that we transform the way this area of study is delivered now and in the future. If that is your aspiration—and I don't have any reason to doubt it—then I can tell you now that Plaid Cymru will support you in that aspiration, and I very much welcome the statement.

Thank you very much, Llyr, for your welcome of the statement. Just to provide clarity, I am accepting all the recommendations of the report in principle, and I want to make progress on all of them, the most important of which is to ensure that, as we move to our new curriculum, RSE will be a statutory part of that curriculum, which is new policy. It wasn't the intention initially to make it a statutory part of the curriculum. The review has made that recommendation, and I'm accepting that review, and, when we come to legislate for the curriculum, then Members across the Chamber will see that reflected in the legislation that we will bring forward that will enact the new curriculum. So, that is a significant change.

The second recommendation was around—this is why it's accepted in principle—changing the name. Because the report says we should call it sexuality and relationship education. Actually, I'm going to call it relationship and sexuality education. I'm doing that because I want to focus on the issue of relationships, of whatever kind, because I think it is relationships that are the backbone of all of our lives. As I said in my statement, whether that's a relationship with a sexual partner or a relationship with our friends, it is the ability to develop and maintain healthy, fulfilling relationships that is a building block of our happiness and our well-being, and I really want relationships to be at the forefront of what we're talking about to our children. So, it's a slight change from what the panel recommended.

You'll also be aware, in the report, that there was a strong, strong emphasis on the need to develop our staff, because we need our teachers to be confident about addressing these issues with children and young people. I'm accepting that. The money that we're talking about today is to begin that process of identifying immediate professional learning needs that we have in the current system. Alongside that, as we work forward with our professional learning pioneers as part of our curriculum reform, there are other opportunities to think about the professional learning needs we will need to have for the successful delivery of the new curriculum. We also need to take up the opportunity of our reforms of our ITE provision also to ensure that these issues are addressed, because we need to have good-quality teachers who are confident, as I said, to be able to address these issues.

The curriculum is of a statutory nature, so that will apply to all schools that have statutory age children. So, that's five to 16, and all schools will be required to deliver that part of the curriculum. For schools of a religious nature, we will continue to have ongoing discussions with that particular sector about how this new curriculum will affect their delivery, but I have to say we've had engagement with schools of a religious character in the development of the policy. I myself had a discussion with the Archbishop of Wales about it recently, and there is an understanding across all schools of the necessity of equipping our children with the knowledge that they need, because they recognise, just like Darren Millar did, the very real dangers that sometimes our children and young people are facing. And they understand that they want to ensure that their children have good mental health, good physical health, can equip themselves to develop those good relationships that we all want to see for our children, and, crucially, keep them safe.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement today. I'm sure everyone in this Chamber will agree that relationships and sexuality can be complicated and are very rarely straightforward. For young people, they can be confusing and, in some cases, difficult to understand. In your statement, you are right to allude to the damage done by section 28, and, thankfully, it's now confined to history. We must always accept people, no matter what their sexuality or gender—something that has overwhelming support from the majority in today's society. But I'm sure that I'm not the only Member in the Chamber to have concerns over the overhaul of sex education in Wales. It is the role of the national curriculum in Wales to facilitate children's education by identifying pupils' abilities and encouraging them to be the best they can be, whether it's in academia or extracurricular activity or, hopefully, both. It's essential that schools do provide support for children as they develop relationships and begin to understand their sexuality. However, this should be done at an appropriate age and should be led by the child. I'm startled to see in the expert panel's report and your statement today that children as young as five years old will be taught relationships and sexuality education. Cabinet Secretary, surely you must agree that we should encourage children to focus on their schooling and forging friendships with their classmates without over-complicating their childhood. I firmly believe that it's the role of parents to educate their children on relationships and provide valuable lessons on consent and what's appropriate behaviour. UKIP have long opposed interference from government on matters of sexuality and sex education, especially for younger children, and we stand by our manifesto commitment that any form of sex education should not be taught in schools to anyone under the age of 11 years old. From the statement today, it is clear that the Welsh Government think that they know best. We believe parents know best. The Cabinet Secretary assures us that she does not intend that children are taught topics that they—[Interruption.] It's a response to a statement.

There's no intervention in a statement, Joyce Watson. Carry on.

As has been pointed out by others in this Chamber, children develop at different rates. It's not possible to say that simply because most are ready, all are ready. It is also impractical to say that, because a child is age X, they're ready to be taught Y. Parents know their child better than the Cabinet Secretary, her panel of experts and the schools. As the Cabinet Secretary has pointed out, RSE is not just about biology—it's about values, ethics and making informed decisions. As such, it is not for the state to dictate what a child is taught about these matters. I would therefore like to ask whether the new roll-out of relationships and sexuality education will have an opt-out for parents who feel that the curriculum is not appropriate for their child. You've said in your statement that you'll provide professional learning and support for teachers who will be responsible for delivering relationships and sexuality education. I greatly value and admire the job our teachers do—it's a stressful and demanding job. People go into the profession with a passion for exploring and teaching their subject, but the curriculum is already arguably over-burdened and lacks a clear vision on what our education system's priority should be—something that's demonstrated in Wales's worrying Programme for International Student Assessment results. Do you not agree that these measures will further over-burden teachers in an already demanding job, detracting their focus from what truly matters—educating the future generations of Wales? And, as a final question, you've referred in your statement to providing additional funding for this. Where is that funding coming from? Thank you.

Presiding Officer, the Member has just said that sex education isn't just about biology, it's about values and ethics, and I don't think it's ever too young to start to talk to a child about values and ethics. 

It's not for you to decide what values are to be taught. It's for parents.

I think—. As I said, I don't think it's ever too soon to start to teach children about values and ethics, and I would reiterate the point I made earlier in the reassurances I gave Darren Millar, that I have no intention of children being taught lessons that are not appropriate for their age. Now, the Member has just said that her party's policy is that there should be no sex education—I think it was—below the age of 11. So, I guess that there should be no sex education in our primary schools. Only a couple of weeks ago we had a debate in this Chamber about period poverty and period dignity. The reality is, because of—[Interruption.] The reality is—[Interruption.] The reality is, because of changes in how children grow, the age at which most girls will start their periods is dropping and dropping and dropping. There are many girls in our primary schools whose periods have started. If the Member had her way then there would be no ability within our curriculum to help prepare our children for these things that are about to happen to them. And not just about preparing girls for what's about to happen to them—to be able to explain to the whole class that you don't tease that child because you see a sanitary towel or a tampon in her bag, because that's just how the world is. Now, I appreciate the Member is of a set view, but I have to say, thankfully, she is in the minority in this Chamber, and more importantly she is in the minority in the wider civic conversation. The announcement today has been welcomed by our children's commissioner, by our future generations commissioner, it's been welcomed by children's charities, and it's been welcomed by Relate, the relationships charity. It has been welcomed across the board, because what they understand is a crucial part of our education for our children isn't just about English or maths or Welsh language or science, it is about teaching them how they can survive and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

If you think that children can make the most of their curriculum and their learning opportunities and their ability to learn those traditional subjects if they have not understood about domestic violence or they haven't been able to keep themselves safe because they may themselves be a victim of abuse—they can't learn the curriculum. This is a crucial part of our children's education, and I say that not just as the Cabinet Secretary for Education but as a mother as well.

I completely agree with Llyr Gruffydd and, indeed, with the Cabinet Secretary. I salute the work done by my grandchild's nursery in preparing her for the emotional jealousy excited by the arrival of a young sibling. You know, this is essential. If we say we can't talk about this, we are going to create damaged children. We cannot have children having their period without knowing what's happening to them, thinking that they are in some way being wounded. This is absolutely terrible. So, you were very eloquent in saying all that. 

I just want to pay tribute to the young people at St Teilo's who attended Just a Ball Game?, which I hosted on the international day against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, because of the courage of these young people, speaking in a public meeting in front of a group of adults about their sexuality, about their right to respect, and their ability to confront the aggressive masculinity that unfortunately is a dominant feature of this pornographic-focused society that teenagers are growing up in. If we can't confront the problems that we have in Britain, which is that sex is absolutely everywhere, selling all manner of consumer products—. It's something that we in this country have not had the adult conversation about that they've had in the Scandinavian and northern European countries, which is why we have much higher teenage pregnancy rates in our country than they do in those countries. 

So, there is huge amounts of evidence that children are less likely to have sex early on the more information they are given early on about what sex and relationships is all about. This cannot be overemphasised. This sort of mortal turpitude of some people is just really desperate. I salute the work of your expert panel, which points out really clearly that children aged three are arriving in school already bringing loads of baggage with them. They need to be given assistance to interpret the way of the world. They'll bring with them their own family circumstances, other people's family circumstances, and we need to support all young people to ensure that they are respectful of each other and respectful of difference.

Thank you so much, Jenny. The example you gave of a nursery child becoming a sibling is a perfect example of developmental-appropriate education. From the very earliest stage, we're beginning to make relationships, aren't we, with our parents, with our siblings, with our community, and that's exactly what we need to be teaching our very youngest children about. It's about how you cope with that jealousy and what your role is within a family and how you treat your friends. 

I think our Member opposite has fallen into the trap of seeing this in the way in which it's delivered at the moment. The reason why we've done the report—and what the report says—is that this education just focuses on biology, it focuses on sex in a biological way, it doesn't talk about all of these issues about what it means to be a human being and what it means to have relationships with a whole host of people, and that's why we need to develop the programme that we're doing.

And you're right; I spoke to some very eloquent primary school and secondary school pupils yesterday. They aren't embarrassed, they aren't a prude, as somebody described themselves. This is their life, and they are very confident and they're very happy in those instances to talk about it in a matter of fact way, not in a sitting-at-the-back-of-a-class giggly kind of way, but in a very mature kind of way, because they've been allowed to do that in the context of their school. They're much less het up about these things than maybe some people here in this Chamber are this afternoon. 

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for this important statement. As you're aware, the Children, Young People and Education Committee has recently published our report into the emotional and mental health of children and young people, and a number of themes arising in our wide-ranging inquiry resonate with the key findings of the expert panel. First, that the whole school approach is crucial in reinforcing key messages about well-being, including healthy relationships across the curriculum and in different areas of the school and community. Secondly, what the expert panel said about SRE as a curriculum area being poorly resourced and given low priority in schools, leading to uneven and unequal provision. We heard similar messages about well-being more generally, and our report highlights the once-in-a-generation opportunity provided by the Donaldson reforms to get this right for our children and young people. And finally, we heard that training for teachers is crucial if they're expected to deliver effective support, and attributing equal status to well-being alongside other curriculum areas has a key role to play in this regard. 

So, turning to my questions, I heard on the radio this morning that it will still be open to parents at the moment to withdraw their children from these lessons if they want to, and I understand that is the case in the short term. So, it's a bit similar to Llyr's question, really, and I'd like to ask what consideration you've given to children's rights under the UNCRC in enabling that situation to continue. I'd also like if you could outline how pioneer schools will be supported to help develop the approach to this area of the health and well-being area of learning experience within the new curriculum. Thank you.  

Thank you very much, Lynne. The concern about the status of this subject in the curriculum is one of the reasons why I have decided to make it statutory in the new curriculum going forward—to be able to give it that prominence and to be able to secure this learning in the curriculum. It is a mental health issue. It's absolutely crucial that we equip our children with the scaffolding and the resilience to respond to the situations they may find themselves in. A 13-year old girl in receipt of sexting—you know, pictures or those messages that constantly say, 'Take a photograph of yourself and send it to me'—this is the reality of our children's lives, and we need to equip them to be able to deal with that. 

The research put forward in the Stonewall 'School Report 2017' shows that LGBTQI+ identifying young people are still more likely to suffer from poor mental health, self-harm and depression. So, it's imperative that we act and we make sure that our curriculum going forward is inclusive. Otherwise, we're leaving these children to suffer alone. We're leaving these children to suffer alone. And that's why we'll be taking the opportunity in the autumn term to have published early in the new year new advice and guidance to support the name change, and to support this fully inclusive approach, because we can't just wait until the new curriculum. 

With regards to the new curriculum, obviously, work is being undertaken at the moment with a specific working group looking at the health and well-being AoLE. And if it hasn't happened already, I have written to the Chair of the committee inviting her and, indeed, all committee members to participate in some visits to some of our pioneer schools who are working on each individual AoLE, so that Members can see for themselves actually what that work looks like on the ground, rather than simply just hearing from me about it. So, obviously, this is an important part of the health and well-being AoLE development work. But, crucially, we've also got pioneer schools that are looking at the professional development needs of teachers to be able to deliver the new curriculum, and this will form part of that work, too. 

At this stage, I am not amending the right of parents to withdraw children from lessons, but we will have to look at that as we go forward with the new curriculum, because the nature of the new curriculum is much more cross-cutting. There aren't individual lessons in the same kind of way. But I would encourage all parents, if they have concerns about these issues, to have a conversation with their school about what's being taught in school. But, as we go forward and as we change and develop our new curriculum, we'll have to take these issues under closer and more careful consideration about how that will practically work in the new circumstances.

You'll recall that at Stage 4 of the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, your colleague Peter Black, Jocelyn Davies and I took the Government to the wire on healthy relationships education, and the assurances that we received then ensured that, hopefully—well, they contributed to the position that we're now in with your announcement today. Part of the evidence we all used at that time related to third-sector programmes, particularly Hafan Cymru's Spectrum project, which was being delivered in schools, delivering healthy relationships education through sessions to school pupils. I attended one of those and was very impressed by the incredible impact it had just within a couple of hours on a group of 15 and 16-year-old boys and girls—or young men and young women. But how are you going to ensure—and I hope you are—that projects such as this continue to be integrated into the programme as it goes forward and that this doesn't simply become an extra 'chore' for teachers or an extra statutory project to be accommodated within the wider curriculum delivery? 

Thank you, Mark. I hope you'd agree today that, if, in a previous administration, we pushed up against the wire, today we've gone through the wire by this announcement, and I would pay tribute to those in the previous Assemblies who pushed on this issue. It's crucial to me that, in discussing relationships and sexuality, what a healthy relationship looks like is a key fundamental part of that, and there is an opportunity through our new updated guidance in the new year and our new curriculum to look at violence against women and other gender-based violence also. Now, that can be done in a combination of ways, whether that's via the classroom teacher or whether schools look to outside organisations to come and deliver bespoke individual programmes. Certainly, I would want to encourage the third sector to keep discussing with us how they can help us transform this part of our curriculum. That's why we have given a small grant of £50,000 to Welsh Women's Aid so that they can help develop material that we can get out into schools to support teachers to deliver that part of the curriculum, but the third sector has had an important voice in developing this report and I will want to continue to work alongside the third sector so that they can support our teachers and educators to deliver a whole range of programmes. Certainly, there's space for both in the new curriculum.

I welcome this document very much and the statement by the Cabinet Secretary. I'm very glad that she started off mentioning section 28, because I can remember the terrible burden that section 28 put on staff in schools. I can remember them talking about it to me, and I can remember the huge relief when it was repealed by the Labour Government in Westminster. I think that we are now in a much better, much healthier position. I'm also very pleased that this, as Mark Isherwood has said, fulfils one of the pledges in the violence against women Bill to bring education in as part of the whole programme.

So, I welcome this very strongly. I'm very pleased that the plan is to start at age 5. I think it's really important that we talk about relationships as early as we possibly can, and I think this is very common in other countries. I remember looking at the programmes for early relationship education in Canada, for example, where they introduce it very early in the primary schools, and so I think it's essential that we start early. So, I think that's a very good point.

I am concerned about the issue that has been raised already about the fact that parents will still be able to withdraw their children if they wish, so I'm glad that the Cabinet Secretary has said that she will look at this as it evolves, because I strongly support the whole-school approach. I'm hoping that if the schools can reach out to the parents who've got concerns and explain what the nature of what we're planning to do in the schools, in terms of incorporating all this in the context of relationships, it will help encourage those parents who may be nervous by what they hear people say, or have got some sort of genuine anxieties about it. I think it's really important to reach out and explain to parents, so I'd like the Cabinet Secretary to assure me that she'll be encouraging schools to do that.

I think this heralds an openness and a great move forward, so I'm thoroughly behind it, and I'm sure that it will really change the whole ethos of the way schools operate.

Thank you very much, Julie. I think there are a number of people in this Chamber who had involvement in some way or another with section 28—some people desperately trying to oppose it, and, unfortunately, I understand there is one Member here—well, not here in the Chamber at the moment—who actually voted for it, and I'm glad that we've been able to move such a long way.

Julie, I absolutely agree with you. What is very clear in the expert group's report is that this area is best developed as a whole-school approach, and that means schools working with parents and the wider community about what is going on in their school. There may be parents who have genuine anxieties, there may be parents who've heard some of the myths and are a bit unclear about what this may entail, but as with many aspects of education, we know our children do best when schools positively engage with parents. After quality of teaching, parental influence and parental engagement of education is the second biggest factor that influences educational outcomes. The more that we can do to get schools working with parents on this subject, on all subjects, then that leads to better outcomes for their children. And I haven't met a parent yet who doesn't want better outcomes for their children.

I too welcome this statement today. Creating a new way of introducing sex, sexuality and relationships education is an important positive step forward, and I congratulate you personally for driving this agenda forward with energy.

I agree entirely with you that the emphasis needs to be on healthy relationships as well as the other aspects, and I also agree that children at the age of five are very open to sex and relationships and sexuality education. As a mother of four, I clearly remember the numerous questions that I was asked when the children were very, very young: questions that were very simple very often—they were factual issues raised by the children. It’s us, the adults, who have created this complexity and mystery surrounding sex, and it’s about time that we moved away from that. Having parents and children introducing the same messages positively and together is very important indeed.

What we’re doing here today, for me, is one of the great blessings of devolution. What we’re doing here is allowing ourselves to draw up our own innovative policies as we break new ground. That is, we’ve identified a problem and we have found a unique, Welsh solution to that problem, without waiting for Westminster to take action on our behalf.

Having said that, I’m sorry to become slightly negative at this point, but I do regret that it has taken so long for us to get to this point. As Mark Isherwood mentioned, during the discussions on the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, and prior to that, Plaid Cymru sought to ensure that healthy relationships and sex education was included in that particular Bill, and it’s taken until now for the Government to recognise the importance of this issue, and in the meantime, of course, a generation of children have missed out on an important aspect of their education. I acknowledge your personal commitment to this area, so can you explain the main barriers that you have faced in seeking to drive this policy forward? And are there lessons to be learned in order to hasten the process of introducing innovative policies for the future in education and in other areas too?

This new policy will provide a focus on scrapping the damaging aspects, including gender stereotyping, which militate against the development of individuals to their full potential. The First Minister wants his legacy to be a feminist legacy. He has a pledge to make Wales the safest place for women in Europe and to transform the Welsh Government to become a feminist Government. This follows a period of increasing attention on gender equality, and, of course, the gender review is happening across—

We do need some questions now, Siân Gwenllian.

Okay. Just one sentence on that: that can’t be empty rhetoric—we need a detailed action plan on all of those aspects. So, the question is: what difference do you expect to see in light of the introduction of the transformed sex education?

Can I thank Siân Gwenllian for her comments? I do want to make it clear that we're not in a situation where nothing is happening in our schools. There is some very good practice in our schools, as recognised by the report. The challenge, as always, in Welsh education—as I've discovered over the last two years—is how you make that consistent in all of our schools. So, I don't want people to think that none of this is happening at the moment. I see very good practice when I go around. What I want to see as a result of the changes I'm announcing today is that consistency across all settings, and a very strong emphasis and importance being placed upon this subject, by making it statutory in the new curriculum going forward, which wasn't the original plan two years ago.

If I may, Presiding Officer, Siân Gwenllian did pick up on a very important issue that hasn't been raised by anybody else today, and that's the issue around gender stereotyping and how devastating that can be and the implications that can have for children and for an entire lifetime. If you Google a well-known toy retailer on your computers today, you can actually click on age preference and gender preference. Gender preference—is there such a thing as a gendered toy? According to this well-known retailer, yes, you can put in a gender preference. If you click on the generic 'dressing up' section, guess what the girls are dressed in? Oh, yes, they're all fairies and princesses, and the boys are superheroes, policemen and firefighters. If you look at the picture for building and construction tools, guess what you see: boys with hammers and Lego. My goodness me, one would have hoped by now we'd have moved on from that. So, actually, being able to say to our children in our schools, 'You can be whatever you want to be' and 'You don't have to play with a certain type of toy'—these are the reasons why we need to make the changes we're making today. I'm grateful for Plaid Cymru's support for doing that.

And finally, Joyce Watson.

Diolch, Llywydd. I thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement today on such an important issue, and all of those individuals who have been involved in bringing this report to fruition. Some of you will know that I already go into schools and ask them to take part in the White Ribbon campaign, and many schools have done that. That's talking about ending violence against women and girls. I've asked schools to come up with, through their pupils, what that means to them. Time and time again, they've come up with one single word when we're talking about relationships, and it is 'respect'. That's what the children say. It isn't what I've influenced, it isn't any influence whatsoever by any adults, it comes from the children themselves. Last year, Ysgol Ardudwy in Harlech had a fantastic banner that they produced with the words 'parch' or 'respect' written on it.

Really, what we're talking about today here is trying to instill respect for each other in terms of difference, whatever that difference is, regardless. Some of the things I've heard here today have reminded me of about 30 years ago and section 28. They haven't quite gone that far, but they've been shrouded in that sort of language. So, I congratulate you, Cabinet Secretary, on moving us forward, not taking us back, and putting respect at the core of relationships and sexual education. My question to you is here: I note that you've said that you're putting some money there that will be advanced to Welsh Women's Aid— £50,000—and that they will then in turn produce materials that are age-appropriate for young children. How soon can we see some of that happening? I know there are things already happening, but how soon will it be—because these are questions that I will be asked—that that organisation will be able to access those funds?

Thank you, Joyce. I don't expect any further delays in releasing the resources that I've identified today. I think you're right—the concept of respect is one that will underpin much of the delivery of this curriculum. You also made a very important point: if any of us take time to listen to children and young people, they will tell you what we're providing for them at the moment is not good enough, and they want better provision. If we are a Parliament and a Government that truly listens to pupil voice, then we need to act, and that's one of the reasons why I'm doing this today.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.

The next item is the debate on the annual report of the older people's commissioner—2017-18. I call on the Minister for Children, Older People and Social Services to move the motion—Huw Irranca-Davies.

Thank you, Llywydd. I'm pleased to open this debate on the Commissioner for Older People in Wales's annual impact and reach report.

I'd like to start by publicly congratulating and thanking the commissioner and her team for all the valuable work over the past year, and indeed over the last six years. The commissioner has earned the respect and trust of older people right across Wales, and in the last 12 months alone, the commissioner and her team have met with 169 groups and 3,300 individuals. This extensive engagement has allowed the commissioner to speak with an informed and confident voice about how we can all work together to create resilient communities and become a nation where everyone can look forward to growing old.

I thank Paul Davies for the first amendment tabled, to introduce a Bill of rights for older people, but I oppose this amendment. Now, I agree with Paul that we must empower older people to speak up when their rights are not being fulfilled, but I disagree that new, further legislation, such as a Bill of rights for older people, is necessary. In fact, we've been working closely with the outgoing commissioner to agree an alternative to legislation that will make rights real for older people. The commissioner has indeed spoken out that she has been pleased with our commitment to the rights agenda, and she strongly welcomed our proposals at the launch of her legacy report last week.

So, the actions we've agreed with the commissioner include but are not exclusively these: building on the clear statutory rights and entitlements that we've put in place under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 by co-producing practical guidance—practical guidance—that demonstrates how to make those United Nations principles real for older people; revising the guidance relating to escalating concerns on care home closures, which I know will be of interest to some Members here; building the narrative of human rights into care home inspection reports; and taking advice from the NHS Centre for Equality and Human Rights on how to place rights at the core of our NHS Wales. But our initial focus will be on safeguarding and advocacy, as we agree with the commissioner that these are the areas we need to get right if we are to support all older people to make decisions about their care and the quality of their lives.

Will you take an intervention?

If I can just continue for a moment. That's why I am happy to support the second amendment, which has also been tabled by Paul Davies. I will take the intervention.

Thank you. I'm very grateful for your opening remarks, saying that you agree in principle with the need to extend and develop older people's rights and the awareness of them both in the public and the private sectors. But can you tell me why the Welsh Government is so inconsistent when it comes to rights? Why is it that children and young people have a specific piece of legislation on the Welsh statute book to protect their rights and old people don't? Don't you consider that old people are just as valuable to society as young people, and therefore they ought to be protected by a piece of legislation too?

I can see the headline point that you're making, Darren, but I would refer you back to the statement made by the older persons' commissioner last week in launching her legacy report, in which she actually welcomed the approach we were taking, because it makes rights real. It doesn't look for another piece of reach-down-from-the-shelf legislation on a Bill of rights, it actually says, 'How do we make these real and tangible in the lives of older people?' Now, if we can agree that that is where we should be heading—the outcomes for older people—as opposed to another Bill of rights or whatever, then let's get on with it, and it was welcomed by the older people's commissioner. We intend to work with the new commissioner coming in, when that's announced, to take this forward as well.

So, anyway, as I said, I'm happy, and I'm sure it'll bring a smile to Darren's face, that we'll be supporting the second amendment, tabled by his colleague Paul Davies. Independent advocacy services can give a voice to people who are struggling to make choices about their own lives. We recognise that there are times when an individual will need support to ensure that their rights are upheld.

As part of the suite of actions that we've agreed with the commissioner to make rights real for older people, we will revisit part 10 of the code of practice on advocacy with a view to developing practical guidance on demonstrating due regard to the UN principles. In addition, a national framework for commissioning independent advocacy for adults is currently being developed. The framework will improve the quality, the consistency and the availability of services across Wales.

In January 2018, the commissioner published a follow-up to her 2014 review into the quality of life and care of older people living in care homes. The report does state that good progress has been made in many areas, and very pleasingly, that those working across the residential care sector are beginning to think very differently and are placing a greater focus on the quality of life of older people. And I'm sure that Members will have seen this in visiting some of their own homes within their areas. But the report also points out those areas where work has not progressed.

One of these areas, for example, is falls prevention. Falls are mentioned again as a theme within the Ageing Well programme and I share the commissioner's view that we need to do more on this area. So, we are working with My Home Life Cymru to start a conversation with care home managers about how they can balance falls prevention with positive risk taking. And work is ongoing with Public Health Wales's 1000 Lives Improvement programme to develop a patient safety and a quality improvement programme for care homes. The programme aims to reduce the number of falls in care homes and includes measures to improve continence care and medicines management, but as the commissioner's report says, we cannot be complacent; there is more to do.

Let me turn to another aspect of the commissioner's work, which was the 'Rethinking Respite' report. It looked in depth at one of the key findings from her 2016 'Dementia: more than just memory loss' report. Through discussions with people living with dementia and with their carers, the commissioner found that services often lack the flexibility to meet people's needs, and yet we know that the provision of respite is one of the key national priorities for improving the lives of carers in Wales. We are now providing local authorities with £3 million a year to provide additional carers' respite. In 2017-18, the funding supported more innovative, flexible models that demonstrate that the carer and the cared-for person are right at the centre of respite provision.

I'd like to commend the older people's commissioner for her work in leading the Ageing Well in Wales programme. I recognise that the Ageing Well in Wales programme has made a major contribution to supporting everyone to live healthy, active and rewarding lives. The importance of bringing people together who are committed to making tangible changes to the place they live should not be underestimated. Connecting people can create the friendships, the support networks, and the partnerships that help build resilient communities.

And finally, if I can touch on the areas that the report references with many examples of good practice, it shows that the implementation of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, brought through this Assembly, the regulations that flowed from that and the statutory guidance are bringing positive change for older people. So, I would like to thank the commissioner for supporting the Welsh Government to focus on the areas that matter most to older people—their priorities becoming the priorities of Welsh Government.

Last week, the First Minister published that my title from now on will be the Minister for Children, Older People and Social Care. By making my role more prominent and clear, I will be able to proceed to establish an approach across the Government on older people’s issues. I am confident that the work programme that we’ve agreed on with the commissioner will build on our transformative legislation and strengthen the rights of older people.

I want Wales to be the best place to age in: a country where the voice of older people is heard, their contribution to society is valued, and they have the support that they need to live satisfied lives. Thank you very much.

I have selected the two amendments to the motion, and I call on Janet Finch-Saunders to move amendments 1 and 2, tabled in the name of Paul Davies. Janet Finch-Saunders.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I move amendments 1 and 2 in the name of Paul Davies, and in doing so would like to thank Sarah Rochira for her work as the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales over the past six years. Her innovation and drive to take forward a more positive agenda for older people has been notable.

Now, looking at the annual report, the commissioner notes a number of cross-cutting themes to casework undertaken during the year. Complex processes, poor communication and a lack of understanding of the needs of older people and the impact decisions have on their daily lives are of particular concern, feeding into our first amendment calling for the need to establish a Bill of rights for older people, codified in law, and we don't do that lightly. And I am disappointed that at this late hour—and I know it came up last week—the emphasis has gone off that now because, certainly, with the work that I've done with the older people's commissioner over the past six years, it's where I've seen and witnessed first-hand the fundamental basic rights of our older people breached. 

Twenty per cent of Welsh pensioners live in poverty: equivalent to one in five; the second highest level of the regions behind London; the worst level since 2003; five per cent higher than the UK and England's averages; and 7 per cent higher than Scotland and Northern Ireland. Since 2015, 10,000 more Welsh pensioners are now in poverty, and Wales is the only region in the UK in the last five years to see such a sharp increase. Further, we know that older people in Wales still face significant barriers: loneliness and isolation, access to primary care—that's a fundamental basic right. Over a quarter of older people reported being lonely, and nearly 27 per cent are deemed to be socially isolated. More than 75 per cent of women and a third of men over 65 live alone. Additionally, over 40,000 older people in Wales are currently victims of domestic abuse, and over 150,000 have been victims of an incident of crime in their very own home. So, tell me; I don't know how the Welsh Government is protecting fundamental basic rights as regards that.

Our second amendment references the lack of access to independent advocacy: a trend that is fast seeing an increase in people approaching my own office because they just cannot navigate or even find access to the basic treatment and support that they actually need and deserve. The commissioner states that public bodies are often not good at learning from their mistakes or using people's voices and experiences to underpin the drive for continuous service improvement.

Sadly, we note that the commissioner has had to chase the Welsh Government over their failure to demonstrate sufficient progress and action in a number of key areas relating to her care home review of 2014: continence care, a basic right; falls prevention; and workforce planning—they're all issues requiring further action. And there is evidence, also, of poor access to the correct and appropriate nutrition and hydration—another fundamental basic right. Half a million older people in Wales fall each year, with many falling several times before they ultimately end up in hospital and then are permanently immobile and worse. Fifty thousand suffer serious injury, which results in them never returning to their homes or regaining their independence in the aftermath. The commissioner states that Welsh Government, health boards and local authorities must take meaningful action to deliver upon the commitments they made, and we all know that guidance isn't enough, in many instances, where this is concerned. Failure to do so will mean that our care home system is unable to meet the change in the care and support needs of our older people. This will mean too many older people living in care homes and will continue to have an unacceptable quality of life.

Finally, this week is Dementia Action Week and an appropriate time to call on the Welsh Government to implement the vital areas of improvement to the 'Dementia Action Plan for Wales 2018-2022'. These include providing a greater focus on rights, diversity and advocacy, a greater recognition of well-being and needs of carers, more ambitious training targets, improved respite services, enhancing the role of dementia support workers and improved palliative and end-of-life care pathways.

And finally, as a member of the actual appointment board for the incoming older people's commissioner, and given the frustrations of the panel regarding the appointment workers in the early days and delays, I would be grateful if the Cabinet Secretary could make a statement on the timescales involved and when he believes the First Minister will get around to making the announcement for the appointment of the next commissioner. It is vital that our older people in Wales have the support of a commissioner, and it is even more vital that you, as a Welsh Government, actually enshrine in law the basic fundamental rights that our older people deserve.

It's a pleasure to take part in this debate on the annual report by the older people's commissioner. I welcome the opening address by the Minister and his new title—I didn't realise that there had been an addition to the title. But, primarily, in this debate, we are paying tribute to the work of the commissioner, as we've heard, who is leaving after six years, and it has been excellent work. As Chair of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, we've collaborated several times with the older people's commissioner on several inquiries, and her opinion and her evidence have been of great benefit every time. Only last week we launched the report on the use—or the inappropriate use—of antipsychotic medication in care homes, and there is a great challenge before the Government and everyone in the field there to realise the aspirations of that report. Also, the older people's commissioner was involved in several other inquiries, including our report on isolation and loneliness, and her experiences in meeting people across Wales did help to steer the recommendations of that report.

We, as a party, will be supporting the amendments of the Conservatives this afternoon. This place does need more powers in terms of rights for older people and, of course, with the Wales Act 2017 and, of course, the EU exit Bill, we are losing powers from this place. I welcome the idea that even the Conservatives want more powers in this place. So, naturally, we will be supporting those additional powers for the Assembly.

There are several themes, briefly. We've heard a lot about the burden in terms of older people, but, at the end of the day, we also need to celebrate the fact that we have so many older people in our country. People are very willing to criticise our health service, but it's true to say that we have the largest number of older people here ever, and many of them still fit and active—more people than ever before.

Back in 1950, as I've said before, only 250 people throughout the UK reached the age of 100. By 1990, that figure had risen to 2,500 people reaching 100 years of age and receiving a birthday card from the Queen. Two years ago, that number had reached over 14,000 in terms of the birthday cards that the Queen had to sign. So, very evident implications in terms of the procedures of the Queen, if nothing else, but also a sign of the success of the NHS, clean water, immunisation, a better diet, better housing and so forth—but specifically the NHS, which is always being criticised. But we have to plan for that growth in the older population, not only by adding to the Minister's title but also by planning, and it's the care service that we need to plan, and that needs to be prioritised more. It's always in the shadow of the NHS, and the care service needs more priority and funding, and to be on the same wavelength as the NHS, and also with housing provision.

The austerity agenda in England and the underspend on care services in England have led to 22,000 deaths amongst older people every year. That’s the result of a British Medical Journal survey last year. Think about it: 22,000 older people dying prematurely because of a lack of social care provision as a result financial savings. A lack of funding has led to raising the threshold for care in some English counties, with that lack of care then leading to premature deaths.

Therefore, in conclusion, this is a challenge for society. Do we really respect our older people, respect our older generations? Do we respect and give dignity to older generations who have been through a lot? They have the experience and the ability. They’ve seen everything before. And yet we disregard their experiences. Do we celebrate their survival, or are we willing to continue with the underspend on those fundamental services that are there to assist them? We need far better provision of care services in our communities and we need the provision of respite care when people are ill in their old age. We need to increase the number of beds in communities so that people can look after each other with dignity and with respect.

Therefore, thank you very much to the older people’s commissioner for knocking firmly on the doors that needed to hear that and for raising her voice. What about Government to respond?

Before I begin, I feel I ought to declare an interest and would assert that I am obviously eminently qualified to take part in this debate. I would fully endorse the Minister when he says that he wants Wales to be the best place in the world to grow old and even to be old. We live in a world obsessed by age and stereotypical views of older people. All too often they're spoken about in a derogatory, disrespectful and even defamatory manner. And I'm not talking about my family here. This can undermine older people's self-esteem, self-confidence and independence. Phrases such as 'burden of care' and 'silver tsunami' that are sometimes used by public services, the media and other commentators are simply unacceptable. Too many older people feel that services and, indeed, some sections of society discriminate against them simply because of their age. This includes financial services, health services and other essential support agencies.

Older people are not a homogenous group that should be defined by their age or stereotypes. Putting equality and human rights at the heart of public services and wider society delivers a better quality of life for everyone, not just older people. I was born in an age when older members of the family were not only respected but were at the centre of the family scene. It was the older generation who ensured that standards were kept and they were the ones most likely to let you know in no uncertain terms if your behaviour was unacceptable.

More than 39,000 older people in Wales—a proportionately higher figure than the rest of the UK—are said to be victims of abuse. For many, this occurs in the place they call home. Domestic abuse and sexual violence can affect anyone, regardless of their gender, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. It is a sad statistic that older people with a disability are at even greater risk of being abused than those without such impediments. Increasingly, older people are at a risk not only physically but also emotionally and financially. Work has begun in Wales to improve how we identify those at risk and keep them safe, but we must also ensure that older people have access to the full support of our civil and criminal justice systems.

Engagement across Wales with older people, their families and stakeholders highlighted growing concern about the way older people were treated while in hospital, particularly with regard to dignity and respect. The commissioner's requirements for action clearly outline the change that is needed to drive up the quality of life and care of older people living in care homes across Wales. There still remain significant concerns about the use of antipsychotic medication for people with dementia and the inappropriate use of antipsychotics in care home settings. We must ensure that public bodies take concerted action to deliver the change required and, through this, to embed quality of life at the heart of residential and nursing care within Wales, and ensure that older people receive the care to which they are entitled. 

I would like to thank Sarah Rochira for the work she has done over the six years of being the Older People's Commissioner for Wales. She has left a legacy that will allow older people in Wales to be treated with greater dignity and respect.

I'd like to start off by also saying 'thank you' to Sarah Rochira for her six years of work as the Older People's Commissioner for Wales. Of course, her period in office has covered some really big changes, such as the advent of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, so she has been here at a very important time. I think we should say how proud we are that Wales was the first country in the UK to establish the role of the older person's commissioner and, in fact, Sarah is only the second person to have held that post.

One of the issues that I think she has done really well in is raising the issue of treating older people with dignity. Of course, her predecessor, Ruth Marks, did the 'Dignified Care?' review, and Sarah followed that with a 'Dignified Care: Two Years On' progress report. I think that her work around this issue has been very important because,as other speakers have said today, older people need to be treated with dignity, and they're not always treated with dignity. We have seen examples of the way that older people may have bee treated in the care system or in hospital—a minority, but I think this is what we've got to be aware of.

Of course, I think the issue of antipsychotic drugs has already been mentioned here today, and, in our inquiry on the health committee, we did see that antipsychotic drugs are maybe being used inappropriately, and that, of course, is not treating older people with dignity. So, I think there is a long way to go, but I think that Sarah has made a big input, really, in that particular area, and she speaks very fluently about how she goes all around Wales and she listens to everybody. She wanted to have all these conversations, and she did, and I think she did bring back what older people themselves wanted, and, of course, being treated with dignity is one of the big issues. 

The other issue, of course, is people living with dementia and their families. Again, I think her voice has been very strong in highlighting the issues of living with dementia. I know that many of us went to the Alzheimer's Society session at lunchtime today about making the Assembly dementia friendly, and I think Sarah has helped to contribute to raising the awareness of that. I understand that half of all Assembly Members have now signed up to become dementia friends, and I hope that, in fact, everybody will sign up eventually. I think Sarah has played a really valuable role in that. 

I was very pleased yesterday to hear that Dementia Friendly Cardiff was launched, and that Cardiff, the city, has signed up to become a dementia-friendly place, with organisations such as Cardiff Bus and Cardiff City Football Club signing up to become dementia friendly. I know, in Chapter Arts Centre, there are going to be dementia-friendly screenings that are going to be open to people with dementia, their carers, families, friends and neighbours. I think that's great progress in that field as well. I also welcome the Ageing Well in Wales agenda that the Minister mentioned, with the creation of age-friendly communities as well as dementia-supporting communities.   

And, of course, Sarah has highlighted the issue of loneliness and isolation, and I think that when we looked in the committee at the issue of loneliness, that came over as one of the huge issues that we have to tackle in Wales and that the Welsh Government and this Assembly must tackle. I think Sarah made a huge contribution to that. 

My constituency of Cardiff North has more than double the number of over-50s living there than in any other part of city. There are 35,000 people over 50 in Cardiff North, and although I don't class 50 as being old—definitely not—there are 35,000 people and, as I say, the concentration of older people is in the north of the city, in my constituency. I think it's quite important to note the fact that loneliness can occur when you're living in a city, in a crowded area and not just in rural communities.

The big issue that I want to draw attention to for older people living anywhere is the lack of toilet facilities, because I really feel that we've raised that and discussed this at great length in this Assembly, particularly during the last Assembly, and I wonder, really, how much progress has been made on that. I know that this is something that Sarah Rochira has mentioned several times in her contributions.

So, I will just end by saying that I think that it's absolutely great that we've got a commissioner, and I'd like to thank Sarah again for all that she's done.

I just want to speak briefly, really, to say 'thank you' to Sarah Rochira for being a fantastic older people's commissioner over these past six years. I held the older people's brief for a number of years in the previous Assembly, and it was an absolute joy to be able to work with the commissioner, and indeed the rest of her team, and to get alongside her and see just how hard she worked to engage with older people across the country. She made a number of visits up to my constituency. We did some bus surgeries, so we both got on the buses and, indeed, visited care homes in my constituency too. I've been very grateful for the way in which she has engaged with voluntary groups in the area too. 

So, I want to put on record my thanks for her efforts. We can see from yet another report just that great level of activity that is under way in Wales in terms of the way that she is reaching out and trying to be that champion of older people that she has been over the past six years. She's not shied away either from taking a nip at the heels of Government and local authorities and independent care providers and hospitals over the years. She's rolled her sleeves up and she's produced some excellent reports that have been, frankly, very hard-hitting at times and that have been very difficult reading, but each of those has had with it some very useful recommendations in terms of being able to take the dignity and respect agenda in particular forward, and I know that she can be proud of the legacy that she will leave behind when she vacates this post and passes it on to the next person.

Just two very brief comments if I may: you made reference earlier on, Minister, to the older people's rights agenda and the fact that we are all on the same side in terms of the outcomes that we want to achieve but that you don't feel that there's a need to actually legislate in order to achieve those outcomes. But you will know that, via an amendment that was tabled by the Welsh Conservatives, we do have reference to the UN principles for older persons on the face of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, and I think that it's necessary, frankly, to have more of an umbrella piece of legislation on which to hang all of the things that you want to do as a Government so that older people can trace straight back to a piece of legislation their rights and, indeed, the responsibilities of others towards them. Children and young people have that; older people don't, and I think it sends a very negative message to older people with the Government's stubbornness to move forward with a piece of legislation on this.

One of the rights that I would like to see on the face of a piece of legislation—and you're only able to do this with legislation—is a clear right to respite. We've seen the older people's commissioner report on the importance of respite with her 'Rethinking Respite' report, particularly around dementia. The number of people who come into our surgeries as Assembly Members who are facing burnout because of the lack of access to respite has only grown in recent years—people who need to be resilient for the sake of their loved ones and who are doing a very hard and very difficult job that is not always properly recognised by the authorities with which they're engaged, particularly social service departments in some parts of the country. We know that that can destroy their relationships with the older people who they are caring for—some of whom, they may have been married tens of years, decades under their belt, and, as a result of that burn-out, the frustration that can often be caused, it just destroys the love in those relationships. So, we've got to work harder on respite, and I think that you ought to take on board one of the suggestions that our party put forward at the last Assembly elections, which was to have, in statute, a clear right to respite for older people and others caring for their loved ones, because it really is the only way we're going to secure the change in attitude that we need. 

So, in closing, once again I'd like to thank Sarah Rochira for her work, and I look forward to being able to engage further with the Government on this important agenda in order that we can get the rights for older people realised here in Wales.

I call on the Minister for Children, Older People and Social Care to reply to the debate—Huw Irranca-Davies.

Diolch, Llywydd, and can I just begin by thanking all Members who've contributed today for their very constructive engagement, even though we might agree to go in slightly different directions in delivering the rights particularly? Although I would say to Darren that we never have a totally closed mind; we're not being unduly stubborn, but what we have come to is an agreement with Sarah that there is a way to actually make these rights real now—so, going underneath those headline United Nations rights and actually translating them down into the detailed guidance and practical implementation on the ground. So, I'm looking forward to engaging not only with Sarah as she's outgoing, but also, going forward, with the new commissioner to actually really deliver that. And we'll work with Members here and also with the new commissioner to really make that bite, because we're aiming at the same thing, it's just that we think we've got a more immediate way we can do it. But we'll never have a totally closed mind. I'm not a total Eeyore, I'm not not a total stubborn ass on these issues; we're always open minded. 

Can I thank all the contributions here? Every one of them has universally praised the role of Sarah, the commissioner now, and the work that she's done. Janet, you mentioned the Bill of rights—I think I've made clear our approach on this, making rights real and the engagement that we'll have. Also asked about the announcement and the new commissioner—it's imminent. It has to be imminent because our outgoing commissioner is imminently going. I can't give you the exact date, but it is imminent.

Dai, thank you for your committee's work with the commissioner and the recommendations that you've brought forward over a long period of time, and the point you made about aligning health and social care across the piece. Well, that is an interesting time for this Assembly in both the parliamentary review that's gone past and what may come forward now with the long-term plan.

David, absolutely right on challenging the stereotypes—the ageist stereotypes that are constantly rehearsed. And, in fact, I spoke at the Welsh Senate of Older People on Monday, making exactly that point. In making this country the best country possible for older people, we also need to challenge the stereotypes, and some of that is to do with saying, 'Look at what we're doing with apprenticeships,' and actually saying, 'Apprenticeships are available for everybody.' Look at the visit that I made in north Wales last week where we were looking at re-introducing people back into childcare, and the two groups of people who were particularly represented within that Government-supported and National Day Nurseries Association-supported piece of work into childcare were the older population and the very young NEET population. So, there are ways we should be challenging this in practical ways going forward.

Julie, you spoke about the tremendous work that's been done around ageing well in Wales, and very practical issues as well around, if you're going to improve somebody's independent living through the years, all the way through the years, practical things like toilet provision and so on become very, very important. And, curiously, that's where the rights agenda really bites. If you can make a practical rights agenda, the right to that independent living, the right to travel around, the right not to have barriers put in front of you, all of a sudden, you get really meaningful change there on the ground.

And, Darren, you mentioned the commissioner occasionally giving the Welsh Government, or providers, or others, a nip. Sometimes, it's more than a nip, it's a big old kick in the shins. But that's right—commissioners are there to challenge. I would applaud, as well, Sarah for the way she's challenged and hasn't been afraid to do that, but also to constructively engage and to say, 'There are ways to go forward on this,' and I really appreciate that and all the remarks that have been made about the outgoing commissioner.

In the very short time that I've got available, I won't be able to respond to all the points, but let me touch on some key ones that have been raised. Advocacy is key within all this. We've committed to continue and to develop advocacy services. I've agreed that my officials work to develop a national framework for commissioning independent professional advocacy for adults in Wales, to improve consistency right across Wales. The Age Cymru project outcomes will include engagement with local authorities to support them to fulfil their duties under the Act. And we'll be looking forward, my officials and I, to work with the office of the older people's commissioner to inform this work, taking particular account of the report on older people's experiences of accessing and using professional advocacy. But we shouldn't forget as well the range of informal advocacy that's out there, and there's work going on within Welsh Government and with the commissioner and others to develop that network of informal advocacy, of people sitting alongside people as well. Falls and preventions we mentioned earlier, so I won't touch on that particularly.

Quite a few people mentioned the issue of the use of antipsychotic medicine. I know our committees have been looking at that. Reducing the number of people with a dementia diagnosis inappropriately receiving antipsychotic medication, particularly in care home settings, has been identified as a key action in the draft dementia strategy. We have contributed also to the short inquiry into the use of antipsychotic medication in care homes by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, and we'll be taking into careful consideration the views of the health and social care committee's inquiry when taking forward our work. We recognise and welcome the commissioner's recognition that chemical means have been included in the definition of restraint through proposed regulations under the regulation and inspection of care Act.

My final point, Llywydd, I think, because I won't be able to cover all points here, and I don't even know how much time I have left—. Can I turn to the very important issue that a couple of people raised of loneliness and isolation? We recognise that loneliness and isolation is one of the most significant issues facing older people. Improving people's resilience across all ages, making them less susceptible to the harmful effects of loneliness and isolation, ensuring they have access to support services, are all critical in maintaining people's health, well-being and independence.

So, in 'Taking Wales Forward' and in our response to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee's inquiry, we confirmed our commitment to developing a nationwide, cross-Government strategy to tackle these issues by March 2019. The work has begun, and we're engaging widely with stakeholders, including Scottish and UK Governments, to help us the set the direction and better inform and drive our work. The committee's inquiry provided us with a valuable, informed account of the issues experienced by older people in Wales. In our response, we also confirmed a commitment to assess the impact of loneliness and isolation on health and well-being, assess the impact of intergenerational contact, which we know from our own constituencies the beneficial effect when that is done well, intergenerational contact, developing a national awareness campaign to reduce stigma and for public understanding—.

Llywydd, I can see you looking at me because I've gone over time. My apologies on those points I cannot return to, but, simply, in closing, can I echo the remarks that have been made about the commissioner and thank her and her team for all they've achieved in 2017-18? The report marks the end of the commissioner's six-year tenure. I'm sure that many older people across Wales will greatly miss the commissioner's passionate campaigning on their behalf. We will miss it as a Welsh Government, having worked with such a strong, confident advocate of human rights. She has encouraged Government, the public sector and citizens of Wales to think differently about ageing, to recognise that older people, far from being a burden on our society, are an asset that should be celebrated and they are people, first and foremost, with rights and lives to be lived to the max.

The proposal is to agree amendment 1. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I will defer voting until voting time.

That brings us to voting time, and the vote on the older people's commissioner's annual report. I call for a vote on amendment 1, tabled in the name of Paul Davies. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 20, no abstentions, 30 against, and therefore amendment 1 is not agreed.

A vote therefore on amendment 2, tabled in the name of Paul Davies. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 49, no abstentions, one against. Therefore amendment 2 is agreed.

A vote now on the motion as amended, tabled in the name of Julie James. Open the vote.

Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 50, no abstentions, none against. Therefore the motion as amended is agreed.

That brings today's proceedings to a close.