National Assembly for Wales

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

That bring us to our first item, which is questions to the First Minister, and the first question is from Rhun ap Iorwerth. 

Thank you very much, Llywydd. Significant pressure exists on housing availability in Ynys Môn. In addition to existing actions, including Help to Buy, rural housing enablers, the stalled sites fund, for example, we will bring forward new proposals to support local communities to access housing, including communities in Ynys Môn.

Thank you very much, and may I congratulate you on your re-election as First Minister? And I think it's very appropriate that the first question of this new parliamentary term relates to an issue that is such a crisis, and one which people are insisting on having action upon. One clear contribution to the housing crisis is the uncontrolled growth in the second homes market. I see it on a daily basis. I see it in my own village. I see it in coastal villages particularly. I see it in the empty streets and dark windows of the winter, and in the frustration of young people who can't afford a home in their own communities. I see it in the increase of 16 per cent in the cost of property in Anglesey. And things are getting worse every day. And I would differentiate clearly between second home ownership and tourism. Indigenous tourism, locally owned, is very important, but an uncontrolled second housing market doesn't help at all. 

Yes, we need better jobs with higher salaries. Yes, we need to build far more truly affordable homes for rent and to buy, but your Government in this parliamentary term has to take urgent action, using every planning and taxation tool available in order to bring some sort of control to the housing market, and to provide some hope and some chance for people in our communities. I and others have been asking for action for many years. May I ask you, at the very beginning of this term, to give a full and clear commitment, or it will be too late?

Well, Llywydd, thank you very much to Rhun ap Iorwerth for that question. The Member will know that this issue of second homes is an issue on which I have offered to work on a cross-party basis. I wrote to the leader of Plaid Cymru last week, confirming that the Government is ready to consider a number of issues in that way, and I look forward to having that conversation that we will have before the end of this afternoon.

I've seen the Plaid Cymru five-point plan, and I'm sure that there are ideas in that plan that we can work on together. And I agree with what Rhun ap Iorwerth said. We do need to use a number of the tools that we have with regard to taxation, planning, and some others, to draw them together to try to make a difference in the situation that he has outlined this afternoon, and to do it, if we can, in collaboration. 

Thank you, First Minister, for your responses so far to the important points raised by Rhun. Certainly, there are some pressures that have been added to the housing market due to second home ownership, but, perhaps at a risk of being seen to be fiddling while Rome is burning if that becomes the primary focus in a way to support this important area of work, surely the most important thing to support this would actually be to see more homes being built. So, for example, your own Government's assessment of need in north Wales says that 1,600 homes should be built every year for the next 20 years. At the moment, that pace is only 1,200 homes a year. So, clearly, there's an issue there in the environment for investment to see homes being built. So, what will you be looking to do to improve that environment, to see more investment, more homes to be built, and therefore more people having access to those properties?

Well, Llywydd, I don't disagree that there is a wider context within which Rhun ap Iorwerth's question has to be regarded. But he was asking very specifically about those sets of circumstances where second home ownership risks driving out of those local communities people who are priced out of being able to buy properties because there are people from further afield who have deeper pockets that they are able to apply. So, while there is a wider context, that wasn't the focus of the question put to me.

On the wider question about building more homes, this Government is committed to building 20,000 low-carbon homes for social renting purposes. What we will not be doing, Llywydd, is we will not be tearing up the protections that the planning system offers to individuals and local communities, as is proposed by his party in England. Those are important protections and we will want to see them continued here in Wales. So, while we build more houses, which are necessary in the way that the Welsh Government's calculations have set out, we do it in a way that properly balances the needs for new housing against the protections that local communities properly have, to make sure that their futures too can be safeguarded.

I know the housing situation is difficult for residents in Ynys Môn. It has been clear to me through e-mails that residents need more affordable housing—so, in a similar vein. First Minister, I commend the Welsh Government for reaching its ambitious 20,000 affordable homes target—that was just last term—and committing to building a further 20,000 low-carbon homes this term. The Welsh Labour Government has also provided transformative funding for social houses to local authorities, such as Flintshire, where I am a member. And we are looking to build 500 affordable homes in Flintshire, allowing them to build affordable homes while creating jobs and apprenticeships for local people—so, it's also creating jobs as well. Will the First Minister outline the plans that his new Welsh Labour Government has for home building, through local authorities, to help address housing shortages in these areas where people are struggling to afford a home? Thank you.

Llywydd, can I congratulate the Member on her election to the Chamber, and on this her first contribution to our debates, and an important contribution it was too? Because our ambition to build 20,000 homes for social renting depends upon a new capacity for our local authority colleagues to build housing for rent in those communities, where, far too often, those stocks have been diminished by policies promoted by other parties. And there are ambitious plans in a number of parts of Wales for local authorities to play their part. And this Government will certainly, in funding, but also in the partnerships that we create, through the Welsh Local Government Association and others, seek to maximise the contribution that local authorities in all parts of Wales can make to making sure that there are affordable homes for rent for those local populations—people who see their futures in those communities and want to know that they have housing that they can depend upon, that will be there for the long term and will allow them to play the part that they want to play in building futures for themselves and for their wider communities.

Llywydd, I thank John Griffiths for that. Amongst our immediate priorities are the continuation of support for businesses while the coronavirus crisis persists and the implementation of our young persons guarantee of an offer of work, education or training to everyone aged under 25 in Wales.

First Minister, our city and town centres are very important for economic activity and jobs, and very important in other ways, as places for people to meet up, in terms of that sense of local pride and, indeed, sense of well-being. In Newport, as with other places across the UK, we face many challenges from changes in retail shopping habits to online. Recently, Debenhams has closed. But there's much good work going on: a major revamp of Newport market, a major new hotel and much else besides. That good work, First Minister, is a result of strong partnership working between Newport City Council, Welsh Government, businesses and others, and it's seen much new residential development, service provision and leisure provision in the city centre. But, of course, we face new challenges now with the pandemic and continuing retail change. So, First Minister, I wonder if you could offer reassurance today that that strong—very strong—partnership working between Welsh Government, Newport City Council and other partners will continue and sustain that change that we've already seen, and make sure that Newport city centre is fit to meet the challenges of the future. 

Well, Llywydd, can I thank John Griffiths for that? He points to a genuine public policy challenge of our times. The future of retail on our high streets was already a challenging one before coronavirus, and that has undoubtedly added to the challenges that that sector faces. But John Griffiths is right, Llywydd, that what that means is that we have to reimagine the future, not try and recreate the past in the present, and that will mean a wider range of activities that will bring people into town and community and city centres, including residential use of those centres, a different form of retail and other activities as well.

During the month of April, I was able to visit Newport city centre with Mr Griffiths, and we met businesses there who had opened up during the pandemic and were demonstrating that it was still possible to make a success of those businesses, using the investments that the Welsh Government and other local actors have put in to recreating the city centre of Newport, whether that is the investment in the market, in the library, in the leisure centre or in the Chartist Tower hotel, to which John Griffiths referred. But it also involves the university as well, making sure that there is life in the centre of that city that will attract more people to it.

And, in answer to his underlying question whether the partnership approach that we have taken to town centre redevelopment over the last five years will be continued in this term, then, yes, certainly that is the way that we will prioritise city and town regeneration: a partnership between Welsh Government, local authorities, businesses themselves and other major public sector partners who can make that difference and make sure that those centres have a life that will draw people to them in the future. 

Joel James.

Thank you, Llywydd, and if I could just take this opportunity to congratulate you on your re-election and, likewise, the First Minister. First Minister, last year, Treorchy High Street was named the best in the UK and was praised for its independent shops and community spirit. However, it is disappointing that success is not evenly spread across South Wales Central. Recently, Tonypandy and Porth were named in the top 20 most economically vulnerable towns in the UK. Sadly, the pandemic has only exacerbated these existing inequalities and highlighted the need for a bold, ambitious plan to help the high street back on its feet and to deliver good local jobs for local people. Does the First Minister agree with me that to support high streets across Wales, we need to boost small businesses by establishing business rate-free zones, and reform business rates so that they are no longer an outdated tax on growth? Thank you. 

Well, I thank the Member for that question and for his generous opening to it. During the month of April, I was able to visit both Treorchy and Tonypandy high streets, talked to many businesses there, Llywydd, and there are lessons that different communities can learn from one another where success has been achieved and then to apply some of those lessons elsewhere. And it was great to have the opportunity to be there with my colleague Buffy Williams and to have those conversations.

Now, businesses in Wales, Llywydd, know that they have a 12-month small business rate relief holiday for the whole of the coming year and that is in sharp distinction to what will happen across our border, of course, where those businesses will have to start paying rates again halfway through this financial year.

I agree that there is a need to rethink the whole system of how we raise local taxation, but that is not an argument against having local taxes raised. Businesses benefit from all the public services that allow them to trade successfully, whether that is building roads and pavements that take their customers to them, whether it is making sure that when their employees fall sick they are able to use the national health service, or whether it is in the great investment that we make in education and skills to make sure that there is a workforce there for the future. Businesses benefit from all of that and it is right that they make a contribution to the conditions that allow them to succeed. How we do it, I agree, is a different matter, and there are a number of ideas in different parts of the United Kingdom that we will want to draw on as we think of ways in which we can make that system more effective for the future.

Cefin Campbell.

Thank you very much, Llywydd, and congratulations to you on your re-election and congratulations to the First Minister too.

My question is this: would the First Minister agree with me that there are particular economic challenges facing rural communities in Wales that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency? He, of course, will be aware that income levels per capita and skills levels in these areas are lower than the Welsh average, and he'll also know that there is a second homes crisis—as we've already heard from Rhun ap Iorwerth—and the shortage of affordable housing as well as the shortage of quality jobs do lead to out-migration of young people, which is having a damaging effect on the demography and social fabric in these areas. And the impact of this of course is very detrimental to the Welsh language in those areas where the Welsh language continues to be a living language. So, would the First Minister accept that the Government needs to prioritise the development of a specific strategy and action plan for the regeneration of our rural areas, where all of those economic, social and cultural elements can come together in an integrated and holistic way? Because, after 22 years, there's been no particular focus, as far as I know, First Minister, that has been given to our rural areas. Does he agree that this needs to change?

Thank you very much for that question, and, of course, the context is challenging for every part of Wales after the pandemic. There is a major challenge in the rural areas, as Cefin Campbell has stated, but it is challenging, I can tell him, in Riverside, in my constituency in the centre of the city. The challenges are different but those challenges are there in every place. I don't quite agree with him that, over the period of devolution, we haven't focused on rural issues. The Llywydd herself was a Minister for rural affairs in the One Wales Government, and, in the previous Senedd term, we used the report put together by Rhodri Glyn Thomas on how we can use the Welsh language as something that can promote economic development in west Wales. So, we have done many important things. Of course, there is more that we can do, and I look forward to discussing with Members in the Senedd ideas to assist rural areas in Wales, rural communities and other communities that face a challenging future when we're trying to emerge from this difficult past period.

Questions now from the party leaders. Conservative leader, Andrew R.T. Davies. 

Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, I'm used to my fair share of negative headlines in the Western Mail, but last week the Western Mail carried a headline that said, 'Businesses stabbed in the back by Drakeford'. It went on inside to say that they feel punched in the stomach by the current Welsh Government. Do you think that's a fair reflection of the support that you've given to businesses since the pandemic started?  

Well, the headline was a quotation from press releases put out by his party. [Laughter.] Maybe he ought to read his own press releases before he reads the Western Mail, Llywydd. To put to me a headline in the newspaper inspired by his own party as though this was somehow fair comment, well, really, it's not a good start, is it, to his first question on the floor here. Is it a fair comment? Of course not. 

It's a very fair comment because, actually, that comment came from a business owner in north Wales, First Minister; it wasn't a comment from a Conservative press release—

I've seen the press release. 

—but we have passed comment at the lack of support that you have put on the table for businesses the length and breadth of Wales. Why haven't you put support for start-up grants to make sure that businesses can recapitalise themselves? We know that you've got £140 million still unallocated from the £200 million that you identified during the election campaign. Is it not a fair reflection that businesses need to be recapitalised? And when you have comments like that, that's not politicians' comments—that's business owners themselves commenting that they feel let down by the Welsh Government. So, will you today outline what you will do with the additional £140 million that you have available in the Welsh Government's budget to support businesses here in Wales? 

Well, Llywydd, there's a more sensible question in that contribution, but let me put a few facts on the record first. Here in Wales we have allocated £2.3 billion in coronavirus grants and reliefs to businesses in Wales. What have we received from his Government at Westminster in order to fund that £2.3 billion? We've received £1.9 billion in business consequentials. If it is his serious proposition from his sedentary position that we should have used money given to us for the coronavirus care of patients to put—[Interruption.] Llywydd, I hear the leader of the opposition saying to me that we've had £6 billion from the UK Government, as though all of that were available for businesses. Is it his serious proposition that we should have used the money given to us for test, trace, protect purposes, for vaccination purposes, for catch-up purposes in our schools—that all of that should have been used for business support in Wales? If it is, let him say it. It was a choice he could have offered. I don't suppose, however, he is at all. We have received £1.9 billion in consequentials, and we have provided £2.3 billion—£400 million more—for businesses in Wales than they would have had had they been on the other side of the border. 

Now, his question about how we use the money that is still set aside is an important one, and my colleague Vaughan Gething is, I know, working with his officials to design the best use of that money alongside businesses who have been most affected and particularly those businesses who will most go on being affected by coronavirus restrictions. We have to move on from a period in which almost all businesses needed help to concentrating that help on those for whom conditions mean they cannot resume full operation. That is the conversation we are having. That is how we will recalibrate that funding. I want it to go where it will make the greatest difference.  

I appreciate the First Minister wants to use diversionary tactics time and time again, but it is a fact that the comments I put to you were comments from business owners themselves feeling punched in the stomach or stabbed in the back by the Government of the day, which is your Government, First Minister. It is a fact that you have that money unallocated in the budget, and businesses need that money now. They don't need to wait another month, another six weeks. These are businesses themselves talking that they need the money now, because they need to recapitalise after being the longest part of the United Kingdom shut down, because we shut down before other parts of the United Kingdom did. 

But the other important area of the economy to get comfort from the Welsh Government and understanding about the rules and regulations is the hospitality sector and the events sector, importantly. And I appreciate this is a very fine balancing act, because we know the Indian variant is taking hold in parts of the United Kingdom and, indeed, here in Wales. But what is the First Minister's view on the regulations that the events sectors in particular will have to deal with going forward, when we know other parts of the United Kingdom have a date of 21 June? I appreciate that date might move, First Minister; I appreciate that date might move. But I note today that the Celtic Manor's manager—[Interruption.]—the Celtic Manor's manager is saying that they are unable to attract businesses into Wales because of the current rules that exist. So, are you able to offer us any view of the way the Welsh Government see things panning out in the late summer and early autumn, with the restrictions that the events sector and the hospitality sector have to operate here in Wales?

Llywydd, I'll deal with the very first part of the Member's question first. So, one of the very first decisions I made on resuming this job after the election was to release £66 million from that £200 million to go directly to businesses in Wales. By the end of the second day of that fund being open, nearly 2,000 applications had been received for £10.1 million, and, by today, awards have already been offered to the first of those businesses to apply, and that money will be with them by the start of next week. That money is designed to support those businesses through the month of May and through the month of June as well, at which point we will be able to, through discussions with the sectors, agree how some of the remaining money can then best be deployed. So, I just want to be clear with Members that no business is left unable to claim support. Businesses are already claiming support from the £66 million. Decisions to award funding have already been made, and the money is on its way to them.

It is a very important point that the Member raises about hospitality and the events sector, and I wish I could give them a more definite answer than I'm able to. We've moved to level 2 restrictions. The Cabinet will be considering, this week and next, whether or not it is sufficiently safe in Wales to move to level 1 restrictions, and that would further liberalise the ability of the hospitality and events sectors to get back to business. Of course, that is what we want to happen. We want to be in a sufficiently strong position that those sectors can reopen safely and be able to attract customers back to them. I know, in the next question, Llywydd, we'll be talking about pilot events that we are holding to learn lessons how that can best be done. But the context within which we are making those decisions is a genuinely challenging one. 

The India variant of coronavirus is already in Wales, as the leader of the opposition acknowledged. Across our border, it is now in community spread. It is doubling every five to seven days in those communities. We know it is more transmissible. We know that the vaccine is less effective in dealing with it. The Royal Bolton Hospital yesterday issued an appeal from its chief executive for patients not to attend there, because of the pressure that hospital is under because of the coronavirus outbreak in that city: eight people in critical care in that one hospital in England—more than twice the number of people in critical care in the whole of Wales. We've just got to go on very carefully, looking at that context, seeing any impact that there may be in Wales, and then make decisions that are as helpful to the sector as we can be without doing what the sector itself has asked us all along: not to find ourselves in a position where, having opened up the sector, we're in a position of having to close it down again. It is, as the leader of the opposition said, a very finely balanced set of judgments, and we'll continue to make those judgments over the next week as further data comes in from what is happening across our border and the numbers we now see here in Wales.

Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price.

Diolch, Llywydd. The people of Wales voted this month by a margin of more than 2:1 for parties that stood on a platform of greater powers for the Senedd. Westminster's reaction to this mandate so far has been not just to ignore it but to seek to reverse it. They have a plan for Wales; it just doesn't involve us. The Senedd bypassed on the replacement to European Union funds; Transport for Wales rebranded as 'Great British Railways'; Wales to get a freeport, whether we like it or not, and maybe even a tunnel in the Celtic sea, floated without consultation and built, presumably, like the M4 relief road, without our consent. If you add to this list the internal market Bill, the Australia trade deal, and a UK Government hub seemingly conceived as some imperial outpost, doesn't Westminster's strategy increasingly look like abolition by stealth?

Well, Llywydd, I have to agree with the leader of Plaid Cymru that the charge sheet against the present UK Government is a long and serious one. The so-called plan for Wales—a plan made for Wales without Wales: not a single conversation with the Government of Wales in its production; not so much as an invitation to a single conversation with the Secretary of State before it was published, or even an invitation to its launch. I must say, it was deliberate, it was provocative and it was intended to be so. Now, I say to Members on the Conservative benches here that, if we are serious about the future of the United Kingdom—and I'm certainly serious about that topic—we cannot fashion a future for it if the UK Government thinks that the way that that future will be fashioned is to try to roll back the settlements that have been agreed in two referendums here in Wales. And yet, every day—every day—that is what they do. And while they do it, then people who believe in the separation of Wales from the United Kingdom will find the arguments that the leader of Plaid Cymru has made already this afternoon.

[Inaudible.]—another example. Westminster's latest assault on Welsh democracy involves the £500 bonus for health and care staff in Wales. Not content with taxing it, Westminster now appears to be using it as an excuse to cut people's benefits. So, instead of receiving a thank-you bonus, many workers will be punished with a deduction of up to 63 per cent in their universal credit. If we controlled our own welfare and tax policy here, none of this would happen of course. Now, you recently reiterated, First Minister, your personal opposition to the devolution of tax and benefits in a wholesale way, as, for you, they are part of the glue that holds the United Kingdom together. Perhaps, though, even you might now concede that that glue is coming decidedly unstuck. What is the collective view of the new Welsh Government on the devolution of welfare?

Well, Llywydd, I'm going to have to gently suggest to the leader of Plaid Cymru that the election is over, and the idea of independence was very thoroughly tested in this election and people in Wales made their decision on that issue.

So, the policy of my party on the benefits system is that we should seriously explore, as John Griffiths, leading the local government committee in the last Senedd, did on our behalf, the devolution of the administration of parts of the benefits system. But the benefits system itself should be an engine of redistribution right across the United Kingdom. The fact that it is temporarily under the control of a party that doesn't regard it in that way is not a criticism of the potential that that system has always had to move money from those who have more than they need to those who need more of it to sustain an ordinary lifestyle. I think that is still one of the things that has the potential to hold the United Kingdom together.

I very much regret that we have failed to persuade the UK Government not to tax the lump sum we've been able to provide to social care workers. And the fact that it is being used as evidence of income for the benefits system is an even bigger blow to those people who work every day in that sector to earn a living and now find the money that was provided to them from the Welsh Government being taken away from them by the UK Government through universal credit.

The election may be over, First Minister, but the bitter legacy of deep poverty and inequality in our communities, which is bequeathed to us by this deeply unequal United Kingdom, that persists. The 31 per cent of our children in Wales who are living in poverty: how can you argue that the union has been a force for untrammelled good for them? Contrast that with New Zealand: this last week, a radical well-being budget was passed by the Government there that will drive down child poverty this year to half the level in Wales. That's a Labour Government, but of an independent country that has the power to choose its own future.

Now, you as a Government have pledged to lead a new national civic conversation on the constitutional future of Wales. Will it be a genuinely open conversation—open to the possibilities of independence and, yes, the challenges too? Open to it at least as a plan B, if Wales says 'yes' to radical federalism, but Westminster continues to say 'no' to Wales. Now, that would be a conversation that I and my party would be happy to join.

Well, Llywydd, I am looking forward very much to being able to develop plans for that civic conversation. I want to do it with parties right across the Chamber who have a serious interest in the future of the United Kingdom and Wales's place within it. I don't define any ideas out of that conversation because, if it's a civic conversation, citizens will have the ability to make that contribution. All those possibilities will be able to be rehearsed within it.

I would just say again, Llywydd, that we had an election in which the choice could not have been clearer. There were parties who stood who believed that this whole institution should be abolished, and that the governance of Wales should be handed back to Westminster. They didn't succeed in gaining support to be represented here. There was a party that believed that Wales should be taken out of the United Kingdom. If any party stands on that proposition and wins an election, then it has a mandate to take that forward. But, until it wins an election, it cannot expect that the centre of gravity of the discussion about our future will be dragged to a proposition that failed to command the support of enough people in Wales to give it a majority here on the floor of the Senedd.

Thank you to Llyr for that question. Good progress is being made with the pilot event programme, and five pilot events have already been held. The emerging findings, for example in relation to COVID testing for events, will be used to prepare for the next 21-day review. We will be considering then the potential to develop a phased reopening of events.

It was good, of course, to see crowds in the Newport and Swansea games recently—and Wrexham too, hopefully, before too long. But, whilst you've prioritised those football teams playing in the English leagues, I want to know why you've ignored the teams playing in our main national Welsh premier league here in Wales. The clubs playing in the English pyramid system don't represent grass-roots football in Wales, and piloting events in the Cymru Premier league, for example, would be far more relevant to teams across Wales.

And, isn't it a farce that Welsh premier supporters have to cram into pubs to watch games, or indeed to watch them from the clubhouse overlooking the field, rather than doing that from the stands, in the open air, with social distancing? It's not too late, of course, to change that. So, will you reconsider allowing some supporters to attend the final, crucial game of the season between Caernarfon and Newtown this Saturday—the biggest game in the history of Caernarfon football club?

Well, Llywydd, may I say 'good luck' to Wrexham on Saturday? Hopefully, Wrexham will join Swansea and Newport in the success that they've already had.

Now, they were practical considerations when we made the choice of where the pilots could be held. There is a great deal of work behind the pilots. It's impossible just to say, 'Well, on Saturday, something else can take place.' Public Health Wales is part of every pilot. Local authorities are part of every pilot event. Whatever we use for the pilots, the local groups are part of that pilot as well. So, it wasn't practically possible to hold a pilot in every place and for everything, and to do so safely. That's why we've had a list of five pilot events and that's why we're going to learn the lessons from those to see whether we can do more in future, but to do that in a way that is safe for the people who attend the events and that is successful for those people who run those events too.

Janet Finch-Saunders.

Diolch, Llywydd. My congratulations to you and our First Minister—to you both—for your new, well, current, respective roles. It's nice to be back here on the floor of the Siambr and, indeed, as an elected Member of this Senedd, and I thank the people of Aberconwy for bestowing what is a huge privilege.

Now, whilst the pilot test events to develop processes and guidance are to be welcomed, your own current Welsh Government guidance for the arts sector does have a major contradictory point. The actual wording is causing a dilemma for one of our leading Aberconwy music festivals, which is soon, hopefully, to be taking place within a local church. So, I ask you, First Minister: why does your guidance, entitled 'Rehearsing, performing and taking part in the performing arts', allow wind instruments to be played indoors, but the guidance on reopening places of worship prohibits those wind instruments from being used? Your planning has also hit a duff note with our larger scale outdoor events. Indeed, Adam Newton, Tough Runner UK, has referred to the Welsh Government as only having half a plan. So, therefore, will you put a road map in place for larger scale events to recommence and for this to include a wider variety of settings, thereby bringing some normality back to our much-held long traditions? Diolch.

Well, Llywydd, as I explained in answer to an earlier question, if we are able—and it's an 'if', isn't it—if we are able to move to alert level 1 at the end of this three-week review, then that will come with new possibilities for events to resume indoors and outdoors across Wales. When that happens, they will still necessarily have to observe the protections that we have against the resumption of coronavirus. And that is where the guidance always begins, and that is where this Government has often taken a different view to the Member, I believe.

Our starting point always is: how can we keep people safe in these events? How can we make sure that they are run in a way that does not create avoidable risks of coronavirus beginning to circulate again? That's why the guidance is provided; that's why it differentiates between what can be done in one context and another. It is always carefully drawn up, it is always based on the best advice that we have. And while it may appear—[Interruption.] While it may sometimes appear to be inconsistent, that is because the context will be different in a way that leads to that different advice. Where people ask us to explain more why the restrictions are necessary, then of course we try to do that, but the restrictions are never intentionally perverse, and they always start from that question: what can be done safely here in the context that coronavirus poses for us at any one time?

My hope, and I know it's the hope that the Member has, is that circumstances continue to improve, and as they continue to improve, so more will be able to be restored in terms of outdoor events, and the performance, singing, musical instruments indoors as well. But the limiting factor always has to be doing things in a way that does not put Wales and people at risk.

First Minister, it is good to be back, and since we were talking about the Cymru Premier league, I will take this opportunity now, as the proudest club ambassador in Wales, to put on the record my congratulations to the Nomads for keeping the title in Wales.

First Minister, I would be grateful if you could update the Chamber on the test-and-trace pilots being carried out in the five parts of north Wales, and if you could outline the specific detail of the extra support being provided to those who are self-isolating.

Well, I thank Jack Sargeant for that. He's right, of course: there's more than one sort of pilot going on in north Wales at the moment. And congratulations, of course, to the good people of Connah's Quay on the success that the Nomads have had this season.

The pilots, Llywydd, that Jack Sargeant refers to are the pilots that we are carrying out to provide additional help beyond the £500 self-isolation payment that we make to people who we ask to self-isolate, for their own protection and the protection of others, and where they don't have sufficient income to make that possible. Now, what we've learnt is, from work already carried out in the Cwm Taf area, that there are other forms of help that you can add to the money that make a difference to people's ability to self-isolate in the way that we would like them to do. Sometimes that's immediate help, with food and with fuel poverty; sometimes it's help with longer term issues such as mental health support and digital exclusion.

There are going to be five pilots across north Wales. The one in Holyhead has already begun—I'm sure that the local Member will know that it's operating out of the Citizens Advice office in Holyhead—and on 7 June and 14 June, further pilots will begin. They're designed to offer further help to people, to make sure that those for whom self-isolation is a greater challenge than others get not just the money that we're able to provide, but extra support to make that experience more manageable for them. We learn a lot from the pilots, and then the things that are successful and make a difference—the plan will be to do more of that on a wider geographical basis.

We have committed more than £2 billion in support for businesses, and more than £1.9 billion of that £2 billion has already reached them. The latest package opened on Monday to applications. Further funding will follow to help businesses develop, sustain and grow.

First Minister, the latest package that you refer to was in regard to support that businesses could see for the first time when the eligibility checker opened last Monday and businesses were left disappointed and let down. I don't think it's right to dismiss the views of businesses, as I think you did to the leader of the opposition earlier today. What causes further frustration to businesses is when they keep hearing the Welsh Government repeat this line that they're offering the best business support of the UK nations, because the reality is that the offer is far more generous in Scotland and England in terms of business support under the current announcements that you've made. We know that gyms in England will receive £18,000 to reopen, and in Wales it's only up to £5,000. The hospitality sector in England have reopening grants; in Wales, we've got pubs and other eating establishments that are not able to claim because the criteria are too strict. And when it comes to the criteria, there's a long list of criteria to meet, such as providing evidence that there's a minimum of 60 per cent reduction in trade—in turnover—over the last 12 months, but many businesses simply can't do that because they've not yet had those accounts produced. You can't rewind fully the clock in terms of the business support that was missing in April in Wales, but you can address and plug the gaps in announcements going forward. So, can I ask you, First Minister, to revisit the business support schemes, ensure that they're comparable with support elsewhere in the UK, and ensure particularly that the criteria are not so strict and rigid, and business can access funding fairly and appropriately?

I don't dismiss the views of businesses, but I do dismiss the propaganda efforts of the Welsh Conservative Party, and we've just had another effort at it again. I certainly will not—[Interruption.] I certainly will not give you an undertaking that we will match what happens elsewhere in the United Kingdom, because that would mean that thousands and thousands of pounds would no longer be available to Welsh businesses. In Wales, a 10-employee hospitality business with a rateable value of £25,000 will have been eligible for more than £52,000 since December; the equivalent business in England would have received £26,000. So, if I were to match the offer in England, as the Member asks me to, I would be taking £26,000 back from that business.

He says to me that gyms will get £18,000; what percentage of businesses in England does he think get £18,000? I don't suppose he knows. It's 2 per cent. Two per cent of businesses get £18,000, and 98 per cent of businesses get nothing like it. When we are making comparisons, there is no point in the Member cherry-picking figures and then applying them in a way that simply would not operate in the real world.

I certainly don't agree with him about criteria. We are giving out major sums of public money—major. Millions and millions of pounds of public money going to businesses, as we wanted to do. But his party would be the first to complain if we were not doing that in a way that could demonstrate that those were real business, that they were entitled to that help and that the public money was being spent in a way that was defensible. That's what the criteria are there for. They're not to make it difficult for businesses to get the help they want; they are there to make sure that, here in Wales, when businesses get money from the taxpayer, that money goes to the right place and goes in a way that is defensible.

As I've said previously, I know there are many businesses that are grateful for the support they've received so far, but there must now be, I think, some recognition from the Welsh Government of the cost businesses are facing as they reopen. I come back to the hospitality sector in particular here, given all of the years I spent in the sector. For example, restocking perishable goods and bringing staff back from furlough is proving tricky, especially when many of these businesses are reliant on decent weather to open up. We know that several firms abandoned opportunities to reopen outdoors before indoor reopening was allowed, and even then, businesses can't utilise their full indoor space and are struggling to trade outdoors in poor weather. Ultimately, there's been a gap in funding. Businesses shelved plans due to the weather, and they're unable to operate at full capacity. I am grateful for the opportunity provided by the economy Minister to meet with him and other opposition party spokespeople to discuss this in two weeks' time, and I'm looking forward to working constructively on this, but there is an urgent need for flexibility of funding now to help offset the risks that businesses continue to face. So, can I add my voice to the calls of many others and press on the First Minister, and through him the economy Minister, to urgently move on this? Because businesses need the security now and not in a fortnight's time. And I'm pretty sure I can speak for Plaid Cymru when I say that we're eager to get the ball rolling now.

I recognise the points that the Member makes about the challenges that businesses face when they are resuming trading, whether that is the restocking issue, whether it is the weather, but the Welsh Government has provided help to businesses at every step of the way. I've heard allegations earlier that there was no help for businesses during the month of April, for example. At the end of March and at the start of April, we paid out more than £147 million to businesses in non-domestic rate grants. In April and the start of May, a further sum of over £24 million reached businesses through the economic resilience fund, and now there is another £66 million available to help those businesses during the rest of this month and through next month as well. I wanted to do what Mr Fletcher has suggested; I wanted to reach those businesses where the trading conditions are the most challenging and where the inevitable restrictions that are still there in order to deal with coronavirus place restrictions on what they are able to do. That's why we will have the discussions with other parties, but with businesses and business organisations themselves, to make sure that the remainder of the £200 million that we've already set aside can be targeted in that way so that those who are most affected and continue to be affected by trading conditions are able to get the maximum help we are able to offer.

Sarah Murphy.

Diolch, Llywydd, and congratulations to you and David on your election as Llywydd and Deputy Presiding Officer. First Minister, over the election campaign, businesses across Bridgend and Porthcawl got in touch with me to pass on their thanks for the way that you and your Government have handled the coronavirus pandemic throughout the last year, particularly to acknowledge the financial support that has been put in place for businesses that have had to close through the bespoke Wales-only economic resilience fund, which has saved over 160,000 jobs. Do you agree with me that if your Government had followed England's approach throughout the lockdown, as the Conservatives have so often suggested, Welsh businesses would have been left worse off and more jobs would have been lost?

I thank Sarah Murphy for that question and congratulate her on her election and for speaking in the Chamber for the first time. I met many businesses with her in the Bridgend area who went out of their way to tell us how much they appreciated the support that they had had from the UK Government and from the Welsh Government as well. It's very easy for some Members in the Chamber to amplify the voices of those people who feel they have a grievance, but the vast bulk of businesses in Wales who have had help from the UK Government and from the Welsh Government recognise the help that they have received. It may not do everything they want, it certainly doesn't wipe away all the challenges they face, but they have appreciated the help that's been available, the speed at which it's been available and the way in which it has allowed them to plot a path through the pandemic and now, hopefully, beyond it. The experience that the Member refers to I think is far, far more typical of the way that businesses in Wales have responded than some of the complaints that we heard earlier this afternoon. 

I have declared an interest on this question.

I thank Rhys for the question. 

Where implementation of the commission’s recommendations does not rely on the UK Government, progress has already been made, for example in the creation of a law council of Wales. The Cabinet’s justice committee will be re-established to pursue the case made by the commission for the devolution of policing and justice to Wales.

Thank you for that response, First Minister. I do hope that we will see a more confirmed timetable as to how the Government intends to implement the recommendations relating to the Welsh Government. When I came here as a schoolboy in 1999 to the opening of the Assembly, I would never have imagined that I would be standing in the Welsh Parliament asking this question. We're very grateful to many of that group from 1999—many from all parties who left after the last Senedd—for the firm foundations that they've laid for us. I'm pleased that one of the team of 1999 is driving forward the reform of the Senedd. But it's an important step forward, First Minister, to ensure that justice and policing are devolved to Wales.

I'm very grateful to the Welsh Government for stepping into the breach following swingeing cuts by the Conservative Party in Westminster, and the huge contribution they make to the justice system—up to 40 per cent of expenditure on justice comes from this place. But that creates a problem, a problem that Lord Thomas noted in his report, and that's a problem of scrutiny. There isn't sufficient scrutiny happening in terms of the significant expenditure coming from the Welsh Government. How would you, as a Government, promote further scrutiny on that substantial expenditure that is making a huge impact on the lives of so many people in Wales? Thank you very much. 

Thank you very much to Rhys ab Owen for that first question since he was elected. I'd like to acknowledge as well his specific expertise in this area, following the work that he did to help to put together the Thomas commission report as part of the secretariat. The stance of the Welsh Government is clear. We believe that justice should be devolved. It's not, for us, a matter now of whether that should happen, but how and when it should happen. 

With regard to scrutiny, I've asked the Counsel General to lead on this work. He will chair a sub-committee on the Thomas report, and there will be opportunities for Members to ask him questions about the timetable, about the work that we do within Wales with regard to the recommendations in the report that are in our hands, but also to ask questions about the work that we're going to do to try to draw the UK Government into the conversation on the report—a report that made the case for the devolution of justice so clearly. 

I thank the Member for the question. We will use all our efforts and energies to create a stronger, fairer and greener Wales, where no-one is held back or left behind. Climate change, green jobs and recovery from the long and terrible pandemic will be at the heart of our new programme for government.

I'm grateful to the First Minister for that, and grateful for the way in which he has led the Welsh Government's response to COVID over the last year or so. And there are many aspects to recovery from COVID, which the First Minister's already described. But, today, I would like again to focus on the future of our town centres. First Minister, John Griffiths spoke earlier today on the future of Newport and our cities, but our towns face a very different challenge to our cities. And I would like to hear from yourself, if possible, how you will be able to address the immediate situation in supporting businesses and persuading people to use their local town centres. But, then, secondly, in the longer term, town centres, as you've already said this afternoon, were under pressure long before COVID, and we've seen towns such as Abertillery or Ebbw Vale, Tredegar or Brynmawr, suffer over a number of years. How is the Welsh Government going to work in the longer term, as well as the immediate term, to create a renaissance for our towns and our town centres?

Llywydd, I thank Alun Davies for that important question. He will know that the Transforming Towns programme of this Government has provided £110 million worth of investment in Welsh towns in the last 12 months alone. That's reinforced by the 'town centre first' principle that the Cabinet adopted during the last term, making it clear that when major investments from the public purse, whether that is in education, health or public services are being considered, town centres should be the first consideration for all decisions on the location of workplaces and services. And there are some very good examples of that in the Member's own constituency. The importance of community pharmacies—they're on the high street in every town right across Wales, and supported significantly by this Welsh Government, drawing people into town centres, providing an anchor store that others can grow around. 

We've put a lot of recent money into recycling centres in the middle of towns. The circular economy fund has supported the development of a new reuse shop in Ebbw Vale itself, and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has provided the first ever online repair directory in Wales, highlighting opportunities that exist within towns in the borough for people to reuse and re-equip themselves for use in the future.

I'm very glad that we've been able to provide over £200,000 to support free access to town centre WiFi, in Ebbw Vale, in Brynmawr, in Abertillery and in Blaenau, because that is an example of the longer term investment to which Alun Davies referred. We need to make sure that the infrastructure is there on the high street for commercial operations to be able to operate in contemporary circumstances, and you can see that already happening in those towns in the Member's constituency. 

And, finally, I know that he has taken a strong personal interest in the Welsh Government's plans for co-working hubs beyond the cities. Many residents in his constituency will travel to work beyond the boundaries of the borough. Now, we are investing £100,000 to create a co-working hub at Parc Bryn Bach in Tredegar, and that's just one example of those co-working hubs we're creating across Valleys communities so that people will be able to work remotely, continue to work from home for part of the week, and then, at other points, come to a centre where they can meet other people, use shared facilities, spend their money in the town centres and in the places where they live and work, and again that is part of a longer term plan that this Government has for the reinvention of those town centres so that there are better jobs, closer to home and people are able to live and work in the communities that matter the most to them. 

I thank Mike Hedges for that, Llywydd. There are economic benefits for businesses and individuals, including reduced costs for travel and overheads. More remote working can also bring more footfall to local town centres. This is why we are trialling local work hubs across Wales, as we've just discussed. Other important benefits include reducing carbon emissions and improved work-life balance.

I was also going to say, another advantage is reduced traffic jams on motorways. But people work in offices because, when everything was paper-based, they had to in order to access data and update files. There has been a movement towards homeworking, with numbers slowly increasing well before the large increase during lockdown. Nine out of 10 employees who worked at home during lockdown would like to continue working at home in some capacity, with around one in two employees wanting to work at home often or all of the time. Homeworking has advantages for employers, as you've outlined, and employees, but it does affect larger towns and city centres by reduction in footfall in those. The question I wanted to ask was: should there be a working from home allowance to cover the costs of people working from home, when they have to pay for electric and gas and other things all day?

Llywydd, Members in this Chamber will be—. Members who were here in the last Senedd will know that our own staff in constituencies, through the work of the Commission, we were able to claim a homeworking allowance for them during the pandemic. And that matter has been discussed at the social partnership council, and I know that it will be on the agenda of future meetings of the council as well. Whether it is the right answer in all circumstances I think is more open to debate, but clearly it has been recognised in some contexts already, including here in the Senedd. And it will be an important discussion, because, as Mike Hedges knows, the Welsh Government has a long-term ambition for 30 per cent of staff at any one time to be working remotely, and we have to create the conditions in which that can be done successfully.

Finally, question 8, Jayne Bryant.

Llywydd, we have appointed Simon Gibson CBE as chair of the Burns delivery board. It will oversee the progression of the 58 Burns recommendations by the unit set up for that purpose in Transport for Wales. A budget of over £4 million has already been approved for that work, to make sure that we can take the recommendations of the commission forward.

Thank you, First Minister. The Burns commission has laid out exciting and deliverable improvements to the transport system in and around Newport—a public transport system that Newport deserves, made possible by forward-thinking and strategic investment by the Welsh Government. With the delivery unit in place, the focus and pace must be kept up, ensuring we see tangible results in Newport. However, key parts of this plan involve the upgrading of rail network infrastructure, an area where the UK Government has responsibility. Over the last few years, Wales has only received 2 per cent of Network Rail's enhancement budgets, despite having around 10 per cent of the UK rail network. The UK Government talks a good game on investment, but seldom delivers. Will the First Minister continue to encourage them to put their money where their mouth is, and deliver the rail investment that Wales both needs and deserves?

I thank Jayne Bryant for that and concur with what she said about the investments the Welsh Government has already made—the £70 million to secure additional services, rail services, between Ebbw Vale and Newport. And I'm very pleased to see that agreement has now been reached on extending on-demand fflecsi buses to cover the whole of the Newport city local bus network. And that's been funded by revenue and capital provided in partnership with Newport City Council. And that will play an important part in providing that local public transport network to which Jayne Bryant referred.

But as she will know, the major recommendation of the Burns review was for proper investment in the main rail line, to create new commuting possibilities that would serve the people, not just of Newport, but of Cardiff and further beyond. Now, the Hendy review—the union connectivity review, set up by the Prime Minister—published its interim report on 10 March. It pointed to the success of transport devolution, and amongst its first recommendations are that the UK Government take up that recommendation from the Burns review, and provide the investment that is needed to make that rail network an effective way of moving people across south Wales.

Now, I make a serious point to the leader of the opposition, that, if the UK Government genuinely wants to demonstrate its commitment to union connectivity, then here is an idea that is ready for it to take up—an idea developed in detail by the Burns commission, endorsed in the Hendy review and ready to go, and if the UK Government really is serious in investing in every part of the United Kingdom, to provide connectivity across the union, and I have no reason to say that they are not, given that the Prime Minister set up the Hendy review, that, when Hendy makes his final recommendations in the summer, this will be a big moment to see whether the UK Government is going to do more, as Jayne Bryant said, than simply talk the talk, but put the investment into making sure that the people of south Wales are served by UK investment in the way that both Burns and the Hendy review have now set out. 

Thank you, First Minister. 

The next item is a motion under Standing Order 9.1 to agree to the First Minister's recommendation to Her Majesty of a person for appointment as Counsel General. I call on the First Minister to formally move the motion. 

Well, it's a pleasure to do so, Llywydd, and I formally move. 

Mick Antoniw. 

Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you to the First Minister for the nomination. I wish to pay tribute to Jeremy Miles who was in this role before me. Thank you to Jeremy Miles for his hard work in developing and promoting a legal jurisdiction for Wales and for defending the constitutional status of this Senedd on behalf of the people of Wales. Over the past few years, since Brexit and as a result of the pandemic, people have come to realise and understand better how important the work of this Senedd is. 

The pandemic, Llywydd, has drawn into sharp focus the influence and impact that the laws made here, in this Senedd, have upon the people of Wales's every day lives. The full impact of the devolution settlement has been recognised both here in Wales and across the United Kingdom. This Senedd and the legislative responsibilities that we are here to exercise have taken place in front and centre in the minds of the Welsh population. I look forward to playing my part in helping the Senedd and the Welsh Government meet the challenges and difficulties we will face over the coming months and years. I will, as always, work to defend and strengthen the integrity of our constitutional role as a Parliament for the people of Wales, our Welsh democracy and the rule of law. Diolch, Llywydd. 

Does the First Minister wish to reply? Perhaps not. No, and therefore the proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No. The motion is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.  

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

Diolch, Llywydd. There are two changes to today's agenda: the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language will make a statement on renew and reform: supporting learners' well-being and progression. Secondly, I have extended the length of the debate on the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 6) Regulations 2021 to 30 minutes. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically. 

Can I congratulate the Trefnydd on her appointment to the Welsh Government's Cabinet and on her other ministerial role as well for both rural affairs and north Wales? Can I call for two Welsh Government statements today, please? The first is in respect of neonatal care in Wales. The Minister will be well aware of the fact that there's been a significant impact on visiting arrangements to neonatal care facilities across the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the charity for babies that are born premature and sick, Bliss, has raised concerns about the visiting arrangements to these, excluding largely the fathers of small and sick babies. And I wonder what action the Welsh Government might be able to take through issuing more updated national guidance, now that the vaccination rate has been so successful and we've seen a significant fall in the number of COVID cases. So, could we have an update on the arrangements for visiting in those particular neonatal care centres across the country?

Secondly, could we have another statement from the Minister for health, this time on access to face-to-face GP appointments? I'm getting increasing correspondence from across the constituency from people who are desperate to be able to book a face-to-face appointment with their GP and who are increasingly frustrated by the call-first triage system that is operating across north Wales and other parts of the country. Now, I can appreciate, obviously, the need to safeguard the infection control arrangements in our GP surgeries, but this is now becoming a matter of contention in many communities and I wonder whether there can be fresh guidance issued that allows a gradual face-to-face appointment regime to return, a more routine regime to return, to our GP surgeries across the country. Thank you.

Thank you, Darren Millar, for your kind words and I look forward to working with you on the Business Committee. You raised two very important points, and I know that it's been a particularly difficult and worrying time for parents and families of babies who've required neonatal care. Obviously, health boards do have flexibility within the current guidelines around visiting and I'm sure that each health board will look, as you say, when the situation improves, to when they can expand the visiting times in those areas.

In relation to your second question around access to general practitioners, we know that, predominantly, people are having consultations by telephone and other technological means. But I know that the new Minister for Health and Social Services, Eluned Morgan, is currently working with GPs themselves and other stakeholders to see when that can be opened up. And again, there is some flexibility around that. I know of certain GP practices in my own constituency where those face-to-face visits are currently happening.

Trefnydd, a report published last week by the End Child Poverty coalition showed that parts of Wales have seen a dramatic increase in child poverty over the past five years and that Wales now has the worst child poverty rate of all the nations in the UK, with 31 per cent of children living below the poverty line.

The situation of child poverty in Wales is a national scandal. Unfortunately, child poverty is not new and the Welsh Government has already tried to address the issue but has failed. Charities and other organisations are calling on the new Welsh Government to prioritise the reduction of child poverty, with clear, measurable milestones and ambitious targets. Will the Trefnydd commit today to allocating time in the parliamentary timetable at the earliest opportunity to give us all an opportunity, as a Parliament, to discuss and to scrutinise the Welsh Government's plans to address child poverty? May I also urge the Trefnydd likewise to allocate time for the Senedd to address the impact of deprivation on our young people, something that the police agree needs to be prioritised when considering, particularly, the incidents of last week in the Mayhill area of ​​Swansea?

Diolch for that question and, clearly, child poverty and the mitigation of child poverty and all forms of poverty will continue to be a priority for this Welsh Labour Government. I will certainly speak with the Minister for Social Justice, Jane Hutt, to see what plans she has in relation to tackling all forms of poverty as well as child poverty, and, when appropriate, I'm sure she will bring forward a statement.

I'm asking for an update on the legislative consent motion on increased sentences for animal cruelty. The Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee unanimously agreed to support it during the last Senedd, but, unfortunately, it was too close to the end for it to be implemented. Can the Trefnydd give us a date for it being brought before the Senedd, because my understanding is that you have unanimous support across parties and within parties for this legislation to come in, which will mean that people who commit crimes of animal cruelty can have their sentences increased massively?

Thank you, Mike Hedges, and, obviously, I'm very well aware of the cross-party support that was there for the LCM. But, unfortunately, the UK Government proceeded with the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill, despite the lack of an opportunity for the Senedd to give consent, owing to the election, and it was during the pre-election period, when I did not think the LCM would be coming forward at that time. We didn't think the Bill would be processing that quickly, so I did write to the UK Government immediately to express my concern in relation to this. I think it's another example of the disrespect for the Sewel convention by the UK Government. I will be issuing a written statement—maybe this afternoon, but certainly hopefully by tomorrow—and I will also be writing to the UK Government again. What I want to provide is detail to Members about how it happened and what action we took as a Welsh Government to avoid it.

I call for a Welsh Government statement on its current position regarding the A55, A494, A548 Flintshire corridor. The Labour Welsh Government announced in 2017 that they had decided on the Flintshire red route option to the A55 at Northop. I subsequently raised constituents' concerns regarding this with the former economy Minister on several occasions, highlighting issues including environmental impact on habitats, meadows and ancient woodland. Last September, he stated,

'We're due to carry out some environmental investigations along the preferred route in autumn 2020.'

Last October he stated,

'We're continuing with the next stage of development on the Flintshire corridor improvement and are currently procuring a designer to develop the designer proposals in more detail.'

Last December, he told me in this Chamber that this route was determined to be the most suitable for the challenge that we face in that particular area of Wales. However, during the recent election, the local Member—herself a Member of the Welsh Government—stated that she opposed the route and it's understood that the First Minister then stated he would review this. I call for a statement accordingly.

This issue is obviously being looked at by the new Minister and I will certainly ask her to bring a statement forward when she has all the relevant information.

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for the opportunity to contribute this afternoon, and congratulations indeed to all of the Members on their election. I'd like to thank my constituents for putting their faith in me to represent them as a regional Member.

The coronavirus pandemic has sparked in us a renewed appreciation for our green spaces, the importance and the beauty of Wales and the Welsh outdoors, and the need for a green recovery. However, last June, when we saw fast-food drive-throughs reopening, our green spaces became plagued with litter. Littering is a pervasive problem across Wales, no less in the south-east, and my constituents are eager to tackle the ever-growing litter crisis. One potential solution to the crisis would be to make it compulsory for fast-food outlets with drive-through facilities to print car number plates on their packaging so that litter can be traced in order to discourage littering. The COVID recovery in south-east Wales has to be a green recovery. So, I would like a statement from the Welsh Government about their plans for tackling the litter crisis, and would the Welsh Government consider adopting this approach to discourage littering? Diolch yn fawr.

Diolch, and croeso. One of the last things I did ahead of the election in my previous portfolio was launch a consultation around fly-tipping and littering. I absolutely agree with you—it's a dreadful thing that, unfortunately, we've seen an increase in, particularly over the last 12 months, and this Government has made it very clear that it has to be a green recovery as we come out of COVID. We can't just keep doing the same things differently; we have to do different things, and part of that will be in the green and indeed the blue recovery. So, I'm sure, when the Minister—I can't remember when the consultation closes, but it hasn't closed yet—has the opportunity to look at the responses, she will bring forward relevant information to all Members at that time.

I'd like to congratulate you, Trefnydd, on your new role also. Trefnydd, at the start of April, the House of Commons select committee on business, energy and industrial strategy published their report into the mineworkers' pension scheme, and their findings were stark. I quote:

'It is patently clear...that the scheme's arrangements have unduly benefited the UK Government and it is untenable for the Government to continue to argue that the arrangements remain fair.'

Governments should not be in the business of profiting from mineworkers' pensions. The report was clear in that this profiting was at the expense of miners and their families, many of whom were struggling to make ends meet. Can we have a statement from Welsh Government on its response to this report, which affects so many of my constituents in Cynon Valley? Could you also ask your colleagues to raise this with UK Ministers so that we can get justice for those affected?

Thank you, Vikki Howells, for raising this very important point. We are very aware of the National Union of Mineworkers' long-standing campaign on this and, obviously, previous Welsh Governments have set out very clearly to the UK Government their support for the position that was adopted by the NUM. The committee that you refer to, I think it's very heartening to see that they came to the same conclusions as the Welsh Government did. It is a non-devolved matter, and obviously it's not in our gift to make their recommendations happen. However, we have a commitment to fair work. You'll be very aware that it is a fundamental principle that workers should receive a fair reward for their work, and I think that includes a fair pension. So, we will continue to press the UK Government on this matter and I will keep Senedd Members updated through written statements.

Minister, may I call for a statement from the Minister for health on the decision to allow doctors to prescribe pills by telephone or video to enable girls and women to abort at home? I am sure many Members have been contacted by people concerned that the removal of any direct medical supervision overseeing the use of these abortion pills at home raises a number of safety issues for the mother, putting their health and safety at risk, and the worry that it could lead to increased pressure being put on the NHS, which is the very consequence the policy is ultimately trying to avoid. The previous health Minister said this was a temporary approval, in light of coronavirus, that would expire on the day on which the temporary provisions of the Coronavirus Act 2020 expire, or the end of the period of two years, beginning with the day on which it was made, or whichever is earlier. With the easing of coronavirus restrictions, and bearing in mind the need to ease the pressure on front-line NHS staff, could we have a statement from the health Minister on whether this temporary policy of allowing women to have access to termination of pregnancy services at home will be permanent or not? Thank you.

Thank you, and thank you for that question. As you say, it was a temporary position announced by the previous Minister for Health and Social Services, and I'm sure, when the new Minister has had time to consider it—and you gave a couple of examples of when it would finish; I don't think we've reached either of those yet—then she will come forward with further information.

Mabon ap Gwynfor.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. Congratulations to you, by the way, on your election to that role, and congratulations to you, Trefnydd, on your appointment to an important role in the Cabinet. May I say at the beginning that it's a privilege to join you as a Member of the Senedd for Dwyfor Meirionnydd? Thank you to the constituents of Dwyfor Meirionnydd for placing their faith in me. May I take this opportunity to note how strange it is to think about this Senedd without my predecessor, Dafydd Elis-Thomas? I thank him for his immense contribution to public life in Wales and to the development of the Senedd.

I was very pleased to hear the First Minister saying in the Chamber last week that he didn't want to see Government Ministers coming to the Chamber denying responsibility for decisions that were done because that responsibility had been transferred to an external body. I very much hope, therefore, that the same will be true of the health service, and in that spirit, therefore, will the Government ensure that the Robin Holden report into mental health services in the north Wales health board will be published in full? Will the Government provide an update on the steps that have been taken to improve mental health services in north Wales since they were taken out of special measures back in the autumn? Thank you.

Diolch and croeso, Mabon. As you know, we have a specific Minister, or Deputy Minister, for mental health and well-being, and Lynne Neagle has just come into that role and, obviously, will have that report on her desk, in her in-tray. I'm sure, at the appropriate time, the report will either be published or there will be a statement to accompany it, because, as you say, it's a very serious issue that this Welsh Government takes very seriously, and we will obviously ensure all Members are informed.

The Welsh Labour manifesto—. Should I first welcome the Minister to her post as Trefnydd and offer my congratulations to her as well? The Welsh Labour manifesto said that,

'We will implement the new Additional Learning Needs Act, to transform the experiences and outcomes for children and young people.'

In order for that to be successful, I think it's going to be a huge test of the Welsh Government. It must be fully funded and must also link seamlessly education, social care and health together, and I think that in itself is a challenge and we mustn't see education only shouldering the burden that will come, and the amount of work that will come, with the introduction of the Act. Therefore, can we have a statement before the summer recess from the health Minister to inform us on how that manifesto pledge will be met by the Welsh Government, and enable us to engage in appropriate scrutiny of the Welsh Government's early plans?

Thank you to Hefin David for his kind words, and I know this is a matter that's very close to his heart. Considerable work has been undertaken, as I'm sure the Member is aware, to prepare for the implementation of the Act. Transformation leads, for instance, have been working very closely with key stakeholders and delivery partners so that the new system is prepared for with the people who are going to deliver it. A guide to the first year of implementation is currently being finalised. That's due to be published in the coming weeks, followed by additional information for parents and their families. And then work will continue in relation to year 2 and year 3 of the implementation, with further implementation guides to follow. 

Congratulations to you in your role as Trefnydd. Now, as you'll be aware, the tourism sector has suffered greatly over the past 14 months, and no more so than in my constituency of Aberconwy, and it's really fantastic, actually, driving along Llandudno promenade now and going through the valley, to see hotels starting to slowly reopen. However, they are still at a major disadvantage here in Wales compared to those over the border in England. Here, hotels are subjected to the 2m rule, whilst in England it is 1m plus, so that does affect restaurant bookings—they have to have half the numbers in there. Now, we have the unreasonable prohibition on live performance in hotels. Some of my constituents who are, indeed, employed as entertainers in this sector haven't worked for about 16 months now, and we're also hearing of hotels losing customers to England—you know, coach tours. They want entertainment in their hotel. So, will you bring forward a statement, Trefnydd, on ensuring that we do have a level playing field as soon as possible so that hoteliers in Aberconwy can work to the 1m plus rule, and also that we can go back to having live entertainment in our hotels? Thank you. Diolch, Llywydd. 

Thank you, Janet Finch-Saunders, for your kind words and I look forward to working with you too. In relation to—. I don't see it as being an unlevel playing field. Clearly, England have different regulations to what we have in Wales around coronavirus. Sometimes they meet, sometimes they don't, and, obviously, representing a border constituency, I'm very well aware that people feel it's an unlevel playing field, but it really isn't. And you will have heard the First Minister answer extensively around hospitality and other sectors in relation to coronavirus. Next week, we have a further review of the regulations. Everything will be considered, but, as the First Minister said, the priority is keeping people and, obviously, businesses in Wales safe. We have supported businesses in the way, again, that the First Minister outlined, and it is good to see places opening up now and people in restaurants et cetera. But I think we have to always consider safety and preserving as many lives as possible, which has always been the underlying reason for the restrictions we've had in place. 

Trefnydd, welcome to your new role. 

I'd like to ask for a statement on coal tip safety in the southern Wales Valleys. Earlier this year, it was reported that nearly 300 coal tips in Wales have been classified as high risk, with the largest number for any one local authority area being in Caerphilly in my region. Now, I realise that many of these will be on private land—they're not all under local authority control—but some constituents have contacted me asking if information about the location of these sites could be made more accessible for the public. So, I'd ask for clarity on that, but, more importantly, I'd like to know what action the Welsh Government is taking now, how this has developed since the election, and what actions you're demanding of the UK Government, because surely they should be paying to make these tips safe. The profits of mining didn't stay in these valleys, and yet we have paid such a high price for coal mining. Trefnydd, I represent an area that has been blighted by grief because of coal tips, and since the landslip last year in Tylorstown, in the adjoining region, I know that people living near these tips get so scared every time we have high rainfall, as has happened these past few weeks. So, could I please ask for a statement so that we can lessen people's anxieties, so that we can have openness, but, most importantly, so that we can know what actions will be taken to assuage people's concerns? Diolch yn fawr iawn.

[Inaudible.]—Delyth Jewell. As you know, there has been a huge amount of work done in relation to coal tip safety since we had that landslide in Tylorstown in February 2020. The First Minister convened a coal tip safety forum, and obviously the UK Government—the Secretary of State for Wales—sat on that forum, because, as you say, it is the UK Government that—. This is a legacy; this predates devolution. And clearly the UK Government need to provide significant funding, because, as you say, with every month that passes, that bill gets bigger and bigger. So, it is really important. 

One of the things that became very apparent very quickly was that we didn't know where all those coal tips were and who owned them. So, a huge amount of work has been done to get a register, because, as you say, many of them are privately owned. A lot of them are in the local authority ownership, but I think the majority of them are privately owned. So, this is a piece of work that's been done. There is a helpline. The Welsh Government made sure that there was a helpline available for people if they're concerned, and I will make sure that that phone number for that helpline goes to all Members, because, clearly, we've got new Members who may not be aware of it. But this is a piece of work that continues to be a priority for the Welsh Government, working with the UK Government and, obviously, local authorities.

I'd like to ask for an urgent statement on any potential free trade deal with Australia. We heard the news over the weekend that the UK Conservative Government is turning its back on rural Wales and turning its back on the agricultural industry. We've heard from both farming unions about the potential detrimental effect on farming across the whole of our country on the basis of a free trade deal that will benefit the Tories' funders in the City of London and will sacrifice Welsh agriculture to pay for that. It's important for the future not only of upland Wales, not only of rural Wales, but of our own national identity that we are able to debate and discuss these matters in this Parliament and to ensure that this Parliament's voices are heard—that we want to support our farmers and we want to support our sheep industry. even if the Conservative Government is turning its back on them, and we do need an urgent statement on that, or an opportunity to debate these matters.

I'd like to ask also for a statement on off-roading and its impact on communities in Wales. Members and the Minister may have seen the reports on the BBC yesterday from Mynydd Carn-y-Cefn in Ebbw Vale, where graziers have been debating and discussing how off-roading is affecting them, affecting our local environment in Blaenau Gwent, but also is having a real effect on the communities of the borough as well. This is something that has been going on for some years, and off-roaders, in breaking down fences, in destroying our environment, are having a real impact on our borough and on the environment of the Heads of the Valleys. But I recognise it's also an issue elsewhere in the country. I hope that the Welsh Government will be able to make a statement on this and bring different agencies together in order to address this issue.

Thank you. At this point, we don't know the exact details of the UK Government's offer to Australia. Like you, I've read lots of speculation in the press, but, certainly, Welsh Government officials from within my own portfolio and within the economy portfolio have been working very closely with the UK Government to make very clear our views that everything has to be done to support our agriculture sector, and that includes the quotas and the tariffs for agriculture. I met with the National Farmers Union last week, along with Vaughan Gething, the Minister for Economy, to hear what they were saying, because clearly they have very strong views on it also. I think we need to continue to have those discussions with the UK Government. Our officials are also meeting regularly with the Department for International Trade as well as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs officials as well. I think we need to be kept up to date, but certainly we are not privy to a lot of the information that I've, unfortunately, read in the press.

The negotiations with Australia are continuing. I also read that, I think it's Liz Truss, the international trade Secretary hopes to finish them by next month, so some sort of conclusion needs to come. But until we know the exact details we are just continuing to work very closely, and I am certainly seeking to have some information from the DEFRA Secretary of State as a matter of urgency.

In relation to your second point, on off-roading, I will ensure that the Minister has heard what you said, because I think it's really important that agencies do work together, but I will ask her to write to the Member.

I thank the Trefnydd. We are out of time on this item. I will now suspend proceedings briefly to allow changeovers in the Siambr. The bell will be rung two minutes before proceedings restart.

Welcome back. The next item on the agenda is a statement by the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language on renew and reform, supporting learners' well-being and progression. I call on the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. As Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, my most urgent priority is clear, namely ensuring that every child and young person progresses to their full potential, in spite of the pandemic. Every decision I make as Minister will be guided by the needs of learners and their well-being, with a focus on narrowing educational inequalities and ensuring the best outcomes for all.

The last year has clearly been very important for our schools, our educational settings, our colleges and universities, and has shown how important they are for our children and young people. Education practitioners have heroically risen to the challenges of the pandemic, showing remarkable adaptability, commitment and resilience. I want to thank them for their dedication, innovation and swift response. Learners too have had to adapt, learning and working in very different ways. But the truth is that despite all of this, the pandemic has taken a significant toll on our young people, on the education profession that supports them, and on their families. Many of our children and staff have found it harder to manage their mental health and their relationships with others, and this has shone a light on the stubborn inequalities that still exist in parts of our educational system, gaps in attainment and in digital access that none of us should tolerate.

We must ensure that nobody is left behind. This will require an extraordinary effort from all parts of the Government and the education system to address both the immediate and longer term impacts of COVID on education. In recent years, we have made strong gains in supporting pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. We must build on this. We cannot allow the pandemic to narrow young people's aspirations.

As a Minister who will be working with the profession, every policy and decision I take will be done through the lens of whether it supports our most disadvantaged learners. Our aim is to ensure that learners progress to their full potential, no matter where they are right now. And this is not about telling learners that they are 'behind' or about packing in hours working on worksheets and tests. We cannot base our recovery from the pandemic on a deficit model. Instead, we need to reignite a passion for learning and make sure that all learners—in particular learners who have been most adversely impacted—feel supported every step of the way. We will put our learners first by supporting their health and well-being, their levels of motivation and confidence, and making sure that they continue to develop the key skills that enable them to learn. These are the foundations on which our learners will make the progress they need.

The packages of support that we are developing are designed to address the unique challenges faced by different learners. Every learner has had their own COVID experience, and the nature of our support will reflect that. Our support will focus on helping post-16 learners to progress to the next steps on their journey, providing the foundations that enable our most vulnerable and disadvantaged learners to achieve their potential, and supporting crucial development in early years learners.

And those youngest learners will be supported by the additional £13 million that I'm announcing today for schools and non-maintained settings, to help them provide extra teaching capacity to support the unique needs of early years learners. Opportunities for meaningful, quality interactions are essential, and enabling increased practitioner-to-learner ratios will help deliver the supported, active educational play and experiential learning that our youngest learners require. 

There have been particular challenges for our youngest learners who attend Welsh-medium schools where Welsh is not spoken at home. Teachers in Welsh-medium schools have worked extremely hard during the pandemic to support learners' progression in Welsh, and more importantly, their love of learning through the medium of Welsh. We will continue to support those teachers and learners, building on the support of the Recruit, Recover and Raise Standards programme, which has helped to increase capacity and to bring new and innovative approaches to meeting schools' linguistic needs.

I am in no doubt our new curriculum has the potential to transform learning, but only if we support our teachers to make it a success. We must recover and reform, and I'm determined that the emphasis on well-being and flexibility shown over the last year is built upon and closely aligned with the introduction of our new curriculum. Our education system has shown remarkable resilience and flexibility, and we must learn from that. 

I will be looking to take immediate action to support the profession and give them the space to focus on what they do best: teaching. That means tackling unnecessary bureaucracy, trusting in their professional judgment and supporting their well-being. I want the whole system to learn from what has worked in the last year and continue to build capacity to improve.

That's why I'm also announcing £6.25 million to help teachers in schools expand their capacity and capability to support learner well-being within teaching, promoting best practice and sharing that across schools, so that we help schools build resilience to COVID and expand on the positive changes to ways of working. This brings our investment to over £150 million in teaching support in schools and colleges in the last year. 

I will work in partnership with the profession, our education partners, trade unions and other stakeholders, to make sure we are aligned to these common priorities and move towards them together. I will listen to the voices of our learners, building on the valuable work of the Children's Commissioner for Wales's 'Coronavirus and Me' surveys, so our children and young people have a say in the policies that affect them most.

Our partners have already helped us to define the governing principles that I've set out today for our renewal and reform plans. In the coming weeks, I will publish a plan in detail that reflects those principles and builds on and supports the 1,800 extra full-time teaching staff recruited over the last year. The plan will also describe how we will work with our partners to enable learners to confidently progress through their education. And finally, it'll set out how we will evaluate the steps we propose, and how we will show that our plans are succeeding, both in supporting our learners and teachers and in renewing the education sector to progress to reform.  

Dirprwy Lywydd, this next year will be crucial to making sure we can achieve our high ambitions for learners in Wales. It is incumbent upon us not to allow the pandemic to dampen the aspirations nor narrow the horizons of our children and young people. The decisions we take here and now are integral to ensuring every single learner is supported to be the best they can be.

COVID-19 has not gone away, and as a Government we will continue to do everything we can to respond to the pandemic. But now is the time to support our practitioners and learners to make the progress they need, to build on the gains we have made in recent years, and to look forward and to seize the opportunities that lie ahead for education in Wales.

Before I call the next speaker, can I remind Members, both old and new, that the purpose of statements is to ask questions and not make long speeches? That's for debates, which will come later on in the Senedd; I'm sure everyone will partake in that. So, whilst there are five minutes allocated to the spokespeople for the main parties, everyone else has one minute. Please do keep to that and ask questions. And to the Ministers, can I remind them to be succinct in their answers as well? 

Thank you for your statement, Minister. Firstly, may I congratulate you on your appointment as education Minister? It's such a vitally important role; you really do have the future of our children in Wales in your hands now. And it's to this end that, as well as to scrutinise you and to hold you to account, we the Welsh Conservatives will look to work with you in any way we can, in a constructive manner, because the importance now on getting education right and the future of our children, after everything they've been through in the pandemic over the last year and a half—it's absolutely vital that we get it right, and it's vital that we work together across the Chamber in order to make this so. 

We need to ensure that our children get the very best start in life, that they get the fair, equal and progressive education system that they deserve, and that they get the support and opportunities to move on into their future lives. I too would like, like you outlined in your statement, to just quickly thank, if I may, Deputy Presiding Officer, all the educational staff that have looked after our children throughout this pandemic with the whole new ways of working, working from home. As a parent of an 11-year-old, I saw first-hand the difficulties in that, in reaching our children, and also delivering that education. So, hats off to them. They did such a fantastic job in such trying circumstances. 

Also, I'd like to just mention the pandemic and the impact that that had. It was massive. It obviously impacted everybody, but our young people gave up so much of their lives, and gave up so much to protect the vulnerable in our society, and they've missed out on some education because of it, but also the social aspect of school, which we now see, as you've outlined in your statement, as vital, and a vitally important part of our children's education system journey. So, I just wanted to ensure that we really do focus on that. 

In regard to the statement, with regard to funding, of course, we welcome your statement, and we welcome more funding coming to the education system. It's vital now that we're not just filling gaps with money, but we really look at how we can support our children long term, and our teachers long term now, and keep that funding going for as long as is necessary to help them get back on their feet—both pupils and teachers. We welcome the funding, but specifically, Minister, can you just outline how that funding is going to be used? Is it going to be used for new teachers, or is it, like in the last round of funding, going to be used for new teaching assistants? Obviously, there's a big difference between the two, and we've seen the number of teachers fall over the last few years. So, it would be good to bolster the number of teachers that we have. I'd appreciate clarity on that. 

Also, when it comes to teacher assessment grades, we need to look at the here and now, and that's what's most pressing in our schools at the moment. We have enormous amounts of pressure being put on our schools and our teachers to get this right, and it's important that we all work together to make sure that the teacher assessment grades are fair and right, but the pressure they're putting on doing the assessments and everything, and everything that goes with it to get to that point now, is massive.

I know you visited a school in my region recently, Monmouth Comprehensive School, and I know that the headteacher there was very concerned about the numbers he's got to deal with—having to deliver 30,000 teacher assessment grades and all that's involved in that. I just wanted to know what sorts of plans you've got in place to support our teachers in that regard. And also, do you think that that pressure, then, if you're looking into trying to deliver this new curriculum, on the timetable that we have—do you think those pressures are steering people off course in the time now that they should be using to prepare for delivering that new curriculum, in the timescales that we have? So I'm just wondering if you could answer a few of those questions.

Also, when it comes to Welsh-medium education, your statement acknowledges there have been particular challenges for the younger learners who attend Welsh-medium schools, where Welsh wasn't spoken at home. This is an issue that's been recently raised by Estyn in recent engagement with our schools, and many schools felt that, overall, there was some regression in our pupils' language skills. So, there is need, Minister, and I'm sure you'll agree with me, for more targeted help for these particular learners. I'd be interested to see what you have to say about that.

And also, when it comes to mental health, mental health has to be a—

Can I remind the Member that she's now had the five minutes? I will emulate my predecessor in making sure that people keep to the time.

Okay. Sorry. I'll just wind up. Obviously, mental health has to be an absolute priority, but in your statement you didn't actually cover the mental health of our teachers and how they're going to be supported. So, I'd appreciate your comments on that. Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer.

Thank you for your words of congratulation, and for the tone in which you made your observations. I certainly will want to work constructively with all of the parties in this Chamber to deliver for our children and young people, right across Wales. I think if we focus on learner well-being and progression, supporting the well-being of the profession, in the way that the Member referenced at the end of her question, we will find plenty of common ground.

At the end of the last Senedd, we undertook an extensive exercise, as the Member will know, in looking at the impact of COVID across all aspects of our society. It was very clear then, as we discussed in this Chamber at the end of the last Senedd, that our children and young people would bear a significant burden of dealing with COVID unless we take particular steps to intervene. That's what motivates the statement that I've made today. I do agree with the Member that a long-term vision and a long-term commitment is absolutely essential. I think that is the motivation behind a number of the interventions that we have made to date, which do focus on the ability of learners to learn, but in a way that supports their broader well-being, gives them the skills that they need, or to relearn the skills that they may have not been able to exercise in the last year, so that their engagement with their learning is what it can be. I think there will need to be a very bespoke approach to learners, because not all learners' experience of the last year has been the same.

In relation to the funding that the Member asked me about, she'll remember the announcement at the end of the last Senedd term of £72 million worth of investment, which was mainly intended to support our three Rs funding, which has a particular focus on vulnerable and disadvantaged learners, and in addition to that, the funding of £33 million to support post-16 teaching in further education colleges and local authority sixth forms. And that, together with the funding today, we will be deploying to support learners in the future, in the period ahead.

With regard to the new funding, it serves two purposes. Firstly, to improve the ratios for early years learners. We know that building relationships, learning through play, is absolutely essential in the early years, and therefore the ratios are very important. So, the funding is designed to improve those ratios, and then also to provide resources so that teachers can support the well-being of learners through learning, and that that best practice is shared amongst our schools. So, it has those twin purposes.

The Member asked some very specific questions about the work in terms of centre-determined grades for the assessments this summer. I do absolutely recognise that teachers are playing an absolutely essential role in delivering that. We learnt that from last summer—how important it is to trust teachers' judgements in delivering the outcomes for our learners. I recognise that that involves them managing competing priorities in their work life. We've sought to support that through providing resources and materials, through providing some extra flexibility, in particular in relation to end-of-stage assessment and moderation in non-qualification years, and provided some additional funding so that schools can build some extra capacity into their provision. 

In relation to the curriculum, I don't want to lose the momentum that exists in the system towards implementing the curriculum. There is a great enthusiasm, I think, and what I think we have learnt from COVID is that learners need to be able to be adaptable and enterprising and respond to a changing world around them—and that crucial focus on learner well-being. Those are exactly the qualities that we need in our school system in order to flourish in the world of the new curriculum. So, I'm keen that we move forward, and that we build on what we've learnt over the course of the last year, and take that forward into the new curriculum. 

Finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, on the question of mental health, I think the question of learner and professional well-being is at the heart of this. The whole-school framework was published at the end of the last Senedd term. We've announced significant funding to take that forward in this Senedd term, and it remains a fundamental commitment on my part to deliver that in our schools. 

Many congratulations to you on your appointment. I look forward to working with you, Jeremy. You will know that I will be scrutinising your work in detail and I'll be challenging you where necessary in order to improve the experiences of children and young people in Wales and those who support them. I very much hope that you will be willing to meet regularly. Doing so with your predecessor was very valuable indeed. 

Thank you very much for your statement this afternoon. There is a great deal of work to be done in dealing with the impacts of the pandemic, as you have already said, but, unfortunately, COVID has not gone away, and there is a risk of a third wave, and that is becoming increasingly likely. That, of course, could lead to further disruption in education. Unfortunately, there are gaps in the data and information available in terms of the India variant in schools. We've heard that teaching unions in England are very concerned about the lack of transparency from the UK Government in terms of the impact and spread of that variant in school settings. If we are to see the variant starting to spread in Wales, then we need to understand it, before it becomes a problem and has an impact on education. So, my first question this afternoon is: has the Welsh Government seen data on the spread of the India variant and the impact, or likely impact, of that on schools in Wales? 

Schools have had to close their doors in certain areas of England recently, and this has also started to happen in Wales too, unfortunately. On Monday, we saw 335 pupils in West Park school in Porthcawl having to self-isolate, and there is a very real risk that we will see disruption similar to what we saw in previous lockdowns. So, I would like to know what the Welsh Government's plans are to mitigate the impacts of self-isolation and losses in terms of learning on the progression and well-being of pupils in Wales. We, of course, hope it doesn't happen, but we must have assurances that you have plans in place related to connectivity and dealing with issues around the equipment and space necessary for teaching and learning. And I do hope that there will be an opportunity for you this afternoon to outline exactly what that plan entails.

In your statement you set out a vision of supporting children and young people from deprived backgrounds, and I agree entirely with you on that. Child poverty continues to restrict the progress and well-being of our learners and is damaging to all aspects of child development here in Wales. It's perhaps greater than any other factor in that regard. 

I am going to turn now to the benefits of free school meals for all. We know that a nutritious school meal provided regularly can improve performance within schools and can also lead to improvements in child health more generally, but we also know that half of the children living in poverty in Wales are missing out on free school meals—over 70,000 children. The pandemic, of course, has exacerbated that poverty, including child poverty, and is therefore having an even greater impact on the education and well-being of our young people. So, my final question this afternoon is: will you do the just thing, namely expand the qualification for free school meals to children from families in receipt of universal credit? When will you outline your timetable for delivering that? Thank you.

Thank you very much to Siân Gwenllian for her questions and thank you for the offer to collaborate. I am certainly eager myself to collaborate and I intend to send out an invitation to party spokespeople on education and the Welsh language to meet regularly so that we can develop a pattern of open communication about the challenges that we all certainly want to work on in order to solve them.

In terms of the future pattern of the spread of the variant and the pandemic more generally, of course, none of us can forecast for sure what lies ahead in the coming months. What we can do here in Wales is look at the current pattern of the spread of the variant in England and learn lessons from what we observe there and the data that emanate from the transmission there. Therefore, we have an opportunity to learn from their experiences, because they see the spread occurring there before it happens here in Wales, and, of course, the impact of that on how the schools operate is vitally important. Of course, the Member will know that the advice that we receive from the incident management teams is that social spreading is behind the examples of transmission and the impact on the classroom and that is the pattern that we continue to see. But, of course, we will have contingency plans. I have already talked to some of the teaching unions about providing some sort of picture of what schools will look like in the autumn, but I think there is a clear understanding that it is difficult to forecast these patterns. But the assurance that I give is to work with the profession and with the local authorities to look transparently at the challenges ahead of us so that we have back-up plans in place that are appropriate for all eventualities. We would certainly want to provide support, as Siân Gwenllian said, to pupils who have to self-isolate—online provision, digital provision and more widespread provision.

In terms of school meals, I am already looking with officials at the options that we can consider. This year, around £23 million has been allocated for free school meals and the school holiday enrichment programme over the summer will be the most wide-ranging that we have ever run. But I accept that there is a commitment in our manifesto to look at the qualifications for free school meals and we will certainly be pursuing that.

Education Cabinet Minister—can I also begin by congratulating you on your appointment as Minister for Education and Welsh Language? I know that the children of Islwyn and Wales will have no greater champion and I thank you for your informative statement today. 

Islwyn schools, children, staff, families and governors have done all they can and more to maintain learning and resilience during this unprecedented pandemic. And today's announcement that an extra £13 million will be provided to support the unique needs of early years learners, plus an additional £6.25 million to help schools build resilience through COVID is very warmly welcomed.

Minister, will you join me in celebrating the mammoth efforts of schools across Islwyn, and in particular Trinant Primary School and their headteacher, Mrs Sian James, for their hugely innovative work as part of the FareShare Cymru community? And will you, as education Minister firstly, accept an invitation to visit Islwyn—early in your term of office—to visit Trinant Primary School and see for yourself that excellent work that they are doing to ensure that every child progresses to reach that full potential? And also, will you join with me in welcoming the ministerial portfolios of well-being and the arts and joined-up working in promoting pupil potential and well-being and, obviously, in particular now, as the Welsh Government look to roll out the music Wales manifesto pledge, fulfilling young people's potential and equality of educational access and predicated on an ability to play and not pay?

I thank Rhianon Passmore for that and for her continuing championing of the needs and interests of young people right across Wales, as well as her own constituency of Islwyn. I join with her in congratulating the educational workforce in the school that she mentioned and across Islwyn, indeed, across Wales, for the extraordinary efforts that they have shown over the course of the last 12 to 15 months, which have been, obviously, exceptionally challenging. But I think that teachers and the education workforce more broadly have shown great innovation, great compassion and great creativity in making sure that learners' experience is the best it can be in those extraordinarily challenging circumstances, and I shall be very grateful to accept an invitation if I receive one to visit the school.

She ended by talking about the area that I know has been incredibly close to her heart and that she's worked very hard to ensure we can all make progress on, and that's in relation to music provision in school. She and I have spoken a bit about this many times since we've both benefited from that, very much so, in our time at school. She will know the commitment that we have to introduce a national music service. It will be the privilege of my colleague Dawn Bowden to take that forward, but I look forward very much to working with her. I believe that the Member is meeting with her very shortly, and I shall be meeting with my colleague very shortly after that to support her and her work in taking that forward.

Minister, one of the important factors in helping young children to recover from the pandemic is the learning environment. It's also very important, of course, for their well-being and the well-being of staff. But concerns have been raised by many young people and their parents with me regarding the ongoing requirement to wear face masks and face coverings in secondary schools in Wales. Given that there has been a significant change across the border in England and that that requirement no longer is there, what consideration has the Welsh Government given to looking at this particular requirement again, especially given that concerns have been raised by the children's commissioner about the impact that face coverings can have on young people's well-being in terms of the discomfort that people can experience, the skin rashes and conditions that people are having, and the fact that, of course, those who wear spectacles can often have difficulty seeing through those spectacles because of the steam that can be created? I think it is something that does need to be looked at.

I thank Darren Millar for that important question. The point in his question that I think struck me as essential is to listen to the voices of children and young people who are affected by this, and I met with the children's commissioner recently, and, obviously, this was one of the issues that we discussed. A recent focus group of learners held on our behalf by Children in Wales gave their views about wearing face masks or face coverings, which were mixed views, I think, and some of it reflects what the Member describes, some of it reflected concerns about wanting to continue wearing them. So, I think it's a mixed picture.

In terms of the comparison with England, as the Member will know, we look at these questions in the three-weekly cycle that we have set. The Government needs to look at all interventions on that basis; that's what the law tells us to do, and that is what we do. Whilst we know that the numbers of transmission in Wales are better than they have been for a long time and are in a good place, we also know about the impact of the variant of concern that we've been talking about earlier in this session. And so, we have to look at the picture, I think, in the round. But the assurance that I can give to the Member is that we do look at it in the round, we are conscious of the adverse impacts that this has as well as the precautionary impact that it has, and that we will work with the technical advisory group and their expertise, the public health advice that we get, to make sure that the judgments we make in this area are robust and, we think, reflect the risk analysis as it is. As I say, it's something we keep entirely under review, and we will work with the profession, local authorities and listen to the voices of young people in making those decisions.

Vikki Howells.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Congratulations to you on your appointment, and congratulations to you, Cabinet Secretary for education, as well. Thank you for your statement today, the content and tone of which, I am sure, will be welcomed by teachers, students and parents across Wales. And as a former teacher, I know only too well the burden that bureaucracy places upon our teaching staff, and how that burden detracts from the time our teachers are able to spend on preparing and delivering high-quality lessons, as well as impacting on time spent offering crucial pastoral care and support to their students, too. So, on behalf of teachers everywhere, can I thank you, Minister, for acknowledging the issue of bureaucracy in your very first statement as education Minister and for committing to tackling unnecessary bureaucracy within the profession, too? I'm absolutely convinced that doing so is key to raising not just morale among the profession, but also raising standards across the board by freeing teachers up to teach. Therefore, can I ask, Minister, what conversations you have had, or are planning to have, with the teaching unions regarding how best to identify and strip away these layers of bureaucracy, and what examples of best practice you may be looking at from other countries around the world regarding how this can be done?

Linked to this, you rightly point out that our education system has shown remarkable resilience and flexibility over the course of the pandemic and that we must learn from this. Minister, how do you intend to draw together the best practices demonstrated over the past year, roll them out across Wales and, crucially, embed them into established teaching and learning practices?

Finally, Minister, I am pleased to see that—

The Member has had three questions and we've gone past the time, so I think that we will ask the questions. 

Diolch.

I thank Vikki Howells for the questions that she has asked. I think it is important to recognise that we need to bring a fresh pair of eyes to the question of the bureaucracy or some of the burdens in terms of administration that we place on the profession and to look at that creatively and see what we can lift in terms of that unnecessary bureaucracy, if you like. There is a managing workload and reducing bureaucracy group, which has been established within the Welsh Government to look at the issues, both as a result of the pandemic but also in the longer term in the way that her question was anticipating. I think it is important that we make sure that we listen to our professionals, and the group itself includes members from teachers' trade unions, local authorities and practitioners, and it is their work that will help inform our ambition in this space.

The other point I just want to make is that I think it's incredibly important for us to look at best practice wherever we can find it, whether it's in other parts of the UK or further afield, and it's certainly one of my ambitions that we continue to do that as we take this work forward. 

And finally, Sam Rowlands. 

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and congratulations to you, Minister, on your appointment, and thank you for your statement this afternoon. I'd like to first of all just join with you in thanking our hard-working professionals and also our learners for all their efforts in these last 14, 15 months or so, through very difficult circumstances. Your statement is specifically about the well-being of and the support for learners and their progression as well, and clearly a significant part of that progression over the next five years of this Senedd term is the implementation of the new curriculum. I've been contacted by a number of people who have concerns around the funding to deliver that new curriculum that is around the corner. So, the question is: what further funding will you make available to schools and to educationalists to ensure that the new curriculum is delivered in the best possible way?

Thank you to the Member for his question. Well, we will make sure that our schools are funded in order to be able to continue the good work that they are doing now and to be able to introduce the curriculum in a way that benefits learners right across Wales. As I mentioned in my reply to the earlier question, I think we've learnt over the last year how important it is that we make sure that our learners' well-being is at the heart of everything that we do and also that our learners are equipped to be adaptable and responsive to changes in the world around them. So, we will want to make sure that we do everything we can to ensure that the introduction of the curriculum happens smoothly and effectively and to the benefit of our learners right across Wales. 

The next item is the Trade in Animals and Related Products (Wales) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021. I call on the Minister for rural affairs to move the motion. Lesley Griffiths.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I move the motion. Thank you for the opportunity to briefly explain the background on the Trade in Animals and Related Products (Wales) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2021. These regulations were made using the made-affirmative procedure under powers conferred on Welsh Ministers by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. They were made on 22 March, laid before the Senedd on 24 March, and came into force on 31 March. Due to urgency in needing to amend the date of 1 April 2021, it was necessary for these regulations to be made and come into force before being approved by resolution of the Senedd. In order for these regulations to remain in effect, approval of the Senedd is being sought today.

These regulations amend Schedule 5 to the Trade in Animals and Related Products (Wales) Regulations 2011 to change the date from which transitional requirements of prior notification for imports into Wales of products of animal origin apply from 1 April 2021 to 31 July 2021. The reason for the change in date is that, following a review by officials of the implementation plan for import controls, a decision was made at the UK Government ministerial exit operations committee to delay the introduction of documentary and physical checks. This is because, since the end of the transition period, businesses and competent authorities have had to adapt and meet extensive new requirements when moving goods under the new trading relationship with the EU. As the other administrations were in agreement to extend the transitional period, changes were made at GB level to retained EU law by the UK Government, with the consent of Welsh Ministers.

To align with the changes to retained EU law and legislation in England and Scotland, these regulations therefore also amend the 1 April 2021 date to 31 July 2021 in the Trade in Animals and Related Products (Wales) Regulations 2011. No points were raised in respect of these regulations in the legal advice note prepared by the Senedd's legal advisers and laid before the Senedd on 24 May. Diolch.

I have no speakers to this item and therefore there's no need for the Minister to reply. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No, and therefore the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

In accordance with Standing Order 12.24, unless a Member objects, the five motions under items 6 to 10 will be grouped for debate but with votes taken separately. I don't see any objection to that.

And therefore I will call on the Minister for Health and Social Services to move these motions. Eluned Morgan.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. I move the motions before us this afternoon. The coronavirus control plan was published on 14 December 2020. It notes four alert levels that correspond to risk levels, including the necessary measures at each alert level to control the spread of the virus. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) Regulations 2020 came into force on 20 December last year. These put in place the legislative framework for the alert levels and placed Wales at alert level 4, the highest level of restrictions.

In March, a new plan to control coronavirus was drawn up, which was updated to take into account the vaccination programme and the Kent variant. This plan noted how we would move down through the alert levels cautiously, step by step, and would take cautious steps in relaxing restrictions.

The Welsh Government was consistently clear in how we were to release restrictions following lockdown and our top priority was always to enable children to return to face-to-face learning. The last Senedd approved previous amendments to the regulations that began the cautious, step-by-step move to alert level 3. Amendment regulations numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9, which are before us today, continued this incremental move to alert level 3 that was completed on 3 May. These have meant significant relaxations to the restrictions on people and businesses across Wales. These include removing the 'stay local' requirements, providing for all retailers and gyms to reopen, and making it possible for extended households to be formed between any two households.

The continued improvements in the public health situation mean we can currently move between the alert levels in single steps. The amendment No. 10 regulations moved Wales directly to alert level 2 from 17 May. This included allowing up to six people from different households to meet indoors in pubs, cafes and restaurants. Now, clearly there is a need to continue to closely monitor increasing reports in England of cases of the so-called Indian variant. The public health conditions, including the latest advice in relation to this worrying new variant, will determine whether we can move to alert level 1 after the next review of restrictions, due by 3 June. Now, any move to alert level 1 would primarily increase the size of gatherings permitted. This would include providing for the rule of six, to enable more indoor mixing in each other's homes.

All amending regulations to the coronavirus restrictions have been subject to the made-affirmative procedure for reasons of urgency. The No. 9 amendment regulations were made whilst the Senedd was dissolved for the elections, and they were laid as soon as possible after the formation of the new Senedd. Now, we're very aware that the restrictions in place have often been very challenging for families and businesses, and I'm really grateful to the people of Wales for all their hard work, which means that currently we have the lowest rates of coronavirus in the whole of the United Kingdom. Coupled to this, our vaccination programme continues to make remarkable progress. These conditions have enabled us to ease restrictions in a cautious manner. Now, the Welsh Government will continue to carefully review these regulations, guided by scientific and medical advice, to ensure that we keep Wales safe. Diolch, Llywydd.

Can I first of all thank the Minister for her introduction to the regulations today, and can I congratulate the Minister very sincerely on her new appointment also? We in Welsh Conservatives will support the regulations this afternoon, as, in my opinion, and in Welsh Conservatives' opinion, it's the right approach in terms of easing the restrictions on the economy and opening up society again.

I would like to make a few points that, hopefully, Minister, you can take into account at your next review point as well. Those would be—. First of all, it's in regards to business support, and I hope I can take the heat out of some of the exchanges earlier today, first of all by saying I think that businesses are hugely grateful for the support from the UK Government and the Welsh Government during the pandemic, and I think they're hugely grateful for that support. I think the latest round of restrictions—sorry, the latest round of business support—in terms of the eligibility checker that was released last Monday, has caused a lot of businesses concern. They simply—. Some of the criteria are too rigid. Now, I understand we have to have those criteria—this is public money being spent—but I would just question the balance in that regard, and I hope that this can be considered by you and your colleagues in terms of the next review point.

It's also important to remember as well that many businesses are still not able to reopen, even given the current easing of restrictions. I'm thinking of particularly the hospitality sector, many restaurants, pubs and cafes, just because they can't offer that social distance element and they can't open outdoors. So, I'm particularly thinking about them, and they haven't even been able to recuperate their losses from last year. So, I think these are important considerations to take at the next review date.

Also, if I could raise a point as well about swimming pools that's been raised by me and others, Minister, and I think it may have been raised with you as well. Although the restrictions have been eased, many swimming pools are simply not able to open because of the restrictions—social-distancing restrictions don't allow that to happen; it's not cost-effective for them to open. Now, I appreciate Welsh Government has brought forward some funding in that regard, but I would perhaps ask her to relook at that funding and the restrictions as well to see if more swimming pools can be opened, because my fear would be that, if that doesn't change, then some of these swimming pools will never reopen again, and of course we all know the repercussions of that in terms of Welsh Government's and indeed my own thoughts in terms of the importance of swimming pools as we go forward as well, and people being able to access those swimming pools.

Minister, I'm quite pleased to hear what you said in terms of the next review date in terms of indoor household mixing. I think this is very much welcome. You yourself, Minister, pointed out that we've got lower rates of infection here in Wales and the vaccination programme is going well. So that does allow us, I think, the opportunity, and allows you the opportunity as the Welsh Government, to relook at indoor household mixing. You've alluded to that, which I'm really pleased about and I very much welcome that. And very much I think the public think about that you can go to a restaurant, six people can meet—it's six different households—yet you can't meet in somebody's home. I think there are questions around that, and I think for me as well there are many people who are simply not able to go out to a restaurant and meet friends or family, and therefore they're not meeting those people, unlike others who can do that, and I think there are mental health issues in terms of people being able to meet. We know in other parts of the country people can hug and meet as well, so I'm hoping, Minister, in your next review date, that we'll hear more in terms of household indoor mixing. But, of course, I also appreciate the indoor variant—sorry, the Indian variant—as well, and this will impact on your considerations as well. So, I'm hoping, Minister, in your closing remarks, you might be able to talk a bit about the opening of household mixing, and also your considerations in that regard in terms of the Indian variant as well.

And finally, I wonder what progress has been made on the vaccination passports via the NHS app, as outlined by the First Minister a couple of weeks ago. I hope in your closing remarks you might be able to touch on that as well. Diolch, Llywydd. 

May I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister on her appointment? I look forward to working closely with her to try to influence as best I can the major decisions that remain to be made, of course, as the pandemic continues. It has been interesting to hear some of the comments made by Dominic Cummings today, who stated that the UK Government had made disastrous mistakes in dealing with the pandemic. It's important to remember that the Welsh Government had committed to working on a four-nations level on many of those decisions, so it's important to remember that there are still lessons to be learnt in order to make the best decisions.

Turning straight away to the regulations in front of us, we support them all but there are several comments that do need to be made, I think. Amendments 6 and 7 take us back to the end of March, beginning of April—8 and 9 take us forward a few weeks, but it's important that we note that these are amendments that were announced during an election period, with the changes coming into force as late as three days before the election. I don't need to spend much time discussing the significance of that—nobody from any political party could deny the potential for announcements of that kind to influence democratic processes. But it's important to mention this, because, if we were somehow to find ourselves in a similar situation again, we need to ensure that we learn all kinds of lessons from our experiences of the past year, and that includes democratic lessons as well as more practical lessons on how to deal with a pandemic. 

Amendment 10—this is more contemporary. Even then, we're talking about regulations that are almost a fortnight old, and I'll make an appeal here, early on in this new parliamentary term, for the Government, in collaboration with the Business Committee, to seek every way to try to (1) make announcements in the Senedd so that we can discuss them immediately, and (2) to accelerate the timetable for discussing changes and amendments to the regulations that are so important. How many times have we discussed regulations that have already come to an end before they came before the Senedd to be approved to be introduced in the first instance? 

Now, there are a number of other points that I want to make. I'm going to put them in a letter to you as well, Minister, to have a fuller response, but given it's taken many months for the Government to respond to some enquiries—almost a year for one enquiry that I've made—I want to go through them just to put them on the record today so that you hear them from me directly. In terms of where we are in general, we are all very pleased that we are in a positive position in terms of the number of cases and that the vaccination process is moving ahead well. I'm very indebted to everyone who is part of that process, of course. I do ask you to seek every way of lifting more restrictions as soon as possible, but of course only when it's safe to do so, and we know that we need to be watchful in terms of the growth in the variant from India.

So, I want to know, in that context, what kinds of steps will be taken to respond to any sudden growth and to try to prevent a third wave. Will there be intensive vaccination programmes, local restrictions, travel restrictions to and from areas of high incidence, for example? And also, with the clear evidence that the virus is spread in an airborne way, I would like to know what steps are being taken to respond to that evidence, including the provision of FFP3 masks for healthcare workers who are in contact with COVID patients, and also I'd like a report specifically on the potential of introducing ultra-violet UVC light, which could be so useful in settings such as schools, for example, to disinfect.

There are a number of other points and I will put them, as I say, in a letter to you. We need to know, for example, what steps will be taken to allow things such as parkruns to happen in due course—sporting events that are so beneficial for body and mind. I will make a last-minute appeal here for you to allow supporters to watch Caernarfon against Newtown on Saturday. These things can be done safely. Please do everything that you can in that regard. There will be letters from Heledd Fychan and Luke Fletcher on economic matters on top of the health matters that I want to raise, but in my brief I want to know much more from the Government about the steps to get to grips with long COVID, which is such a concern for people. It's a long list of questions. 

To conclude, I note that this is of course the first time for me to be able to raise some of these issues in the new Senedd since before dissolution, but as I say, I don't expect full answers now. They will come in written form very soon, hopefully. But it's a measure, isn't it, of the work that is ahead of you as a new Minister—I wish you well—and it's also a measure of the work that is ahead of all of us as a Senedd to hold you and the Government to account.

I would be grateful for clarification on the regulations, Minister, possibly in writing in due course. Issues have been raised with me by Newport Harriers with regard to youth athletics and whether youth development league meetings are permissible within the regulations, and also whether parents are able to spectate at those meetings. It is an outdoor stadium that Newport Harriers use, and I'd be grateful for clarification as quickly as possible—as I say, perhaps in writing—on those matters.

I'd also like to support Rhun ap Iorwerth in terms of parkruns. They are great public health events and they certainly have those benefits for people in terms of their physical and mental health and well-being, and they are due to recommence, as I understand it, in early June in England. It would be good to have an idea from Welsh Government as to when they are likely to be able to restart here in Wales. Diolch yn fawr.

Minister, I'd like to congratulate you and welcome you to your post. I know you and I worked very closely when I was a member of Powys County Council, and I look forward to working closely with you now.

Minister, I and my party welcome the continued relaxation of the COVID regulations here in Wales. With COVID-19 numbers at a record low, all nations of the United Kingdom have moved away from lockdowns and towards a reopening of our economy as we recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The people of Wales, and in my constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire, have made huge sacrifices to ensure the damage of COVID was limited as much as possible to protect our communities and the most vulnerable people in our society. They spent months in lockdown, not seeing loved ones, and unable to live the lives they'd worked so hard to build. Thankfully, because of the UK Government's vaccination programme successfully being rolled out across all four nations, we are seeing people's liberties being restored, and I must commend the Welsh NHS and my own Powys Teaching Health Board for the great roll-out of the vaccination programme, which has enabled us to be in the position we are now. However, Governments of all colours must be very careful before trying to take these freedoms from the people of this country again.

I was pleased to hear my fellow MS Russell George raising the points earlier about the reopening of the hospitality sector. It's vital that our businesses are now given the freedom they need to trade successfully. Overzealous regulations will impede these businesses from being able to achieve the sales and trade they need in order to create wealth and pay taxes that we vitally need to fund our public services and our NHS.

An area of great concern for me—and many at present—is the state of the nation's mental health. Many people have suffered from isolation over the past year, with lockdowns playing a significant role in the deterioration of people's physical and mental health, and most of those people have been left to suffer in silence with no support, or big delays in backlogs in the support for those people who've had the courage to ask for help. Suicide rates in Wales were rising even before the pandemic and they've continued to do so. Men make up 75 per cent of suicide victims in Wales. Although I am sure that the Welsh Government took significant time to consider the potential rise in suicide before they brought in their COVID regulations last year, I wonder if the Minister could outline how she and the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Well-being intend to tackle this huge problem in Wales. Your Government has promised to increase support for those suffering with mental-health-related illnesses, but surely the Welsh Government would have considered the impact on people's mental health before they brought in COVID regulations early last year, and would have been told this by the medical and scientific advisers, that there would be a huge spike if lockdowns were to continue to be imposed. So, can you tell me, Minister, what additional support has currently been given to support those suffering with mental ill health?

And finally, Minister, in your closing remarks, perhaps you can outline how you and your Government will ensure that, if we were ever to bring back any new regulations, people's mental health would be a top priority, as any decisions on future lockdowns and firebreaks could make the current mental health crisis in Wales worse. Diolch, Llywydd.

Could I concur with the points that have just been made about mental health? Undoubtedly, many of the organisations within my own constituency have slowly come out of this and are slowly coming back to meet together, albeit, I have to say, with caution, because some of them, particularly those that have vulnerable members themselves, do not want to come back to face-to-face in a rush, they want to do it very, very safely. But I'm sure we will indeed see the repercussions of that and I would welcome the Government's response on that. 

But I have one particular question and it is to do with live performance. I thank the Minister's officials and advisers for engaging with me over the last fortnight extensively, ad nauseam, probably every other day, to try and get clarity on a very straightforward point, and it is whether live performances are at all allowed at this moment in time in licensed or non-licensed venues. If people are carrying a pint of beer or wine in a licensed venue, albeit that there is a guitarist sitting in the corner, strumming away quietly, below the level of raising the voices of everybody—. I have to say, I was out last Saturday night in a pub, the local pub, a very good pub, having a pint, and behind me there was a group that was far louder than any rock band, I would suggest. [Laughter.] But we really need clarity. At this moment in time, is live performance allowed in licensed venues in any shape or form? And if not, at what point will it be? Is it alert level 1, for example? That clarity would really help. Even though they want to perform now, if they're told it's not now but it will be if and when we can move to alert level 1, that will be a clear signal to them that things can return at some point, if we keep going with the progress we've made.

And finally, Llywydd, can I just commend the approach that has been taken here in Wales? I can tell the Minister that, despite niggles, despite complaints—understandably, sometimes—the majority of my constituents and businesses want us to proceed in that way that is steady, cautious, deliberate and based on evidence, so that we do not have to regress to where we were before, so that we can continue to stay open and the thaw will continue until we are back to as near normality as we possibly can be.

Minister, one of the biggest tragedies of the pandemic has been the impact that it has had upon those living in our care homes. They have been separated from their families, unable to hold their grandchildren, denied physical contact with loved ones. This has been particularly hard for those suffering from dementia, often unable to understand why their families have abandoned them. The loneliness and isolation not only hit care home residents hard, but were also keenly felt by their families.

Minister, we now have nearly all care home residents and staff fully vaccinated, and the wider adult population are starting to receive their second doses. It won't be long before the population will be protected from serious illness and death as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With that in mind, when can we remove the two-person limit on care home visits? When can care homes residents play with their grandchildren or hug their loved ones? Our constituents in the Vale of Clwyd need answers to these questions, as do we.

I understand that, in the beginning, these regulations needed to be passed quickly. However, this is no longer the case. This institution is here not to rubber stamp the Welsh Government's decisions; we are here to scrutinise. I hope that you can address these matters ahead of the next review, and give hope to those in long-term care. Diolch yn fawr iawn.  

The Minister to reply to the debate.

Thank you very much, and thank you for those comments. If I could start by responding to Russell George.

Congratulations on your new role as shadow health Minister. I understand that we will be speaking to each other often in future, so I look forward to that. On business support, certainly I think that we should be very proud of the fact that we have managed to get over £1.9 billion into business accounts over the past 12 months. So, a lot of this has been delivered by local authorities—about £1 billion of that money.

We are very aware that the restrictions are still impacting on many businesses. So, despite the fact that, for example, hospitality is open, of course they still have to adhere to the rules that we have set out very clearly in guidance. Of course, we have been working with businesses to look at what that package of measures should look like. So, even though they are open, there should still be a degree of support for them. So, that is an ongoing dialogue, and you heard the First Minister say today that the first thing that he did on being re-elected was to release that additional funding, £200 million of which has been earmarked specifically for business support, and £16 million of that has already now started to be released.

On swimming pools, of course they have been able to reopen already. I think that this is really important in terms of health and mental health. But, of course, different local authorities are dealing with these things in different ways. So, we have given them the power to reopen and, of course, we will be encouraging them to make sure that people can use that facility.

There is, of course, a reason why we are taking things slowly in terms of indoor mixing. We know that the virus spreads more easily inside. It may sound odd that you can mix in a pub easier than you can mix in a home, but they are very different, because one is a controlled environment and the other isn't. We all know that we let our guard down once we are in somebody else's home. So, there's a reason for that. But, of course, we will be looking at this in the next review.

Then, on the vaccination passport, of course we've been working with the UK Government to see if we can use the app that they are developing. There are some technical issues that we are still trying to smooth out, as are Scotland and Northern Ireland. We're hoping that this will be smoothed out by the end of June. In the meantime, of course, we've made it absolutely clear that we don't want people to travel, if possible—certainly abroad. That is our position as a Welsh Government. But, we do recognise that it may be essential for some people to travel. That's why, on Monday, I issued a statement that included a phone number that people can phone to get a temporary paper passport, effectively, to demonstrate that they have had the vaccine.

Thank you very much, Rhun, and I look forward to working with you as we progress in terms of the pandemic, but also post-pandemic. We will have a great deal of work to do in terms of catching up. 

I would want to commit to ensure that we do make announcements in the Senedd, wherever possible. I'm very eager to be transparent. I think we make better policy when we are transparent. I hope now, as we emerge from the election—clearly it was difficult during that period. But we also need to consider, during this period, that there will be times when we will still need to move very quickly indeed. And, of course, we will have to remove restrictions when they're not necessary, and do so quickly too. So, the situation works both ways.

There will be a third wave, Rhun; we are very aware that there will be a third wave. The question is how large that wave will be. And in terms of the new variant, we've done a great deal of work in terms of preparing for it. We're aware that it's likely that we'll see increased incidence here in Wales, and that's why we've put measures in place to enable local groups to carry out this surge testing and surge vaccination, where necessary. We're still at quite a low level at the moment—57 cases here in Wales at the moment—but of course I would be happy to respond to many more of the comments you made in detail. 

John Griffiths, diolch yn fawr. We're very keen to get young people in particular back to outdoor activities. There is guidance already in terms of organised activities, in terms of how parents can safely watch children. I'm very keen that we as a Cabinet look at the issue of parkruns. Of course, that will be something that we will be taking into account in terms of the 21-day review. We, of course, have had these small outdoor pilots; we need to review those pilots. That's the purpose of a pilot—to see what was the consequence. If they come out in the place that we hope they come out, obviously we would like to see what we can do to release further those restrictions.

James Evans, croeso i'r Senedd. I would like to join with you to thank the teams who've done an absolutely remarkable job across Wales in terms of the vaccination programme. I think this is a demonstration of teamwork: it's the Welsh Government with the local authorities, with the health boards, with the military support, and, of course, many, many volunteers, and it really is testament to their great work that we are in the situation we're in today.

We're very keen, of course, to make sure that businesses can open as soon as possible. And it's not just for the businesses' sake; actually, you went on to talk about mental health. As the former Minister in that role, there's a relationship between these things. If people can't open their businesses, they are going to become anxious. You know, there's an economic consequence to them. So, there are lots of harms we need to consider here. It's not just a medical issue here; it's not just a health issue. There are lots and lots of other harms, and, of course, we consider those harms every time we make these decisions in terms of what we're going to release and how we're going to release.

Just in terms of what we have put in place, already you will have seen in the Labour manifesto that we have made a commitment to make sure that we are seeing more mental health support, which, let's not forget, has been ring-fenced—£780 million pounds of money ring-fenced specifically for mental health support. But we want more of that money to go to tier 0, tier 1 support—that is very early intervention. Let's get them the support quickly. That is what we are very anxious to do, but also to understand that 80 per cent of mental health issues start when people are children and young people, and we need more of the money to go to there. So, we're giving instructions now to the health boards for them to understand that that is the way we would like things to move in future. And we have given, of course, £40 million additional funding to address this issue. So, the issue of mental health is very much atop of Labour's manifesto.

Of course, Huw, on live performances, I know you've been engaging in this, which is great, and it's very much one of the points that is on my agenda. So, we're taking that very seriously, Huw. I heard some live music very recently in St David's cathedral, so it is possible. We need to look at what are the reasons and what the conditions are. I know we're doing a lot of work. We're Welsh, for goodness' sake; we love singing. We all want to hear singing again, so we've got to make sure that we are able to do that in a safe way. So, we just need to make sure we've dotted all the i's and crossed the t's to make sure that, when we get back to singing, we can do it with gusto and enthusiasm, as we like to as a Welsh nation.

And just finally, on the care homes issue, we have, I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear, updated our guidance on Monday in relation to care homes, which now means that you don't have to have two people who had to be registered before to go into care homes. Anyone can now go into care homes. That restriction has been lifted. Of course, they have to comply with guidance, but the fact that we've got 98 per cent of people in our care homes who've now had the first vaccine, and 92 per cent who've had both vaccines, means that there is a level of protection there that wasn't there at the beginning of the pandemic. So, we are comfortable with that, we now have to make sure that the care homes themselves are comfortable with that situation.

So, thank you very much, and I hope people will support these new ideas. Thank you.

The proposal is to agree the motion under item 6. Does any Member object? No. Therefore, the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

The proposal is to agree the motion under item 7. Does any Member object? No. The motion is therefore agreed.

The proposal is to agree the motion under item 8. Does any Member object? No. The motion is agreed.

The proposal is to agree the motion under item 9. Does any Member object? No. The motion is therefore agreed.

The proposal is to agree the motion under item 10. Does any Member object? No. The motion is agreed.

That completes the item on coronavirus regulations.

The next motion is so suspend Standing Orders 12.10(ii) and 12.20(i) to allow the motions under items 11 and 12 to be debated. I call on the Trefnydd to formally move.

Formally.

The proposal is to suspend Standing Orders. Does any Member object? No, therefore Standing Orders are suspended.

The motion under Standing Order 16.1 is to establish an Interim Subordinate Legislation Committee. I call on the Trefnydd to formally move that.

Formally.

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

We now move to the motion under Standing Order 17.2T in relation to the Interim Subordinate Legislation Committee. I call on the Trefnydd to move the motion formally.

Formally.

The proposal therefore is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No, the motion is also agreed.

The next item is a motion to elect Members to the Interim Subordinate Legislation Committee, and I call on the Trefnydd to move the motion formally.

Formally.

The proposal is to agree to the motion. Does any Member object? No, and therefore that motion is agreed.

And that brings today's proceedings to a close.

And I promise you it does get a little bit more exciting than the last five minutes. [Laughter.]

Thank you very much. Goodbye.