National Assembly for Wales

I call Members to order. 

And the first item on our agenda this afternoon is questions to the First Minister, and the first question is from Mohammad Asghar. 

Llywydd, I thank the Member for the question.

During this Senedd term, the Welsh Government will create 100,000 new, high-quality apprenticeships, strengthening the repertoire of actions we take to help school leavers and others into skilled employment.

Thank you very much for that answer, First Minister. Figures show that about 10 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds in Wales are not in work, education or training. In England, people have to study or train until they're 18, either going to college or sixth form, doing an apprenticeship or studying part-time while working or volunteering. The Institute for Public Policy Research says that a similar mandatory two years learning requirement, with core skills participation, should be introduced in Wales. First Minister, will you agree to study this report of the IPPR to see if taking the action they recommend will indeed improve the prospects of our young children and people getting good quality careers on leaving school in Wales please?

I thank the Member for that supplementary question. Of course, we'll look at all evidence, and this is a very longstanding debate that we've had over many years, as to whether or not compulsion is the best way to secure better routes into employment for young people, or whether the attractiveness of the offer is what we should reply upon. And, every time we've had this debate, we've come to the conclusion that it is better to put our focus on making sure that the range of opportunities for young people is compelling enough to make those young people want to go into the different routes to employment. 

And I think we can claim some success for that approach, Llywydd. We don't compel young people to do it, but our employment rates of young people in Wales are higher than those across the United Kingdom, and higher than those places where compulsion is the method that is used to secure those outcomes. I want the programmes we offer in Wales to be so good that young people will always find something that will assist them to turn their lives from where they are today to where they will want to be in the future. And while we will study evidence, of course, for now, we still prefer that way of assisting young people. 

As you'll be aware, the current national minimum wage for first-year apprenticeships is £3.90, and this is very low and can hinder people who have employability concerns, who will then want to take on or may have to take on other jobs as well as doing an apprenticeship. I understand that, in the past, there has been a reluctance to follow recommendations for a living support grant or bursary for low-income apprenticeships, over concerns that it will classed as a taxable benefit. But, given that most first-year apprentices are well below the basic tax rate threshold, I wouldn't have thought that this would be too much of an issue for you to begin to look into as a Welsh Government. 

So, what would you be able to do in this regard, and can you commit to looking into this issue, because many apprentices have raised this with me as an issue as to why sometimes they may be stopping going into this particular avenue of education?

Well, Llywydd, as a Government, we want to deal with any obstacles that young people face for taking up offers that they think will be of benefit to them. It's why we've retained educational maintenance allowances here in Wales, where they've been abolished elsewhere. I'm familiar with the technical arguments that there have been as to whether or not, if you were to pay apprentices in a particular way, they would find themselves losing that money because it would be clawed back by a different part of the system. Of course, we keep that under review, and I'm very happy to take a further look at it in the light of what the Member has said this afternoon. 

First Minister, the Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles train manufacturer in my constituency is a very welcome addition to the local economy, and it's been a pleasure to visit there and talk with management about the future of the plant. They do have one frustration—well, they may have more than one, but one frustration is the lack of women and girls coming forward to take engineering jobs at the plant. In the Basque Country, I think it's around half of their engineers who are women, but it's just a small number at the Newport works. They're working with local schools and colleges, but I just wonder what you could say in terms of Welsh Government's ambition to ensure that these opportunities are more open to our girls and women, and indeed employers have a wider talent pool to draw upon.

I thank John Griffiths for those important points. It was a pleasure to meet, with my colleague Ken Skates, with the whole of the CAF board when they came to Wales in the second half of last year. They came to our meeting directly from having met the workforce in Newport, and they were absolutely at pains to stress how impressed they were with the calibre of the people who'd been recruited to work for them in Newport, the commitment of those people to making a success of the new CAF enterprise there. But, of course, the point that John Griffiths makes is a more general one. We are making inroads into this agenda, Llywydd. When I met recently with Tata in Shotton, and with Airbus in Broughton, to meet their young apprentices, there were young women engineers in every group that we met. But they are still a minority. There are still far more young men who find themselves going down that route. We are committed to taking positive action to make those possibilities known to young women, accessible to young women, that there are role models there who they can see, and who they can follow, and to make it clear to them that careers in this part of the employment spectrum are as open to them in Wales as they would be to any other person.

Llywydd, the Welsh Government draws together powers and investments across our responsibilities to support the regeneration of places and the creation of opportunities for people across the northern Valleys.

And with that in mind, I'm pleased to say that Caerphilly County Borough Council have produced their Heads of the Valleys regeneration area masterplan, which will tackle challenges of growth and prosperity in the northern Valleys, in areas like Bargoed, Nelson, Senghenydd, and those places that are hard to reach. They make reference in their report to the Cardiff capital region city deal, the south Wales metro, and the Valleys taskforce, all of which must link in. And Caerphilly council have also set aside £24.5 million of reserves for capital projects. All of these things should connect together with Welsh Government policy to ensure that places like Bargoed and Rhymney can be strategic hubs in the future for growth and development, so that people are travelling north to work, and not just south to work. How can the First Minister support that? What dialogue has he had with Caerphilly council with regard to their masterplan, and what future plans will the Welsh Government have to fit in with this ambitious growth that Caerphilly council has?

Llywydd, can I begin by congratulating Caerphilly County Borough Council on the ambition that it has set out in its Valleys regeneration area masterplan? I know there's consultation on that plan going on at present, and that it will be open for the rest of this month. And Welsh Government officials are engaging with officials in Caerphilly council to make sure that, as Hefin David has said, the initiatives that are proposed by the local authority itself are joined with the many initiatives that the Welsh Government has set in motion for the northern Valleys. Hefin David, Llywydd, mentioned transport in particular. He will know that Transport for Wales reduced fares by up to 14 per cent in the northern Valleys, in its price review at the beginning of January, and that is precisely to be able to foster the sorts of ambitions that the local Member for Caerphilly set out, so that more people are able to travel to work where opportunities exist, and people are able to travel from outside those areas to opportunities that exist in those northern valleys—opportunities that we are supporting with the £100 million Tech Valleys programme and through the transforming towns agenda. We discussed it here in the Assembly in recent weeks, our ambition to make sure that those towns across the northern Valleys have the infrastructure they need, the ambition of the sort set out in the Caerphilly council masterplan and then to support that with the actions that the local authority takes and the investment that the Welsh Government is determined to make in those areas. 

First Minister, for my region, obviously the final phase of the Heads of the Valleys road by the Baverstock Hotel is an important piece in the jigsaw to make sure that entire road is dual-carriaged. We know the delays on the eastern side have obviously had an impact on the cost pressures of that particular project. You've identified a new funding model that the Welsh Government are using to fund this last phase. Can you give a commitment that, funding model aside, the projected timelines for construction will be hit this time, and we will not see the delays that we have seen on the eastern part of this particular project? 

Well, Llywydd, the Member is right that the mutual investment model will be used to fund the remaining parts of the Heads of the Valleys road, and it is a very important part of the ambition of this Government for northern Valleys that there is a dual carriageway right along the Heads of the Valleys so that transport becomes one of the enablers of that local economy. The mutual investment model distributes risk in a different way between the funder—the Welsh Government—and the contractor. And the risks of non-completion and of time slippages are much more with the contractor in the mutual investment model and, for those reasons, we can have some confidence that, unless unexpected matters arise during construction, the construction will proceed on time and indeed on budget. 

First Minister, regeneration of the northern Valleys requires more than just economic development and better transport links. We have to regenerate the environment and ensure our Valleys communities are places where people want to live and work. 

First Minister, in light of the comments by the Royal Meteorological Society that the damage caused by storm Dennis is a taste of things to come as the south Wales Valleys are set to see 50 per cent more rain over the next 10 years, we have to ensure our Valleys communities are more resilient. First Minister, what is the Welsh Government doing to increase resilience? And what discussions have you had with the UK Government and the Coal Authority about the state of the coalfields? 

Well, I thank the Member for that important question, Llywydd. I'm happy to report, following questions last week, that a further meeting between officials of Natural Resources Wales, the local authority and the Coal Authority have happened since the meeting I chaired with the Secretary of State. We are both expecting a report by the end of this week, which will provide the additional information that we were looking for in that meeting, will provide some assurance, I hope, about the current state of safety in coal tips, but will go beyond that, in the way the Member has suggested, to provide at least an initial assessment of what needs to be done to make sure that those sites are safe for the future. And if we are to see a different level of rainfall and a different intensity of weather events, then the standards against which safety has been judged in the last decade may not be sufficient for the decade to come. And the report that we will see—it will be an initial report by the end of this week—will begin to give us some advice on that matter and that will be part of a longer term review of a whole series of issues arising from the events across Wales in the last two or three weeks, which we will be leading through the Welsh Government to make sure that our physical infrastructure is resilient for the future and we're doing everything we can to protect those communities. 

Questions now from the party leaders. Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price. 

Diolch, Llywydd. As a worst-case scenario, up to 80 per cent of the Scottish population could contract the COVID-19 coronavirus, with 250,000 needing hospital treatment, according to their chief medical officer. Yesterday, First Minister, you said that your Government is working for the best and preparing for the worst. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of a worst-case scenario here? And what are the corresponding figures for Wales?

Well, Llywydd, the Chief Medical Officer for England has confirmed the 80 per cent figure this morning. The range is expected to be in the 50 to 80 per cent part of the spectrum and 80 per cent would be higher than the population in the province of China that has been most seriously affected, so these are realistic worst-case scenarios. And if the worst were to take place, then up to 80 per cent of the Welsh population would be affected as well, so that is the figure that planning is using through our chief medical officer and the emergency co-ordinating arrangements that we have. It's not a prediction, it's not what we think will happen; it is an assumption for planning purposes that that 80 per cent figure mentioned in Scotland, confirmed today in London, is the same figure that we are working to here in Wales.

Thank you. The four nations action plan published today shows that Wales has not yet put certain measures in place. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the virus is now classified as a notifiable disease. Why isn't it here? In England emergency powers are already in place to allow the police to direct and detain a person who does not comply with a request to be isolated if suspected of carrying the virus, and those powers will be extended to medical and public health professionals. Will this happen here? And can we have a daily rather than a weekly public update, as happens in Scotland, of the number of positive and negative coronavirus tests?

Can I, Llywydd, first of all assure the Member that there is a daily update provided in Wales—provided every day on the Public Health Wales website—and we intend that that will continue? As far as the powers of detention are concerned, we continue to work with the UK Government and with the Scottish and Northern Ireland Governments on potential legislation that may need to be brought forward, so that if the worst were to happen, the Governments would have the necessary powers to be able to respond to a disease that has moved beyond the containment and delay phase. We will report that to the National Assembly here, of course, and make sure that there are opportunities for Members to scrutinise those powers, should they become necessary.

We report all the time, Llywydd, on the number of people who have been tested here in Wales. It's now hundreds of people. The arrangements we have are very robust. We have a particular approach here in Wales, which I think has been very successful, of treating people with suspected coronavirus in the community, and 95 per cent of testing in Wales is carried out in people's homes. All of that is recorded, all of that is published. The information is robust and the method of responding to need I think has been successful.

The latest UK Government assessment is that up to a fifth of the workforce may be off sick during the peak in an epidemic. The number of people on zero-hours contracts in Wales between June 2018 and July 2019 increased by 35 per cent, and only one in seven of them gets sick pay. What funds do the four Governments intend to set up to ensure that people on such contracts—agency staff in the NHS and universal benefit claimants—do not have to choose between their health or paying their bills?

It's an important point the Member raises, of course. In the meeting that I attended and my colleague Vaughan Gething attended of the national COBRA meeting yesterday, issues of sick pay were discussed, and I know that thought is being given to the way in which that system operates, so that if the worst were to happen, people would not find themselves in the position of feeling obliged to go to work, because without being in work, there is no income available to them.

Leader of the opposition, Paul Davies.

Diolch, Llywydd. Can I take this opportunity to thank you, First Minister, for your briefing on the coronavirus outbreak this morning? I'm pleased to see Governments and agencies working together to tackle this virus, and I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's vitally important that agencies and Governments continue to work together in the public interest.

Now, it's critical, of course, that our primary care services are able to cope with any new demand as a result of this development, and as you know, services across Wales are somewhat stretched, with a Wales Audit Office report showing that plans to address pressure in primary care have been patchy and slow. In responding to the 2020-21 Welsh Government draft budget debate, the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee has also made it clear that greater clarity about the funding for primary care and community activity is needed in future budget rounds so we can ensure that the level of resources reaching front-line primary care services is sufficient. As the first case of coronavirus in Wales has now been confirmed, can you tell us how the Welsh Government is monitoring the developments around the spread of coronavirus to ensure that the people of Wales are as informed as possible? Can you also tell us whether you are confident that the Welsh primary care sector has the capacity and resources needed in the event that the number of cases substantially increases, and whether there is any flexibility in the Welsh Government's budget so that additional resources could be allocated efficiently should coronavirus spread and become much more of a wider public health issue in the future?

I thank the leader of the opposition for those questions. On spread, there is clear advice available to patients in Wales and, as of today, any patient needing advice will be able to use the 111 number to get coronavirus advice at no charge to that individual. The advice is, if you think you have any vulnerability, not to go to the GP, not to go to an accident and emergency department, but to take advice through that number in the first instance.

In relation to the one individual who has been identified in Wales, of course Public Health Wales has immediately set about contact tracing, as it's called, to make sure that anybody who might have come into contact with that individual and therefore be additionally exposed to risk is known, that they're tested, and that they can receive the reassurance that they need.

Paul Davies makes a very important point about primary care. Should coronavirus move into a phase where delay and mitigation, as the plan suggests, become the primary response, then primary care will be in the front line to try and mitigate the need for hospitalisation. Yesterday the health Minister, myself and the chief medical officer talked about ways in which we might be able to remove some of the requirements that primary care currently operates within. So, often, as a result of debates here on this Assembly floor, GPs carry out routine monitoring on many conditions—diabetes, for example—where people are called in, monitored and so on. It may be that, if this becomes a more urgent situation, we may have to suspend some of that more routine work that GPs currently undertake in order to release their time to be able to respond to more urgent needs. As Paul Davies suggested, that has a budgetary consequence, because GPs are paid on the basis of carrying out that sort of activity. That's the nature of the contract that we have with them, so we would have to be able to make sure that our GPs know that, by not doing things that we currently expect of them to free up their time for more urgent stuff, they wouldn't be financially disadvantaged as a result, and there's flexibility in our budgets to make sure that we can do that.

Of course, it's particularly important that the Welsh Government is also in discussion with all healthcare settings to ensure that the entire health and social care sector is as fully informed as possible and understands exactly how it can best treat those in its care. Now, we know from the outbreak of coronavirus, for example in Seattle, that it has prompted calls for preventative measures in America's nursing homes and social care settings, where residents are at heightened risk of serious complications from the virus, because of the dual threat of age and close living conditions. Of course, the same goes for those residents living in social care settings in Wales, and so, First Minister, can you tell us what discussions has the Welsh Government specifically had with social care providers and contractors here in Wales, and what contingency plans is the Welsh Government currently working on to better safeguard those living in social care settings from coronavirus?

Well, again, thank you for that important point, because what we know about the virus is that its impact is more significant amongst older people and people's whose immune systems are already compromised because of other conditions. And those people are to be found in greater concentrations in residential care and nursing homes. So, Paul Davies is absolutely right to draw attention to the particular needs of that sector. Of course, the system is already alert to that, advice is being provided through the normal clinical and other means of contact with the sector. We will do more to make sure that we draw those key leaders in the sector—Care Forum Wales, for example—into these conversations.

There is a particular challenge here in Wales. Across our border, as I know the Member will know, residential care is largely provided by a small number of very large companies. In Wales the pattern is not like that. While we have some provision by corporate providers, we still have a sector that is dominated by small owners of one or two residential care homes. Getting messages out to people is a bigger challenge when you have larger numbers of people involved and people who may not necessarily be as attuned to dealing with demands as large companies who are well set up and equipped to do this.

So, we're very alert to the particular challenges that we may face here in Wales and we're taking action already to make sure that people at that front line have all the best information and are able to respond to the spread of this virus, were that to happen, into those sectors.

First Minister, with the threat of confirmed cases in Wales thought to rise over time, it is essential that the Welsh NHS is as fully staffed as possible to treat anyone who has symptoms of the virus. Sadly, we already know that the NHS is facing significant recruitment challenges, so can you tell us what immediate steps the Welsh Government is taking to address any recruitment matters within the Welsh NHS as a matter of urgency? Could you also tell us whether the Welsh Government is looking at the emergency registration of health professionals who have retired as a way of increasing the number of people who can help treat those affected by the coronavirus, and, if so, what safeguards the Welsh Government is putting in place for those retired doctors, given that they will also be vulnerable to the virus, given their age, and whether the Welsh Government is considering the introduction of emergency indemnity coverage, generally, for healthcare workers to provide care or diagnostic services?

Well, Llywydd, more people work in the Welsh NHS today than ever before in its history, and even during a decade of austerity, the number of people working in the Welsh NHS has risen by 10 per cent over that period. So, while there are recruitment challenges, of course, and in particular areas as well, in general the NHS in Wales recruits very well, and is very well staffed.

I referred in my answer to Adam Price to emergency legislation that is being discussed between the four Governments, and those discussions are not concluded. But I'm happy to give an assurance to the Member that those discussions are covering the emergency re-registration of staff who have recently retired or left the profession—and that's nurses and others, as well as doctors—in order to persuade those people to come back and help out in an emergency. It is important to offer them a series of protections, that their pensions won't be affected, that there will be indemnity cover for them put in place, and that there may be a need for retraining, even if it's rapid and concentrated, to make sure that people's skills are at a level that they will be confident to practise again.

All of those matters are being very actively discussed between the Governments and between the professional associations, and I'll repeat the undertaking I gave to Adam Price that should these discussions mature into a piece of legislation—and the Welsh Government's view will be that one piece of legislation for the whole of the United Kingdom is preferable, as far as possible, to separate pieces of legislation in parts of the United Kingdom—we will nevertheless make sure that the outcome of those discussions is properly reported to the Senedd, and Members here will have an opportunity to scrutinise them. 

The Leader of the Brexit Party, Mark Reckless. 

When you became First Minister, 60 per cent of people asked by YouGov said that they didn't know who you were. When YouGov asked again after you had been First Minister for a year, half of people in Wales still didn't know who you were or had any opinion about you. When they polled in Wales a month ago on who would make the best First Minister, 8 per cent of people answered 'Mark Drakeford', 71 per cent answered 'Don't know'. First Minister, to invigorate Welsh democracy, isn't it time we directly elected the First Minister?

Llywydd, it's not a course of action that I think has merit.

Thank you for your short answer, First Minister. In the referendum less than 10 years ago, the people of Wales were asked if they agreed to law-making powers being devolved in 20 specified areas. So, how do you justify now all powers being devolved except those that are reserved to Westminster? This afternoon, we vote on Welsh rates of income tax; yet, in that referendum, the people of Wales were promised—it was actually written on the ballot paper—the Assembly cannot make laws on tax, whatever the result of the vote. The legislation was passed in 2006, I believe, for that vote. Why was that promise broken? Why did your 2016 manifesto, before the Wales Act 2017 was passed, refer to 'when' income tax powers are devolved, given the Wales Act 2014 required a referendum? And why, given that your predecessor and, it seems, your backbenchers refer to this as a Conservative broken promise, did you agree to it?

Llywydd, the promise was broken by the Conservative Party, the party of which he was a temporary member at the time and no doubt supported it when that party changed its mind. This Government agreed with the original proposition that, if income tax were to be devolved to Wales, it ought to be subject to a referendum. It was the Conservative Party that changed its mind about that. The Conservative Party in power in Westminster, with his support, changed its mind about it. Now, I am not saying that there wasn't a case for doing that; the Conservative Government at the time made that case. But the Member asks me about an action for which he was responsible.

I thank the Member for that. The causes of self-harm are complex and require a multi-agency response. We continue to work with a range of partners to reduce self-harm in Wales as we take forward the actions set out in the 'Talk to me 2' strategy and the recently published 'Together for Mental Health Delivery Plan'.

I thank the First Minister for that reply. The First Minister will know that the incidence of self-harm is massively enhanced by those who suffer adverse experiences in childhood. That can be neglect or it can be abuse—whether it's physical abuse, emotional abuse or sexual abuse—or household dysfunction, which can include all sorts of things, like things that happen in a broken home or the imprisonment of close family members and even things like divorce. Public Health Wales has produced figures that show that those who suffer four or more of these adverse childhood experiences are 10 times more likely to have felt suicidal or to have suffered from self-harm, and where there are six or more of these adverse childhood experiences, then the risk of suicide is enhanced by a massive 35 times.

He'll be aware that the WAVE Trust is a charity that deals with these kinds of problems, and that they have proposed the introduction of a target for the Welsh Government to reduce the incidence of ACEs by 70 per cent by 2030. Every single Member of this Assembly, apart from Government Ministers, has signed up to this—with the exception of the Minister for Education, who has signed up to it—does he think that we're all wrong? Would it not be an advantage to able to have a target? Because although one accepts the Government don't always meet their targets, it's often not their fault that they fail to meet them. But nevertheless, a target is important to aim at and gives a greater urgency to the solution of the problems that we all want to deal with. 

I thank the Member for that. Those are all important points and, certainly, the Welsh Government's approach to trying to reduce incidence of self-harm has three main components to it: tackling adverse childhood experience is one of them; the whole-school approach that we have to dealing with young people in the school setting who report self-harm; and tackling mental health stigma, which also has such a big impact on young people who feel themselves to be in a difficult mental health position, and where self-harm can be the result.

Is a target the best way to focus attention on it? I'm only in favour of targets where they are genuinely specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely, and where other ways of making a difference have been attempted and have been found not to be effective. So many different things are counted within the adverse childhood experience ambit; a fraction of them are devolved and in the hands of the Welsh Government. A target over which you have so little control as to whether or not it can be achieved, I think, is of doubtful value.

I want to see adverse childhood experiences reduced, of course. That's why we have invested in this area, that's why we have set up a source of expertise in this area; to make sure that those professionals who come into contact with children understand what those young people might have gone through and respond to it in the right way. Setting a target—I'm yet to be convinced that it would make the difference that we all want to see made.

First Minister, in the first eight weeks of this year, I've already dealt with four different sets of parents who have come to me bereft, in tears, not knowing what to do, because their child has started to self-harm or has been self-harming for some time. And of course, it is sometimes a precursor leading into eating disorders, and so on. What seems to be very difficult for them to find is real support, understanding and comprehension, so they go to the internet to try to read up about it. I've pointed them and signposted them to charities that I know of. I appreciate that there's a lot done in schools and in the school setting to educate the children. We wait for child and adolescent mental health services to come and step in, or we wait for other mental health interventions.

But I wondered if your Government might turn its mind to reviewing and seeing if we can improve the support that parents and carers can receive. Because it is a very unknown minefield for so many of them, and they are terrified; they don't want to say the wrong thing, to encourage it by mistake, to say, 'Come on, let's have something', and for it to lead to worse and worse and worse sadness in the young child or the young person, and to greater mental health issues. So, more support for parents, or more easily-accessible support, because even with the resources I have in the Assembly, I'm still not clear of all of the opportunities there are to support parents and carers.

Llywydd, I entirely agree with what Angela Burns has said about the distress that parents feel when trying to deal with a young person who exhibits these sorts of difficulties, and the sense of powerlessness and not knowing how best to help, and so on. It is part of the reason why we're putting an extra £0.5 million this year into addressing issues of suicide and self-harm; because suicide and self-harm, to remind us all of the title of the committee report in this area, is 'Everybody's Business'. That means finding ways in which parents and carers can be helped, so that they can feel more confident in either assisting young people directly or signposting them to other sources of help.

We are also sponsoring Swansea University, Llywydd, since December of last year, in a new study to look at services that have had significant contact with young people before those young people have a tendency to self-harm, to see whether there was anything we could do in that preventative way, as we talk about here—trying to plug things in earlier in the system so that young people don't find themselves in that position. That involves improving the skills of staff, but it can also be a way of making sure that parents have access to information that they themselves need, but also the practical ways in which they themselves could be of more help. Because that's generally what parents are looking for: what more can they do. They may need help to do it, but they want not to feel, as they often do, helpless in the face of something awful that is going on inside their own family.

The recent review of deaths of children and young people by suicide and probable suicide identified better management of self-harm in children and young people as a key opportunity for suicide prevention. Now, there is clear National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance in place for the management of self-harm, but the review highlights the fact that that needs to be fully implemented across Wales and also audited, particularly in relation to emergency department attendance, psychosocial assessment there, and referral and signposting from such attendances. What more can we do, First Minister, to ensure that all young people get an appropriate service when they're admitted to an accident and emergency department through self-harming in Wales?

I very much agree that the experience that a young person, or anybody who has had an experience of self-harm or attempted suicide, has in an accident and emergency department is really crucial to their ability to make a recovery from that. It is why, over the last five years, we have invested more in specialist mental health presence at the front door of emergency departments, so that people who otherwise spend their time dealing with the physical ailments that come through the door have access to specialist help on the spot when they know they are dealing with an episode that is rooted in unhappiness and mental health causes. And making sure that those staff have access to that specialist help themselves, are trained to identify instances of self-harm, and to be able to respond to that in a supportive way, in a way that doesn't imply blame, that doesn't imply that people are somehow getting in the way of other people who need help more—we've all read the accounts in that report and other places—making sure that we tackle that by training and by additional specialist help at the front door of hospitals are the ways in which we have attempted to strengthen services.

Llywydd, it is not for the Executive to make an assessment of a legislature's intentions, but your officials continue to be in discussion with Welsh Government officials on the plans for Senedd Clwyd.

Yes, I take on board the separation between the Executive and the Assembly, but to the public outside this is all public money. It seems to me that this proposal is a colossal waste of public money and is nothing more than a PR stunt. A week in north Wales isn't going to rectify 20 years of neglect. Now, the First Minister is calling on the UK Government to give money for flood victims, but he isn't going to make any comment on spending all this public money on politicians having a jolly. Does he agree with me that all Members should oppose this waste of money and boycott that week's proceedings?

Llywydd, none of those are matters for me. I entirely disagree with the points the Member makes, just as a Member of the Senedd, because I think it is really important that we are seen, that we are visible, that we demonstrate to people in every part of Wales the relevance of what goes on here to their lives. I know that the Commission is planning, organising and will be managing the Senedd Clwyd proceedings, and I understand, Llywydd, that you plan to release further details of the event later this month. I look forward very much to being with other Members in north Wales in June.

First Minister, while, clearly, there will be some public debate about whether it's appropriate to relocate the Senedd to north Wales for a week's worth of business, I think it's more proper for me to direct my questions to you regarding your Government's responsibilities.

I was very pleased to see that you visited Llanfair Talhaiarn in my constituency last week to meet with flood victims there who've been washed out three times in eight years. Can I ask for you to continue to engage with constituents in Clwyd West and elsewhere in north Wales? And what plans does your Government have to take more Government departments to north Wales in the future and to locate more of those civil service jobs that are currently based in Cardiff out into the regions?

I thank the Member for that. I was very pleased to be in his constituency last week and I was very pleased to be with the leader of Conwy County Borough Council, with Natural Resources Wales and others, and to have the opportunity to meet directly with people who've been affected by flooding and to hear from them about ideas that they were able to contribute as to how flood defences can be strengthened in that village for the future.

Welsh Government Ministers are in north Wales absolutely regularly. I'm looking from here to the end of the row—every member of the Cabinet I see from here to the Minister for the Welsh language has been in north Wales in recent weeks. The event that this Senedd plans to hold in June will be an opportunity for all Government Ministers to be not just at the events that the Senedd will hold, but to be in all parts of north Wales, listening, learning, talking and seeing how we can strengthen the relationship between north Wales residents and the work of the Government that seeks to serve them.

I thank the Member for that question. The Welsh Government has invested an extra £20 million in this financial year in tackling youth homelessness. In carrying out that work, we work closely with partners across Government, the public and third sectors in support of that aim. Tackling youth homelessness is also informed by our engagement with the End Youth Homelessness campaign.

I thank the First Minister for that answer. I wonder if you would join with me in congratulating the Salvation Army, as the lead agency joining with Taff Housing Association and the Church Army, to create the Cardiff young persons' supported accommodation partnership, which was launched in the Pierhead last week. This partnership has been commissioned by Cardiff Council, I think as an instance of best practice, as a system-change partnership that understands that each young person has individual needs and presenting styles. We need supported accommodation to respond to many of these and 106 units will be planned in Cardiff. And at its heart is the concept of no eviction into homelessness, which I think is essential, and offering young people influence and control over their housing needs. So, I do congratulate all those, including Cardiff Council, for coming together. Is this not the sort of partnership approach that you should be encouraging all over Wales?

Can I thank the Member for that supplementary question and for the way in which, over so many years, he has championed the cause of young people in distress in so many aspects of their lives? And seeing his announcement last week—his contribution on these matters will be missed in this Senedd in the future. 

I want to agree with what he has said, of course. Taff Housing Association is in my own constituency of Cardiff West, and my office is not many hundreds of yards away from theirs, so we have a very good opportunity there to hear of the work that they do in bringing together the physical response to youth homelessness with the care and support needs that young people who find themselves in that awful position often need as well. And the scheme to which he refers is a very good example of that, making sure that young people have a decent place to live, but that they don't feel abandoned in it, and that they know that they will not be isolated and alone, but that they will have a network of organisations that they can turn to so that the difficult business of looking after yourself and being in charge of your own destiny—. Most of us are never on our own; we have families and others we can turn to, and we know that young people who find themselves homeless often don't have any of that. So, putting those things in place through the Salvation Army, the Church Army and the things that Taff Housing Association can do fills the whole of that gap. I commend, as he did, the work that they do. The point he made towards the end of his question about that principle of no eviction into homelessness is an absolutely central one that I know my colleague Julie James, as the Minister for housing, is emphasising in all the discussions that she has with social housing providers in Wales.

First Minister, when it comes to tackling youth homelessness, surely we have to take an evidence-based approach. We know that, in Finland, the Housing First scheme has achieved tremendous results since it was launched over a decade ago, and the Scottish scheme, which was launched last year, has already housed 216 people. Now, that scheme can be particularly effective for care leavers when their support from social services drops off a cliff at 18. I'm aware that the Welsh Government has funded pilot schemes through fantastic organisations like Pobl group in Newport, in Ammanford and in Rhondda Cynon Taf. I hear from the sector that these schemes are achieving some brilliant results, as we would expect. But, First Minister, given that we already know that Housing First works, I would question whether we need to pilot it here. Shouldn't we go ahead and roll it out over Wales with sustainable funding so that we can support homeless people and those at risk of homelessness when they're young, and at all ages, all over the country to get into safe accommodation, not just those people who are fortunate enough to live within the current pilot scheme areas?

Llywydd, I agree, of course, about the importance of evidence in this area. I think it's just a bit unfair to describe what is happening in Housing First for young people as a pilot. Of the £4.8 million that we have put into the youth homeless innovation fund, there are now six Housing First for young people schemes in operation already, and they're already in seven of the 22 local authorities in Wales. So, I think we've already gone beyond a simple pilot.

Of course, we want to learn from, as Delyth Jewell has said, the evidence of those first seven local authority actions, because while the Finnish experience is compelling, one of the things we have surely learnt is that you cannot simply pick something up that has happened, even in one part of Wales and drop it into another part of Wales and think it will just take root in the same way. We are adapting the Finnish experience and evidence so that it works in the Welsh context. That's what those six schemes are doing, and then, of course, we will want to learn from that to make sure that it is extended beyond that into other parts of Wales.

I thank the Member for that, Llywydd. The Welsh Government continues to invest in schemes to reduce flooding in the Conwy valley, as we have over the last decade. We are also providing 100 per cent grant funding to local authorities to repair flood infrastructure damaged by recent storms.

Okay, thank you. Now, as you know, constituencies across Aberconwy have been devastated, in particular, by storm Ciara. Now, lack of presence and a more robust, proactive approach by NRW has caused considerable concern within my constituency, and you'll be aware that on Saturday, I held a meeting and we are establishing—. I think it was 121 people who turned up, very, very concerned, very, very upset and very, very angry with the Welsh Government. What was said was—and it was an overwhelming opinion—that NRW are not fit for purpose, or that the initials should stand for 'no real work'. Now, there is a growing number of people in Aberconwy who believe that a flood inquiry is required in Llanrwst, yet the Minister, three or four weeks ago, said that she was reassured by the NRW that current flood mitigation plans in place would mean that Llanrwst was fairly safe. Well, I think storm Ciara proved her wrong on that occasion.

Now, in the short term, we do need urgent action to help prevent future events.  At the meeting, several concerns were raised about basic aspects of flood management, like they couldn't get sandbags. Now, before you blame the local authority, you've got to remember that it is your Government that has woefully inadequately funded Conwy County Borough Council. Floodgates—[Interruption.]

I'm sure the Member is coming to her question. I've been very generous, so if you can ask your question—

I am. Floodgates for properties that were affected would have been a really good mitigation of risk, and they're asking for them, going forward. So what steps will you take now to help ensure that NRW actually do their work and hold that responsibility very importantly to work with Welsh Government, to work hand in hand with our local authorities, and just to take a more proactive approach? Had that been taken, several properties in Llanrwst would not have been affected.

Llywydd, I am not going to blame the local authority at all. When I spoke with the leader, the Conservative leader, of Conwy council I had a very clear account of the enormous efforts that the local authority made over those difficult days. Nor should she. I really think it is really wrong of her to criticise NRW when, everywhere I have gone in Wales, the people who work for NRW carried out heroic work, weekend after weekend, to protect people and homes from the onset of that flooding. To hear her criticise those people who were out there saving lives, saving property, from the comfort of her seat in this Assembly—it really doesn't do her any credit.

When I was in Conwy speaking to residents, they talked to me about their enormous gratitude to the workers of NRW who stood there in that rain and in that flood manually clearing drains and clearing defences to make sure that homes were not flooded. I understand, of course I understand, that people whose homes and properties have been affected are angry about that, and want something to be done better in the future. It doesn't serve them at all just to try and attach that anger to blaming an organisation that did everything it could to defend them and their properties. There will be inquiries, of course. It is the statutory responsibility of the local authority, under the 2010 Act, now to carry out an investigation into what happened in Llanrwst and elsewhere. I spoke to the leader of the council about that and I know that they will take that very seriously. They appear to have a good deal more balanced idea of what went wrong and what needs to be done than the Member who represents them here appears to have.

The implementation of a local development plan is a matter for the local authority. Planning conditions and section 106 agreements may be used to address the impact of development and create new facilities in affected areas. 

That's quite a disappointing response there. We're only at stage 1 of a five-stage local development plan and the problems are already chronic. The closure of Heol Pant-y-Gored is causing huge problems along Church Road, and if you or your staff had bothered to attend a meeting recently, which you were invited to, then you'd know about that. People literally cannot move because of traffic. The resulting air pollution is a real concern, and with the floods recently, it's even more worrying that the very land soaking up the water right now is going to be built on.

When I raised these issues back in 2012, you said that I was scaremongering. Well, everybody knows the truth now, don't they? When are you going to apologise for misleading the people of Cardiff West back then and doing virtually nothing about the problems encountered by people in the west of this city?   

Llywydd, I'm perfectly content that the person elected by residents of Cardiff West to represent them here in the National Assembly is aware of all the necessary information, and is taking all the action required. 

Llywydd, the Welsh Government will invest in new infrastructure to treat materials not currently widely recycled, to bring a new focus to the recycling of waste, electrical and electronic equipment, and bring forward new regulations to improve business recycling. 

Thank you. The people of Islwyn are rightly proud of their contribution to Wales's reputation as a world leader in recycling, and our desire to move Wales towards becoming a zero-waste country by 2050. First Minister, following the recent devastating floods that impacted on Wales, Caerphilly County Borough Council then offered to collect people's flood-damaged property. What measures and assurances then can the Welsh Government initiate to make sure that the civic effort does not negatively affect the recycling targets and measures that Caerphilly County Borough Council will be judged by, and how does the Welsh Labour Government envisage that the 'Beyond Recycling' strategy will make the circular economy a progressive reality in Islwyn and across Wales?

I thank the Member for those supplementary questions. Llywydd, can I begin by paying tribute to the efforts of Caerphilly County Borough Council, as other local authorities in Wales, in responding to the impact of flooding on their local residents? I'm aware of the point that local authorities have raised—those many local authorities that have provided immediate relief to householders, providing skips free of charge, without the need for permits and so on, and the anxiety that that may have an impact on their recycling rates. I want to give those local authorities an assurance this afternoon that they will not be penalised for having done the right thing; that where costs have been involved, they will be able to reclaim those costs from the Welsh Government, through the emergency financial assistance scheme, and, reputationally, where local authorities are anxious that it will look as though their recycling rates have fallen, we are working with NRW to be able to record the impact of flood-affected waste in a different way, so that that reputational damage can be mitigated. 

As to the action that we can take through the circular economy, Llywydd, there are a series of actions in the plan that is currently being consulted upon. My colleague Hannah Blythyn, right across Wales, is carrying out meetings with members of the public and organisations with an interest in this. Here are just three ways in which we will assist the residents of Islwyn in the efforts they already make to maximise recycling: we're going to provide new infrastructure, so that material that currently can't be recycled will be able to be recycled in the future; we're going to put a new focus on the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment, which currently can be difficult to collect and difficult to recycle—the circular economy plan puts a new emphasis on that; and we are going to make sure that businesses in Wales are treated in the same way as householders are, so that commercial, industrial and construction waste separated by those businesses can be recycled in the way that household waste can be recycled, and further boost the reputation that Wales already has as the leading recycle nation in the United Kingdom, the second in Europe, and third across the whole world. 

Thank you, First Minister.

The next item is questions to the Deputy Minister, and the first question is from Mick Antoniw.

I am pleased to say that since the community facilities programme was opened in 2015, 14 projects in Rhondda Cynon Taf have benefited from a total of £1.67 million in capital funding.

Deputy Minister, the community fund has been vital in the development of a number of community facilities in my constituency, areas such as Ely Valley Miners, restoring that into a useful sports park for the local community, and many other projects as well. We've now, of course, had communities that have been devastated by flooding, including many of our community facilities as well, community areas, community resources and so on. And I wonder if there is any possibility of looking at the CFAP funding system to see whether there is sufficient flexibility to enable those community facilities in the flood-hit areas to be supported through the fund as quickly as possible, if that can be arranged, in order to assist with, not just the devastation to people's homes, but also the devastation that has occurred to their communities and their community facilities as a result of the recent flooding.

I thank the Member for Pontypridd for that very important question. I can say that I've already taken action to ensure that the community facilities programme will fast-track any applications from community facilities that have been affected by the recent floods. Just to remind Members here that the CFP, as it's called, can provide small grants of up to £25,000 to help quickly alleviate immediate problems that may prevent, for example, community facilities opening for business. But also of course there are much larger grants, which your constituency has benefited from, of up to £250,000 to carry out major renovation works. But I did give this message on Friday, when I visited Llanhilleth Miners Institute in Blaenau Gwent—just one of the many community facilities engaged with the tremendous community response. And I'm glad to be able to give that message again today, about the community facilities programme.

But you also, of course, will be aware of the Wales Council for Voluntary Action president's fund—it's now called Help Wales. They're distributing funding that's been raised through their president, Michael Sheen's, GoFundMe campaign. And third sector organisations affected by flooding can apply for up to £5,000 to help them rebuild. Of course, that's via the WCVA's grant team.

We work extensively with diverse groups across Wales, and fund the all-Wales BAME engagement programme to support communities to advocate on matters that affect them. We have also funded an innovative community-led multicultural hub in Swansea, which includes the Nigerian association.

Thank you. I'm well aware of that multicultural hub, which is very popular. But I'm told by a member of the Nigerian community that it is growing, especially in Swansea and Cardiff, and they've asked me to ask what support can the Welsh Government provide for the creation of a social and community centre for the Nigerian community.

I thank Mike Hedges for that question. And I have responded to correspondence from the Member to recognise the importance of this growing community in Wales. I've drawn attention, of course—as I've mentioned just previously—to the community facilities grant, but also there's a Wales for Africa small grants scheme. But I think it is important to recognise that we did provide community facilities programme funding to Race Council Cymru for that cultural and digital hub in the Swansea Grand Theatre, which does include the Nigerian association in Swansea, along with approximately 20 other cultural organisations, and met the director of the Nigerians in Wales Association, Mrs Patience Bentu, to discuss their further needs.

We provide support, encouragement and guidance through the Wales procurement policy statement and our third sector scheme. Our long-standing community benefits policy provides a flexible framework that enables public sector procurers to develop third-sector-friendly procurement approaches.

Can I thank the Minister for that answer? You may have heard earlier that I asked the First Minister a question about the Cardiff young person's supported accommodation partnership, which is being led by the Salvation Army, but has Taff Housing Association in it, and the Church Army also. And that was encouraged, that partnership approach, by Cardiff Council. And it seems to me that's a really good example of best practice, using the resources of the voluntary sector, and, in this case, also involving a faith community approach. And that's something that we want to open up, especially when they link up, as in this case, with a sort of public sector agency—I know a housing association is in that slight grey zone. But this does seem to me the sort of working we want to encourage.

Yes. And I would also like to add just a word of thanks to David Melding for his stewardship of the third sector. We both came from the third sector when we became two of the class of 1999, 21 years ago. But it's so important that you have championed the third sector and this partnership that you have described this afternoon is exemplary. It does engage with local authorities and the third sector, and could I just, in response immediately to that question, say that this is very linked to the Welsh Government's code of practice for funding for the third sector? It does set out those principles for public bodies, such as local authorities, on how they should comply in terms of ensuring that there are opportunities for the third sector. And I am now going to put this point on the agenda of the next funding and compliance sub-committee of the third sector partnership council.

I heard what the Deputy Minister has said in response to David Melding about the existing support, but she will be aware that we have, in recent months, seen smaller local housing associations, who are very well-rooted in their communities, losing out on funding bids to bigger organisations that may not be as well rooted. The Deputy Minister will be aware of women-led third sector local organisations losing out on providing domestic abuse support to much bigger organisations that may not have that level of local knowledge and specialism. In my own constituency, we've seen a small local voluntary organisation that provides a very specialist service to very traumatised children losing funding to a big organisation based in an English university.

So, I'm asking the Deputy Minister whether she will consider looking again at the guidance that she's already mentioned to David Melding and also having further conversations with local authorities in Wales to ensure that the funding practice is always consistently applied. Because it does seem to me, representing a very big region, that there is regional variation between county councils and, while I wouldn't wish to suggest, Llywydd, to the Deputy Minister that the smaller organisations are always better, I think we are at risk of losing that local expertise when organisations are not skilled up to make bids for those very competitive commercial-style tenders. 

Well, I'm grateful to Helen Mary Jones for raising that point and that example. Of course, we have got now statutory guidance in relation to commissioning for VAWDASV—violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence—funding and we are in the early days of ensuring that that guidance is enabling those specialist organisations, particularly, as you say, to ensure that there is a level playing field, and, indeed, that we should be looking, where we can, at Welsh organisations, their experience and their evidence. And we're well aware of some of those outside-of-Wales organisations that have come in and bid successfully. This is key, not just for the third sector, but particularly in response to this question, but also for other businesses and social enterprises in Wales.

And I'm very glad that these issues are being addressed through the foundational economy routes, and that we've got some good examples where we are now, through the foundational economy work, ensuring that we can actually have jobs closer to home and contracts closer to home as well. But that applies to the third sector as well, which includes, of course, social enterprises and housing associations.  

We've expanded our community cohesion programme across Wales, investing an additional £1.52 million over two years. The regional cohesion teams ensure local government, third sector and local communities are working together to foster cohesive communities.

Thank you for the reply, Minister. I recently met with representatives of the Peterstone Residents Against Inappropriate Development Group to discuss their concerns about the effect illegal Traveller sites are having on the Wentlooge levels between Newport and Cardiff by the coastal area. I am advised that there are some 21 unauthorised and illegal sites on the levels. As a result, the dumping of waste and the fly-tipping has increased. Damage is being done to an important wetlands resource and there is tension between the local residents and the Travellers. Deputy Minister, will you agree to meet with me and representatives of the residents to discuss their concerns and address the issues associated with these illegal sites, to improve community relations in the area? 

Community relations are crucially important and, of course, I'm aware of the Tros Gynnal partnership engagement in these issues in the community. I am very aware that they are advocating on behalf of Travellers and Gypsies, and recognising their needs in relation to their travelling circumstances, and certainly this is a point where I would say to the Member that we need to recognise our responsibilities. Indeed, I'm responding to consultation on this—the responsibilities, needs and rights of Travellers, Gypsies and Roma people in Wales. And I would say also that we still have a long way to go with some of our local authorities to ensure that we get sites. That's the crucial point—that we get sites for Gypsies, Travellers and the Roma community. And I'm looking forward to meeting the cross-party group in the next couple of weeks to discuss this.

Finally, question 5, Mark Isherwood.

The Welsh Government provides core funding for the Wales Council for Voluntary Action and county voluntary councils to support volunteers and volunteering groups across Wales. This includes the Volunteering Wales grant that enables volunteering projects to recruit, support, train and place new volunteers.

The Family Fund has reported a further reduction in Welsh Government funding for 2020-21, despite the high levels of need they're seeing from families raising disabled children. The Wales Council of the Blind has warned that the Welsh Government's move away from the core-funding model to project funding means the sustainability of specifically Welsh umbrella organisations is under immediate threat.

Responding to the cash-flat settlement for the housing support grant in the Welsh Government's draft budget—a cut in real terms—Welsh Women's Aid, Cymorth Cymru and Community Housing Cymru warned that services preventing homelessness and supporting independent living had reached a tipping point, and a supported living service provider in north Wales told me the consequences would be increased pressure on the NHS, accident and emergency departments, and blue-light services. But the Welsh Government has ignored these calls and frozen the housing support grant within its final budget.

Why is the Welsh Government still pursuing these false economies, which see key early intervention and prevention services, delivered by the voluntary sector, starved of funding, adding millions to the cost pressure on statutory services, rather than learning from this, working with the sector, truly co-productively, to spend that money better, deliver more, and actually save more from the Welsh Government's budget too?

Well, I hope you will be joining us on these benches to give support to the final budget this afternoon, which actually does include, I think, over £6 million to the final budget approval. In terms of the Volunteering Wales grant, £1.3 million is allocated to be administered by the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.

I mentioned earlier on the code of practice funding for the third sector that forms part of the third sector scheme. I look forward to supporting the Welsh Government this afternoon, in terms of the budget, which has a priority on social justice, housing need and sustaining the services that are so important to people, which includes volunteering. But I have to say, we would be in a much better place if we hadn't suffered the 10 years of austerity as a result of the UK Conservative Government.

Thank you, Deputy Minister.

The next statement is the business statement, and I call the Trefnydd.

Diolch, Llywydd. There are two changes to this week's business. The Minister for Health and Social Services will deliver a statement shortly on the coronavirus, and as a result, the statement on Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been postponed. 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.

May I ask for a statement from the education Minister regarding guidance issued to local authorities over school admission policy? Currently, Newport City Council's school admission department will only accept medical evidence provided by a consultant for a child or young person to be considered for a specific school when the local authority needs to apply oversubscription criteria. We all know the pressure that the NHS is under. To wait for a medical consultant appointment, and thereafter a report from a consultant, seems to be duly unnecessary and takes up the consultant's valued time when the child or young person already has a medical diagnosis. Minister, it concerns me greatly that the policy allows the local authorities to disregard the opinion and diagnosis of any other medical professional, including specialist services. Could I ask for a statement from the Minister on this important issue, please?

In the first instance, I would encourage Mohammad Asghar to write to the education Minister with his concerns regarding school admission policies and the associated guidance that goes alongside that, because the question that you asked does have some detail to it and it deserves a detailed response.

I understand that the chief executive of Natural Resources Wales visited Taff's Well this morning to speak to people who have been flooded. Last week I asked the Minister to come to the Rhondda with me to speak to residents about their experiences, and I want to convey a message to your Government from one of the residents in Ynyshir in the Rhondda. Mr Cameron says, and I quote, 'We have had approximately 14 houses affected by flooding at Ynyshir, along with approximately 13 vehicles, which are a total loss. You saw myself and a neighbour's son in the river, desperately trying to clear the dam with a saw before the arrival of the heavy rain that was forecast. Once again, we were left to sort ourselves out. I have been told that I will be out of my bungalow for nine to 12 months. I have lost the total contents of my bungalow and garage, and I'm basically homeless and without a car. I know that there are many other people in a similar situation and even worse off. The least the Minister for the environment can do, along with the chair and senior management of NRW, is come with you to see at first hand the devastation that they have caused. For your information, the water has never flooded over Avon Terrace bridge in over 100 years, and would not have done so on 16 February if Natural Resources Wales had done what they were supposed to do and kept the rivers free of debris.'

People in Ynyshir were flooded because of debris that built up under a bridge that went over the river. Now, I've also had requests from the people living in Pentre to speak to the Minister, as well as from people living in Porth who have lost garden walls that were previously defences against the river and who are also concerned about tree and debris build-up on bridges near their homes. As the Minister seems unable to respond to these visit requests and other questions that I asked in this Chamber, can you, as Business Minister, ask her and her officials to schedule a visit to the Rhondda with me as soon as possible so that she can fully appreciate the scale of the problem, as well as the strength of feeling in the various communities that have been affected by flooding in the Rhondda?

I recall, in response to your representations to the Minister on this particular issue, that she was happy to come to the Rhondda to undertake a visit. I know that she's already been to Rhondda Cynon Taf more widely on two occasions, and Members right across the Government have been visiting and speaking to people who are quite understandably completely distressed by the flooding. I've spoken to people within my own constituency of Gower. I've talked to people in Gorseinon and Gowerton who have been devastated by what's happened to them. So, it is distressing. I think it's fair to recognise that, at this stage, it is too early to come to a complete view on what caused the flooding to individual properties. You'll have heard the First Minister say in his First Minister's questions today that there is a statutory duty now for an investigation to be undertaken, and I think it's important to leave this part to the experts in terms of understanding and determining the causes of the flooding and also what can be done to prevent it happening again.

Could we have a statement, Minister, with reference to comments about the new education curriculum by a number of academics and educationalists? Chief amongst these are the Welsh Local Government Association and the National Association of Headteachers Cymru. Both contend that the challenge in implementing it is enormous. This follows on from the Association of Directors of Education in Wales also joining the WLGA in saying that pupils will not be taught enough of what really matters. Would the Minister also make a statement on the Estyn observation that transforming the whole education system is a complex and long-term undertaking and one that is estimated to take at least a decade? Given such comments, is it any wonder that teacher recruitment to primary schools has fallen by 10 per cent and to secondary schools by 40 per cent? Indeed, recruitment in subjects such as chemistry, ICT, maths and physics have fallen by as much as 50 per cent. Given these statistics, how can it be said that this new curriculum will teach people for the modern world when we cannot recruit teachers to embrace this new curriculum? There is no doubt that many teachers are puzzled at what to teach in the areas of learning and experience in order to meet the requisites of the four purposes. How much of the current curriculum can be used? Could we also have a response from the Minister, given that individual schools can decide how to implement the new curriculum to deliver on the four purposes? So, we have the propensity to arrive at a mixture of results across Wales, which could have an adverse effect on enhancing divisions in our society. 

David Rowlands raises a number of questions in relation to curriculum reform. I know that the Minister for Education does provide updates in various ways to colleagues in terms of curriculum reform, which I think it's fair to recognise is a long-term piece of work, and it's certainly a complex piece of work.

David Rowlands had some specific concerns regarding recruitment and STEM subjects particularly, so I would invite him to write to the Minister setting out that series of concerns that he has, and I'm sure that he will receive a response.

Could we have a debate on the celebration of the culture, heritage and natural beauty of the south Wales Valleys, and how these can contribute to the quality of life for residents and also act as an attraction for day visitors and tourists alike? Last Friday I was pleased to attend an event in the historic Nantymoel boys and girls club, which, thanks to a partnership between the Nantymoel boys and girls club and the Ogmore Valley community council, chaired by Leanne Hill, and Bridgend County Borough Council and others, has been totally regenerated with over £300,000-worth of investment, and has now become a community and heritage hub for the valley, in addition to the ongoing activities of young and old at the centre and the volunteer-run cafe, and much more. But the event celebrated the work of those and the hard-working Ogmore Valley local history society, and many other partners, to develop this hub and a dozen interpretation boards along the length of the beautiful Ogmore Valley cycle path from picturesque Blackmill to the awe-inspiring Bwlch mountains, telling the stories of our people and our communities. 

What strikes me, Minister, is how often these Glamorgan Valleys of the Garw, Ogmore and Gilfach are overlooked in the tourism brochures and the glossy promotions, yet are rich in interest for local people and for visitors, and hold the potential for developing real pride in where we come from, and jobs as well from people who come to cycle, walk and breathe the clean air, and stay a while, as we tell them the hidden stories of Iolo Morganwg, the Glamorgan poet and eisteddfodist, and Lynn 'the leap' Davies, who conquered the world in the long jump in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, using his familiarity with the atrocious conditions of wind and rain to outjump the world champions at the time. A debate would allow us, Minister, to explore how we can make more of the social and economic potential of these deep veins of history and fables, and how Welsh Government can help us tell the story of the Valleys to a far wider audience, to benefit us and to benefit Wales as well.

I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for that lovely picture of the things that happen within his community to celebrate the local heritage and, of course, the beautiful natural environment in the area that he represents. He also talked about the importance of local heritage in terms of our tourism offer, in terms of boosting our local economies, and also the social potential that it brings in terms of bringing communities together. Of course, the Minister with responsibility for tourism has been here to hear your contribution, and I'm sure that he will give the request for a debate due consideration, and also consider the points that you made about the importance of ensuring that your area has its place on the map, as it rightly should.

Thank you, Trefnydd. 

Item 3 is postponed.

Therefore the next item is a statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: coronavirus update. I call on the Minister to make the statement—Vaughan Gething. 

Diolch, Llywydd. Last Friday, Wales confirmed its first case of novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, which had been contracted whilst the person was in northern Italy. Other countries in the UK continue to report confirmed cases, including the first case of community transmission in England. Across the UK, we are now at a key point in the spread of this virus. We must continue to focus our efforts on isolating and containing to help prevent or delay its spread. 

The advice for returning travellers is being regularly updated. The nature of the evolving situation and the importance of taking a proportionate response means there is specific guidance for travellers returning from specific areas of the world. The latest advice can be accessed on both the Welsh Government and Public Health Wales websites, and the Public Health Wales website is, of course, updated at 3 o'clock every day.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website is the definitive source of travel advice for the British public. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to advise: that people do not travel to Hubei Province in China; to only undertake essential travel to mainland China; and to only undertake essential travel to a small number of specific areas within certain countries, including 11 specific small towns in northern Italy. That travel advice is being updated to reflect changing entry restrictions that are being imposed by some countries for recent travellers to affected areas. This travel advice is under constant review and people should regularly check the country-specific information on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website.

I would like to reiterate that anyone who has travelled back from an affected area or who has concerns that they're a close contact of a confirmed case should not attend their GP practice or present at hospital emergency departments. People should look on the Public Health Wales or Welsh Government websites for the latest advice. If, having considered the guidance online, people have concerns regarding coronavirus, they can now call the free 111 number from anywhere in Wales. Doing this will mean people get assessed by the right NHS staff and, at the same time, limit the possible spread to others.

I ask people to be patient and recognise the additional pressures this situation places on services that are already under pressure. People should remain calm whilst awaiting assistance. The need for assessment will be triaged based on an assessment of the likelihood of infection. We do need to remember that, to date, over 450 tests have taken place with only one imported case to Wales being confirmed out of the numbers tested. We also know that, even where cases are confirmed, the majority of people have mild or no real symptoms. People in Wales require urgent life-saving assistance on a daily basis from our NHS in relation to a range of sudden illnesses, long-term conditions or accidents. The NHS will rightly continue to prioritise life-threatening situations.

NHS Wales has already developed a test for the virus and has so far tested hundreds of individuals, as I have mentioned. This test has now been added to our existing disease surveillance programme in Wales. This will mean that certain GP practices will submit samples for testing as well as tests being undertaken in some of our intensive care units. This should ensure we're able to quickly identify any undetected spread of the virus within the population.

The community assessment and testing units set up by health boards, together with Public Health Wales, have meant the vast majority of people have been tested in their own home. It is an important feature of our response in Wales that over 90 per cent of tests have been carried out in that person's home. This approach has been vital in allowing our NHS to continue to respond to the services they provide and the heightened demand that we see through winter.

We have already asked health boards to identify areas away from emergency departments where individuals can be assessed without compromising other patients. This approach is intended both to direct individuals away from emergency departments and to avoid the potential risk of infecting others. We positively do not want people going to hospital for initial assessment if they are concerned that they may have coronavirus, or have symptoms having travelled to one of the specific at-risk areas.

Further planning and preventative work is under way. Our pandemic flu plans already exist, and organisations across our local resilience fora in Wales, as well as our NHS, have been asked to consider those plans. We want all our civil contingency partners to be ready and prepared to take action should the current situation escalate. These plans cover a variety of scenarios, including the reasonable worst-case scenarios. This is, of course, the responsible choice for the Welsh Government and our partners. We are preparing for the worst to ensure that we are in the best practical position to protect the health of the people of Wales.

The First Minister and I took part in yesterday's COBRA meeting. We continue to work closely with the UK Government and other national devolved Governments on coronavirus planning. A joint UK action plan was, of course, published earlier today. Members will be aware that Ministers across all four UK Governments are considering whether enhanced legal powers are necessary to contain or mitigate the potential impact of this virus. Work is taking place upon the foundation of the previous pandemic flu Bill preparations. Our aim is to have a single consistent piece of UK-wide legislation, if legislation is required. A number of matters would be reserved, but devolved powers must, of course, continue to be exercised by national devolved Governments.

Some major public events have been cancelled or postponed. This has typically been done to limit the risk of transmitting coronavirus at gatherings of large numbers of people. A number of school closures have taken place in other countries for similar reasons. Now, these are possible future choices for the Welsh Government to help slow the spread of the virus. We are, however, not at that stage. Schools should remain open. There is, of course, clear guidance for schools here in Wales that is publicly available on the Welsh Government website.

Enhanced monitoring arrangements are in place at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham airports. These airports receive direct flights from the majority of affected areas. Cardiff Airport and our other key seaports currently have public awareness materials in place. Enhanced monitoring arrangements for Cardiff Airport can be implemented at speed, should they be needed. The response needs to be proportionate. It is important to recognise that any entry screening has significant limitations in identifying potential cases.

These decisions are complex, and the Welsh Government, together with the other three national Governments across the UK, are advised by scientific experts and of course by the four chief medical officers. There is a careful balance to strike between protecting health and potentially doing more harm as a result of putting restrictions in place. The length of time any restrictions would need to be in place in order to effectively impact on the spread of the virus is one of our key considerations. Closing services such as schools or restricting travel have significant implications in their own right and may outweigh the benefit of delaying the spread of the virus.

The reality is, though, that often, the simple things are the most important. Everyone can help to protect themselves and others. The best way to slow the spread of respiratory viruses are to always carry tissues, use them to catch coughs and sneezes, bin the tissue, and then wash your hands with soap and water. 'Catch it, bin it, kill it', as I'm sure you'll hear me and many other people say for many days ahead.

Unfortunately, some people in Wales, just as in the rest of the UK, have been subjected to prejudiced and racist comments. For the avoidance of doubt, this Government does not tolerate and will not excuse the racism and prejudice that we have seen and heard. This global public health emergency does not discriminate between different races and faiths. Our people should not use this global public health emergency as an excuse to do so.

I want to end by thanking our staff. NHS and Welsh Government staff have worked long hours on all days to help prepare us for the potential impact of coronavirus. Our partners in local government and the emergency services have already been stretched by the current and continuing emergency response to significant flooding events around the country. I am grateful for their extraordinary and continuing commitment and professionalism. Public safety is their overriding priority, just as it is for this Government. I will, of course, continue to provide Members and the public with regular updates.

I have three key areas I'd like to briefly touch on, and then a series of questions. First of all, Minister, I'd like to thank you very much for all the communication with me, the telephone calls, and the meetings that you have afforded all of the opposition parties to keep us in the loop, both from yourself and the First Minister. Secondly, I would like to thank the staff in the NHS in Wales, and of course the chief medical officer, for understanding that, in the very busy lives that they already have, they're now having to go on to yet another degree and prepare for anything that may or may not happen. Thirdly, I would like to urge all of us to have responsibility and proportionality. Because, to be frank, a worse contagion is fear. I think we need to be sensible. We need to 'Catch it, bin it and kill it.' I think they're going to be the watchwords for all of us.

I'd like to start off by asking you: what can we do to get the public health message out loud and clear? In your statement today, you refer to various organisations, various departments, the public health website. Well, to be frank, I don't honestly think many members of the ordinary public will leap to consult the Public Health Wales website as a matter of first resort. So, I just wonder if we ought to look at tv or radio, just pushing that 'Catch it, bin it, kill it' and the washing of the hands messages.

Could you just tell us what you've done with the Minister for Education in terms of primary and secondary school children—because, of course, we all know that any bug of any sort can go like wildfire around schools—to actually get that message through to them? Because, we also know that pester power from young people is great; they, in turn, will go back and say to parents, friends and relatives the whole 'Catch it, bin it, kill it' message, and of course the message about lengthy, appropriate and proper washing of hands, not a quick couple of fingers under a tap.

Could you also, perhaps when you talk about the public health information campaign, reassure people about the virus itself and how long it can live? Because I've had people say to me, 'I've ordered something from a very large online retailer'—whose name I won't mention—'is it on the package because it's something from China?' Or, I've had businesses raising concerns about stuff that they're importing in. Where is the virus? Is it one of these that can live for an extended period of time? My understanding is it can't, but again it's about getting that message out so that people do not start panicking and thinking the end of the world is nigh, because I think that's incredibly important.

You mention in your statement that people can now access NHS 111. Can I just super clarify that with you? Because of course, 111 was only available in certain areas of Wales for a long time when it was being piloted and rolled out. Are you now saying that, throughout the whole of Wales, any concerns by anybody, it's 111 and they'll be directed to the right place, or do they still have to use the alternative that was there in the first place?

Could you also just let us know, throughout the NHS and social care, what information has been sent out to the myriad of different workers, from cleaners to consultants? Because again, I've had some people say they're well informed, and I've had other people saying that they haven't actually heard very much from their employer organisations. If you just have a view on that. So, all of that is about the public information.

I just want to turn my attention very briefly to legislation. I wonder if you can give us more detail on the timetable for legislation and confirm publicly, on the record, that powers that would be placed on the statute book would be for public health emergencies now and in the future, and that they have a very focused remit? Could you also assure the Parliament that, although one piece of legislation seems to be the favoured for all four nations, devolved matters will remain devolved, so that all the nations can use the legislation for the best interests of their respective countries? We may not have to use very much, because we may actually have very few cases, for example.

Are you able to give any legislative timescales? How will Assembly Members be able to scrutinise a Bill going through Westminster? I understand that the details are being worked up, and I'm very grateful for your intent to allow us—the opposition spokesmen and, I believe, the committee—to have a look at this whenever possible. Have COBRA also given thought to the public health information that would have to go through with any legislation, especially if it has things in it like the power to detain, the power to contain, the power to stop travel, to stop public gatherings, to do any of these other things? Because we live in a very liberal society, and our democracy may find just those very measures a bit of a shock, and difficult to take on board.

My apologies, Presiding Officer, this is such an important matter that I do want to plough on a little bit. Front-line staff—would you be able to outline what steps have been taken to protect front-line NHS and emergency services staff if this continues to develop? Also, although we're testing people, and thankfully they are being found negative, while we're testing them, we don't quite know that yet. We'd appreciate a little bit more detail when possible—I appreciate that you may not be able to do it today—on the primary care capacity. And will you be looking at measures such as, for example, one of the things that really strikes me is that we should, perhaps, insist that all GP surgeries do telephone triage, because, of course, we can still make appointments in a number of GP surgeries online, and when you're making an online appointment, you can't tell what that person's issue might be. So I just wondered if you might give thought to that.

Would you be able to expand on the First Minister's answer to the leader of the opposition on items such as emergency registration of health professionals, fitness to practice, indemnity costs, and so on and so forth? Are you giving any specific advice to people with underlying health conditions who have to regularly see their GPs, who have to regularly pick up prescriptions or to have blood tests? These are people with chronic conditions, such as diabetes, where they have to go in on a regular basis, but is there any way to circumvent that, to keep them out of harm's way for as long as possible? Could you confirm, within Welsh Government, if there's an official in each portfolio leading on this matter—for example, within the business portfolio? Because of course there are many concerns from all the different communities that are represented by your Cabinet colleagues sitting around the table with you.

Finally, I'd like to say actually, to be frank, well done. Nobody can plan for the worst all the time. We don't want to be on a perpetual war footing, either as a Government here, a Government in the UK or indeed the NHS anywhere, and it is hard to just leap forward with all of these measures in one go, so I know that there has been some adverse commentary by some sections of society saying that we should have this, that and the other, but again, I come back to what I said, Llywydd, at the very beginning—that the worst pandemic is fear. I think that the Governments have behaved as responsibly and as swiftly as they can. I do want to see legislation and scrutinise it properly to ensure that it's fit for purpose, and I'm particularly keen that, whatever happens, we try and protect our NHS front-line staff as much as possible, because at the end of the day, they are our first line of defence, and we need them to be as well as possible. Thank you, Minister.

Thank you for the series of comments and questions. I'll try to make sure that I respond to each of them and I'll try to be brief in doing so, Presiding Officer.

There's a point about all of us promoting and using trusted sources of information—so, the information given by the chief medical officer, the information that the Welsh Government website promotes, and Public Health Wales. They are trusted sources of information that we should all be looking to promote to help with the simple messages, both about continuing to repeat the 'catch it, bin it, kill it' message, and I think we will get to the point where there will be a widespread understanding of it, because I expect to see virtually every spokesperson repeat that at various points in their public appearances, and you can also expect there to be regular media messages from a variety of people. But in particular, the four chief medical officers across the UK, and health Ministers, of course, will be leading on that extra effort. If coronavirus becomes a more significant concern, you can expect to hear from me not just in this place, but publicly as well. So the public messaging part I think would actually be quite difficult at this point in time—to have a separate public health campaign given the significant coverage that is taking place every day on an update on the condition. Thus far, I certainly think our broadcast media have been pretty responsible about their approach, and in promoting those essential and basic public health messages. Of course, the guidance for schools that we've issued, which, again, is available on the Welsh Government website, reiterates that advice as to what people should do, not necessarily opening or closing schools—the messaging again being to keep them open—but actually in good basic hygiene; we want schools to follow and reiterate with their own populations as well.

In terms of questions about businesses, there's absolutely no advice or suggestion that people should alter the way that they order goods within or outside the UK. That advice remains in place as it would have been before.

On 111, I'm happy to confirm that there is now an all-Wales coronavirus service through the free 111 number. That's a change that we've deliberately made to have a single source, a single number, so we're not trying to ask people to go to different places in different parts of the country.

There are already conversations taking place within the Government, and conversations are starting with employer organisations about either support that they might need, or indeed messages about how they're actually taking care of their own workforces as well. It's not just an issue for public services—there's a potentially more significant impact. One of the issues we discussed in our engagement across all four Governments are changes to the way that the statutory sick pay operates, because we don't want people to wait until the third day of being unwell before they then think they're going to take some time out of work. So, I think the UK Government are looking to act on that. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care gave an indication of that when he was answering questions in the House of Commons with the Labour spokesperson today.

On legislation, as I said in the statement, we are looking at the possibility of legislation. If we were to need to legislate, bearing in mind the advice we've had from the four chief medical officers and from SAGE—a group I'll return to shortly. SAGE is not a herb in this instance—it is the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies—and that's a key resource providing scientific advice to the four UK Governments. If we were to see the sort of peak in the virus that is possible, that could be starting from about May/June, when you might see a peak. If we were to need emergency powers, then we'd need to have them in place before then, which would realistically mean that we would need to have passed that legislation before Easter recess in Parliaments across the UK. That means that, from our point of view, if we were to have a single piece of UK-wide legislation, we would have needed to have considered a legislative consent motion before we go into recess itself. So, there isn't a significant period of time, but in the conversations that I've had, both with the health spokespeople from the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru, I've indicated that, as soon as we're in a position to be more definitive about that, I'll confirm that. I'll make sure technical briefings are available. I've already offered the Chair of the health committee an opportunity to have a briefing with the Chief Medical Officer for Wales—a broader update on the position. And if we get to the position where we think legislation is the right answer, and we have the shape of it, then I'll try to make sure that a technical briefing is available from the chief medical officer and officials about what that Bill will contain and the rationale behind it as well. But again, to reiterate my point that the very clear expectation is that devolved powers remain the responsibility of Ministers in the three national devolved Governments.

Now, in terms of how to exercise those powers, then we're very clear that we want to be led by the science and the advice we get from the chief medical officer is about which powers may need to be exercised. Ultimately, Ministers still have to decide. And equally, when those powers are no longer required as well. But if there were to be legislation, I'm sure that people in all of the Parliaments in the UK would want to understand when powers would start, but also when they would end. In the Civil Contingencies Bill, for example, the powers need to be reviewed and renewed every seven days. That may not be appropriate if we do face a pandemic that may last several months. But there is a point there, and I expect it will come up properly in scrutiny as well. And the point is well made.

In terms of looking after our staff, well we have protective equipment for staff who are undertaking testing and treatment, and we have the appropriate protective equipment available for staff to continue to do so. We are taking seriously staff well-being, but also if there were to be a significant challenge, then if there are significant numbers of people in the workplace who are absent from work because they're unwell, that would affect part of our health service workforce as well. So, we are thinking through potential scenarios where, if there is reduced workforce, not just about the potential opportunity to reintroduce those retired health and care professionals who are willing to return, and what that means for a regulatory point of view, in terms of adding numbers. Because money may not provide us with lots of extra members of staff—it's actually about the willingness of people with the ability to return and to have the appropriate regulatory clearance to do so.

On primary care, you've already heard the First Minister indicate that we're already actively considering the potential to reduce some of the reporting arrangements, and that should be familiar. I think it was two winters ago that I decided to do so during winter for primary care to ease pressure. That gave them more time, and we're also able to have regular and understandable means for which they would continue to be paid a predictable amount on doing so. 

In terms of your point about regular advice for people with chronic conditions who may need to attend, we're not at the point in time where those people need to behave differently, but we may get to the point where that is one of the things that we contemplate. Those people don't need to be concerned now, but should there be a more significant community transfer of coronavirus, we will need to consider and potentially to give further advice at that point in time. 

Officials in each portfolio are working across the Government. We stood up our own emergency arrangements. The Cabinet had a briefing from me—we've mentioned it before, but there was a specific briefing yesterday. The Cabinet will be meeting again later this week to consider this specifically, and we'll look at arrangements between Ministers to effectively stand up our own emergency arrangements. I think the initials are EWCC, but to put it in more understandable terms, our own COBRA Cymru arrangements are ready to stand up as well. 

I'd like to finish by thanking you both for your support and for your constructive approach in our previous conversations and here. There will be, of course, questions you will want to ask throughout the time, but I think it is important that we try to take an approach that is led by the evidence and stay as calm as we want the public to remain in the face of a novel threat to public health across the UK. 

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and may I also thank you for the statement and thank you for the briefing sessions that have been provided for us as opposition parties, both on Sunday and earlier today? I look forward to seeing that kind of dialogue continuing, because I do think that it's important that the public has confidence that the steps that the Government is taking are responsible steps to take, and how that's communicated to us and to the public more broadly is very important, of course. I could ask hundreds of questions. I won't do so. I know that we'll have plenty of opportunities to ask those questions. But, there are a few things that do strike me, and I will take this opportunity to ask questions on those.

First of all, a question that was asked earlier by Adam Price, and you've touched upon it again—namely, the information shared by Public Health Wales and how often that information is disseminated. Now, the First Minister suggested, at least, that data is shared on a daily basis. You have also suggested that information is shared at 3 p.m. every afternoon. According to my understanding, and according to Public Health Wales's website, although information is shared on a daily basis, the data on the number of tests carried out, be they positive or negative, aren't shared, but are shared only on a weekly basis. Perhaps you could confirm what the situation is and ask whether Public Health Wales will ensure that those data, as well as the daily narrative, are shared on a daily basis rather than on a weekly basis.

Now, in terms of 111, I'm also very pleased that that is now a number that can be reached wherever people are in Wales. Can you give us some idea of the additional resources that have been put in place in order to enable that to happen? As a slightly peripheral question, is this the start of the provision of 111 in all parts of Wales—something that I do hope would happen? On budget day, I would appreciate just a few broader comments on the additional resources that you have secured, or that you are seeking to secure, from the finance Minister in order to ensure that we are in the best possible position as a nation to respond to COVID-19.

May I also ask: there are initial plans being drawn up, as I understand it, to perhaps open the door to doctors who may have left the profession or who have retired to return, should there be pressures on the NHS workforce. So, what advice is available to those health workers who are already in this difficult situation in carrying out this additional work in supporting the public within the health service? So, what advice is available to them as to how they can register before the details are fully in place, so that we can strengthen the health workforce, should that be required?

Just a few points on an issue of principle. You quite rightly condemn the prejudice and the racist comments that have been made in relation to the spread of this particular virus. So, could I ask you to make a broader comment on the need to treat people who are in self-isolation with dignity and respect? Because it's very important that people should know what level of treatment they should expect from the state, from society, where they, of course, feel very vulnerable, having been placed in self-isolation.

It has become apparent too that Mako Vunipola is now not going to be available to play in the six nations match between Wales and England this weekend because he has self-isolated. First of all, what kind of discussions are taking place with organisations such as the Welsh Rugby Union, and football clubs and so on, around major events such as this that bring people together? But, more importantly, what does the fact that Mako Vunipola has placed himself in self-isolation, given that he isn't showing any symptoms of the virus, but has been in a situation where there may be a risk—I understand that he flew via Hong Kong—what does that tell us about the need for people to be aware of the possibility that they could have been infected and to take sensible precautions to safeguard themselves, and others around them, while balancing that, of course, with the need, as you say, for people not to be overly anxious in more general terms?

Finally, again with reference to comments made by Adam Price earlier today in terms of the responsibility on employers. I have raised this with you in the past, as a Government, asking you to give clear direction of your expectations of responsible employers here in Wales. Employment law is not devolved, but I do think that there is an expectation that could be put in place by the Welsh Government in terms of the conduct of employers. Irresponsible employers in workplaces where people are expected to turn up to work whatever the state of their health could be putting the health of others at risk. So, will you be making a statement, either now or over the next few days or weeks, on your expectations on the need for employers, like everyone else within society, to take those sensible steps that are required in order to ensure that public safety is secured? 

Yes, thank you for the questions. On the data that Public Health Wales provide, they provide a regular update on the situation in Wales, to see if there is any change in the guidance available, every day at 3 o'clock. Public Health England publish, on behalf of the UK, figures each day, including confirmed cases. In terms of the approach that I set out that we're going to take here in Wales, we need to think about whether it's proportionate and useful to provide data each day on the number of tests carried out. I think, actually, the challenge around confirming cases is entirely different to the number of tests being carried out. And some of that is still a moving feast. I do think the confirmed cases, and where they are—. And, for example, if there were to be a change in the way that we are providing treatment for people, if we reached a point in time where the current capacity that all four nations in the UK have agreed to concentrate around four places in England that are treating people with confirmed cases, if that was changed, we'd obviously need to provide that as well. But I'm not completely sure that providing daily information on the testing carried out is going to take us further forward in providing useful information to the public, as opposed to the outcomes of those tests. But that's a matter that I'm happy to consider, but the Public Health England site actually provides data for the whole of the UK about the number of confirmed cases, and that is updated on a daily basis.

In terms of resources, resource at this point is more about people than money. And it's how we're using the resource that we have available to us, both within the Government and within the NHS family and partner agencies. So, I don't have a specific financial ask to make of the finance Minister, who has helpfully returned at this point in time. That's partly because we can't definitively predict the impact across the whole range of activity within the Government, and indeed with partners. It may be the case that there is a significant financial impact; maybe that won't be the case. That's partly because we're not at this point in time able to predict with the necessary accuracy what that impact might be, and how money could help to do so. However, it is a matter that is part of our actual discussions at each of the COBRA calls, about whether or not there is a need for there to be a financial injection to make the additional measures that are necessary for public health to happen.

Now, the Chancellor has already briefed that he's asked his officials to look at the potential impact of coronavirus ahead of the UK budget on 11 March. I actually think we're going to need to see what may be necessary in terms of contingency, and to look not just, if you like, about a straight Barnett share for everything that may or may not happen, but actually to think about the actual impact of the condition. Because it may be that different parts of the UK see differential impact. Wales could be fortunate and escape relatively lightly compared to other parts of the UK, or we could have a differential impact, or the impact could be evenly spread across each of the four nations. And actually, my perspective is that I want to see resources go where the need requires those resources to go. And in directing need, again, that will be based on the advice of the science, but also of our chief medical officer, about where and how we make the biggest difference.

In terms of speeding up a return to practice for retired staff, that would require some change in UK legislation. That's a matter that's under active consideration, with a potential Bill. And of course we still have a four-nations perspective on most matters of registration. So, they're a UK—these are reserved powers, and they're things that we would actually support; that's why it's in the joint action plan that all four Governments have signed up to, as a matter to consider.

I completely agree with your point about dignity for people in self-isolation. There's a point about how the public generally behave if someone is self-isolating, and some points about prejudice and people's concern, but equally then about the remote contact that people can still have while people are in a period of self-isolation. For most of us, the idea of being at home for 14 days may initially sound rather attractive, but, actually, 14 days on your own, at home, not having normal access to things, I think it is quite difficult for people. And even when we had managed larger isolation for the first two flights back from China, for example, that's been difficult for people who have gone through that, and we do need to understand that.

In terms of the points about guidance for major events, we know that the six nations have taken this really seriously. Football authorities are already thinking ahead to the FIFA finals, and the potential impact to that, because, of course, it's taking place across a dozen cities within Europe. And if we're still in a containment phase, then actually that may affect the way that some of those events do or don't take place. We've already seen the decision taken about the Italy-Ireland game as well. So, there are conversations that can take place. We want to make sure that we don't up leading the conversations by making an announcement before a conversation has taken place with Wales's sporting bodies, or any other large event, about what the appropriate advice is, but again to do so on the basis of appropriate advice that is given. And I'd want to seek the direct advice of our own CMO about whether to ask people to not run events in those circumstances, and we may then end up considering whether there would need to be ministerial powers to do so. But that would be part of a conversation about the Bill, and, again, the requirements for any powers to be exercised, if they existed, would really have to be led by there being a genuine emergency situation within the country at large.

On travel advice, again, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website is a definitive source of guidance about travel. The Welsh Government has repeated that, and referred to it in our own guidance, which is publicly available. That's also repeated through the information that Public Health Wales provide, about the way that people behave in the here and now, but also in the future as well.

And on your point about employers—. There's a secondary point I want to make about lenders. But, on employers, again, as I say, we have raised points, both between officials, but also in ministerial conversations, about statutory sick pay, about wanting to see that paid from day one. Because that would mean that people who do need to follow advice to self-isolate aren't concerned about the potential challenge for them and their family if they don't do so—there's a financial penalty in doing so. But also, my Labour colleague Jonathan Ashworth asked Matt Hancock in the House of Commons earlier about the potential for legislation to consider those people who are not just part of the gig economy, but those people on zero hours, to try to make sure if there are measures that could be taken to make sure that they don't suffer a loss of income that could see them otherwise continue to go into work, as opposed to following the appropriate advice to self-isolate. 

The final point on it was not just about employers, and, if you like, the soft power the Government can have to have conversations with those employers' organisations, but it's a point about lenders as well, and, if we were to reach a point where coronavirus had a much wider impact on the way that people conduct public life—whether small, medium or large businesses—about not wanting to see lenders take precipitate action that could cause an otherwise decent business that should continue to potentially collapse through the potential issues that coronavirus may provide. Those are conversations that are taking place, both in terms of what each Government may do individually, but in particular the Chancellor's ability, at a UK level, to have some of those conversations about the way that lenders themselves behave.

So, you can see this isn't just a health issue: it really has a whole-Government, whole society potential impact, if we move to the stage where we do reach pandemic status. But, at this point in time today, people should go about their normal day-to-day business, their normal way of behaving, and, to repeat the advice that has gone on before, to 'catch it, kill it and bin it' and to take seriously the advice and guidance people are given by public health authorities. 

Could I welcome the statement today and the short written statement that preceded it, but also welcome the coronavirus action plan, signed up to by the UK administration, but also, of course, all the devolved administrations as well? And, in concert with the tone that is set here by the Minister today, which is measured but also very purposeful, I think what these documents show us is that we're not starting totally from scratch. There is a lot of experience and planning and expertise that has gone into emergency planning before and into preparations for viruses spreading as well. So, we don't start from scratch. 

But my questions are primarily to do with communication, Minister. You've touched on them a bit, so I'll try not to rehearse ground that's gone on already. First of all, I think the biggest message we can take from here today, in terms of the public health message, is to stress the importance of the 111 service and the need for people to use that.

But, in respect of the portal information, the online information, which not everybody will be as familiar as we are with using it, he has referred to the Public Health Wales site, which I've looked at. It's very good; it's fairly easy to use; it does link to others. There's also the Welsh Government, there's also, for travellers, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office site as well. Could he just undertake to make sure that there is a degree of linkage between these different websites, so that people, who are either concerned about themselves or about their family or about business colleagues can easily actually track to the right source of information, up-to-date information as well? It's great to hear that the Public Health Wales site will be updated every day at 3 o'clock. But each one of these sites needs to link very easily for people who aren't as familiar with searching through the internet as well. 

Secondly, in terms of communication, could I ask what engagement is being done, not only by Welsh Government, but also by the network of businesses that we engage with, in terms of big and small businesses? He's mentioned the fact that if this does actually progress, and I notice in the document it refers to some of the assessment that's been done on a realistic worst case scenario, but if this does progress then there will be some larger businesses, who indeed have very well developed business continuity plans, but some of the smaller businesses, some of the supply chain businesses, the same businesses that actually keep our supermarket shelves stocked and our larders stocked and keep the freight running up and down the roads—. What communication is there in place to make sure that they are aware of what they need to do as well, and how they keep in business, both from a cash flow perspective and a supply chain perspective, but also in terms of information that they share with their employees and workforce? 

And that's my final point on communications. What engagement are we doing across Government and using the networks that we have well established with front-line workers in, for example, health and social care, in emergency services, in local government, but also other essential workers who keep the country going? What engagement are we doing with the unions as well, directly, so that they have clear messages that they can convey to their members as well? So, that everything will be done, not only in terms of informing them up to date with information, but also to ensure them that they and their families are also protected as well. And my final point on communication, then, Minister, would be this: all of us as Members of this Senedd have a fair degree of reach ourselves in terms of what we can communicate, and I would say—don't underestimate that. If the information can be packaged well, then we also can help in a timely manner by signposting people to the right places, whether they are business or workforce, or whether they are people concerned about their own health and the health of their families. We can play a role as well on our social media presence and our websites in making good signposting for them as well.

I thank the Member for those questions. I'll just start with a point about business. So, this is about some of the soft powers that, as I said, Government has, and we're already looking to reach out, as I talk to different organisations about that. But there is, you're right, sometimes a difference between some businesses, and in particular larger—it's not just larger—businesses, which may be more able to cope with different absence or indeed may have the potential for remote working; other businesses, people have to be present to undertake work. And there's something there about business support advice, but, equally, when the Government is directly supporting business, about the way in which we behave, and not just looking to private-sector lenders to try to have a conversation about their own behaviour, and dealing with businesses who may be affected if the coronavirus becomes a more significant challenge for us.

The 111 service is deliberately there to provide a consistent point of contact for people. It's easy to remember and to repeat. But to go back to your final point—the way that individual Members can be part of this too, and repeating and referring to trusted sources of information, advice and guidance, and I'd certainly ask Members to do so, to do that in repeating trusted sources of information and to be really careful that we don't get drawn into promoting some of the more conspiratorial elements of commentary that always, sadly, exist in different parts of public life and on social media. There's a real responsibility on all of us to be responsible moving forward.

In terms of the engagement with other organisations, and the resilience fora—as I say, I'm running through an exercise already and I'll be happy to provide more information over the weeks about the nature of that preparedness for where we are. But our arrangements have already been tested in the last few weeks and so relationships are good and constructive here in Wales.

On your broader point about engagement with a range of different people, I'm happy to say I spoke to Councillor Huw David—not just the leader of Bridgend, but the social care and health spokesperson for the WLGA—yesterday. I've spoken to the two main opposition parties' health spokespeople to make sure that there's information passed between the Government and then across the Chamber here as well. We're seeing cabinet members across social care within the next few days. I'm meeting members of royal colleges across Wales tomorrow. I'm also seeing the trade union side and employers within the health service this week as well when I'm in north Wales. And I'm also taking up the opportunity to meet medical directors from every NHS organisation here in Wales within this week, and I'm meeting them together with the chief medical officer. So, we are making sure not just that remote guidance is provided, but that actually there is a direct face-to-face conversation with a range of those people who will be influential in actually not just dealing with opinion, but also helping us to prepare for what may be required in the weeks and months ahead.

Finally, Caroline Jones.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for your statement, Minister, as well as your earlier written statement on the joint action plan. I'd like to commend the work being undertaken by you, your officials, Public Health Wales, and our amazing NHS staff in preparing for the COVID-19 outbreak. I also welcome the fact that the 111 service is now available in all parts of Wales. And regarding this service and the possible escalation of the use due to the virus, what extra additional resources have you been able to consider putting into this service?

As you rightly point out, this is a totally new disease. We are unsure of the particular vectors of this infection. Our current understanding is largely based upon what we know about similar coronaviruses. What can you tell me, please—with the hard-to-reach communities, what additional thought has been put into these harder-to-reach communities, so that they are aware of the coronavirus and the symptoms?

Infection rates have increased across the globe and our efforts are quite rightly focused upon containing the spread of this disease. It is right that we make preparations for a widespread outbreak. We can see from northern Italy how quickly this particular coronavirus spreads. However, at this stage one of the biggest threats comes from widespread panic and the spread of misinformation. It is in our power to limit the spread of this disease if we all take simple precautions. As with all respiratory infections, we can take steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Every single one of us in this Chamber needs to reinforce the 'catch it, bin it, kill it' message and practice regular effective hand hygiene.

Minister, as I said, I fully endorse the approach taken by the Welsh Government, and therefore have just a few questions left. There have been reports of shortages of personal protective equipment in general practice. So, Minister, can you ensure that there is sufficient PPE available to primary care providers in all of Wales? I realise that this is a global public health emergency, and this will bring procurement challenges. However, will you do all that you can, together with colleagues across the UK, and work with the UK Government to ensure our health services are not affected by increased cost and availability of supplies and equipment?

Finally, Minister, an unfortunate impact of the coronavirus outbreak has been the increase in numbers of people seeking to profit from the misery of others, and there are reports of unscrupulous businesses massively inflating prices of basic hygiene materials. One advert for a 600 ml bottle of alcohol hand wash was listed at £37, five or six times higher than the usual price. Sadly, this is not unique. So, Minister, will you work with local authorities and UK Ministers to do what you can to stamp out this practice? 

Thank you once again for your regular updates and I hope that by all of us playing our part, we can avoid the worst ravages of COVID-19. 

Thank you for the comments and questions. I want to perhaps start with your final point and the point you made earlier about the way we can choose to behave. There are, unfortunately, always some people who are prepared to try to capitalise and to make financial gain from a problem position. We see it in a wide range of areas and, sadly, I expect there will be people who try to do that over this position. Most people, though, are driven by a rather more altruistic response and one that reaches out and shows that people care for their neighbours, and people they don't know as well. And there's that point again about panic and not panicking, and not spreading misinformation about what the actual position is. 

So, if people are approached for advice or guidance and it comes with a large price tag, but help is offered, they should think again. If it's the case that it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is, and if people are asking for significant sums of money for what you think should be available from the national health service, then, again, take a step back, and go back to the point about taking our cues from a trusted source of information and guidance. Public Health Wales's chief medical officer and the Welsh Government are providing regular updates and information for people to follow. And I hope that Members do use their own social media channels to promote that.

The 111 service has now been resourced to provide an all-Wales reach to cover coronavirus. If there is a need to consider further financial resources that go beyond the health department's ability to do so, then we will, of course, have that discussion across the Government. It is also, of course, possible that other departments may have a call on resources, not just the health department. That depends on the need and the appropriate action the Government may need to take at a future point.

In terms of awareness, I think it's hard to envisage the number of people who would not be aware that coronavirus is a current issue facing the UK and the wider world. I think there's little the Government can do beyond what is already being done to promote a public awareness message around the position that we're in. Today's launch of the joint action plan is in itself an unprecedented event, certainly in my time in political activity, and we'll be looking to make sure that those messages in that plan, not just about the future but about today, are consistently and persistently reinforced, including, of course, the 'catch it, bin it, kill it' message, especially about washing your hands effectively. 

On protective equipment in primary care or, indeed, in secondary care, we've done everything I think that is reasonable, not to just to have that equipment available, but then to provide it where it's necessary. So, it isn't just a case of stockpiling equipment; that's not necessary at this point in time. People, including most health service workers, need to go about their business in the way they normally would do.

Then, finally, to reiterate this point that it's not just about this Chamber, but across the four Governments of the United Kingdom—I've made this point before. It should give people some comfort that four different Governments with four different political priorities on a range of things, with four different health Ministers and four different parties, are still coming together to work on a joint UK basis, and to do so on the basis of the best available advice to all of us, and, of course—[Inaudible.]—the advice and guidance we're given by the four chief medical officers to keep the public as safe as possible.

Thank you. Russell George, you want to ask a question.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, you mentioned in your statement that potential enhanced monitoring at Cardiff Airport could come into force at short notice. So, I appreciate that it's not happening at the moment, but what would be the triggers for that?

And if I'm allowed, Deputy Presiding Officer, I'll ask one more quick question—thank you. There is a concern about the supply chain. Questions have been raised about business support, but in terms of—. One business contacted me in terms of the supply chain being affected from, particularly, areas of the world such as China, where factories are closed for a limited period of time, and that's now affecting the supply chain, even though those factories may now be back open again. And perhaps a more pressing concern is the supply chains for medical supplies, perhaps not connected with coronavirus itself, but medical supplies to the NHS as a result of delays to goods arriving in this country. Is that a concern also that you have, and is that being addressed as well within the NHS?

Well, on the final point about the impact of activity in China and its place not just within the Chinese economy, but the global economic impact—it's a matter that Ministers are concerned about across the UK. It's been a part of the conversation in COBRA meetings. The challenge is what is our ability to step in and do something in the alternative. This Government may have some levers available to it, but I don't want to pretend that we're going to be able to somehow mitigate completely the potential impacts across China—of course, some of which we'll only see in future months and years—whether that's about the ability to source alternative sources for goods or services, not just within the health services, but more widely. So, that's where we'll need to see what happens as it happens, as well as try to forecast where we may be able to help businesses, if that is possible. Some of this is about those people running and managing those businesses and their ability to source some of their own goods. It's often the case that they're better placed to do so than a Minister in the Government. 

In terms of Cardiff Airport and the need to step up arrangements—well, that would depend on the advice we're given about whether it's an effective thing to do, about whether it's an effective strategy in containing coronavirus and its spread, or indeed in delaying it. We may reach a point, though, when no restrictions on travel would prove to be effective. It would have to be led by the science, and that's why the SAGE group of scientific advisers are really important, their modelling about some of the challenge about transmission of coronavirus, and, indeed, the advice that we're receiving from the four chief medical officers. So, if we need to do that, we'd be clear about the basis on which we'd have additional arrangements in place at Cardiff Airport and the expected impacts of that. I think it's important we remain as transparent as possible in any action we do choose to take and have a proper footing for doing so as Ministers.

Thank you, Minister.

Item 5 on the agenda is the Common Agricultural Policy (Direct Payments to Farmers) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2020. And I call on the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs to move the motion—Lesley Griffiths.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. And I move the motion. These regulations came into force at 11.00 p.m. on 31 January and amend two sets of regulations: the Common Agricultural Policy (Integrated Administration and Control System and Enforcement and Cross Compliance) (Wales) Regulations 2014, and the Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment and Support Schemes (Wales) Regulations 2015.

The Common Agricultural Policy (Integrated Administration and Control System and Enforcement and Cross Compliance) (Wales) Regulations 2014 make provision for the implementation of EU regulations relating to the administration of CAP. They contain provisions on control enforcement in relation to payments granted directly to farmers. They also set requirements on beneficiaries of direct payments and certain rural development payments relating to the maintenance of standards for good agricultural and environmental conditions.

The Common Agricultural Policy Basic Payment and Support Schemes (Wales) Regulations 2015 make provision in relation to the administration of direct payments to farmers under CAP support schemes. They set out a number of rules farmers must follow in order to maintain an agricultural area in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation. The amendments made by these regulations are minor, but necessary to ensure the mechanism is in place to spend up to £243 million for a basic payment scheme to farmers in 2020, made available by the UK Government. It also ensures the accuracy and efficiency of the statute book in Wales when the UK withdraws from the EU. Thank you.

We're not going to vote against this, but there are a few questions that have been raised, actually, and I think I'd be interested in hearing your response to those before we come to voting. I know that some within the sector, for example, have queried whether the legislation actually requires funding to be paid to farmers, or whether devolved nations could actually use the money for something else, if they choose to do so. If it is the latter, then clearly I think some out there would have an issue—and EU regulations wouldn't have allowed that to happen, of course. But there is a question as to whether this proposed legislation ensures or requires that that money goes to farmers who would, of course, be in receipt of that money if we were subject to the EU regulations that have been in place previously.

Also, there's a concern from some that the Bill takes account of the Bew review recommendations, which some have been quite critical of, particularly the fact that Scottish agriculture, in one of its recommendations, has received the equivalent of an additional £1,300 on average per farmer, compared to £150 per farmer in Wales on average, which means that the average Scottish farm payment is around 175 per cent of the average Welsh payment. Now, the Bill effectively opens the door for a far larger differential between Scottish farmers and farmers elsewhere in the UK. And again, EU rules would have had something to say about that. So, I'd be interested in your response to that prospect as well, because it does raise broader questions about the long term funding arrangements that we will have and how payments in future years would be administered and how funding will be allocated to devolved nations. I'm sure you'll tell us that this is a one-off for this year, very much a temporary thing—I've no reason to doubt that—but, of course, they told us that about the Barnett formula, and look where it got us.

Minister, could you respond?

Thank you, Llyr, for those questions. My understanding is absolutely it's a one-off. You'll be very aware, as I know from our discussions, that that was a historical payment in relation to Scotland. As far as I know, I've certainly not received any advice around the Bew report in relation to this legislation, but if it hadn't been amended and it wasn't in place immediately before exit date, there would be a risk that Welsh Ministers would not be able to fulfil their obligations to make payments to applicants for the entirety of the 2020 scheme here. So, I'm happy to clarify that. Thank you.

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

Item 6 on our agenda this afternoon is a debate on the Welsh rates of income tax 2020-2021, and I call on the Minister for Finance and the Trefnydd to move the motion—Rebecca Evans.

I'm pleased to open this debate on the Welsh rates of income tax. Welsh rates of income tax were introduced in April last year and applied to income tax payers resident in Wales. The Welsh rates for next year were announced in the draft budget. In keeping with previous commitments, there will be no changes to Welsh income tax levels in 2020-21. This will mean that Welsh taxpayers will continue to pay the same income tax as their England and Northern Irish counterparts. This will continue to provide stability for taxpayers during a time of economic uncertainty and ongoing austerity.

Together with the block grant, Welsh taxes are essential to help fund the vital public services that many in society depend on. Over the coming months and years, and as the reality of the Brexit process becomes clear, protecting these services may become more challenging. This year, the unusual lateness of the UK budget means that the UK Government's tax plans for 2020-21 and beyond are currently unknown, which is unhelpful in the context of our plans for taxation in Wales. We will monitor the UK budget for any potential impacts for Wales.

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs continues to administer income tax in Wales, and the UK Government continues to retain full responsibility for taxation of income from savings and dividends. My officials continue to work with HMRC on the detailed arrangements for the administration of Welsh rates of income tax, and are currently in the process of transitioning to a 'business as usual' governance model, following a successful implementation period. The correct C code is now being applied to approximately 97 per cent of taxpayers, and my officials are working with HMRC to increase that proportion further.

I am pleased to inform the Chamber that, as part of a wider low-cost engagement campaign on social media, and a letter from HMRC that included a leaflet from Welsh Government to all taxpayers living in Wales, the awareness of WRIT has increased across all age groups, socio-economic groups and regions in Wales, with a 14 percentage point increase between June 2018 and June 2019. 

The Welsh Government is committed to continuing to monitor awareness and increase our efforts to engage with the wider public on our taxation system in Wales. I'm also pleased to highlight the Finance Committee's ongoing inquiry, looking at the potential impacts of different income tax rates across the Wales-England border, and I'll be attending a scrutiny session with the committee in March. I look forward to hearing the committee's views on this issue.

The Assembly is asked today to agree the Welsh rate resolution, which will set the Welsh rates of income tax for 2020-21, and I ask Members for their support this afternoon.

Welsh Conservatives will be supporting this motion today. I appreciate it's a short motion, but it is a very important one, an historic one: the setting of income tax rates—the WRIT—for the first time in Wales. After many months, many years, of talking about this process, we are now in it. Admittedly, the rates being considered today are simply replacing the UK part of taxation that has been removed, as part of the transitional phase. So, we always knew, really, that the income tax rates that are being set today were going to be at that level and there'll be very little difference noticed out there on the streets and in houses by people paying the Welsh rate of income tax—at this point, anyway.

Gweinidog, the Welsh taxpayer needs to have confidence that these tax rates in Wales will remain competitive in the future. Can you give us an assurance—obviously not in this year, because the decision's been made, but looking beyond 2020-21—that every effort will be made to make sure that not only tax rates in Wales remain competitive, but that efforts are made as well to grow the Welsh tax base? Because, obviously, if we have a larger Welsh tax base and we have more higher-rate taxpayers in Wales, then the burden is spread across a larger number of people. So, you can actually get more tax in by actually not raising tax rates, but by taxing that larger number of people at a higher rate. That's something I'm sure you'll have to work with the First Minister and with the Minister for economy to achieve.

Can you also clarify if problems that were raised with Finance Committee some time ago with regard to identifying all Welsh taxpayers—I think there was a proposal about using postcodes at one point—have been ironed out successfully? How are you going to ensure that forecasting is as sharp as it can be and as it needs to be in future to make sure that, when it comes to making decisions about changes in future tax rates—by a future Welsh Government, now—those decisions are based on as solid economic data as possible?

Just a few comments from me. We too will be supporting the motion before us today. These are very early days, of course, following the devolution of a portion of the income tax rates last year, and it's important that confidence is being engendered amongst taxpayers and the public in these new devolved arrangements that are in place. We will have to, in the years to come, as political parties, and as Members of the Senedd in this place, make difficult decisions, and brave decisions indeed, I hope, with regard to the rates. But there is sense in going through this initial phase by maintaining consistency in the taxation arrangements.

One thing that I will say is this: we, as Members of the Senedd, and the public in Wales, need to see that the Welsh Government is being driven by the fact that they have control now over a portion of our income tax, and that they take advantage of this opportunity and continue to ensure that we increase the tax base that we have here in Wales. Because this is a genuine opportunity, we can't have business as usual. It would be a waste of devolution if that's the attitude that was adopted. But for the time being, there is sense in maintaining the status quo.

The Minister referred to these rates as applying to Welsh residents. Just a very slight correction: I think it's Wales's residents plus Neil Hamilton.

The bravery we referred to just now—. It would have been brave if Members, particularly on the Conservative and Labour benches, had stood for election on the basis of a clear manifesto—'If you vote for us, we're going to devolve these rates and allow people in Wales to have different tax from people in England'—but they did not. In the 2015 Westminster election, Labour made no mention of income tax devolution and the Conservatives said it would only happen once the Labour Government in Wales triggered a referendum. Then, in the 2016 Assembly election, Labour just said 'when' they're devolved, even though the law still specified there needed to be a referendum, and the Conservatives had some sort of vague fudge in their manifesto, not making the situation clear, and then in a debate said the law said there had to be a referendum but didn't say anything about how they were removing that referendum requirement. That only came in the month after the Assembly election, when they published what became the Wales Act 2017.

In 2014, I was in the Commons when the Wales Act of that year was debated. I remember, I think, the Second Reading in March, and we then had, I think—finally, by that stage, I was a UKIP MP—on 10 December 2014, debates on Lords amendments, when the lockstep was removed. And actually, as a Westminster MP, most of the impression of what all those debates were about was that they were about the lockstep and about dual candidacy. But actually, I supported that legislation, on the basis that there was going to be a referendum before it came in; yet, that requirement was removed. At the end of the debate, I think Stephen Crabb was then the Minister, he referred in 2014, in the final comments on that Act, that the Labour Party had put so many high hurdles in the way of devolution of income tax that he felt they were inspired by Cardiff's Colin Jackson. So, that's where my impression about where Labour were has come from.

But the reality is you haven't stood for election on this. So, that's why I'm objecting to our setting these rates of income tax, because the people of Wales were promised in a referendum—on the ballot paper—that these would not be devolved unless there was a referendum, and you've all gone back on your word.

I call on the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd to reply to the debate, Rebecca Evans.

The irony, of course, of Mark Reckless's protestations about not standing on a manifesto for something is not lost on me. But I think will respond to those points that are directly related to the regulations that are set out in front of Members today.

I agree, actually, with Nick Ramsay, who suggested that this is actually a very short motion for something that is incredibly important. It's important, I think, that we continue to recognise that as a Senedd. He's right again that, generally, people will not notice any change, in the sense that they'll still be paying the same rate of income tax, but what they will notice is the application of the C code alongside their national insurance number. Around 97 per cent of taxpayers are now using the correct code, and of course HMRC has an ongoing education and compliance programme to address those C code problems. It's got articles in its regular employer bulletins, for example, and is doing a great deal of work. It is confident that the number of errors should reduce again before the next scan, which will be taking place later in the year.

Will you take an intervention? You're right to say this is a short motion, and I can understand that, given that this year there's going to be very little change. I imagine, in future income tax motions, should there be changes in the tax rates, there'll probably be more vigorous debate and they probably will require a little bit longer. That's a message probably more for you with your Trefnydd hat on than as Finance Minister.

I'm sure that, in future, there'll be a great deal of debate regarding Welsh rates of income tax, because of course whilst it was a pledge not to raise income tax during the course of this Assembly, it'll certainly be a matter of particular interest, I think, as we go to the electorate for the next Assembly elections, in terms of determining what our respective parties' offer might be to the people of Wales.

The point was raised again how important it is that we work to grow the Welsh tax base. Of course, that's not just a matter for the finance Minister, actually; it's something for us right across Government. So, there's important work to be done in housing, in skills, and in other areas of Government to ensure that we do grow that tax base across Wales.

And also, it's important as well to recognise the important work that we do on forecasting. I know this has been a matter of interest to the Finance Committee. The Office for Budget Responsibility has been undertaking some work, and the forecast published alongside our final budget, which sets the rates at 10p for all bands, is expected to raise £2.2 billion in 2020-21. And of course, we have the final outturn figures coming forward then in future years, and any reconciliation payments would then be made. So, this is just the start of the very exciting journey, and I'd be grateful for Members' support for these regulations today.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Therefore, we defer voting under this item until the voting time. 

Item 7 on our agenda this afternoon is the debate on the final budget of 2020-21, and I call on the Minister for Finance and the Trefnydd to move the motion—Rebecca Evans.

Thank you. I'm pleased to open the debate on the final budget for 2020-21 this afternoon. Since we debated the draft budget in the Chamber a month ago, we've carefully considered the recommendations of the Finance Committee's report and those of the other Senedd committees. In line with the commitment we made following last year's scrutiny, I am pleased that we were able to respond to all of the reports by the end of last week, and I responded formally and positively to the 27 recommendations put forward by the Finance Committee.

At this stage in the budget process, we would normally look to take account of any significant adjustments resulting from the UK budget in the final budget. We know, however, that this year has been far from normal, given the UK Government's unpredictability. We've seen a promised multi-year spending review, which translated into a one-year spending round, and an autumn UK budget that is now set for 11 March—too late for us to take into account in publishing our final budget proposals. Not only are we constrained in this aspect, the UK Government, late on in this financial year, dealt us another blow by cutting our financial transactions capital by more than £100 million, and our traditional capital by close to £100 million.

In simple terms, the UK Government is taking £200 million away from us in what is a challenging time. I've written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury objecting strongly to these changes being made so late in the day. We're seeking clarification, and as soon as I have that clarity, I'll write to the Finance Committee with the details. This is yet another example of why we need to complete the joint work with the UK Government and the other devolved Governments to review and improve the statement-of-funding policy, which is integral to our ability to plan and manage budgets. And this is a point I'll be pressing, along with the finance Ministers of Scotland and Northern Ireland, at a meeting of the finance Ministers quadrilateral next week.

Since we debated the draft budget a month ago, many communities in Wales have suffered the unprecedented and devastating impacts of storm Ciara and storm Dennis. Teams within Welsh Government have been working around the clock with local authorities, emergency services and Natural Resources Wales to provide the best possible urgent support to those affected. And I would like to take this opportunity again to put on record once more our thanks to the emergency services and volunteers up and down Wales, who have worked so tirelessly in recent weeks.

To support the initial recovery work, we have announced that up to £10 million will be made available immediately. We have been able to mobilise that funding in the short term through very careful management of our resources and the drawing together of funds from across Government. I wrote to the Chair of the Finance Committee last week, setting out how I plan to make that money available quickly, given the close proximity of the end of the financial year.

But we know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Work is ongoing to get a clear picture of the scale of the damage, and to identify the longer term support needed.

We expect the that costs associated with the remediation in the longer term to be significant. Depending on the scale, it is unlikely that we can reasonably absorb the cost of the works required within existing budgets, especially given the £100 million general capital reduction we have just seen. That is why I've written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, seeking additional financial support outside of the normal Barnett process. I welcome the indication that additional funding for Wales will be made available by the UK Government, but we wait to see the full details of what support will be provided in practice. I would expect to make further allocations in support of the flood recovery in the first supplementary budget.

The storms we have seen in recent weeks demonstrate the significant consequences of climate change. Throughout the scrutiny of the draft budget, Members have expressed concern about the impact of climate change. Be in no doubt, taking on the climate emergency is a priority across the Welsh Government. In May last year, this Senedd was the first Parliament in the world to declare a climate emergency. We subsequently formally adopted the advice of our statutory adviser on climate change, the UK Committee on Climate Change, committing to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases in Wales by 95 per cent over the next 30 years.

This is the first budget since our declaration of a climate emergency. It provides for a new package of more than £140 million of capital funding to support our ambitions for decarbonisation and to protect our wonderful environment. This includes investment in active travel and an electric bus fleet; new ways of building houses; enhancing our most ecologically important sites; and the development of a national forest, to extend the full length of our country. This package of investment is an important next step on our journey to a greener Wales. 

We recognised in the draft budget that the greatest physical risk to our communities from climate change is through the increasingly intense storms, flooding and coastal erosion that we're already witnessing. In this budget, we're committing £64 million in 2020-21 to defend our communities from the most severe and immediate impacts of climate change, and we will keep funding under review and will make more funding available if needed. 

It remains unclear at this stage what the UK budget on 11 March will deliver for Wales. Should we not see any reduction in revenue funding from the UK budget, I will look to make a small number of further allocations in 2020-21 in the first supplementary budget. Whilst constrained by limited resources, we are committed to investing in those areas where the evidence shows that we can have the greatest impact. During scrutiny, Members expressed concern about funding for both the housing support grant and homelessness. Housing is one of our eight cross-cutting priority areas. In this budget, we allocated an additional £175 million to support our housing needs. We want everyone to live in a home that meets their needs and supports a healthy, successful and prosperous life. That is why I want to signal now that I will make additional funding available for both these areas next year, if I am in a position to do so after the UK budget. It is also why we're progressing our plans for the new land division within the Welsh Government, which will promote joint working between public sector bodies to unlock the potential of our public land for housing developments. 

Another important issue raised duiring scruitny was funding for buses. Bus services across Wales provide important access to education, training, work and healthcare and allow people to simply enjoy a day out. They're a vital link between our communities and an important tool in supporting a vibrant economy. This is particularly true in our rural communities and for the people who depend on these services the most. As I said at Finance Committee, we will keep this under review and I will consider making additional allocations in this area in light of our final settlement for 2020-21. 

Recognising that the decarbonisation of road transport is essential to delivering our net-zero target, we're taking action to make it easier for people to make fewer journeys by car and use alternative forms of transport. As well as investing in new forms of transport, however, we also need to meet our statutory obligations to maintain our existing road assets, to allow people and goods to move safely, prevent the risk of accidents, improve connectivity and access to education, skills, training and employment. The maintenance budget of more than £150 million includes an additional £15 million in 2020-21. However, the UK Government's decade of austerity has had a direct impact on the maintenance of the UK's road network. In Wales, road traffic congestion has been exacerbated by the UK Government's £1 billion underfunding of transport infrastructure, and the failure to electrify the main lines in north and south Wales, leading to increased traffic on our trunk roads. Therefore, I see the maintenance of our road network as a further priority for additional funding, particularly for the reasons of safety I've outlined. 

So, to conclude, this final budget delivers on the promises we have made to the people of Wales. It takes our investment in the Welsh NHS to £37 billion over this Assembly term, and provides new investment to help protect the future of our planet. Despite the challenges that we have faced as a result of the UK Government's unpredictability and chaos, I am proud that we have remained firm in our plans to deliver on our promises to the people of Wales and provide financial certainty. And I commend the final budget to the Senedd.  

Thank you. I call on the Chair of the Finance Committee, Llyr Gruffydd. 

Thank you very much. I am very pleased to have this opportunity to contribute just a few comments in this debate on the Welsh Government’s final budget in my role as Chair of the Finance Committee.

I am pleased that the Minister has accepted, or accepted in principle, all of the committee's recommendations, and I'm particularly pleased that the Minister has agreed to consider how we could build a spending priorities debate into the budget timetable in the years to come, and I look forward to working with the Minister on taking this forward. I think that there's an excellent opportunity for Members to have a bit more of a say and influence in the formative early stage of future budgets, rather than responding to something that is announced further down the line.

During the draft budget debate, this Chamber, of course, recognised the uncertainty that has surrounded this budget cycle and the exceptional circumstances, as the Minister said, under which it was delivered, given the general election and Brexit. In fact, we are still waiting to see the UK Government’s budget, and this, as we heard, may have significant impacts on the Welsh Government’s own funding. 

In our draft budget report, we recommended the Minister should provide an update on the impact that the UK budget will have on Wales as soon as possible after 11 March. I’m pleased that the Minister has accepted our recommendation, and has made a commitment to providing an early statement on the UK budget implications on tax forecasts and also details on consequentials to Wales. 

The lack of a UK budget has meant, of course, that Welsh tax forecasts are based on the Office for Budget Responsibility's UK economy and fiscal forecasts from March 2019. But, it is pleasing to see that both the draft and final budgets use the latest available Welsh information and outturn data to update their tax forecasts. This final budget shows a net increase in cash revenue and capital allocations of £4 million, which equates to 0.02 per cent.

We left the EU on 31 January, of course. However, uncertainty still surrounds the future relationship between the EU and the UK. We asked for assurances around the financial support available to the agricultural industry, and the Minister's response has stated that the UK Government has provided confirmation of funding for the basic payment scheme in 2020. But, further information will not be available until after the comprehensive spending review, which we are expecting later this year.

While we are here today debating this final budget, it is clear that the upcoming UK Government budget, which is in the pipeline, and the comprehensive spending review, and discussions on the funding arrangements following Brexit, will all have an impact on the 2020-21 budget. We will, I would imagine, be able to consider these changes in due course, and that is certainly something that we as a committee will be eager to do. Thank you.

Thank you. Nick Ramsay. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank the Minister for her opening remarks regarding the issue of flooding, and also add my words of thanks to the emergency services for all their hard work and commitment during those difficult times, which may, of course, not be over yet? 

I am pleased, Minister, that you started your contribution with the issue of flooding and with climate change. I seem to remember I was critical during the draft budget debate that the environment and climate change didn't feature higher up the agenda in terms of the list in your speech. So, you and your office clearly listened to at least one of my points during that debate and made, I think, what was a very good and important change, actually. I think, putting the climate and environment right up there at the start of the budget is all part of setting a green budget. I think, too often, we talk about the importance of green budgeting and making sure that the environment is at the heart of all we do, that's on the label, but it's not actually what happens in practice. So, hopefully, we are turning that corner and all parties realise the importance of putting the environment centre stage.

A green budget requires green infrastructure, and we desperately need to see more of that infrastructure. You did touch on some of it, and, obviously, the flooding situation has required a close look at infrastructure. Welsh Conservatives believe that we need a network of fast-charging electric points for cars to ensure that everyone is within at least 30 miles of an EV charging station. Those Assembly Members and members of the public, staff here who have electric cars, will know that it's okay to use them at the moment for short journeys, but when you try to use them for anything over a distance or travelling up to mid or north Wales, you really are taking your electric life in your hands in trying to do that. So, I'd like to see more in the budget about how we actually put forward proposals to improve that green infrastructure.

Under David Melding's proposal, the Welsh Conservatives' White Paper, new houses in Wales would all have electric charging points as well. It's once small change to the legislation, but it's something that in the longer term can really make a difference on the ground.

Turning to the rest of the budget, Minister, and it will not surprise you to know that the Welsh Conservatives will not be supporting this budget—[Interruption.] I didn't think that that would surprise you. We do welcome the fact that—

Will you take an intervention?

Yes, sure.

Will you be putting forward an alternative budget?

I do remember Gordon Brown putting forward an alternative budget many years ago, and I think the Labour Party was out of power for many years after that. It wasn't Gordon Brown, sorry, I take that back—Mike Hedges will correct me—it was John Smith. The problem with putting forward an alternative budget is, as the Minister knows, an economic situation is fast-moving, and, actually, it is for the Government to put forward a budget. It is for Government to put forward the budget and for the other parties to say where those amendments should be made. And if that is the Labour Party's way of saying that you want another party to put forward a budget, well, I'll tell you what, my colleagues here, Janet Finch-Saunders, Mohammad Asghar and Mark Isherwood, they will gladly come over and put forward a budget for you, and I'm sure that the people of Wales will look forward to seeing a few changes. But we'll leave that for another day.

We are not supporting this budget. We welcome the fact that the Welsh Government finally has some more money at its disposal with £600 million more from the UK Government. The age of austerity is coming to an end. But taxpayers in Wales will rightly question a number of the Welsh Government's decisions when it comes to investing in the Welsh economy and building a better Wales in the wake of Brexit. What have we seen? Over £100 million on a public inquiry on the M4; £20 million on the Circuit of Wales project; basically what amounts to a blank cheque for Cardiff Airport—not my words, but the words of the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, who is of course me, so they are my words—an editing error. [Laughter.]

We welcome the fact that the Welsh Government has invested £37 billion in the Welsh NHS since 2016—[Interruption.] In one moment. And is announcing an extra £400 million spend on health. That is to be welcomed. That is good news from the Welsh Government, but we want to see more money going into transformational change. I give way to the former First Minister.

I am grateful to the Member for giving way. I was at a briefing with Cardiff Airport this morning, as was his colleague Russell George, and it was clear that Cardiff Airport receives no revenue subsidy. It's had loans on a commercial basis from the Welsh Government, a very small amount of money, especially given the fact that Bristol Airport has loans that tally up more than £500 million.

I didn't quite catch the question at the end of that, but on the Public Accounts Committee, we've been looking at the loans situation of Cardiff Airport, and there are some confusions there that need to be cleared up on the committee. I think what we would be afraid of is, yes, it's fine to give loans to a project, but those loans should not amount to a blank cheque. Those loans should not be unending and those loans should be tied in with a vision of the future and a strategy that everyone buys into and that will see a return to the taxpayer at the end of the day. But, of course, I accept that they do need to have loans of some sort.

In closing, Dirprwy Lywydd, because I know I'm out of time, I would say, what about north Wales? What about north Wales? Aside from £20 million for the north Wales metro, what about investments and upgrades to the A55, the lifeline of the north Wales economy? I think there have been opportunities taken in this budget but there are many opportunities that have been missed. I think that, in future, we need to see a budget that delivers for the whole of Wales, not just for the south of Wales and that Members in north Wales will see investment, green investment, and green infrastructure investment, as well, that delivers for everyone across Wales.

Diolch yn fawr iawn, Diprwy Lywydd. I'm afraid this budget is a bit of a missed opportunity and it's a bit of a double whammy too. It's a missed opportunity for a new, more dynamic, radical change of direction by a Labour Welsh Government, and it's set against a backdrop of a decade and more of deep cuts from an uncaring Conservative UK Government.

On the scale of cuts that we have faced, yes, I sympathise with the Welsh Government's position going into this final budget, and, yes, I also condemn the unannounced £200 million clawback from the Treasury. But in that kind of situation of adversity, I think you need to see a Government prepared to think differently, and I'm afraid we're not seeing it nearly enough. And, of course, without a comprehensive UK budget having yet been issued, it's still rather difficult to make changes to the final budget; I admit that. It's more crystal ball than red briefcase when it comes to trying to predict the actual Welsh budget for 2020-21. But even in that unsatisfactory context, I've no doubt that Welsh Government had the scope to think differently.

The Government says this is a budget to build a more prosperous, more equal and greener Wales, but for that kind of national building project to take place, you need firm foundations and a clear plan to guide you, and we don't see enough evidence of either. Into detail, then.

In looking—[Interruption.]

Yes, certainly.

The same question as Nick Ramsay: have you got an alternative budget?

We certainly have, and we look forward to implementing it when we're in Government here. The Government says it wants to build a new Wales.

Let's turn to local government, first of all. We welcome the fact, of course, that the local government settlement has increased by 4.3 per cent, but the level of funding for our councils is still 13 per cent lower in real terms than the 2010-11 figure, and the increase is lower than what the WLGA stated was needed for local authorities just to stand still and maintain services. So, those services will suffer once again, and the pressure on council tax will continue, and we know that it is the poorest in society that are hit hardest.

It's disappointing too that there has been very little change between the draft budget and the final budget before us today. In the draft budget, there was something over £100 million of unallocated fiscal resource funding, but wasn't this an opportunity now to give a percentage of that to local government, in addition to what was set out in the draft proposals? Of course, local government plays a key role in providing preventative services, from education to leisure facilities and sports facilities, social services—those things that enable us to keep people out of the more expensive health service and to prevent longer term problems from developing in the first place.  

Turning to poverty, the levels of poverty in Wales are still disgracefully high, and I cannot see any evidence of a gear change in terms of the Government's attitude to the issue. Not only is it the right thing to do, to put real, innovative funding proposals in place to tackle poverty, but we estimate that dealing with poverty costs some £3.6 billion annually for the Welsh Government. So, it makes economic sense to tackle poverty too, as well as it being morally the right thing to do. Of course, the Welsh Government doesn't have all of the levers to eradicate poverty, but there is much that could be done, and the budget is a key tool in delivering that.

I have no time to go into as much detail as I would like, but, for example, we do see the Government supporting, in principle, the work of the Fair Work Commission, but I don't see any evidence in this budget of where that is being implemented in a practical way. Failings in terms of the welfare state is another issue in poverty, and that is a non-devolved area, of course, but if we look at something like housing, well, housing certainly is devolved, and we do see an unwillingness to be progressive in this budget when it comes to housing.

In transport, for example, we see £179 million for trains—Transport for Wales—which is excellent in and of itself, but that is three times as much as is provided to buses. Likewise, giving £62 million to Help to Buy for a relatively small number of people, which is of huge assistance to those people, and there's nothing wrong with it in principle, but that appears to be a great deal as compared to just £188 million in social housing grant for the many thousands of people who truly need assistance.

Now, I will conclude, because I am aware that the clock is against me, by turning to the climate emergency. The Minister did refer to the climate emergency and flooding at the beginning of her speech, but there is still not enough evidence that there is a real change of direction that is truly going to reflect the climate emergency that we, as a Senedd, and you, as a Government, have declared in this place. Once again, it's a failure to see whether the funding spent is spent as efficiently as possible. Twenty-nine million pounds for a fleet of electric buses. I am very enthusiastic about electric vehicles, as you know, but we can't see whether that is the best way of spending £29 million as part of the effort to tackle the climate emergency. 

Let me ask this to close: does the Government really believe that this budget will change the lives of the people of Wales in a significant way by the time of the next budget? Is this the budget that really starts to turn things around for Wales? I'm afraid it is not; that's why we'll be voting against this budget today. We need a budget, we need a Government, that looks to substantially and materially improve the lives of the people of Wales, and that's Plaid Cymru's driving force.

I agreed, just now, with the description of this being a missed opportunity. We've seen the ending of austerity and the opportunity to have budget increases of a decent amount, and rather than prioritising and sending a key message as to where it's going with that, the tendency, I think, of this budget is to give relatively similar increases across a large number of areas, albeit with some small areas that are prioritised within that.

What I would like to do, though, is compliment the finance Minister on how she's presented the final budget just now. I've made the point on a number of occasions that she's used lots of past speeches to complain at length about Brexit and about austerity, and, actually, I didn't hear either of those today at all, and she stuck to her knitting, if I can use that phrase, of what the Welsh Government responsibilities are. I think we should applaud that.

She criticised the UK Government for its unpredictability in terms of this budget round. I think, to be fair, some of that unpredictability was not of the UK Government's own making, in particular the timing of the election when the House of Commons finally did vote for that. However, I support what Welsh Government is saying about the £200 million of very last minute cuts to capital and financial transaction spending, and I think it's most unsatisfactory for those to come so late in the day. I think UK Government, even if it's formally announced later, should at least be able to informally liaise with Welsh Government again about such potential changes with more time given to them.

The remarks about the flood defences—I concur also. I think Welsh Government—very fair of UK Government to ask them, 'What are you asking for? What's this money going to do?' I think the response that, 'Actually, we need more time for the flooding to go down to inspect and decide what's needed,' is also a very fair response. It's a devolved area, but I welcome Welsh Government asking UK Government for money in this area and that partnership approach, and I hope it will be replicated in other areas.

I think, particularly with floods, I was drawn by a meeting of Confor that Andrew R.T. Davies chaired at lunch time about some of the tree planting initiatives and the links with flood, particularly the ash dieback disease, and how that's the tree, perhaps, that absorbs more water than any other, we were informed. Also, the flooding that we've seen on the Severn, particularly in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, that water has come off Welsh mountains, but it's largely English settlements that have had the consequent flooding. One suggestion, again, in that Confor meeting was—could we not have more planting of trees on the tops of hills, where they would be able to grow, where the heights are appropriate? That doesn't seem to happen because the categorisation of those landscapes as being a particular type of landscape means it's difficult, then, to arrange for tree planting. If there is a climate emergency, if you really do want to change policy in this area, look further at how to smooth the way to more tree planting, particularly in those less costly areas per acre where there would be much more, I think, private interest in doing that tree planting without large-budget subsidies. 

You mentioned, finance Minister, 2020-21—the first supplementary budget. Will we await the first supplementary budget before you will make a statement on your response to the UK budget on 11 March, or will there be a statement beforehand? And can you tell us when you would expect that first supplementary budget to come in? 

We talked a lot about Cardiff Airport. The Government, bravely, are having a debate on that in the coming weeks. I shall save my remarks on that until then.

On the issue of the A55 upgrades, Nick Ramsay says to the Welsh Government, 'Why haven't you done it?' I remind him that, actually, his UK party's manifesto in December specified that they would upgrade the A55 for north Wales if elected at a Westminster level. It's a radical trajectory for devolution, but that is what you said in your manifesto.

Finally, can I welcome the changes that the Minister is saying we'll see in the budget, albeit we're not getting them today, for the supplementary budget, assuming we do have some more headroom with the UK budget? I think both on the housing and homelessness, and particularly, if I may, just because it's an area I've spoken about at every opportunity, the bus services as well as the new electric buses, which I accept are going—some are going—to Caerphilly and Newport as well as to Cardiff, but I think it really is excellent if we are going to see an upward move in bus subsidy. I think that will show Members and stakeholders that Welsh Government is at least listening and engaging in this budget process, and I think that is to be welcomed. 

Finally, the extra money for roads and road maintenance—I welcome that, too, although I wasn't quite clear whether the finance Minister was saying that was part of the climate change category that she introduced. Thank you. 

To Rhun ap Iorwerth, can I say: please will you publish your budget, if you've got an alternative one? Remembering, of course, that you've got exactly the same amount of money, and everybody you give more money to, you have to take some money off. 

Whilst I'll be supporting the budget motion, I want to address how money is spent, because the increases are welcome, but how it is spent in departments is at least as important. The role of government can be broken down into the areas of health and well-being, security and the economy. Starting with health and well-being, and I put the two together because I think they do fit together, rather than just talking about health—health is no more just about hospitals than car maintenance is about cars being repaired in garages. People's health and well-being begins with having a warm, waterproof and safe home with enough nourishment, and far too many of the people in Wales haven't got those. Stopping people becoming homeless, and providing supported accommodation, will keep many people out of hospitals. I want to highlight two areas that are important. Before that, I would like to welcome what the finance Minister said regarding housing. I think housing is one of the most important things we've got, and I'd just remind people of the best Government this country's ever had—the 1945 Government of the Labour Party. Health and housing were together under Nye Bevan. 

The provision of social housing and the provision for Supporting People is incredibly important. People in poor-quality housing, or the homeless—[Interruption.] Certainly.

Will you be putting forward an alternative budget?

I can give you an alternative budget, because I'd put more money into education, more money into housing. I would not be supporting Help to Buy—all it does is inflate house prices—and I would not be spending so much money on the economy portfolio. I'd be spending it on education, which would help the economy. So, whilst I support the budget and will vote for it, I would actually have an alternative one.

Within health provision, my concerns about the size of the geographical areas of health boards is well known. The funding of primary care needs to increase, and patients need access to a doctor on the day they make first contact, and to get it. What is happening is that people cannot get an appointment with their GP and then they go to A&E. Often, the default position in A&E is to keep them in for 24 hours for observation, when they come in with non-specific symptoms. A&E is no longer accident and emergency, but often the only place that someone can go in order to see a doctor, albeit you might have to wait 12 hours to do so. On hospital discharge—ensuring that the hospital pharmacy provides the medication on time, so that patients can go home rather than waiting for it to be provided the following day or the day after. And why do so many people going into hospital able to look after themselves, get discharged either to a nursing homes or to a substantial care package? Whilst understandable for stroke patients, I find it less understandable for patients having hip and knee replacements. Also, all that happens if more consultant surgeons are employed, if there are not sufficient beds in high dependency units, then no more operations will be carried out. I think it's really important that the whole amount of money provided to health actually is spent to benefit it.

On the economy, we can either try and make a better offer than anyone else to attract branch factories, or we can produce a highly skilled workforce. The alternative is creating our own industrial sectors, having employers coming here because of our skills mix, not our financial inducement. How much are they paying people to go to Cambridge? How much are they paying companies to go to Silicon Valley? They don't have to—people want to go there because of the skills. We should be the same—people wanting to come here because of the education and skills of our people. Money spent on education in schools, colleges and universities is an investment in the Welsh economy and economic growth.

Turning to environment, energy and rural affairs areas, we've declared a climate change emergency. That's really important, because we actually accept now we have a serious climate problem. The committee's doing an investigation into fuel poverty. And whilst a lot of good work's being done, there are still people living in houses that haven't got double-glazing and haven't got central heating. And surely, that would be a good place to start. Whilst we've got a definition of fuel poverty, sometimes it doesn't catch all the people who are in fuel poverty—they keep their houses cold, they go to bed early, because they cannot afford to spend the amount of money that would put them in fuel poverty. Actually, doing good work could actually not move them out of fuel poverty, but it will keep them warm. And I think these really have got to be high priorities.

We've got Natural Resources Wales. We've just seen this flooding. People know my views, and I'll just repeat them, very briefly—we need more flood plains, we need to create ponds and areas where water can go into. We need to plant trees. We need to stop people building on flood plains. We need to ensure that we reduce the amount of flooding. And we need to make rivers wider, we need to make them meander, so that you haven't got the power of them coming down. We need to ensure that what we're doing is going to protect our environment, and I would hope that, when we get down to the next stage, and money being spent by the Welsh Government, that is what actually happens.

I rise to support the Welsh Labour Government's budget for 2020-21. Despite a decade of harsh austerity and cuts inflicted on Wales by the UK Tory Government in London, the Welsh Labour Government here continues to act as a firewall against a shrivelled and stunted Welsh block grant, and a chronic absence of UK infrastructural spend. It is important, with climate change, that this changes.

And this is separate in addition to the unexpected £200 million take from Welsh finances by the UK Government. Indeed, austerity looks set—and I disagree with Mark Reckless—to continue in the years ahead. In October 2018, then Prime Minister Theresa May stated austerity would end in 2019. And in September 2019, then Chancellor Sajid Javid declared the Tories had turned the page on austerity. It's 2020, and look what's happened to them. Yet, austerity is still ravaging communities across Wales—and I invite you to see some of them—forcing families into food banks, from homes into homelessness.

So, I am heartened that at the centre of this Welsh Labour budget is the Welsh national health service, education and public services. As a former county councillor, I know that the vital public services that are run from our city and town halls and our rural communities across Wales are the service delivery hubs and the engines that actually run Wales. This budget sees a real-terms increase for every authority, and the difference this makes in reality is profound. For Islwyn residents, this allows the drastic proposed cuts of £8.5 million—the reality—to be reduced to £3 million, but this is still £3 million less. For Islwyn residents, this means the necessary council tax rise proposed can be lessened, and for Labour councillors—they will continue to stand up for the well-being of their citizens and the valued public services that they do not wish to cut. This Welsh Labour Government continues to back them financially, even with the scorched-earth terrain that the Tory policies of austerity and cuts create for our public services. 

When I was elected to this Senedd, I stated one of the major drivers for my political motivation was a desire to tackle poverty. As such, I welcome that a major plank of this Welsh Labour Government's budget is focused on that vital issue of tackling poverty via preventative spend, and I welcome the Government's intentions also around Supporting People and the bus subsidy.

Nearly £1 billion is already invested in a wide range of measures that contribute to tackling poverty, including the council tax reduction scheme, which delivers discounts for one in five households, backed by £244 million each year; £1 million for the discretionary assistance fund; £2.7 million for school holiday enrichment; £6.6 million for our poorest young people; and free breakfast club pilots for secondary schools. I could go on: £0.25 million for sanitary projects via food banks and organisations; £3.1 million in this budget for local authorities and colleges to supply sanitary products free of charge, aiming to stop silent period poverty, which impacts on attendance and attainment for some of our young people.

The Labour-run Caerphilly County Borough Council has led the way in Wales on this issue, and provided 100 per cent plastic-free period products to young women across the borough. This is evidence of the difference that a radical Labour-run county council working in partnership with the Labour-run Welsh Government can make to improving the lives of its citizens, working together for a green, clean Wales. I continue to campaign for all Welsh local authorities to follow suit and provide plastic-free sanitary products. Having met inspirational Ella Daish, a passionate activist campaigning to end period plastic across the UK, I wish to pay tribute to her. I know that the Welsh Labour Government will continue to lead the way in this field, as this radical budget clearly shows. 

So, to conclude, Llywydd, I urge all Members who believe in a fair Wales, who wish for a just Wales and who yearn for a better Wales to back this strong and stable Welsh Labour Government budget for 2020-21. Thank you. 

I'm pleased to be able to support this final budget today, a budget that rightly prioritises our NHS and also offers a sustained programme of funding to ensure the future of our country. In setting out the budget today, Ministers have met their promises to the people of Wales and ensured the alignment of governmental priorities with those of our citizens. Services are protected and enhanced, despite having to deal with the impact of a wasted decade of unnecessary, ideologically driven austerity. 

For my contribution, I want to focus on just two main policy areas, both of which are, I feel, intrinsically linked to the future of our communities. The first is the interventions that the Welsh Government includes in the budget around tackling child poverty. According to recent data, Penrhiwceiber in my constituency has the highest child poverty levels in Wales. Now, Penrhiwceiber is a fantastic community, and I was really pleased that the Minister for Housing and Local Government was able to join me there last year for a round-table, and I'm very thankful for the work that has come out of that on child poverty, both at a local government and a Welsh Government level. 

The causes of child poverty are complex and most are not devolved, but I am pleased that addressing child poverty has always been a priority for successive Welsh Labour Governments in the areas that they can influence. Indeed, across portfolios, the Welsh Government already invest nearly £1 billion in a variety of interventions to tackle poverty, and the budget before us today will enhance that provision. For example, it contains an additional investment of £6.6 million in the early years pupil deprivation grant. This means that, over the course of this Assembly term, despite the real-terms cut in funding, Wales will have more than doubled the early years PDG. A significant intervention to support household budgets is provided by the PDG access grant, and I welcome the fact that, this year, the Welsh Government is allocating an additional £3.2 million for the 2020-21 academic year to extend the scheme to more year groups. Also to be welcomed is the £2.7 million funding boost for the school holiday enrichment programme. Extra children can now be supported through this excellent scheme. I was able to visit a primary school in Penywaun some time ago to see the impact that this has. Similarly, it is positive to note the £450,000 being marked to launch a free breakfast club pilot for secondary school pupils.

My second policy area that I'd like to speak to today relates to dealing with the impact of the flooding that's affected Wales, including much of Rhondda Cynon Taf, over the past few weeks. I said that it's linked to the future of our communities, and that's a fact. The statistic that we've all been talking about in the Chamber today from the Royal Meteorological Society—that over the next decade, the Valleys will see 50 per cent more rain—shows that we really do need more investment in ensuring that we can minimise the impact of this on our communities. We also need funding to be made readily available for putting things right when they go wrong. Assembly Members will know about the letter, of which I was just one signatory, that was sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week asking for a one-off injection of £30 million to help to repair and for restoration work in RCT. Across Cynon valley and across Wales, the community response and generosity to the flooding has been phenomenal, but it can only go so far, and Government at all levels will need to be mindful of their obligations. During Prime Minister's questions last week, the Prime Minister said,

'the Government are committed to working flat out with the Welsh Administration to ensure that everybody gets the flood relief that they need. Yes, of course, that cash certainly will be passported through.'

Now, we're nearly a week on in a time of crisis, and nothing has happened. The UK Government has recognised its responsibility for providing further funding, given the intense and disproportionate impact of flooding on Wales, so it needs to meet that responsibility urgently. Otherwise, it's just another example of empty words from the Prime Minister, and it's unfair that my constituents and others will have to suffer in consequence. Thank you. 

The Minister for Finance to reply to the debate, Rebecca Evans. 

Diolch, Llywydd. I welcome the opportunity to have this debate this afternoon, and I do thank Members for their contributions. As I outlined in my opening statement, this is a budget that has taken place amidst uncertainty and evolving circumstances and, of course, we expect those to continue beyond the Chancellor's UK budget on 11 March. It's only right that I put on record my thanks to our Welsh Government officials, both within Welsh Treasury and my finance officials, but also finance officials working right across departments in Government who have done sterling work in very difficult circumstances this year. I'm incredibly grateful to them. 

It is my intention to make a statement as early as possible following the budget on the implications for us here in Wales. In my opening remarks, I did take the opportunity to highlight where I would seek to make additional funding, should it become available, or at least should our funding not be reduced as a result of the UK budget. Nick Ramsay referred in his comments to the fact that I was listening during the budget process. Well, I can guarantee that I have been listening, and these are the reasons why those are the areas that I have highlighted for additional funding.

So, flooding clearly has to be a priority. UK Government has said that additional funding will be passported to Wales, and we're certainly keen to use additional funding to support those communities that have been so badly hit. And as we've heard a number of times over the last week or so, we don't yet know the scale of the damage and the quantum of the funding that will be needed in order to deal with the flooding, but certainly that will be a priority looking to the next year. And homelessness and the housing support grant—

Will the Minister take an intervention? I'm pleased that you were listening, Minister, and have taken things on board. Would you agree with me that, given the growing powers of this place and the growing fiscal devolution, perhaps this debate itself—the final budget debate—is something that could be looked at in terms of the scope of the debate? I got the feeling today that many Members had, maybe not all to do with the budget, other things they would have liked to have said, but there were time constraints to the five-minute slots. I just wonder, with the amount of stuff that we're trying to fit into this debate, whether in the future, in the next Assembly, the final budget debate could perhaps be a little bit more extensive.

That's certainly something I'd be happy to take up with my business manager colleagues in the various parties for potential discussion within the Business Committee. 

But I think the point that Llyr raised in his remarks about the importance of having early discussion is important, which is why I was so pleased to see and respond positively to that recommendation by the Finance Committee that we should have a debate on spending priorities early in the year. I'm very happy to do that, and look forward to that debate in due course.

The second area, though, which I highlighted as an area for additional funding, would be homelessness and the housing support grant. I know that's an area of real concern to Members and it certainly aligns very closely with our concern about prevention and our concern about looking after those people who are the most vulnerable in society. So, that would be another one of those areas where I would seek to make additional funding available.

And again, I think the same applies to bus services. That was a message that came through really loud and clear in the committee scrutiny and in the debates that we've had in the Chamber. It's certainly, again, an area that is extremely important to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities in Wales. And the issue of road maintenance, although perhaps it's not instinctively where one would think about putting additional funding, actually, it is so important in terms of road safety and in terms of looking after the assets to ensure that they are fit for purpose. So, that's another area that I've identified.

The reason why I'm not prepared to make allocations at this stage is partly because of the uncertainty, but also, going into a new financial year with only in the region of £100 million contingency, I think, is something to bear in mind as well. I mean, if the last month or so has taught us anything, it's that we have to have that level of contingency available. We've seen the flooding. We've seen the challenges now with potential funding needed to deal with coronavirus, depending on how that situation plays out. So, I think it is important to go into a financial year with a level of contingency. It would be, I think, irresponsible to take things far beyond that £100 million, given what we've learned in recent times. So, I think that we are going into the next year with an appropriate level of contingency funding.

A particular area that was raised in the debate, and I think was a theme throughout all of the contributions, was the importance of tackling poverty. That came out very strongly in some of the contributions, particularly from Vikki Howells, Mike Hedges and also Rhianon Passmore—the concerns that they raised about tackling poverty. You'll see so much in this budget that is aimed at tackling poverty; around £1 billion in this budget is aimed at doing just that. It's important to recognise that there will be individuals and families who are £2,000 better off—money in their pocket—as a direct result of the decisions that this Government has taken.

It is a fact that people can get used to things. People might not necessarily realise that, actually, the reason why that extra money is in their pocket and decisions are being taken is because it's a Labour Government prioritising things, such as: the pupil development grant access funding to ensure that children have the kit that they need for school; the money that we're putting into free school meals; the new approach we're taking to free breakfasts in secondary schools; we have the school milk scheme; school holiday enrichment programmes; the Holiday Hunger Playworks Pilot, which we're also doing; and then we've heard about the work on period poverty as well. Those are just some of the areas in which we are working.

I can see that my time is starting to run out. I know that we have the next debate this afternoon on the local government settlement, so there will be an opportunity there, I think, to reflect on the funding that we have provided for local authorities. The WLGA has been clear that, actually, they feel it is an exceptionally good settlement, but I think we accept the WLGA's point that, actually, one year of a good settlement doesn't make up for a decade of cuts. But certainly, it is our firm intention to support local authorities as much as we can, and you will have seen that as one of our priorities, alongside the NHS, throughout the final budget.

So, I hope I've tried to respond to some of those points; as Nick Ramsay said, it's very hard to respond to everything in the time that we have available. But I would just like to commend the final budget to colleagues and hope that they will lend it their support this afternoon.

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

The next item is a debate on the local government settlement for the next financial year, and I call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government to move the motion—Julie James. 

Diolch, Llywydd. I'm pleased to present the 2020-21 local government settlement for the 22 unitary authorities in Wales to the Assembly. Before I start today, I'm sure the Senedd will join me in thanking local government for the critical work they undertake. We've seen over these past three weeks the part that local government, alongside the emergency services and communities themselves, have played in the response to the unprecedented flooding across Wales as a result of storms Ciara, Dennis and now Jorge.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the local authority councillors and staff who have worked tirelessly to support affected individuals, businesses and communities. This event has had a huge impact in many communities. Our recovery will take some time. Beyond our current challenges, local authorities' staff also work for their communities throughout the year, from refuse and recycling teams, teachers, social workers, housing officers, and traffic wardens.

This year, I am pleased to be able to propose to this Senedd that, in 2020-21, the increase in the general revenue allocation to Welsh local government will be 4.3 per cent. This is the highest increase on a like-for-like basis in 13 years. I fully appreciate the pressures local government continue to face following a decade of austerity. One good settlement does not reverse the impact of years of austerity. However, this settlement provides local government with the most stable platform I can offer for budget setting for the forthcoming financial year. It responds to the pressures local government have been anticipating for this coming year and offers an opportunity to plan for the future instead of firefighting the present.

We heard in the early debate on the final budget that the Welsh Government's budget in 2020-21 will still be significantly lower in real terms than in 2010-11. Additional funding received from the UK Government does not even return our spending power to the levels of a decade ago. This year, we have striven to further improve our partnership with local government and how we work together to allocate the predetermined resources amount available.

In preparing for this settlement, the Government has ensured that local government has been able to discuss its pressures throughout the budget process through the finance sub-group of the partnership council. Cabinet colleagues and I have considered with local government leaders the position overall, and on key services such as education and social care. We will continue these wide-ranging strategic discussions during the coming year in preparation for a comprehensive spending review.

This coming financial year, local authorities in Wales will receive nearly £4.5 billion in general revenue allocations from core funding and non-domestic rates. Our decisions on the overall level of funding for local government took particular account of the need to support authorities in providing funding for schools, acknowledging the impact of cost increases on teachers' pay and pensions beyond their control. While authorities' use of this funding is unhypothecated, the distribution of the funding for additional costs arising from the UK Government's announced changes to employer pension contributions has been deliberately directed to the education service area of the distribution mechanism.

We've also directed sufficient funding for the additional costs arising from the 2019-20 teachers' pay deal for the remainder of the academic year, similarly through the education element of the settlement formula. And beyond this, we have included funding in recognition of the future impacts of the next academic year teachers' pay award, which will come into effect from September 2020.

We are also continuing to provide funding for our proposals for new eligibility criteria for free school meals, given the continued delayed roll-out of universal credit by the UK Government.

We've extended the high street's rate relief scheme in 2020-21, including an additional £2.4 million allocated to local authorities through the local government settlement to provide discretionary rates relief for local businesses and other ratepayers to respond to specific local issues.

I know that some authorities have commented on the variance between the highest and lowest increases. Through this settlement, every authority will see an increase of at least 3 per cent over 2019-20 on a like-for-like basis. The last time any authority received a 3 per cent increase in its settlement on a like-for-like basis was 10 years ago.

Authorities experience larger or smaller increases than others as a result of the formula, which is designed to respond to relative need through the most current data possible. This means relative changes in population and pupil numbers, for example, will be reflected in differing levels of increase. These changes have been agreed through the distribution and finance sub-groups, including the phasing of the population data change, which helped alleviate some of the larger distributional impacts between authorities.

In this context, I have given careful consideration to the potential of including a funding floor for this settlement. The principle of a funding floor is to ensure that no authority suffers an unmanageable change from one year to the next. I've decided not to include a funding floor in this instance.

The distribution formula is a joint endeavour between the WLGA and Welsh Government, and changes are agreed through established working groups. The distribution formula continues to use the most up to date, appropriate data, and there is an ongoing programme of work to refine it and to explore future development. Local government proposes changes to the distribution formula, or elements of it, through the established joint governance arrangements we have in place. Any formula means winners and losers. If local government wish collectively to more fully review the formula, I am of course open to that. I would say, however, that we should be mindful of how long the fair funding review in England has taken to produce a similar concept to that we currently have in Wales.

I know that Assembly Members in this Chamber will come to this debate prepared to make the case for even more resources for their particular local authorities. I'm sure that all of us here would like to allocate more money to our communities, as we would for the NHS and many other services. Of course I fully understand that, but, unfortunately, we have to spend within our capacity. So, to be able to give more money to local government, we would have to take more funding away from another area. The debate we have just had on the budget as a whole demonstrates how difficult those choices can be.

In addition to the core unhypothecated funding delivered through the settlement, I am grateful that my Cabinet colleagues have provided earlier indicative information on revenue and capital grants planned for 2020-21. These currently amount to over £1 billion of revenue, and £580 million of capital, and have a specific role to play in the delivery of certain services. We continue to work to amalgamate grants where it makes sense and to use outcome frameworks to measure success.

Turning to capital, the general capital funding for 2020-21 is increased by £178 million. On top of this, we will continue to provide £20 million of public highways refurbishment as a specific grant. I hope that authorities will be considering how they can use this funding to respond to the urgent need to decarbonise in light of the climate emergency declared by the Welsh Government and many councils in Wales over the past year.

Having been part of setting a council budget myself, I know the challenges that local authorities will still have had to face in setting their budgets. I'd encourage Members in this Chamber who have not seen this in practice to go to their local councils and see first-hand how those decisions are made, and the very difficult choices that will have to be made in the light of the budget settlements.

The setting of budgets and, in turn, council tax is the responsibility of each local authority, and authorities will be taking account of the full range of sources of funding available to them, as well as the pressures they face in setting their budgets for the coming year. Authorities will be balancing the need to invest in services and service transformation with the financial pressures on local residents. Pay levels are only now at the level they were before the financial crisis, and council tax increases will be carefully considered in that context.

As I have said before, no-one goes into politics to want to cut services, and this is why I am once again grateful to be able to give this settlement the highest increase on a like-for-like basis in 13 years. Of course, we still have the uncertainty of Brexit and the challenges of climate change, but if the UK Government are correct that austerity is over, we look forward to Wales receiving the funding it deserves in the coming years. I ask Assembly Members to support the motion. Diolch, Llywydd.

Under the Welsh Government's local government funding formula, nine out of 22 Welsh local authorities received an increase in the current financial year. The Welsh Government tells us that its formula is heavily influenced by deprivation indicators. Alongside Flintshire, the councils with the largest cuts this year of 0.3 per cent included Conwy and Anglesey—well, they're amongst the five local authorities in Wales where almost a third or 30 per cent or more of workers are paid less than the voluntary living wage. Prosperity levels per head in Anglesey are the lowest in Wales—just under half those in Cardiff—and Conwy has the highest proportion of older people in Wales, yet council tax payers in Anglesey and Conwy face 9.1 per cent increases. Wrexham was also cut, despite having three of the four wards with the highest poverty rates in Wales.

Council tax payers in Flintshire faced an 8.1 per cent increase, despite Flintshire councillors having launched a campaign, #BackTheAsk, which highlighted cross-party frustration about the funding they receive from the Welsh Labour Government. The campaign specifically asked for a fair share of funds from Welsh Government, highlighting that Flintshire was one of the lowest funded councils per head of population. This had been unanimously agreed by all parties on the council—a Labour-led council.

Under the final Welsh local government settlement for 2020-21, four of the five bottom local authorities in terms of funding increases are again the same authorities in north Wales, Conwy, Wrexham, Flintshire and Anglesey, whilst Monmouthshire remains bottom. Whilst the Labour Welsh Government denies that it has any intention to create a north-south divide, it is still perhaps convenient for it that, under its 20-year-old local government funding formula, four of the five authorities to see the largest increases in 2020-21 are again Labour-run councils in south Wales.

Although the local government Minister states that the biggest impact on distribution of the settlement across authorities derives from the relative change of overall population and school-age populations across each local authority area, an analysis of the latest published official statistics for each does not paint a clear picture in this respect for either. The local government Minister also states that the division of the local government settlement between local authorities is done by the democratic processes of the Welsh Local Government Association. However, as senior councillors in north Wales have told me, cross-party, the losers do not want to openly challenge the funding formula on the basis that in order to gain, other councils would have to receive less. Therefore, in a 'turkeys don't vote for Christmas' attitude, they would not receive any external support.

Nonetheless, a letter signed by every council leader in north Wales was sent to the leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, stating that the benefits of this settlement are not shared sufficiently fairly and leave most of the councils in the north with a settlement significantly below the net cost of pressures, inflation and demographic change. They also wrote to this local government Minister, asking her for a funding floor of 4 per cent in the local government finance settlement in light of continued challenges for the 2020-21 financial year. As they said to the Minister, four of the five bottom councils are from north Wales and without a floor, most north Wales councils will be faced with the biggest challenge in terms of seeking cuts to services. They added that a floor would help to protect services and work against the above-inflation council tax rises in the bottom six councils, including Blaenau Gwent.

Despite this clear cross-party statement, the Minister has dismissed their official representation and rejected a funding floor in the final settlement. As one of these leaders told me, 'It's clear to me that there continues to be very little understanding of the pressures and increased demands that local government is faced with, and a conveniently short memory from her Government's 2016 manifesto commitment stating that they would provide funding to put in place a floor for future local government settlements.' They added that it's also disappointing that the Minister has not decided to bridge the north-south divide, as four of the bottom five councils in the funding settlement will be in north Wales.

As a worried Flintshire resident who rang me last week here stated, 'We can't cope if our council tax goes up by around another 5 per cent after 27 per cent over the last four years. This used to be a Labour area, but they aren't listening.' Diolch yn fawr.

The burden of public service cuts has fallen largely on local government since the onset of austerity over 10 years ago. Local government funding received from the Welsh Government as a result of this budget will be 13 per cent lower than it was in 2010, according to the Wales fiscal analysis team at Cardiff University. All of us here are very aware of the toll that these cuts have had on the communities that we represent.

The cuts have been so severe that what are termed non-essential services—although we know that they are nothing like that—have been cut to the bone and funding for really valuable holistic services, like those provided by the Senghenydd Youth Drop In Centre in Caerphilly, are under a huge question mark. Funding cuts have also led to the closure of libraries, which have faced a 38 per cent cut since 2010, not to mention leisure and recreation services, which have received a 45 per cent cut, and housing receiving a 24 per cent cut. Now, those numbers may seem remote, but that's led to the wholesale closure of important centres all around the country, like the leisure centre in Pontllanfraith, at a time when those services that they provide are needed more than ever.

Now, while the uplift of £184 million included in this year's budget is a step in the right direction—no-one on these benches is going to deny that—it does still fall short by £70 million of the £254 million that the WLGA has said local authorities need simply to keep things as they are. Since Plaid Cymru doesn't believe that local government can or should face this shortfall, we'll be voting against the settlement today.

We all know that councils will attempt to fill this gap by increasing council tax. It's something that's already been alluded to. We also know that council tax is one of the most regressive forms of taxation that we have, since the least well-off pay a higher share of their income compared with other taxes, and so this is a burden that will fall on those least able to afford it.

Cuts to local government make little sense when considering the well-being of our economy and the welfare of the people it's supposed to serve. I mentioned earlier that non-essential services, as they're known, are the first to go. So often, they are the glue holding together the complicated realities of people's lives and they prevent problems arising in the first place. For example, all the evidence shows that public services save money when homelessness is either prevented or rapidly relieved, compared with letting it happen, yet many of the services required to prevent homelessness lie with local government and some local authorities have considered reducing their budgets, which will only lead to more money being spent overall on the consequences of homelessness, and that doesn't make sense for anyone.

The audit office report on the planning system noted that major cuts to planning developments were resulting in inadequate section 106 agreements being signed. This means we aren't getting the quantities of affordable housing we should, the communities facilities that we should, or the educational contributions that we should. Likewise, good social care is essential to ensure the smooth running of the NHS and good housing and environmental services are also essential to preventing people having to use the NHS in the first place. It just doesn't make any sense to cut money for preventative services since it simply adds to the financial burden that will have to be shouldered by the NHS eventually. And we all know that problems are much, much cheaper to avoid than they are to treat, when they eventually become so bad as to acquire expensive treatment.

That's a point that is reflected by what the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales has been at pains to emphasise. She said that

'the provision of preventative services',

and I'm quoting here,

'education, sports and community facilities, quality public open spaces and community-based support services…play an important in stopping people becoming unwell or developing longer-term social problems.'

Rhun ap Iorwerth has already pointed to the £100 million of the fiscal resource funding that has been unallocated in this budget. Were around three quarters of this given to local government, then it would meet the level that the WLGA said local authorities need to maintain current service provision, which would allow us to consider supporting the funding settlement. 

It is about time we had more long-term strategic approaches to budget setting by a Welsh Government, which is why Plaid Cymru would put well-being at the heart of our budgets, if we are the ones taking these decisions in the future. 

So, to close, Llywydd—

Would you take an intervention?

Yes, certainly.

With that in mind, would she therefore welcome, particularly with what she said about well-being, the nearly £0.5 million that's going to be spent on skate parks in Caerphilly county borough, particularly the one in Bargoed?

Thank you for that intervention. Yes, certainly, I'm not saying, by any means, that there are not provisions that we wouldn't welcome. I just think that, on the whole, there are too many things that we think are missed opportunities. But, of course, there will be some things, like those that you mentioned, that we would welcome.

So, to close, Llywydd, there is an uplift in this year's settlement, but although it's a step in the right direction, it's still insufficient to even maintain current local authority provision, following decades of cuts, which is why we in Plaid Cymru feel we have no choice but to vote against the local government funding settlement today. 

I'm going to be supporting the budget. I believe that local government does need more money, but I believe the whole of the public sector in Wales needs more money. But I want to discuss the reason for the aggregate external finance, what we used to call the Welsh Government budget settlement, and then to discuss this year's settlement. 

The aggregate external finance is a combination of what the rate support grant used to be and the sharing of the national non-domestic rate collected in Wales. The rate support grant is support for the council tax, which used to be rates collected by a local authority, so that each should be funded to its standard spending assessment, after adding the council tax, but not any fees and charges. The greater the ability to collect council tax locally, the less the Welsh Government support for a council needs to be.

The number of properties in each council tax band varies massively between local authorities. Some such as Blaenau Gwent have over half their properties in band A. Monmouthshire, by comparison, has just over 1 per cent of its properties in band A and has almost 6 per cent in the top two bands. In Monmouthshire, there are more properties in the top band than there are in band A. So, adding £1 to band E council tax in Monmouthshire raises substantially more—getting on for almost 100 per cent more—than you get for doing exactly the same in Blaenau Gwent. 

We would thus expect the councils to get the largest Welsh Government support per capita to be those with the least ability to raise council tax revenue, which are Blaenau Gwent, which is independent-controlled, Merthyr, which is independent-controlled, and Rhondda Cynon Taf, which is Labour-controlled. So, it's certainly not a pro-Labour budget. We would then expect the three lowest to be the Vale of Glamorgan, Labour minority-controlled, Monmouth, which is Conservative-controlled, and Cardiff, which is Labour-controlled—due to the scheme being based on making up for the council tax able to be collected. We see from the Welsh local government revenue settlement that the highest support per capita does go to Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr and Rhondda Cynon Taf, and the least to Monmouth, Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff.

On band I properties, the top band, there are 5,510 in Wales and 3,020 of them are in three authorities: Monmouth, Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. That tells us about where you've got a greater ability to raise money via the council tax. Year on year population changes are the main driver in terms of additional money year on year. It's not the only driver, the population changes, there's a bit on road length that's relative and some other things, but it's mainly population.

It is unfortunate that, while the Welsh Government shows the amount under each part of the rate support grant calculation, so it shows how much each local authority gets for each portion of it, it doesn't actually publish the calculations that would show how they have reached those figures. I think it would be very helpful if people could actually see the numbers going into the calculations rather than just the end result. 

Of course, the formula can be changed. It could simply be an amount per head of population, and people in Cardiff and Swansea would do very well, but it would be catastrophic for Merthyr, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Blaenau Gwent. Changing the formula can cause big swings in funding with minor changes. There was a change in road funding from 52 per cent population and 48 per cent road length to 50 per cent of each, which didn't seem a very major change and seemed fairly reasonable, but it moved hundreds of thousands of pounds from Cardiff, Swansea and Newport to Powys, Ceredigion and other sparsely populated areas. Small changes in the formula can end up producing changes that perhaps you wouldn't want before you changed the formula.

Looking at this year's budget compared to last year's, it's the best settlement for a decade and it sets local government core revenue funding at £4.474 billion. Adjusting for transfers, the core revenue funding for local government in 2020-21 will increase by 4.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis compared to the current year. If only that had happened for the last 10 years, we would not be having a debate and people saying, 'Local government needs more money.' It would still need more money, because local government can never have enough money, like most other services, but it would be in a position where it would be able to deal with most of its problems.

Every authority has an increase of at least 3 per cent. On the figures published in table 4 of the 'Local Government Finance Report (No.1) 2020-21 (Final Settlement—Councils)' it shows the standard spending assessments for each council per head, and shows Denbighshire with £2,155 as the highest in Wales. Anglesey, Gwynedd and Powys are all above the average, and Conwy is exactly average.

Finally, why not give every council the same percentage rise? Because it would disadvantage those whose population was growing relative to others and it would advantage those with greater capacity to raise money via council tax. The settlement does appear fair. I think we really do need to work out what we're trying to do. We're trying to support local government, but we're trying to do it in such a way that every authority gets the ability to do the same thing. That's what the standard spending assessment is about. 

Finally, just another plea, can the Welsh Government show their calculations? Because just showing the final end result makes people think maybe they're wrong—or maybe they don't like them. If you actually show the numbers that do those calculations, it would allow people to check them themselves.

Caerphilly council were somewhat stressed by the delay caused in the budget by the general election, and nonetheless went ahead with a consultation. Actually, the consultation took place during the general election. I'm still wondering whether that was entirely wise to consult on a budget you didn't know during a general election. But the good news is that, as a result of the Welsh Government's budget, the projected savings that were required have dropped from £8.5 million to £3 million. It shows that a responsible budget is perfectly possible and has had a positive effect on Caerphilly County Borough Council as a result of the Welsh Government's action.

You mentioned austerity, and every time you do Janet Finch-Saunders—not every time, she didn't do it just then—but when you do mention austerity, Janet Finch-Saunders has a tendency to shout and complain, but the fact is that this budget today is still a budget in an austerity era and has its roots in the fact that the worst possible time to cut in the way that they did was in 2010—Cameron and Osborne—when they did it in the depths of a recession. It was the worst possible time to begin an austerity programme, and therefore we will take many years to recover from that, because of the consequences of those choices that were made then. That is why there are difficulties with the budget, because of an economic choice that was made in 2010 and is still being felt today.

But we are seeing small steps back in the journey. I still think we're seeing austerity; I don't think we've seen an end to austerity by any shape or means. But what we are seeing, through the Welsh Government's budget, is small steps forward, and in real terms, Caerphilly council will now be £11.1 million better off in the next financial year compared to this one, because of this good settlement. And some of the things that were advertised as possible cuts had these difficult times continued, and were publicised during the general election campaign, now don't have to go ahead—things like, because of this Welsh Government, Caerphilly council won't be forced to cut school budgets; won't be forced to remove school crossing patrols; won't be forced to reduce CCTV cameras; won't increase school meal prices; and won't have to reduce the highways maintenance budget. And I'm pleased to say that any decision to close recycling centres in my constituency will now not go ahead. Also, in addition to that, Caerphilly council's council tax, compared to the two neighbouring authorities—Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr, both independently controlled—is significantly less. In fact, people in band B in Caerphilly pay £400 less each year than in those neighbouring authorities, and Caerphilly is in the lowest quartile for council tax rates in Wales. That is because of the local government Minister's actions and the finance Minister's actions over the last few months.

However, we have to recognise that the flooding that took place has also imposed an unexpected and intolerable financial burden on Caerphilly County Borough Council, with some of the repairs that will be needed in the future. The extra financial support from the Welsh Government has been very welcome. In addition to the £500 per person that the local authority has given, the Welsh Government has also given £500 per person, plus £500 for those who are not insured. That is everyone who's been affected by flooding will have between £1,000 and £1,500 if their property was affected, as a result, again, of the actions of the Government and of the council.

The impact of the floods, though, on the infrastructure of the county borough is currently calculated at around £4 million, and this is expected to double over the next few weeks as the full storm damage is determined. And further necessary infrastructure improvements that were made increasingly urgent by the floods have been identified at a total cost in Caerphilly of £75 million to £85 million—that's particularly connecting roads in the northern Valleys in Dawn Bowden's constituency. The local authority also requires financial assistance to make safe some of the 234 coal tips that exist in the borough. It can carry out work on the 104 that it owns, but there are also 130 in private ownership that we've got concerns about. So, to that end, I co-signed a letter with Rhianon Passmore, Dawn Bowden and the three Members of Parliament, to the Secretary of State for Wales, the First Minister and the Prime Minister, calling for the maximum level of assistance possible to assist both with those infrastructure repairs and also making the coal tips safe. I'm confident that the Welsh Government will do what it can; we're yet to hear anything meaningful from the UK Government, and that is a concern.

So, on the whole, I think this is the best budget that could possibly have been produced for local government, and it has seen security in local government in Wales that has not been seen in England, and that is because of this Welsh Government and, therefore, I commend this debate today.

Thank you. Can I now call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government to reply to the debate? Julie James.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to thank Members for their contributions to the debate today. I do want to respond to the comments on the sufficiency of the settlement.

This Government has recognised the priorities and pressures that we and local government are facing through the settlement and the wider funding available to local government. I would like to start by reminding Members where we are after this budget round. We still do not have a Welsh Government budget beyond 2020-21. We are still waiting for the UK Government to produce its 2020-21 budget with updated fiscal forecasts and its comprehensive spending review, with a fiscal outlook for the forthcoming years. We still don't know what relationship we will have with the European Union in the next year. The only thing we do know is that the level of uncertainty is very high. I understand the challenge of uncertainty for local authorities. I hope a comprehensive spending review will give us the ability to give them that certainty. We will look at the practicalities of the Welsh Local Government Association's request to introduce a multi-year settlement as part of that challenge.

This final settlement is a significant improvement. The Government and I recognise that the settlement, positive though it is in cash terms overall, does not make up for the real-terms cuts that local authorities have seen in the past decade of Conservative-imposed austerity. I hope that despite the difficult choices councils have had to make, they can now look to the future to identify how to make the best use of this funding; to continue to engage their communities and respond to their needs and ambitions; to transform services, to retain them, and respond to changing needs and expectations; or, where necessary, choosing how to reduce them while carrying the public alongside them. And, as well, what level of council tax they will set to reflect those choices.

We all recognise that there will be challenges in some services, but I believe that these are challenges local government in Wales can deliver together. To hear the comments from Mark Isherwood, opposite, you would think that austerity for local government was a homegrown Welsh policy. The Government's priority is, and always has been, to try and protect councils from the worst of the cuts passed on to us by the UK Government. This is reflected in the settlement for 2020-21 I've presented to you today.

Mike Hedges made the point very plainly, I thought, that most on the opposite benches focus on the marginal change, but nobody looks at the actual distribution. The truth is that north Wales is in the middle, as it should be, because of the way that council tax revenues are able to be raised across Wales, as Mike Hedges pointed out very expertly. So, the bottom three councils are in the south and the top three councils are in the south. So, Cardiff is lower than Wrexham and Flintshire. So, Mark, I've got to say to you: never let the facts get in the way of a good argument, because the facts, as you presented them, simply aren't facts.

Here in the Welsh Government, we will continue to maintain full entitlements under our council tax reduction scheme for 2020-21, and are again providing £244 million in the local government settlement in recognition of this. We remain committed to protecting vulnerable and low-income households, despite the shortfall in the funding transferred by the UK Government following its abolition of council tax benefit. The arrangements for 2021-22 onwards will be determined as part of our wider considerations about how to make council tax fairer.

I and my Cabinet colleagues are committed to continue to work with local government to provide flexibility, where possible. I am committed to considering how local government might be more empowered and better strengthened. This means that there must be a commitment from local authorities to regional working; there must be greater collaboration with health boards and the education consortia to secure improved outcomes and increased resilience. We will continue discussions with local government on our shared recognition of the need to invest in the supply of housing.

Investing in social housing should minimise the pressures on local authority budgets and on homelessness services. Investment in housing can also support the Welsh economy and local economies. Delyth Jewell did point that out; I was disappointed to see that she wasn't, nevertheless, going to support the settlement as, actually, the councils across Wales have been very welcoming of the settlement in that area. I do hope the settlement—capital and revenue can—[Interruption.] Yes, certainly.

I'm just responding to your comment about Wrexham, Cardiff and Flintshire. Just factually, Wrexham is having a 3.5 per cent increase, Flintshire 3.7 per cent, both below the 4 per cent floor they asked for, whereas Cardiff is 4.2 per cent—

Well, that's the marginal change. 

—which is above the floor they asked for.

Yes, but the point I'm making there is, you're concentrating on the marginal change not the overall amount that's given to them, and in the overall amount that's given to councils, Cardiff is below both Flintshire and Wrexham. So, you concentrate on the marginal change, not the overall settlement, which is the point I was making.

As I was saying, investment in housing can also support the Welsh economy and local economies, and I hope that this settlement—capital and revenue—can support authorities to increase the scale and pace of social house building across Wales.

So, in closing, Deputy Presiding Officer, I would like to note the ongoing positive work on the distribution formula with local government. This year, in addition to the information published alongside the provisional settlement, my officials have been working closely with the distribution sub-group to produce a table that seeks to explain the variances in the allocations. This has been published alongside the final settlement so that each authority can see and explain their allocations. I do take Mike Hedges's point, and I will explore whether we can publish the actual calculations as well, as I do think the more the transparency, the better.

The annual changes to the formula are agreed each year between Welsh and local government through the finance sub-group. This means we are confident that we deliver an equitable and objective distribution of the funding available. I want to reassure all areas of Wales that there is no deliberate bias or unfairness in the formula, as was pointed out very ably by Mike Hedges, in pointing out which authorities were the biggest and smallest gainers across the settlement, and to suggest so is unfair to those who engage so positively in the work to deliver it.

I've previously offered Assembly Members to attend technical briefings from my officials to understand how the settlement formula works in practice. Take-up of this offer to date has been very disappointingly low. I am more than happy to re-offer this to Members in the Chamber to ensure we can constructively debate the issue in question rather than misinterpreting the technical details of the settlement and what it does or does not do. I commend this very good settlement to the Assembly.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Therefore, we defer voting under this item until the voting time.

Item 9 on the agenda is a debate on the second supplementary budget of 2019-20. I have selected the amendment to the motion and I call on the Minister for Finance and the Trefnydd to move the motion and the amendment tabled in her name. Rebecca Evans. 

This budget provides a final opportunity to amend plans for the current financial year, allowing the revision of the previously approved financing and expenditure plans, reprioritisations within portfolios, budget transfers between portfolios, and allocations from reserves. It aligns resources with the Government's priorities. The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 continues to provide the foundation that guides our budget process. This budget makes allocations from our fiscal resource reserves to support the management of winter pressures in our health service, the pay award for teachers and the childcare offer, which is a primary driver for change for the childcare sector. The capital allocations, both general and financial transactions, that we've made provide further investments in housing, education and the transport system.

I ask Members to support the amendment to this motion, which corrects the level of income that the Wales Audit Office may retain. Due to an administrative oversight, this amount was overstated by £50,000 in the budget motion. This amendment ensures that the level of income matches that within the Wales Audit Office's explanatory memorandum, considered by the Finance Committee.

I would like to thank the Finance Committee for their scrutiny of this second supplementary budget, and I am minded to accept all of its five recommendations for the Welsh Government, which I will respond to in detail in due course. I ask Members to support the amendment and the motion.

Thank you. I call on the Chair of the Finance Committee, Llyr Gruffydd.

Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. I am very pleased to speak in this debate today on behalf of the Finance Committee. The committee met to consider the Welsh Government’s second supplementary budget for 2019-20 on 12 February. Our report makes a number of recommendations, and I will briefly cover some of those today.

As mentioned during our earlier debate on the final budget for 2020-21, the committee recognised that the expected UK budget on 11 March may impact on the Welsh Government’s funding. In our report on the second supplementary budget, we have reiterated our previous recommendation that details should be made available to the committee as soon as possible after the UK budget, and specifically in relation to the 2019-20 funding.

We have made a number of recommendations in relation to the way the Welsh Government works with the UK Government, including continuing to seek an increase in the annual carry forward of financial transactions capital, and whilst not specific to this supplementary budget, we have also requested an update on any consequential funding following the UK Government’s HS2 announcement.

The committee considered the way in which the Welsh Government uses reserves, holding capital and revenue reserves, with individual departments also holding funding for in-year contingencies. We have asked for additional details to be provided on the outturn report in order to understand the end-of-year position and what changes have been made since this supplementary budget.

Whilst the supplementary budget includes transfers out of flood risk and water management, the committee notes the Minister’s intentions to provide an emergency relief scheme to support those who have been impacted by the recent flooding. The committee recognises the Minister’s actions in providing financial help and would be supportive of a need to utilise section 128 powers should this be required to reflect any additional financial support provided in 2019-20.

We asked for an update on the position in relation to Brexit funding. The Minister told us that she expected to be able to access Wales’s full entitlement of EU funds. Our previous report on preparations for replacing EU funding recommended that the Welsh Government should be responsible for the administration and management of the shared prosperity fund in Wales. The Minister told us that the Welsh Government is progressing how it would develop and administer such a scheme.

Briefly, we had two supplementary budget requests, one from the Assembly Commission and one from the auditor general and the Wales Audit Office. Whilst we are content with both, we have made one recommendation to the WAO with regard to fees income.

Finally, we have noted the Minister's amendment to today's motion, and as the committee considered the explanatory note submitted by the Wales Audit Office, which included the correct figure for accruing resources, we are content with the proposed amendment.

The Chair of the Finance Committee has pretty much covered comprehensively all aspects of the supplementary budget that were referred to. Can I concur with the comments that Llyr Gruffydd made with regard to the issue of the HS2 funding? I think that was something that the committee was eager to find out: what the exact lay of the land was in terms of funding for Wales. I know it doesn't work the same with Wales as it does with Scotland. That was a concern for the committee, so the committee wanted to work towards finding a solution to that.

It's up to the Government at Westminster. They can give us the Barnett consequential, they can give us a sum of money for it, or they can give us nothing. It's their decision, and I would hope that you would join with all of us in saying they ought to be giving us at least some of it. 

As a member of the Finance Committee and speaking with one voice, yes, I do agree with you on that, Mike Hedges, and I think that whenever there's a large infrastructure—. Well, the way the Barnett formula works, whenever there's a large infrastructure project going on on a UK level that benefits one area, like Crossrail, for instance, benefits London, then I think that there's a natural justice argument for Wales to get some sort of funding, whether that's through Barnett or not. So, I agree with you. 

Secondly, the Chair mentioned reserves and contingencies. It was a bit like Yes Minister in the committee when we were trying to get the answer from some of the officials about what the difference was. I can see the Minister laughing, but I wasn't referring to this Minister, by the way. When is a reserve a reserve and when is it a contingency? At the end of the day, I think we, all of us, would like far more clarity on exactly the level of contingency that is required in any given situation. I was speaking earlier about the growing financial powers of this place, and I think that we will need, going forward, a little bit more clarity on those areas. But I think it was a very good report that the Finance Committee looked at, and I'm pleased to be a part of that, and hopefully the Minister will take on board our concerns about the supplementary budget. 

We will be abstaining on the budget, by the way, on this side of the Chamber, due to our not supporting the original budget, but there are other good aspects in there. 

Thank you. Can I call on the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd to reply to the debate?

I'm grateful for the contributions from the two members of the Finance Committee and, again, I'm grateful for the work of the Finance Committee and I look forward to responding in some detail to those recommendations and accepting them. One of the recommendations was about making detail available as soon as possible following the March UK budget in terms of any impacts on the Welsh Government budget, and it's something we explored in the final budget debate today and, of course, I'd be very happy to provide the update as soon as I'm able to do so. 

HS2 was raised during the course of the discussion on the second supplementary budget for 2019-20 and, of course, we would expect to receive our fair share of any additional funding allocated to HS2 in future years. We would expect those discussions to provide at least some light through the process with the comprehensive spending review, which will be taking place as we move through this year. In addition to that, Wales needs a fair rail enhancement programme that is properly developed and fully funded by the UK Government, similar to that which they have in England. That, coupled with the devolution of control over the network, is vital, really, to realising the full potential of our rail here in Wales. But, of course, we have got other opportunities to discuss that. 

The issue of contingency and reserves was mentioned as well. Of course, we have the Wales reserve, which helps Welsh Government manage its budget over financial years, but then we also hold some contingency in order to help us respond to unforeseen events over the course of a financial year. Retaining an appropriate level of reserves for unforeseen circumstances is important, whilst also maximising the resources for planned investment. It's a difficult balance to get right, but we're confident that we have struck an appropriative one through the last financial year, or the 2019-20 financial year, but then reflected again in the debate we had earlier on this afternoon as we move forward.

So, this budget provides for several things, as a supplementary budget would. It accounts for adjustments that have been made since the first supplementary budget in 2019-20. So, it includes anything that would be drawn down from the Wales reserve, allocations to and from reserves, agreed switches between resource and capital, transfers between and within main expenditure groups, revisions to devolved tax forecasts and the block grant adjustment, and changes to the departmental expenditure limit, including the consequentials, negative consequentials, and other adjustments resulting from HM Treasury decisions. And then also, the latest annually managed expenditure forecast that was agreed with HM Treasury as part of the UK Government's supplementary estimates in January.

So, this second supplementary budget provides for the final amendments to our budgetary plans for the current financial year, and continues to support progress on this Government's priorities and commitments. And I move the amendment and the motion, and commend it to the Senedd.  

Thank you. The proposal is to agree amendment 1. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Therefore, I defer voting on this item until voting time. 

Item 10 on our agenda is a debate on progress on tackling hate crime, and I call on the Deputy Minister and the Chief Whip to move the motion—Jane Hutt. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to lead this important debate on tackling hate crime to outline the interventions we've put in place, as well as to speak up against hate, which is the powerful message of the Jo Cox campaign. We can't ignore the prevalence of divisive narratives in the media as well as political discourse, both in the UK and across the world, so it is incumbent upon us as elected representatives to state categorically that there is no place for hate in Wales, and that's what the motion today proposes. 

Prevention, of course, is key to tackling hate crime in Wales, and therefore the focus of much of our work. Our community cohesion programme forms an integral part of our prevention work, delivering projects focused on creating a diverse and united nation by fostering environments where we can learn from each other, as well as live and work together in Wales. Living in communities where people are safe and welcome benefits everybody. Government funding can help communities thrive and should not have to be spent tackling unacceptable hate-fuelled behaviour.

We've invested an additional £1.52 million of funding into the community cohesion programme to expand cohesion teams across Wales, and over the past few months their front-line engagement with communities, including the delivery of projects to encourage integration, have been crucial in fostering good relations and supporting those affected by prejudice. We are providing £480,000 of funding over two years through our hate crime minority communities grant, and the grant is funding third sector organisations supporting ethnic minority and religious communities affected by hate crime.

We were in the process of awarding the funding at the time of the last debate, so I will provide a brief overview of the projects that are now running across Wales: Show Racism the Red Card Cymru, providing hate crime training to staff and students for all further education colleges in Wales; Women Connect First, which is delivering restorative justice training and hate crime awareness-raising sessions in south-east Wales; BAWSO, which is training community advocates in north Wales to help community members recognise hate incidents and encourage reporting; Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team Wales is developing a train the trainer project around hate crime for schoolchildren, teachers and teaching assistants with front-line health and public sector staff in south-west and mid Wales; NWREN, the north Wales race equality network, is providing hate crime awareness and equality legislation training to local authority education directors, senior leadership teams in schools and teaching staff across north and mid Wales; Race Equality First is delivering activities in schools, and accredited training, including prisoner rehabilitation and outreach sessions in the community across south-east Wales; Race Council Cymru is delivering hate crime awareness-raising sessions through ethnic minority communities, and promoting wider awareness of rights and equality in north and south-west Wales; and the Welsh Refugee Council is training refugee and asylum seeker hate crime ambassadors to deliver hate crime awareness sessions across Wales. 

These projects are in their early stages, but we've already seen good progress. By using experienced and well-established connections of these organisations, we can work with partners at the grass-roots community level and provide support directly to those who need it. The long-term aim of our £350,000 hate crime in schools project—£350,000, that is, of funding—led by the Welsh Local Government Association is raising awareness through education to help children and young people learn about the strengths and benefits of living and learning together in diverse communities. The project is being delivered in over 100 schools across Wales, and will equip pupils with critical thinking skills to enable them to identify misinformation and hateful narratives. 

We recognise that promoting positive communications has a crucial role in hate crime prevention work, in particular reinforcing the message that hate is not welcome in Wales. We are on course to launch a multi-media, pan-Wales, anti-hate crime campaign this autumn, engaging with partners, including victims. This is progressing well, and we've got good feedback that supports the creation of this campaign, which encourages the reporting of hate crime and increases the public understanding of hate crime. 

Further to the work I've already outlined on working to support ethnic minority communities, we are also working with All Wales People First to fund a series of workshops with local networks of adults with learning disabilities across all areas of Wales. Evidence suggests that hate crime against people with learning disabilities is often misunderstood and largely unreported, and this work seeks to improve our knowledge, allowing us to gain an understanding of the scale and nature of this form of hate crime, and to help identify ways to tackle it. These are seldom heard voices, but we want to ensure they feed into the development of the forthcoming campaign and future hate crime policy.

Over the last few months, we've worked with a range of partners to improve anti-hate messaging. We funded the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to deliver activities and awareness raising in Wales, and this included the development of the Stand Together website and participation in the 75 Memorial Flames art project currently on display on the Hayes in Cardiff. We're working to expand the reach of the open and global Wales communication campaign, developed by south-east Wales local authorities and led by Cardiff Council. They're developing a community cohesion and anti-hate crime campaign, built around the message that we are a welcoming and global nation. Our investment will ensure the campaign is seen across Wales.

Our last debate came a week after the publication of the 2018-19 hate crime statistics for England and Wales. The increased recording of hate crime reflects the growing negative discourse in wider society. However, we should also recognise the effort that we're putting in with our partners to encourage victims to report incidents of hate crime.

We are trying to prevent and tackle hate crime, and victims are at the heart of our response. So, last year, I announced an additional £360,000 of funding for the next two years for the national hate crime report and support centre, run by Victim Support Cymru. And this additional money, on top of annual funding, will increase the centre's support and advocacy to victims of hate crime. 

We don't hold all the levers to address the wider issues, and we're aware of the frustrations in regard to hate crime legislation in the UK. Hate crime laws in the UK have developed in several phases over recent decades, and this has led to the situation where the five protected characteristics in hate crime legislation—race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability—are not dealt with in a consistent way. And this is something where the Law Commission is exploring this matter as part of a review into hate crimes in the UK.

I just want to conclude that February was LGBT+ history month, when we had the opportunity here in the Senedd to celebrate the contributions the LGBT+ communities have made to Welsh life and culture. We're committed to protecting and supporting victims of LGBT+ hate crime, and working with our partners to encourage those members of our community to report hate crime.

So, we're grateful to all our partners for their support and expertise on this area of work. I thank the regional community cohesion teams who play a vital role in working with local government, communities and the third sector to foster cohesion. In support of the three amendments tabled today, I hope you will agree that this is a chance for us to unite, to agree and support the breadth of work that's been undertaken in relation to hate crime, demonstrating this is a continuing high priority that we place on ensuring victims have confidence to report, receive the care and support they need, and seek to prevent the amount of hate crime incidents in the future. 

Thank you. I have selected the three amendments to the motion, and I call on Mark Isherwood to move amendments 1 and 2, tabled in the name of Darren Millar. Mark.

Diolch. As the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Wales states, hate crimes are any crimes that are targeted at a person because of hostility or prejudice towards that person's disability, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, age, sexual orientation or transgender identity. This could be committed against a person or property. They say a victim does not have to be a member of the group at which the hostility is targeted; in fact, anyone could be a victim of hate crime. 

As the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip stated in her hate crime statement last October, 2018-19 hate crimes statistics for England and Wales were published by the Home Office on 15 October. The statistics show a 17 per cent increase in recorded hate crimes across Wales compared to 2017-18; this compares to an overall 10 per cent increase across the whole of England and Wales. I therefore move amendment 2, which regrets the 17 per cent increase in recorded hate crimes across Wales last year compared to an overall 10 per cent increase across the whole of England and Wales.

We therefore need to better understand why this differential exists, especially when the Welsh Government states that the statistics reflect the hard work being done across Wales by police forces, third sector, and the national hate crime report and support centre, run by Victim Support Cymru, to increase the confidence of victims and encourage them to report these incidents. Some 76 per cent of the hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales were race related—falling to 68 per cent of the 3,932 recorded hate crimes across the four Welsh police force areas—with 19 per cent related to sexual orientation, 11 per cent to disability, 5 per cent to religion, and 3 per cent to transgender.

Using similar arguments to the Welsh Government, the Home Office states that the increase in reported hate crime over the past five years is thought to have been driven by improvements in recording by police and the growing awareness of hate crime, as well as short-term rises following certain events such as the 2016 EU referendum. Of course, whatever our views on Brexit, it's now a reality, and we must all work together for an inclusive Wales within an outward looking and global UK.

The crime survey of England and Wales is considered to be a more reliable indicator of long-term crime trends than the police recorded crime series. Experience of hate crime captured in the crime survey has gone down steadily over the last 10 years. Ironically, it's higher overall than the police figures, but is showing a decline rather an increase. So, according to the crime survey, hate crime incidents averaged 184,000 annually, between 2015 and 2018, representing around 3 per cent of all crime recorded in the survey, compared with only 2 per cent of police-recorded crime. And between 2015 and 2018, 53 per cent of the hate crime incidents recorded by the crime survey were reported, so 47 per cent went unreported.

I move amendment 1, noting the UK Government's hate crime action plan, which applies to England and Wales. 'Action Against Hate: The UK Government's plan for tackling hate crime—"two years on"' reflects the devolved policy responsibilities in Wales, stating,

'the Welsh Government has published a Hate Crime Action Plan for Wales, which includes activities that are specifically applicable to tackling hate crime in Wales.'

As the UK Government plan states,

'Action to prevent and tackle hate crime will also support our ambition to build strong, integrated communities'.

It goes on,

'We want to build communities where people—whatever their background—live, work, learn and socialise together, based around shared rights, responsibilities and opportunities. Hate crime undermines this vision, spreading fear and stopping people from playing a full part in their communities.'

As I've said previously, we must recognise the vital work being carried out by front-line community and third sector organisations to promote multicultural integration in Wales. As the chair and founder of Networking for World Awareness of Multicultural Integration, Dr Sibani Roy, has stated,

'Some of the people think that when you talk about integration, you mean assimilation. We have to explain to people that integration is not assimilation. We have to respect the law and culture of the land.... What we need to do is educate people and say we are all human beings, we're friendly and we should try to understand each other's culture.... By talking to people and educating people—eventually by convincing them that human beings are not all bad...we treat them as individuals—it doesn't matter what the background is, their faith or colour.'

And, as she said only last week, we're a team, and we need to work collectively towards the noble cause of integration and reducing hate crimes.

I leave the last word to her.

Thank you. I call on Leanne Wood to move amendment 3, tabled in the name of Siân Gwenllian. Leanne.

Diolch. I welcome the steps that the Welsh Government is taking to acknowledge the problem with hate crimes today, as well as providing this space for discussion. I'd like to start my contribution to today's debate with two case examples, which go some way towards highlighting that more needs to be done to take on hate crime in all its subtle and sinister forms. 

The first case is one from the Rhondda that came to may attention last year. A 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted. The perpetrator pleaded guilty and last September received a sentence of 24 months imprisonment, suspended for two years. A sexual harm prevention order was made for 10 years and he was also registered as a sex offender for 10 years. The suspended sentence has resulted in this convicted paedophile being allowed to return to his home, which is less than 300 feet away from the family home of this teenage survivor. His continued presence is making the whole family, but in particular this vulnerable teenage girl, feel intimidated, unsafe and unable to move on. The whole family are undertaking counselling and are receiving mental health support to come to terms with what has happened, but the ongoing daily traumatic reminders mean recovery is nigh on impossible. This is not justice; this is an outrage.

Incidences of sexual assault and rape are based on wielding power, and that is a characteristic common to most hate crimes. I've been told by the Welsh Government that the management and assessment of risk post-sentence falls to the probation service, and so is part of the non-devolved justice system. However, I simply cannot accept that nothing can been done in a case like this. How does it, for example, fit with the wording in the Government's motion about increasing victims' confidence or ensuring that victims receive dedicated advice and care? It's because of cases like this that I want to see the criminal justice system devolved. Would we not put victim protection, child safeguarding and public safety at the heart of a Welsh-run criminal justice system? As things stand, the system is cruel and is causing more harm. The Thomas commission says it all:

'With legislative devolution of justice, the Welsh Government and the Assembly should make significant reforms which would make a material contribution to Wales being a just, equal, diverse and prosperous nation.'

The second case I wish to raise is that of Christopher Kapessa, a 13-year-old black boy whose body was found in the river Cynon, near Fernhill, last year. We don't know if this was a hate crime, but Christopher was pushed into the river and he drowned. The police only interviewed four of the 14 people who were at the scene. Christopher's mother has accused South Wales Police and the Crown Prosecution Service of institutional racism over a failure to prosecute anyone in relation to her son's death, despite there being,

'sufficient evidence to support a charge of unlawful act of manslaughter'.

Again, I cannot accept that the Welsh Government can do nothing in this case. Now, I'm aware that a meeting will be held soon about this and I urge the Government to get involved. Please, don't be a bystander. All the people need to be safe living here, and in the light of this case many people of colour in our communities simply do not.

As many of us are acutely aware, the far right are emboldened in the present time. Although all minorities are at risk, there are certain groups of people who are particularly vulnerable from their attacks. Muslim women, and particularly women of a Muslim faith who choose to cover or wear a veil, and trans people, especially trans women, seem to me to be on the front line of the so-called culture wars. Trump's America should be a warning to us. Intolerances there will travel here. In November, the FBI reported that violent hate crimes in the US reached their highest levels in 16 years, with a surge of attacks seen against Muslims, Latinos, Sikhs, people with disabilities and transgender people. Brian Levin, the director for the Centre for the Study of Hate and Extremism said,

'The more we have these derisive stereotypes broadcasted into the ether, the more people are going to inhale that toxin.'

The domino effect of this widespread hatred is clear, and rights thought to be well-enshrined are endangered; rights such as abortion rights, citizenship rights. It's critical that we recognise that hate crime against some of us is a hate crime against all of us; it cannot be tolerated at any cost. This famous poem by Martin Niemöller reminds me why we must all stand together against all hate crime in all its forms:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— / Because I was not a socialist. / Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— / Because I was not a trade unionist. / Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— / Because I was not a Jew. / Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

We have to learn from this.

Thank you. Jenny Rathbone.

That's a very powerful message that Leanne has left us with. I proudly represent one of the most diverse constituencies in Wales, where the community at large warmly welcomes asylum seekers and embraces the city of sanctuary and the country of sanctuary that I hope that we all aspire to. But, we know that the rise of far-right groups in Wales is a particular cause for concern for the police.

Across the UK, we know from the 'HOPE not hate' report published in the last few days that 12 far-right activists were convicted of terrorism-related charges last year, and 10 more are facing trial this year. The 2019 report by the Community Services Trust, 'Hidden hate: What Google searches tell us about antisemitism today', highlighted that the number of antisemitic searches on the internet—[Interruption]. Excuse me—[Interruption.] I think I'm going to have to—[Interruption.]  

Are you going to—? Do you want to—? All right, I'll move on and I'll come back to you. Mandy Jones.  

Thank you, Llywydd. I cautiously welcome the debate, and there is nothing in the motion or the amendments that my group cannot support. While we may not agree with the devolution of justice, of course, if powers are gained in this area in future, preventing crime of all types must be preferable to dealing with the aftermath. I say 'cautious' because I find it quite depressing that we are even here discussing this again today. Again, I would cautiously welcome an increase in reporting, as it now shows that people know their rights and will no longer accept the behaviour that is at the root of the crime.

Quite rightly, the protected characteristics are at the heart of this matter. However, as a general observation, I think that respect—or lack of respect—with regard to our differences, is a major factor, as is ignorance or lack of knowledge. I would, though, like to point out that we have our own responsibility in creating an environment of respecting differences of opinions, of politics, of views, and I think that this fifth Assembly has been the most divided and most febrile so far.

This now appears to be the case in wider society as well. Social media plays its part as it can bring out the worst in people who would never, ever say in person what they are willing to type in a tweet. People sit in the gallery here. They view our behaviour, hear the tone of our debate and the words that we use. They hear the heckling and see the twisted looks on people's faces that indicate exactly what we think of each other in this Chamber. What exactly do we set for Wales?

A few short weeks ago, I raised a point of order about myself being called a racist by another Member. While that was upheld, it was not clear whether shouts of 'racist', 'sexist', 'hard right', 'fascist' are acceptable in this Chamber. They are used far too often and, in my view, it really needs to stop. They are derogatory terms, filled with misconceptions and, yes, bigotry. I say they have no place here, as such terms only seek to shut down debate and the exchange of opinions. It is only the exchange of opinions, and the life experiences that have helped create them, that will allow us, as humans, to recognise our commonality.

And, a note of caution while I have the floor: I see that the Labour leadership candidates are still, disappointingly, arguing over the definition of antisemitism. Also, Plaid Cymru have apparently just installed someone with antisemitic views as a candidate. So, in this short contribution, I'll commit my group's support of this motion and suggest that a change in tone and acceptance needs to start here and it needs to start now.

Thank you. Jenny Rathbone.

Thank you very much. I was listening to Mandy Jones's contribution outside, and thank you for calling me back. I just wanted to add, though, that there's no room for complacency in Wales. We know that the highest number of antisemitic searches on the internet was in Wales. It highlights that there's often a cross-over between those who are looking to confirm their antisemitic prejudice, along with their racist prejudice as well as misogyny, because it is a fact that Jewish female politicians have been far more bombarded by hate messages than Jewish male politicians. So, there's a rich cocktail of hatred that we need to be combating, and it's very important that we don't become paralysed by this hatred.

Indeed, in many cases, it is those who have been the butt of prejudice who are at the forefront of combating it and reaching out to others in similar situations. For example, the Community Services Trust celebrated National Hate Crime Awareness Week last October by remembering a Gypsy by the name of Johnny Delaney, who was murdered in Ellesmere Port in 2003 simply because he was from the Irish Traveller community. Nevertheless, the judge in the murder trial refused to accept the police verdict that this was a racist attack. And as chair of the cross-party group on Gypsies and Travellers, I'm well aware of the discrimination that this community regularly suffers from, not least by the failure of several local authorities to provide a single Traveller site in their area, in contravention of the Planning (Wales) Act 2015.

René Cassin was a French-Jewish lawyer, professor and judge, who co-drafted the universal declaration of human rights, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. He said that

'There will never be peace on this planet as long as human rights are being violated in any part of the world.'

His work inspired the creation of a UK Jewish organisation in his name, and I was delighted to read that next week, René Cassin is hosting a women’s Seder to commemorate International Women’s Day. One of the speakers is Laura Marks, a founder member of Nisa-Nashim, the Jewish Muslim women’s network set up two years ago to combat ignorance and misconceptions about women in both communities. And Leanne mentioned the hatred that many women face simply because they dress differently to other people, and this is completely intolerant. As Mark Isherwood said, we need to explain to people, just because people are different from us, it doesn't mean to say that we want them to be assimilated and for everybody to look exactly the same. It is part of the wealth of our community that we have people from different backgrounds, and there is no room for complacency.

We know that Brexit unleashed the dark side in many people, and much of the debate was generated in the referendum by pointing the finger of blame to other people, simply because people were in economic distress and social dislocation. We really do have to work hard to ensure that we celebrate the goodness in people. For example, the people with very little who have reached out in solidarity to the people who have nothing as a result of the flooding they've experienced. That is just a wonderful expression of solidarity.

But we also have to be mindful of the fact that the coronavirus disease—if it becomes as serious as it might—could generate further hostility against members of the Welsh and UK Chinese community. In fact, a member of my own family who was travelling with his girlfriend to Italy the other day—the girlfriend was the subject of racist abuse simply because she happened to be of Chinese ethnic origin. So, we need to be constantly combating the fear that people feel when they are threatened, and we need to remember that Holocaust survivor Dr Martin Stern, who spoke at the Holocaust memorial event in Cardiff on 27 January, reminded us that it is simply not enough to commemorate the appalling crimes of the Nazis, but to reflect on the ordinariness of the people who did that, and the fact that there have been 50 Holocausts since the end of the second world war, including Rwanda and Srebrenica. There is no room for complacency. The world is in a terrible turmoil and we need to work very hard at community cohesion.

I rise to talk about the subject of hate crime, and when people think about hate crime, very often, they will think about hate crime in racial terms and they're right to do that, because in 2018-19, 68 per cent of all hate crime was racially motivated across Wales, and across all crimes. And I do commend the work that's been done to give confidence to people to come forward, and that's all 3,932 of them who have come forward. But there are other hate crimes, and they are: sexual orientation, religious and transgender. But I want to focus today on disability hate crime.

The Welsh Government has a framework for action that was launched in 2014, and it looks at crimes under the Equality Act of 2010, and their protected characteristics. I find it somewhat alarming—and I hope that everybody will share my alarm—that there were 120 hate crimes reported by disabled victims. And that is really the most shocking for me, when you're talking about people, who already have huge challenges in life just to get through their daily life, being picked on by able-bodied people, just because they don't look like them. So, there's a very clear thread, and Jenny did very well to describe that, because what hate crime really is all about is, 'You are not one of us'. It's about marginalising people. It's about putting them in a box so that they look different to you, and we must recognise that reality, because without recognising that reality, we're never really going to come through and out the other side.

So, that is why I am pleased that the Welsh Government has invested £350,000 of funding into schools for the forthcoming year, and that will be delivered by the WLGA in anti-bullying guidance for schools. Because I think our best hope going forward—and sometimes, our only hope going forward—is for young people to adopt and recognise that difference isn't something to be attacked; that it's something to be embraced—that we are all different, thank goodness, and that we share a collective humanity. That is who we really are, and that is what we really want to recognise. And I think teaching children through this programme that they can challenge misinformation and they can recognise hate speeches, will certainly help those young people to grow up and to be balanced individuals—[Interruption.] In a minute. But I think it's critical that people who do report it—and I'm talking here about young people, particularly when we're talking about schoolchildren—that they are picked up and offered some counselling, because of the trauma that they've gone through, so that they, themselves, can come through that. And I think that the hate crime criminal justice board that's been set up will enable the work between the partners, including Welsh police forces, but all other agencies as well, so that we can actually take forward and recognise all aspects of hate crime. Thank you.

[Interruption.] Obviously not. Sorry about that.

Oh, I forgot.

I call on the Deputy Minister and the Chief Whip to reply to the debate—Jane Hutt.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I'd like to thank Members today for all their contributions and support across this Chamber. I think it's been a very important debate that we need to reflect on.

I've supported all the amendments because it is vital that we work together and look to the future, as well, in terms of our powers and responsibilities. We of course welcome and encourage action from the UK Government and work together, where possible, to tackle hate crime. Some of the key policy levers that relate to tackling hate crime aren't devolved, such as policing and justice, but we are playing our part in terms of the hate crime criminal justice board Cymru. I'm bringing together police force partners, and I chair, of course, the policing partnership board. We've worked with the UK Government on aspects of this, our plan, to ensure Wales is represented—and on their plan too—and considered in the development and implementation of its hate crime policy.

An example is the UK Government's places of worship protective security funding scheme. I've written to all Members about this. I'm aware that we haven't actually had that much of that Home Office money yet in Wales. We're working with faith communities to identify and address barriers, and we hope we'll see some successful applicants.

Clearly, in relation to hate crime statistics, any rise is a cause for concern and scrutiny, but as I've highlighted in my opening speech, there's been a significant amount of work and effort in Wales to increase awareness and give confidence to victims to come forward and report hate crime. And we know that hate crimes are significantly under-reported, with data from the crime survey for England and Wales for the years 2015-16 to 2017-18 showing only 53 per cent of incidents are reported to the police, as has been said. And it is so important that the message from today is a united message that victims keep coming forward.

Now, I have mentioned, in terms of race, the importance of our hate crime minorities communities grant, and we'll see the impact of that. But I also want to pay tribute to the Wales Race Forum. It's a crucial resource of expertise and advice, and we're working together to review terms of reference, looking at ways in which they can influence policy in the most effective way.

Yesterday, I visited the Chinese Christian Church in Cardiff in Llandaff Road—some of you might be aware of it. It was an opportunity just to meet with members of the Chinese church and community to understand how they felt in terms of some of the impact in terms of coronavirus. We've seen some concerning statistics. But they just really wanted to say, 'Thank you for coming to see us.' And this is about the way we must reach out to people.

It's important, also, as has been mentioned, in terms of hate crime statistics for England and Wales showing an 80 per cent increase in transgender hate crime, which Leanne Wood has mentioned, and a 12 per cent increase in hate crime where sexual orientation is the motivating factor. This has been due to hate crime being under-reported in previous years or not being better recognised and recorded by the police. But we're considering how we can further support these members of our community. And it's crucial, therefore, that we do welcome that Law Commission ongoing review of the adequacy and parity of protection offered by hate crime legislation.

We, of course, the Welsh Government, have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism in full and without qualification, and we do encourage community members to report any incidents. If anyone in the community witnesses or are made aware of suspicious or threatening behaviour or hate crime incidents, they must report them, contact the police or the national hate crime report and support centre, which is run by Victim Support. And I do encourage people to look at the 75 Memorial Flames project. Eight Welsh community groups have created pieces of artwork—and many of us joined in with this—to remember all those who lost their lives during the Holocaust. They're currently on display in the Hayes in Cardiff.

I also would like to thank Leanne Wood for drawing attention to those specific cases of concern that she's raised—and she, of course, has raised those with me from her constituency—and to say that I am meeting Mrs Alina Joseph next week, and I hope that she will join us. Because the case that she has brought to us about Christopher and that we're aware of was tragic, and the family have serious and unanswered questions about what happened on that day and I'm sure all our thoughts are with Christopher's family and friends. So, the meeting next week, again, is about meeting, talking and breaking down barriers.

Finally, I'll also say that I support amendment 3. The prevention of hate crime is a key goal for this Welsh Government, and it will remain a key goal as we seek to develop and deliver changes to our justice system to put right the problems identified by the Commission on Justice in Wales, and the Welsh Government's position is clear: we think justice should be devolved and we are pleased that the commission has stated this case so convincingly.

There's no room for complacency. We must reach out to the goodness in people. We must share a collective response. We must welcome the wonderful positive responses we've had in our communities over the past weeks in terms of flooding. This is reflected in Wales being a nation of sanctuary, a welcoming Wales, and I'm grateful for the tone of the debate today. Diolch yn fawr. 

Thank you. The proposal is to agree amendment 1. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Therefore, we will defer voting until voting time. 

Unless three Members wish for the bell to be rung, I intend to proceed directly to voting time. [Interruption.] Ring the bell? Three Members have to show that they want the bell rung. Thank you. Ring the bell then, please. 

If Members can come to order then, the allocated time for the bell to be rung for people to get back to the Chamber has passed, and we now move to voting time. The first vote this afternoon is on the debate on the Welsh rates of income tax for 2020-21, and I call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. Open the vote. Close the vote. For the motion 43, six abstentions, one against. Therefore, the motion is agreed. 

We now move to the debate on the final budget of 2020-21, and I call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. Open the vote. Close the vote. For the motion 27, one abstention, 22 against. Therefore, the motion is agreed. 

Vote now on the local government settlement of 2020-21, and again I call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. Open the vote. Close the vote. For the motion 27, four abstentions, 19 against. Therefore, the local government settlement is agreed. 

We now move to a vote on the debate on the second supplementary budget of 2019-20, and I call for a vote on amendment 1, tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. Open the vote. Close the vote. For the amendment 31, 16 abstentions, three against. Therefore, amendment 1 is agreed. 

I call for a vote on the motion as amended, tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans.

Open the vote. Close the vote. For the amended motion 27, 20 abstentions, three against. Therefore, the amended motion is agreed. 

We now move to vote on the progress on tackling hate crime, and I call for a vote on amendment 1, tabled in the name of Darren Millar. Open the vote. Close the vote. For the motion 49, no abstentions, one against. Therefore, amendment 1 is agreed. 

I call for a vote on amendment 2, tabled in the name of Darren Millar. Open the vote. Close the vote. For the amendment 42, seven abstentions, one against. Therefore, amendment 2 is agreed. 

I now call for a vote on amendment 3, tabled in the name of Siân Gwenllian. Open the vote. Close the vote. For the amendment 35, four abstentions, 11 against. Therefore, amendment 3 is agreed. 

We now vote on the motion as amended, tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans.

Open the vote. Close the vote. For the amended motion 37, four abstentions, nine against. Therefore, the amended motion is agreed. 

And that brings today's proceedings to a close.