Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru

Welcome to this Plenary session. Before we begin, I need to set out a few points. A meeting held by video-conference, in accordance with the Standing Orders of the Welsh Parliament, constitutes Senedd proceedings for the purposes of the Government of Wales Act 2006. Some of the provisions of Standing Order 34 will apply for today's Plenary meeting, and these are noted on your agenda. I would also remind Members that Standing Orders relating to order in Plenary meetings apply to this meeting. 

The first item is questions to the First Minister, and the first question is from Janet Finch-Saunders. 

Llywydd, to assist business recovery from COVID-19, the Welsh Government has provided the most generous package of support anywhere in the United Kingdom. On Wednesday last, the finance Minister announced that our 100 per cent business rate relief scheme, which supports over 70,000 businesses, will continue for the whole of the next financial year.

Thank you. Our strong Prime Minister has provided much certainty and support for our businesses. Only last week, our UK Government extended the coronavirus job retention scheme size and the VAT reduced rate of 5 per cent to the tourism and hospitality sectors. I am sure you will be enthusiastic to join with me and acknowledge that our UK Government's action has saved jobs and businesses in Wales, protecting nearly 400,000 livelihoods, supporting more than 100,000 self-employed people and backing over 50,000 businesses with loans. In fact, our Prime Minister has gone a step further than you, because whilst he's provided a road map out of lockdown for England, you continue to fail to deliver for Wales. Despite the concerns I raised with you in committee on 11 February about the need for clarity as to when hospitality might be opening, we have been left to focus on your tier system, which has completely collapsed, because it is noted that to be in level 3, there should be a confirmed case rate of more than 150 cases per 100,000. Last week, Wales recorded a rolling seven-day average of 57, and is already down now to 44. Do you agree with me that it is really, really awful what you are doing to businesses in Wales by refusing to provide a clear road map out of lockdown and not adhering to your own tier system? Thank you. 

Llywydd, I welcome all the support that the UK Government has provided to businesses in Wales, and have done so since the earliest days of the pandemic. Of course, here in Wales we have provided hundreds of millions of pounds over and above the help that has come to Wales as a result of those UK efforts. 

I welcome the Member's recognition of the success of the measures that this Welsh Government has taken to bring coronavirus under control, measures which she will remember she and her party vehemently opposed at the time that they were taken. Had we followed her advice then, we certainly wouldn't be in the relatively benign position that we are in Wales today. We will build from that position, mindful all the time of the continuing precariousness of the recovery from coronavirus, and with the circulation here in Wales of the Kent variant of coronavirus particularly to be borne in mind as we reopen our economy. 

On Friday of this week, Llywydd, I will set out further details of how freedoms can be restored in the world of business, in our personal lives, providing priority as ever for our children and young people, and that will give people the clarity they need, with the realism that is required as well.  

First Minister, whatever your plans for helping Welsh businesses, will you ensure that they are fair and equitable? I've previously raised the plight of high-street arcades, which your Government refuses to help. These businesses have suffered the same losses as other leisure businesses, and yet you are denying them any recourse to business support. Welsh Government will gladly collect their business rates, yet do not want to help these businesses stay afloat. Like other businesses in the leisure sector, their costs have continued to spiral, but, as they remain closed, they have no income. Without support, these businesses could close permanently, with the loss of many jobs, and these jobs are for their employees who will eventually bear the brunt of all of this. Their plight is now desperate, so will you please reconsider your position? Diolch. 

Well, Llywydd, it has been the aim of the Welsh Government throughout the pandemic to use the funding that we have to fill the gaps in the help that comes from the UK Government. It simply isn't possible with the funding we have to fill every single gap that exists. Nevertheless, £1.9 billion has left the coffers of the Welsh Government and is already in the hands of businesses here in Wales—tens of thousands of businesses, in every part of our country, benefiting from the schemes that the Welsh Government has put in place and the speed at which that help has left us and arrived with businesses themselves. The Welsh Government has set aside £200 million in our budget for the next financial year to be able to continue the support that we provide to Welsh businesses. And as we do that, we always review the schemes that we have, to see whether it is possible to do more to help more businesses in the future. But ,as I say, our funding has been used always to fill the gaps in the schemes that the UK Government has responsibility for, and it simply isn't possible to extend that to every eventuality.

The 'for Wales, see England' approach that the Conservatives seem to be adopting will actually lead to a reduction in business support, as we've seen over the last year or so. First Minister, in taking forward Wales out of the lockdown—we're able to do this because of the success, of course, of the approach taken by the Welsh Government—I'm particularly concerned about the support that you will be able to provide to small businesses. There are many businesses in my constituency in Blaenau Gwent who are very grateful for the support that's been provided by the Welsh Government over the last year or so. They're now looking towards beginning to trade again and looking at how they can rebuild their businesses. Is it possible to outline how those smaller businesses will be supported as we move forward over the coming months?

Llywydd, I thank Alun Davies for that. He's absolutely right, of course, as the Welsh Governance Centre report demonstrated only a few weeks ago, that, had we simply followed the schemes that are in place across our border, Welsh businesses would be millions and millions of pounds worse off than they are by being located in Wales, because of the help that we have been able to mobilise for them. And I know the Welsh Conservative Party doesn't like to acknowledge that; it does indeed, as Alun Davies said, have only one prescription for Wales, and that is that we should copy exactly what is done by people across the border—£300 million less would have been available to businesses in Wales. Almost all the help that the Welsh Government provides, of course, goes to small and medium-sized enterprises. We took a very conscious decision not to extend rate relief to businesses with a rateable value of over £500,000, and that released tens and tens of millions of pounds that we have put into the hands of small businesses here in Wales. I know that Alun Davies welcomed the extra £30 million that we announced for the sector-specific fund in leisure, tourism and hospitality only a couple of weeks ago. And the £200 million that we have in reserve, which we will use next year, will be targeted at those businesses that exist in every high street here in Wales. And they would, absolutely, as my colleague Alun Davies says, much rather be trading and they'd much rather be earning a living than waiting for the next cheque from the Welsh Government. But while the current pandemic persists, we will make sure that, where they cannot trade, the Welsh Government will step in to assist them.

I thank the Member for that question, Llywydd. The Welsh Government has invested £40 million in jobs and skills this year, supporting individuals seeking new or alternative employment or training. Our personal learning account programme helps employed people improve their skills or reskill in priority sectors, delivering learning flexibly around each individual’s existing work and other commitments, and doing so through colleges right across Wales.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. I was very pleased to see in your Government's budget the commitment to expand the personal learning account programme. Now, this programme, as you say, provides vital support to employed workers, but also those furloughed workers and individuals at risk of redundancy. We know one of the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic has been the loss of jobs and the greater hesitancy of businesses to invest, which would have created new jobs and offered greater opportunities for those seeking employment. The Welsh Government scheme to support people getting higher level skills and qualifications in priority sectors now prepares our workforce for a range of opportunities as we see the economy recover. Could you, therefore, provide an update on this fund and how it will be delivered to those individuals? 

Llywydd, I thank David Rees for that important question. I know that my colleague Rebecca Evans, as finance Minister, was very keen to find additional funding for the personal learning account programme—£5.4 million additional funding there—because of the outstanding success it has already been. And, as David Rees said, Llywydd, for workers it provides courses and qualifications that are fully funded by the Welsh Government, organised to be manageable around those individuals' existing commitments. They're available regardless of previous qualifications, and 3,000 people have already started personal learning account courses and we have 6,000 and more applications for the scheme.

And for employers, Llywydd, it offers a flexible and responsive scheme designed to overcome current and future skill shortages, sector specific, aimed at new and high growth areas in the green economy, engineering, construction, the digital economy and in advanced manufacturing. And in that way, as David Rees says, we will develop a pool of skilled and committed workers ready to take advantage of those new opportunities and attracting those new opportunities into parts of Wales, creating the jobs of the future. 

Even before the pandemic, First Minister, I'm sure you would agree that the shape of the global economy was changing, which is why, in recognition of this, the Welsh Conservatives, in addition to ReAct, will introduce a second chance fund to help anyone of any age to pursue level 3 qualifications in college to help them move from the low pay, low skills trap up the career ladder no matter where they started. And that's the thinking behind our plans for scaling up of degree apprenticeships as well. Do you not agree, though, that routes to excellence have narrowed under this Welsh Government and, instead of funnelling everyone through Master's degrees, we should be looking at aptitudes and attitudes to ensure more people in Wales get the skills they need to succeed personally and to believe that they play a valuable role in helping our country to prosper?

Well, I agree with what the Member says about the changing nature of the global economy and the need for Government to go on investing in the skills that our workforce will need to face that future. I don't, of course, agree at all with what the Member said about narrowing opportunities. Opportunities over the last five years have extended enormously because of the changes that we have made in higher education. Following the Diamond review, we have record numbers of students in higher education in Wales, particularly opening up opportunities for people wanting to undertake part-time study on a level that is not replicated anywhere else in the United Kingdom.

I'm glad to have the support of the Welsh Conservatives for the Welsh Government's degree apprenticeship programme: £20 million invested in this innovative programme during recent years, 200 employers involved in it and 600 students. It's just another example of innovative ways in which this Welsh Government has expanded opportunities, alongside the personal learning accounts that David Rees referred to—a whole range of ways in which people in Wales now have access to opportunities for reskilling and upskilling that will make sure that, when those opportunities become available, we have a workforce here in Wales ready to take advantage of them. 

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

Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, what is your view of the situation involving Liberty Steel and its associated companies, and its likely impact on jobs here in Wales?

I'm not going to speculate on the future of Liberty Steel—a very important company here in Wales, and one that the Welsh Government has supported in the past. I have a letter in front of me from Mr Gupta, the executive chair of GFG Alliance, which is the parent company of Liberty Steel, written to my colleague Ken Skates on 4 March, so at the end of last week, in which Mr Gupta sets out the trading position of Liberty Steel and reinforces the commitment that GFG has to Wales. We as a Government will continue to work with the company and with the steel sector more generally to secure the future that we are confident, in the right conditions and in the right way, the steel industry has here in Wales.

I agree with you, First Minister; Liberty Steel is an important player here in Wales, and that's the reason for the question. It's important to understand what financial support has been made available to Liberty Steel in the past and whether any additional support, given that you've alluded to a letter being delivered from the company to the economy Minister, has been requested by the company to secure its operations in Wales. Can you inform us whether there's an offer on the table at the moment from the Welsh Government to support Liberty Steel's operations or associated companies here in Wales?

The letter from Liberty Steel did not request additional funding from the Welsh Government; that wasn't the purpose of the correspondence. The purpose of the correspondence was to set out the difficulties that Greensill, the financial provider to GFG Alliance, has experienced, but to put on the table as well the strong current trading position of Liberty Steel Group. Steel prices in Europe are currently trading at a 13-year high and the aluminium market is more buoyant than it has been for some time past. In his letter, Mr Gupta makes it plain that factories that the alliance owns in these fields are operating at full capacity to meet high demand and generating positive cash flows. What the letter demonstrates, I think, is the close relationship that has existed between the company and the Welsh Government, and the confidence that the company wishes to continue to create in its future. We will work alongside the company in order to secure the jobs that it provides here in Wales and in order to secure the future of the sector more generally. 

Talking of support, First Minister, Friday is a notable day, with the latest review of lockdown restrictions here in Wales. Your Minister for mental health and well-being has said that, with lockdown and people in Wales, if you give an inch, they'll take a mile. Can I first check whether this is your assessment? Do you agree with her? Or do you take my assessment that it's the hard work of the people of Wales over this lockdown period that will allow you, now, to lift some of these restrictions? Can you confirm what type of announcements we might be looking at on Friday, in particular around non-essential retail? Will you be opening up gyms like the Minister for well-being has previously suggested? And will you, as you alluded to in the press over the last few days, be lifting the stay-at-home rule and introducing a five-mile rule, like we saw last summer?

I'm afraid the leader of the opposition will have to wait until Friday. That is when the three-week cycle ends. The Cabinet will continue to discuss the package of measures that we will be able to propose then during the remainder of this week. But he's right to say that at the end of the last three-week review, I said that I hoped that this will be the last three weeks in which we have to ask people in Wales to stay at home and that we would be able to move beyond that. I said then as well that we would continue to make the return to education as quickly and as safely as possible for our children our top priority, and that, alongside that, we would look to find ways of allowing people to do more in their personal lives and to begin the reopening of new aspects of the Welsh economy. That continues to be the list of issues that we discuss as a Cabinet and I'm looking forward to being able to make announcements on that on Friday.

The fact that numbers in Wales of people suffering from coronavirus continue to go down, the fact that the stress and strain on our health service is reducing in the way that it is—that is undoubtedly the achievement that belongs to people here in Wales, for everything that they have done to abide by the difficult ask that we have made of them during recent weeks, in order to bring this latest wave of the pandemic under control. As we lift restrictions, I will once again be appealing to people in Wales not to approach this by asking themselves, 'How far can the rules be stretched, what is the most that I can get away with as restrictions are lifted?' We continue to face a public health emergency. Nobody knows how the Kent variant will react as we begin to restore aspects of our daily lives. I will be appealing once again to people in Wales to ask themselves the question not, 'What can I do?' but, 'What should I do in order to go on making my contribution to keeping myself, others and the whole of Wales safe?'

Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price.

First Minister, upon winning your party's leadership election in December 2018, you said that, in a fractured world, Members of the Senedd should strive for 'a kinder sort of politics'. Last week, your Labour colleague and leader of Neath Port Talbot council, Rob Jones, was forced to step aside after a recording emerged of him making despicable comments about our fellow Senedd Member Bethan Sayed. Yesterday marked International Women's Day, with this year's theme, 'choose to challenge', encouraging people to challenge stereotypes and bias wherever they arise in order to effect change. With that in mind, will you place on record your condemnation of Councillor Jones's remarks, and choose to challenge his appalling misogyny? And, should his temporary resignation, in your view, be permanent?

I was concerned to read accounts of what Councillor Jones had said, and I'm sure that he has done the right thing in stepping aside from the leadership of Neath Port Talbot council while those remarks are properly investigated by the monitoring officer and by the ombudsman here in Wales. That's why he has been suspended from his membership of the Labour Party while those inquiries can be completed. I think that it would be sensible for anyone to await the outcome of those inquiries before drawing conclusions about what should happen next. But I'm sure that Councillor Jones was right to step down from the leadership of the council and to refer himself to the monitoring officer and to the public services ombudsman. We will now await the outcome of those inquiries.

But surely, First Minister, even now you can issue an outright condemnation of his remarks. The recording also reveals a sinister way of going about politics, doesn't it? He, astonishingly, alludes to favouring projects supported by Labour councillors for public funding. Citing the example of Alltygrug cemetery in Ystalyfera, he talks about telling officers to go and search down behind the back of the sofa to pay for a project that, he boasts, resulted in people turning to the Labour Party. I have written to the auditor general, First Minister, requesting that he not only investigates the remarks made by Councillor Jones in the recording, but also ensures that robust checks and balances are in place to safeguard against the potential misuse of public funds for party political purposes in Welsh public authorities. Would you support such an investigation?  

It is important that investigations are carried out, and it's important that those investigations are allowed to come to their own conclusions, rather than politicians on the floor of the Senedd anticipating those conclusions and asking others to agree with the conclusions at which they have apparently already arrived. There's no place for misogyny in any part of Welsh life or in any political party. I remember that Mr Price himself launched an inquiry into misogyny in Plaid Cymru in June or July of 2019. I have looked to see if I can find the result of that inquiry, but I have not been able to locate it myself, and that may simply be because I've not looked in the right place. But just as he was right, I'm sure, to have that inquiry carried out in his party, so it is right that the allegations that have been made against Councillor Jones should be investigated, and certainly the results of those inquiries will be made public.

I just ask him finally: could you admit that the words used by Councillor Jones to describe Bethan Sayed are absolutely appalling? You have all the information, surely, that anyone needs to make that statement now.

In last week's budget, the UK Government faced fierce criticism for the way in which its so-called levelling-up fund favoured Conservative constituencies. In the first tranche of funding, 39 of the 45 areas due to receive support are represented by Conservative Members of Parliament. As my colleague Liz Saville Roberts put it,

'our public money is being snatched for the budget of Tory bungs.'

The revelations that have come to light as part of the Neath Port Talbot saga have worrying echoes of this, First Minister. Are you confident that the case of Neath Port Talbot is not just the tip of the iceberg, and that Wales doesn't have its own problem of cash for colleagues on Labour's watch?

I condemn misogyny wherever it is to be found. I think it is right that there should be inquiries into those matters, and I think that it is right that those inquiries should then be made public. That will happen in the case of Councillor Jones, and I think that that applies as much to his party as it does to mine.

Trying to deduce a generalised smear from one incident to what happens right across Wales does not seem to me to be a sensible or proportionate way of responding to that. I took the precaution, thinking that this might be raised this afternoon, to look at the record of the Welsh Government in the way that we use funds right across Wales. Let me just give him a few results of that. In fact, I'll focus for a time just on one, the twenty-first century schools programme—a major Government programme, providing schools and colleges fit for the twenty-first century. There are 25 schools in Plaid Cymru-controlled Carmarthenshire, 11 schools in independent-controlled Pembrokeshire, nine schools in Plaid Cymru-controlled Ceredigion, 18 in Plaid Cymru-controlled Gwynedd, 14 in Plaid Cymru-controlled Ynys Môn and 14 in Conservative-controlled Conwy. The record of the Welsh Government stands up to examination in every scheme that we have, and there is no possible implication that could be drawn, for the way in which funds are used by this Welsh Government, on party political lines. We do so always on open, transparent and needs-based criteria. That is the right and proper way.

The levelling-up fund, to which Adam Price referred, is the opposite of that. That will now be in the hands of the Secretary of State in the communities, local government and housing department of the UK Government, a department that knows very little of Wales, and there's no-one here to assist them to find out more. I remember what the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons said about out the Secretary of State when he awarded towns fund funding to 60 out of 61 constituencies in England that were either Conservative marginals or on the list of seats that the Conservative party hoped to win at an election. That is a very worrying precedent, and one very different to the way in which this Welsh Labour Government goes about using public funds in Wales.

I thank John Griffiths for that question. The Welsh Government continues to work closely with the local authority and others in Newport to support initiatives that promote economic potential in the city, from the Market Arcade development to the Chartist Tower refurbishment and the visitor facilities at Newport's landmark transporter bridge.

Diolch yn fawr, First Minister. The steel industry remains a very important part of Newport's economy, with Tata Steel at Llanwern, for example, and also, of course, Liberty Steel at Uskmouth. We know, First Minister, that if the UK as a whole is going to have the sort of industrial future it deserves, steel must play an important part in that as a strategic sector. And we also know that organisations like Liberty Steel are taking forward green and sustainable steel policies that will enable that strong future for the steel industry. As was mentioned earlier in these questions, First Minister, there is a current financing difficulty for Liberty Steel. Greensill Capital has gone into administration, and they were Liberty Steel's main financial backers, so there's a need now for refinancing, which the company is taking forward, and there was a meeting with the unions to discuss matters this morning. First Minister, as far as Welsh Government is concerned, are you able to assure me that Welsh Government will stay in very close communication with the company, with the trade unions and, indeed, with UK Government, to make sure that this plant in Newport has a strong future? It is performing strongly, it is sustainable, and it's part of that strong steel sector that we want to see continuing in Wales.

Well, Llywydd, I completely agree with John Griffiths on the importance of the steel sector—a strategic sector, a sector that has needed greater help from the UK Government than it has received during the pandemic. I was glad that there was a meeting of the Steel Council on Friday of last week; there's been far too long a gap between the last meeting of the council and this one. But it was well attended—attended by Ken Skates on behalf of the Welsh Government, and representatives from the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland, as well as the UK Government, the trade unions and others. So, it's good that the Steel Council is meeting again. The Welsh Government will play a full part in the council. We will make the case for steel making here in Wales, including the developments, as John Griffiths said, that have been very important in Newport. The innovative work that Liberty Steel has undertaken, the plans that Tata Steel, I know, are very keen to continue to discuss with the UK Government in order to secure a long-term and green future for that industry, as well, and the Welsh Government will do everything we can, as we always have, to support the steel industry, and call on other partners with other parts to play, to make sure that they are equally engaged.

Can I concur completely with the sentiments just expressed in terms of the need of providing a sustainable steel industry across Wales?

Can I widen this out into the fortunes of the wider Newport economy and south-east Wales economy—the Monmouthshire economy, I should say—both of which are dependent on a modern sustainable transport infrastructure? I wonder if you could update us on the development of the south Wales metro, where we are with that, and, specifically, whether the potential for a metro hub at the Celtic Manor, which I have raised before with the economy Minister—the economy and transport Minister—has been discussed with relevant stakeholders. A hub at that point within the metro system would provide the missing link between Newport railway station and towns in my constituency, such as Monmouth, which, after 6 o'clock, are very much cut off from the Newport transport infrastructure. So, I wonder if you could update us on the development of the metro.

Llywydd, I thank Nick Ramsay for that question, and despite the challenges that the pandemic period have thrown up, the Welsh Government's plans for the south Wales metro remain there, remain funded and remain as ambitious as they have always been. I will ask my colleague Ken Skates to update the Member on the specific issue of the Celtic Manor connection to the metro.FootnoteLink

Alongside that, Llywydd, we're looking forward to the publication of the Peter Hendry UK connectivity review, to which the Welsh Government provided evidence, and to which Lord Burns, as chair of the Burns commission, provided evidence as well, because alongside the metro for the economy of south-east Wales and Monmouthshire, we need the UK Government to commit to the upgrading of that second line that already exists, with plans for the Burns commission set out in detail—six new stations potentially along it—making a great deal of difference to connectivity in that part of Wales, and with a real opportunity in the connectivity review for the UK Government to demonstrate its commitment to connectivity between south-east Wales and our trading partners across the border, and to do it according to a plan that has already been drawn up, and very convincingly articulated. 

Llywydd, Cadw continues to discharge its statutory responsibilities, and to sustain its custodianship of sites across Wales, in ways which observe the restrictions made necessary by the coronavirus emergency.

Thank you. First Minister, Kinmel Hall was in the headlines again recently. It's been dubbed the Welsh Versailles, but has fallen into dangerous disrepair, and this piece of Welsh heritage is at very serious risk of being lost forever, despite being a grade I listed building. I see that one of Cadw's first priorities is caring for the historic environment. First Minister, what is the point of the listing system and what is the point of Cadw if neither serve to protect Wales's heritage? Thank you.

Llywydd, I thank Mandy Jones for that, and I share her concerns about Kinmel Hall and the reports of the deterioration in the state of the building that I and she will have read in reports. The position though is this, isn't it: Kinmel Hall is a privately owned facility; it's not in public ownership. Cadw has discharged its responsibility, which is to list the building. After that, it is for the local authority—it's the local authority that has the responsibility to make sure that the building is maintained in a state that matches the listing that Cadw has awarded to it. And the local authority has the power to issue statutory repairs and urgent works notices. Now, I understand that, while the current owners in the past have been reluctant to recognise the need for action to address the state of the building, in more recent times, there has been a greater appetite on their part to take the steps that are necessary, and that Conwy County Borough Council is in discussions with them to make sure that those steps are undertaken. Cadw remains involved, but in a supporting role to the local planning authority, providing them with options that are available in protecting the business—the building, I beg your pardon. But it is not Cadw's responsibility, once the listing has been carried out, to make sure that the building is kept in a proper state of repair. That is the responsibility of the owners, and where the owners are in default of that responsibility, it's for the local authority to step up and make sure that the actions that ought to be taken are taken.

First Minister, I've listened very carefully to your answer in respect of Kimnel Hall, which, as you will be aware, is in my constituency. It is a very precious building, it's a very important part of our national heritage as a nation, and, of course, the Welsh Government does have the ability to be able to step in, acquire this building, and to make sure that it is protected for future generations. As you will know, Cadw do not only work with local authorities and list buildings, they actually do act as custodian for many important historical buildings across Wales. So, my constituents would like to see the Welsh Government and Cadw working with both the local authority and the current owners, but where those current owners do not have the appetite or the resources to protect this building for future generations, can I ask: will the Welsh Government consider stepping in and acquiring this building as part of our national heritage? It is Wales's largest country home, it is known as the Versailles of Wales, and it does deserve that extra level of protection that other buildings that might be in a similar dilapidated state don't require. So, can you step in if the need arises?

Llywydd, I thank Darren Millar for that contribution, and I share a lot of what he has said about the significance of Kinmel Hall, its importance to Wales as a whole. Where Cadw has responsibility for the upkeep of monuments, buildings and sites, it is because those sites are in public ownership, and Kinmel Hall is not in public ownership, it has private owners, and as far as I am aware, those owners have never shown an appetite for the building to be taken out of their ownership and acquired by the Government on behalf of the Welsh population more generally. It would be a very big step, wouldn't it, for the Government to compulsorily remove a building from private ownership, and that would not be my preferred course of action. If there is an appetite on the part of the owners for a different ownership model in future, then, of course, the Welsh Government would be part of that conversation. We're not the only possibility there, of course. I know Darren Millar will be very well aware of the National Trust's operation here in Wales, and there are a number of ways in which privately-owned buildings can make their way into wider forms of ownership with different levels of custodianship for the future.

Can I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for that, Llywydd? The third supplementary budget of this financial year, to be debated in the Senedd later this afternoon, completes our fiscal spending plans. From a total available resource of £23.3 billion, 99.6 per cent of that funding has been committed by the Welsh Government as set out in the third supplementary budget. 

First Minister, I thank you for clarifying that, and I asked you this question because Welsh Government, despite allocating what you've just told us was 99.6 per cent of its resource, has continually come under fire from the Tories here in Wales, whilst at the same time their Chancellor in Westminster holds a COVID reserve that currently stands at £19 billion. So, First Minister, it is clear now that if the Welsh Government had run down all its available COVID guarantee by October 2020, as suggested by the Welsh Conservatives in Wales, then you would not have been able to match the firebreak and the Christmas restrictions with the far-reaching business support that was rapidly put into place. Now, if there's one consistency, First Minister, with the Conservative party currently in Wales, it's to feign fury when our Government in Wales makes the right decisions to keep Wales safe, only to fall silent when their party in Westminster follows suit. So, do you agree with me that the Welsh Conservatives are now so far off Rishi Sunak's radar that they feel confident that he won't even notice when they inadvertently attack him and his policies?

Well, Llywydd, I agree with Huw Irranca-Davies. It is surely one thing not to be able to be wise before the event, and that is certainly the record of the Welsh Conservative party, but it's a party that doesn't even manage to be wise after the event, either. Had we taken that party's advice back in October, then, of course, Huw Irranca-Davies is right, we would not have been in a position at all to support Welsh businesses in the way that we have during the remainder of the current financial year. Back in October, we had spent two thirds of our budget at the two-thirds point of this financial year. We had spent three quarters of our budget when we were three quarters of the way through the financial year, and as I said in my original answer, at the end of the financial year, we will have spent 99.6 per cent of all the funding available to the Welsh Government, and that, Llywydd, is a pattern repeated year after year during the whole of the devolution era. Every year, this Welsh Government uses to the maximum the funding that we have available to support businesses and public services here in Wales. And our record compares extraordinarily favourably with UK Government departments, who never manage anything like the same match between funds available and the ability to put it to good use. The record of the Welsh Government here stands up to examination by anybody, and the advice of the Welsh Conservative Party and the nonsense, the absolutely nonsense, that they offered people back in October has been exposed very badly since then by the events that have since unfolded. 

The Welsh Government's reserve can hold up to £350 million; on 1 April 2020, the balance was at £335.9 million. Three weeks ago, the Welsh Government and UK Government agreed additional flexibility, beyond the Wales reserve, going into 2021-22, enabling the Welsh Government to carry over any unallocated element of the extra £650 million provided by the UK Government into the 2021-22 financial year, on top of the existing provision to transfer funding between years. This financial year, the Welsh Government is carrying forward around £660.2 million of extra 2020-21 funding to 2021-22. The Finance Committee has recommended the Welsh Government publish an outturn report for 2020-21, with a similar level of detail to that for 2019-20. So, how does the Welsh Government respond to this, and how will you ensure additional transparency regarding Welsh Government budgets where, for example, the Welsh Government has failed to allocate any of the extra UK Government funding, unlike Scotland, meaning that you have failed to allocate £1.3 billion in the budget your Government is announcing today?

Well, Llywydd, I don't think this Government will need any lessons from the Member on additional transparency. This is the third supplementary budget that we have laid during this financial year. It sets out in absolute detail all the way in which the funding that is available to the Welsh Government has been used. His Government, his Government in Westminster, did not publish a single supplementary budget, and it was only when, very late in the year, many weeks later than they promised, when the estimates were produced, that the additional funding was provided and, sensibly at last, the Treasury agreed that it was too late in the financial year for that money to be sensibly used and that it could be carried forward into the next financial year. That is exactly, therefore, what my colleague Rebecca Evans proposes to do. 

We have reported faithfully and regularly on every spending decision that we have made to the Senedd, quite unlike the performance of his party at the UK level. Of course we will publish an outturn report. That happens every year, as a matter of course. We have to report on the final outcome of our budget, and we will do exactly that. It's a great disappointment to me that the Chancellor refused, and continues to refuse, to allow us any additional flexibility with our own money, Llywydd. That is what we have asked for when it comes to the Welsh reserve. We haven't asked for a single extra penny from the Chancellor; we have simply asked that the money that we have as a Government can be managed by us in a way that would maximise the value of that public money at the end of the financial year. Instead, we continue to be treated by the UK Government as though we were simply another Government department, rather than a Government and a Senedd in our own right. And I think that is just another example of the way the UK Government continues to refuse to recognise the realities of the United Kingdom 20 years into devolution. 

Question 6, Lynne Neagle.

I can't hear you at this point, Lynne Neagle. I can see that you're unmuted, but are you hard muted on your—?

Shall I try again? Is that better?

Yes, second time around it's much better. Thank you. 

Llywydd, can I thank Lynne Neagle for that question and for her persistent interest and support for this whole area? Our priority when easing restrictions is to get as many children and young people back as possible as safely as possible back into face-to-face education. As conditions improve, we will explore how supervised outdoor activities can also resume for children in Wales.

Thank you, First Minister. As you know, COVID rarely causes serious illness in children and young people, but we do know the pandemic has had a huge impact on their learning, on their mental health and on other aspects of their physical health. I very much support the cautious approach to easing lockdown restrictions, and an approach where we continue to follow scientific evidence and advice. I am however very concerned that decisions in the coming days to ease other restrictions will remove the vital headroom necessary to return children to school fully. What assurances can the First Minister give that ensuring that all children can return to school on 15 April after Easter will remain his top priority, and what assurances can he give that future decisions on lockdown easing will have at their very heart the need to to maintain the headroom necessary for children to return to school? And can I also ask whether the First Minister is planning to publish an updated child rights impact assessment in order to align with the latest review of restrictions? Thank you.

Llywydd, I thank Lynne Neagle for that question, and for all the work that she has done in chairing the children and young persons committee at the Senedd, which has made such a contribution to the way in which we have been able to approach these challenging issues. The top priority for the Welsh Government remains to get our children and young people back into face-to-face education, doing it as quickly but as safely as we can, and that is why we have developed the step-by-step approach, because that is what the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, our own technical advisory cell group and the chief medical officer have always said to us. So, we already have around 30 per cent of children back in school as a result of the return of the foundation phase. On Monday of next week, we will return all primary age children to face-to-face education, examination students in secondary school, and she will have seen and welcomed, I know, the additional flexibilities that the education Minister has proposed for local education authorities and headteachers to bring more children back into school before the Easter holidays. We will look to use the headroom we have to restore some other aspects of Welsh life, but we always do that with a close attention to not doing anything that would impede our ability to return the whole of our children and young people to school immediately after the Easter holidays, and I can give her that assurance that that is always the lens through which we regard the other aspects that we do hope to be able to make some preliminary progress on after this Friday's review is concluded. In the meantime, we will publish all the impact assessments and supporting documents that we have developed over the last 12 months, as we complete this three-week review.

Llywydd, the Welsh Government makes every effort to maximise the value of its capital investments, in line with best practice for the stewardship of public money.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. If Welsh Government hadn't just given Cardiff Airport a £42.6 million grant, it could have recruited 1,000 new NHS nurses and paid them for two years. Recently, the transport Minister blamed the COVID pandemic for the need to write off £40 million of debt that the airport owes to the Welsh taxpayer and award them this further eye-wateringly large grant, but it isn't COVID that is responsible for this, is it? Cardiff Airport has never made a profit under Government ownership, and in the year up to last March—when, according to Mr Skates, it had the highest passenger numbers ever going through the airport—it made its biggest loss ever, even when you take into account the one-off expenditure for that year. It's true that COVID has tipped all our airports into making a loss, but Cardiff was already making big losses before, losing the taxpayer £20 million a year. Passenger numbers aren't expected to recover to pre-COVID levels for more than three years, so, for the foreseeable future, you will have to grant Cardiff Airport at least £20 million a year, the same amount of money as a further year's salary for those 1,000 extra nurses you could have recruited instead. This isn't just a bad deal for north Wales, it's a bad deal for the entire country. Isn't it the case, First Minister, that you're keeping Cardiff Airport in public ownership for political reasons, because you're too embarrassed to admit that it's never going to be viable and you should never have invested a single penny of Welsh people's money into it in the first place? The latest bail-out for Cardiff Airport is so unsound commercially that even the Development Bank of Wales, which deliberately takes greater risk than the market, wouldn't have lent it any money. So, First Minister, is the sky the limit for the amount of good money after bad you're prepared to throw at Cardiff Airport, or will you now protect Welsh public money, stop funding the airport, and spend it on improving the Welsh NHS instead?

Llywydd, I don't share the Member's hostility to Cardiff Airport. Her account was as mistaken as it was lengthy. In fact, from top to bottom she misrepresents both the case for investment in Cardiff Airport, the success of that investment, and she is just—. It is just so basically mistaken to assert that the money that has been provided for Cardiff Airport could be used in the Welsh NHS. It's simply not available in that way, and the simplest—the simplest—understanding of how funding operates would have prevented her from making that mistake. Because it's not a mistake, is it? It's just a political assertion that she tries to make. She's wrong about the airport, she's wrong about the funding, and I don't think anybody who has the interests of Wales at heart would be prepared to follow her in the argument she's made. 

Ah, well, I thank Carwyn Jones for that question on Cardiff Airport. The global aviation industry has been catastrophically affected by the global pandemic. Here we have acted decisively to help secure Cardiff Airport's future, to ensure that it has a sustainable future and to protect the value of the public investment in the airport.

I thank the First Minister for his answer. I listened to the long question from Michelle Brown. The truth is, of course, that more than 5,000 jobs are dependent on Cardiff Airport, and Anglesey Airport's existence is dependent on Cardiff Airport, but, for Michelle Brown, these jobs are in the wrong part of Wales to be important, and that is the impression that I got. Cardiff Airport was doing very well indeed until the COVID outbreak.

But help me with this, if you would, First Minister. The Welsh Conservatives, through their Government in London, have provided help to airports in England, but they condemn our Welsh Government because it has provided help to our airports in Wales. Can you help me as to why they hold those double standards? Or is it because, deep within the psyche of the Conservative Party, woven into their DNA, together with their fellow travellers like Michelle Brown, there is a strong desire to see Wales fail?

Well, Llywydd, the Scottish Government has provided help for Scottish airports, the Northern Ireland Executive has provided support to Belfast airport; the UK Government declined to provide support for Cardiff Airport. It provided support for Bristol Airport, which it had always told us was a direct competitor to Cardiff, the reason why it wasn't possible to devolve air passenger duty to Wales. The Welsh Government has stepped in to protect the national asset that is Cardiff Airport. As Carwyn Jones has said, Llywydd, the airport had been on a strongly improving trajectory as a result of the actions that he took when he was First Minister in making sure that the asset that Cardiff Airport has to be to the Welsh economy was preserved for Welsh people. The 5,000 jobs that depend upon the airport more generally, the 2,400 jobs that depend upon it directly—this Welsh Government will not turn our back on the impact that the pandemic has had upon the airport. We will support it, even when others don't. 

Finally, question 9, Leanne Wood.

I thank the Member for that question. Llywydd, the foundational economy challenge fund has supported the Rhondda Skyline project to build on its feasibility study and explore establishing Wales's first landscape-scale, long-term, community land stewardship project around the town of Treherbert.

First Minister, when the Skyline project was first unveiled, it promised so much. As First Minister, you responded to a question I asked about creating jobs and opportunities in the Rhondda, arguing that the Skyline project was evidence that the Labour Party hadn't forgotten about the Rhondda. In October 2019, you said that you would be prepared to, and I quote: 

'do whatever we can to help that very exciting project to come to fruition.'

Well, the project has been diluted from the community having control over a mooted 650 hectares, to now just 80 hectares, by your Government body, Natural Resources Wales, and as if this isn't disappointing enough, even this watered down, modest project has now been rejected out of hand due to NRW/Welsh Government technical internal issues. Similar schemes are run successfully in many countries around the world. There are more than 200 land-owning communities in Scotland doing exactly what the Skyline project wants to do, yet it seems that a model of community economic control of public forestry land cannot get off the ground properly here in Wales. 

Why is the Labour-run Welsh Government unable to do this? Can you tell us what's gone wrong with this project?

Well, Llywydd, I'm disappointed to find the Member so keen to pronounce the end of the project. I met with senior officials on all of this yesterday morning. I can assure her that the discussions are not at an end. Discussions are taking place between NRW and the project. Those discussions do have to take into account the advice that NRW has had from the Wales Audit Office; she wouldn't expect them to do anything less. There is a further meeting planned today between NRW and the project. I think she's premature, Llywydd, and I think it doesn't help to rush to a conclusion in the way that she has.

I visited the Skyline project and was very impressed by the people I met and the plans that they had. I'm very glad that the Welsh Government has provided £95,000 through the foundational economy challenge fund to support the project, and I am optimistic that the discussions that continue between the project and NRW will find a way of realising the economic and social benefits that the project offers to people in that part of the Rhondda. 

The Minister responsible, Lesley Griffiths, wrote to NRW in December, telling them that she wanted a future for the project that did exactly that, that allowed the full economic and social benefits that it offers to be realised, and I want those discussions to continue on that basis.

Thank you, First Minister.

The next item is questions to the Deputy Minister, and the first question is from Mike Hedges.

Thank you very much for that question, Mike Hedges. The Welsh Government is committed to leading the way in eliminating discrimination towards disabled people. Our disability equality forum has led the way in highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on disabled people during the pandemic.

I thank the Minister for that response. People with a disability, especially those with hidden disabilities like arthritis, multiple sclerosis, myalgic encephalomyelitis and deafness, often feel overlooked. What is the Welsh Government doing to ensure that more support can be given to people who have these types of disabilities to ensure they are not disadvantaged?

I recognise the significant challenges, as the Member said, that people living with conditions like MS, ME, arthritis and deafness face. And, also, the additional impact, of course, that COVID has had on carers, friends and families. I know the Member recognises the social model of disability, which the Welsh Government is committed to using, and it makes that important distinction between impairment and disability, recognising that people with impairments are disabled by barriers that commonly exist in society. And we also recognise that not all impairments, as you say, Mike Hedges, are visible, and that hidden impairments must be given the same weighting. And the social model does support those with a hidden disability.

I think it's important to recognise that, in our disability equality forum, we do have a broad membership, including the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, the Wales Council for Deaf People, the MS Society, as well as many other disabled organisations. And we've just employed a network of six disabled people as employment champions, who are going to be working with employers and recognising these hidden impairments, in terms of the barriers and the opportunities we have to overcome them.

I thank Rhun ap Iorwerth for that question. We are determined to make all parts of Wales hostile to modern slavery. We are continuing to work with police and crime commissioners and our multi-agency partners in Wales, and across the UK, to protect vulnerable people, and to prevent and put an end to this heinous crime.

Thank you for that response. I had a meeting recently with Soroptimist International on Anglesey, an organisation doing very valuable work in the area of modern slavery and county lines, and raising awareness and so on. They are concerned that the pandemic has made it more difficult to identify modern slavery, with those suffering being more isolated and more hidden from sight during lockdown periods. There's also a risk that economic hardship, as a result of the pandemic, could place more people in a vulnerable position, where they could be open to exploitation. And there's also a concern that the fact that schools are closed makes it more difficult to identify children who've been drawn into county lines. So, can I ask what study the Welsh Government has made of the impact of the pandemic on modern slavery, and what measures are being put in place in order to help victims on the one hand, and to prevent criminals on the other?

I thank the Member for that important question. The fact that organisations like Soroptimist International are coming forward and taking this as an issue for which they're concerned and seeking evidence, and making representations to tackle modern slavery—. Of course, there is a cross-party group on human trafficking, chaired by Joyce Watson, who actually was also responsible for ensuring that we had the appointment of the Welsh Government anti-slavery co-ordinator. We're the first and only country in the UK to appoint an anti-slavery co-ordinator, even though, of course, not all of the consequences of slavery fall to the devolved Government.

But your points about identifying the impact of COVID, not just in terms of people not coming forward, but identifying victims and awareness raising are crucially important, and we do work closely with key agencies across north Wales. And I think you make also an important point in terms of the issues around county lines. So, we're working with our partners to tackle slavery in county-lines-related crime, to safeguard vulnerable people from becoming victims of exploitation. So, our Welsh Government anti-slavery co-ordinator is working very closely with key agencies in Wales to determine scale, types and location of slavery, and also improving intelligence and recording of incidents in Wales, using the national referral mechanism, NRM, to increase cases within the criminal justice system.

Question 3 [OQ56396] is withdrawn. Question 4, Nick Ramsay. Question 4, Nick Ramsay.

Question 4, Nick Ramsay. Am I being heard? Yes, I'm being heard. Nick Ramsay has just disappeared from my screen. No, Nick Ramsay is on my screen. Right, I'm going to move on.

Question 5, Helen Mary Jones.

Thank you, Helen Mary Jones, for that question. The Welsh Government provides core funding for the Wales Council for Voluntary Action and county voluntary councils to enable them to support local voluntary organisations and volunteering groups across Wales, and we've provided £4 million via our third sector COVID response fund to the third sector in Mid and West Wales.

I'm grateful to the Deputy Minister for her answer. The Deputy Minister will be aware that in recent years many third sector organisations, and Connecting Youth, Children and Adults in Llanelli, in my region, being one, have been diversifying and trying to make their operations more commercial. For example, in CYCA, they've been trying to let out office space for hot desking, that kind of thing. Now, with the impact of the COVID crisis, these attempts to become more commercial are under threat, they've become more difficult, they may have to be refocused. Can the Deputy Minister tell us this afternoon what support the Welsh Government is able to provide to those kinds of third sector organisations whose incomes have been impacted in the medium term? 

That's a very important question in terms of the pressures on the voluntary sector during the pandemic and the fact they've had to diversify, and many have diversified in order to respond to the pandemic in different ways. I do remember, of course, visiting the CYCA project myself in past times and seeing the good work that they've undertaken.

Of course, back in April of last year, while responding to the pandemic, I did issue this £24 million package of support for Wales's third sector, and the important point about the package was that it was about emergency response, but it was also about resilience, responding to the pandemic and recognising the need to support those that were diversifying. So, I think the coronavirus recovery grant for volunteering was crucially important in terms of meeting those new needs, but also to recognise it was a recovery for the voluntary services funding, which is now £7.5 million, focusing on reducing inequalities across society and resources for change and development, including also infrastructure support, as well as the Welsh Revitalising Trusts, rebuilding after coronavirus. And this is where we can also ensure that third sector organisations can access other sources of support. So, it's resilience, it's emergency funding and it's recovery to support these organisations. 

Question 6, Janet Finch-Saunders. Question 6, Janet Finch-Saunders. 

Calling Llandudno bay. Janet Finch-Saunders, can you hear me? I can see you, Janet Finch-Saunders. Are you listening? No.

Nick Ramsay, question 4. 

Can you hear me now?

Yes. 

Good. I'm not sure what is going on. [Laughter.] Gremlins in the system. Okay.

Thank you very much, Nick Ramsay. Of course, the voluntary sector in Wales has played, as I said, a significant and crucial role in our efforts to fight the pandemic. It's about delivering key services, co-ordinating local support and helping to support our dedicated and compassionate volunteers. I'm sure you would join me, and all of us today, in saying a huge 'thank you' to all our volunteers and voluntary sector organisations.

Diolch, Deputy Minister, I would agree with that. Throughout Wales we've seen acts of true heroism, with people getting involved in their local communities, supporting those who have been lonely and isolated. According to Age Cymru, loneliness and isolation are a daily reality for many older people: 75,000 older people in Wales have reported always or often feeling lonely. I've raised the issue of rural loneliness before, Deputy Minister. I wonder what discussions you might have had or could have with the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs to discuss how that particular aspect of loneliness in rural areas can be dealt with, and how the volunteering sector can assist in providing support.

Well, Nick Ramsay raises a very important issue in relation to the services that are provided by the voluntary sector, but the new needs, if you like, that have arisen. There have always been needs in terms of particular pressures and issues in rural areas, but you're also focusing on loneliness and isolation. I think that's where the third sector and voluntary sector have really risen to the occasion, because we do have our county voluntary councils across the whole of Wales in every county, and they are, particularly in the rural areas—the Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations, of course, covering Monmouthshire—looking at those particular needs. Many also have their older people's forums looking at these issues relating to isolation and loneliness. 

I would say this is a cross-Government issue, and so, yes, in terms of the rural issues, it is a matter to share and work on with the Minister for Environment and Rural Affairs, but it's also very much the responsibility of the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services, Julie Morgan, who obviously has taken a key role in working with the Older People's Commissioner for Wales, older people's organisations, particularly as a result of the pandemic, to look at ways in which we can reach out and relieve that loneliness and isolation. But it is about how we can ensure that the third sector has the resource and the support, particularly, in terms of volunteering, Age Cymru, Age Connect Wales, to make those befriending organisational links that are so important to older people. 

Let's try again: question 6, Janet Finch-Saunders. 

Thank you, Janet Finch-Saunders. The Welsh Government is committed to upholding and protecting the rights of older people in Wales. Throughout the pandemic, we've worked with the older people’s commissioner, Equality and Human Rights Commission Cymru and Age Cymru to monitor its impact on older people’s rights and take appropriate action.

Yes, and I would implore you as the Welsh Government to listen to Helena Herklots, our outstanding older people's commissioner. In her manifesto for 2021, she has set out the action that's needed immediately and in the longer term to ensure that older people are not left behind. This includes putting the right legal framework in place to protect and promote older people's rights, so it should come as no surprise to you that I was delighted to read the commissioner's calls for an older people's rights (Wales) Act, which would enshrine the United Nations principles for older persons in domestic law to protect and promote older people's rights in the delivery of all public services. Last year, we called for legislation to protect and promote the rights of older people in Wales, so I'm really supportive of the commissioner's legislative calls. Will you support those calls? Diolch. 

Diolch, Janet Finch-Saunders. Of course, as you know, we've got a long and proud history of supporting older people's rights. We were the first UK nation to establish an older people's commissioner, and those older people's commissioners over the years—including, of course, Helena now—have played such an important role in advocating and championing older people. We invest £1.5 million a year to support the role of the older people's commissioner. But, throughout the pandemic in particular, we've worked with the older people's commissioner, the Equality and Human Rights Commission Cymru and Age Cymru to monitor the impact on older people’s rights. The older people's commissioner does hold weekly meetings with the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services, and the dialogue, of course, is about how we can protect the rights of older people, and you will be very much aware of the recent publication of 'Protecting our Health', the chief medical officer's special report on the pandemic. That has also drawn attention to all intergenerational needs, and we have our public consultation on a new strategy for older people. The UN principles for older persons have informed the development of this strategy, and that's very much based on our commitment to ensuring that we reject ageism and age discrimination. 

But I think, finally, Janet Finch-Saunders, you will be pleased to hear that we're awaiting the outcome of the final report on our research into advancing equality and strengthening human rights, which is looking at ways in which we should consider whether we should have legislation to incorporate UN conventions into Welsh legislation. That research, which has been undertaken by Swansea and Bangor universities with Diverse Cymru, is due to be published before the end of this Senedd and, I know, will inform us in terms of taking this forward.

Thank you, Deputy Minister.

The next item is the business statement and announcement, and I call on the Trefnydd to make the statement. Rebecca Evans.

Diolch, Llywydd. There is one change to this week's business. The debate on the four sets of climate change regulations has been postponed until next week. Draft business for the remaining two weeks of term is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically. 

I call for a single Welsh Government statement on support for Llangollen railway. The directors of this wonderful Welsh standard-gauge heritage railway announced last week that they've taken the reluctant step of inviting their bank to appoint a receiver. The trust board stated it will,

'need to take steps to negotiate with the receiver to try to secure the line and preserve rolling stock and infrastructure to the extent possible. It is intended to recommence operations in due course but this is dependent upon legal and regulatory approvals, including licensing, all of which will clearly take time.'

The impact this will have on their staff, volunteers, customers, suppliers, locomotive owners and their organisations, and anyone else with connections to the railway, is potentially serious, as is the potential wider impact on the visitor economy in Llangollen and throughout the Dee valley. I have therefore been asked to raise this in the Welsh Parliament and alert the First Minister and request a Welsh Government statement accordingly.

I'm grateful to Mark Isherwood for raising the Llangollen railway in the Chamber this afternoon, and it is absolutely, as he describes, a concerning situation. I will invite him to write to the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism in the first instance, who I know will discuss this matter with the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, to provide a written update on the situation to Mark Isherwood, bearing in mind that we now only have the two weeks of business in the Chamber that remain to us.

I'd like to ask for two statements today, Trefnydd, if I may. May I request a written statement from the education Minister on whether she would consider a Wales-wide extension on school consultations that have been taking place under pandemic circumstances? I know this is an issue for many communities in my region, in Powys particularly, and in Carmarthenshire. Following recent revision of Welsh Government guidelines to local authorities, Carmarthenshire County Council's executive board decided last week to extend consultations on four different proposals, including the proposals with regard to Ysgol Mynyddygarreg, until 16 July. I would appreciate an update from the Minister as to whether she feels that, given how difficult it has been for communities to organise and respond to consultations during the pandemic, it would be appropriate to have a national extension on these consultations.

I would further like to ask the Trefnydd for a statement on the situation at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea. The Trefnydd will be very aware, I'm sure, that workers are considering strike action because of working conditions there. They do not feel safe. Now, obviously, the DVLA itself is not devolved, but the Welsh Government does have responsibility for enforcing safe working practices. Could I ask the Trefnydd for a statement from the appropriate Welsh Minister to outline what further the Welsh Government can do to help those workers, many of whom, of course, live in Llanelli, in my region? And would she be prepared to join me today in sending a message of solidarity to those workers as they consider whether or not they must take industrial action, as I, as a Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd, am happy to do?

Again, I'm grateful to Helen Mary Jones for raising two important issues this afternoon. I know that the Minister for Education will have listened carefully to the request for a Wales-wide extension in respect of consultations and the examples that you've given about the extensions of three such consultations in Carmarthenshire. She'll give due consideration to that request, I'm very sure.

On the matter of the DVLA, clearly it is a matter of huge concern to us that people don't feel safe in the workplace, and you'll be aware of the representations that the Welsh Government has made in support of the workforce there at the DVLA in the period leading up to now, and of course we continue to support those workers. Welsh Government has put into law measures to keep people safe in the workplace, but, clearly, those measures do need to be implemented, then, by the employers. So, I'd be very happy to provide that update to the Senedd via my colleague the Minister for the economy, in terms of the support that we've been able to offer DVLA workers so far and the representations that we've been making on their behalf to ensure that they are safe in the workplace.FootnoteLink

I just wondered if we could have some clarity over the relevance of the consultation by the Food Standards Agency on revising food inspection regulations, which they launched just before we knew about the thin EU transition deal. It does rather pose a question mark as to whether it is seeking to undermine the standard we have come to expect, rather than simply an adjustment of the code. And this, indeed, was flagged up as a concern by Professor Terry Marsden when he was giving evidence to the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee last week. So, I wondered if we could have a statement from Lesley Griffiths to give us the Government's view as to what this could mean for undermining the very high standards of Welsh food that we currently enjoy.

Well, Welsh Government absolutely shares the concerns that Jenny Rathbone has been raising for a long period of time about the impact of a thin deal on the standards that we have in respect of food, and also wider standards in respect of the environment and workers' rights, and so forth. I will ask Lesley Griffiths to provide that update to Jenny Rathbone on what the implications are of the particular consultation that the FSA is currently undertaking.

Trefnydd, as you know, yesterday was International Women's Day and, along with other Members, I was happy to show my support and commitment to developing a more equal Wales. I supported the Welsh Cakes for Welsh Women's Aid campaign by hosting a virtual coffee morning with my staff to discuss the work of Welsh Women's Aid, and to remind ourselves of the support services they offer and how to access them. In light of that, could I request an up-to-date statement from the Welsh Government in relation to its efforts to tackle domestic abuse? You may be aware that, in August last year, Dyfed Powys Police received 900 reports of domestic abuse, compared with 350 incidents a month in 2017, and that shows the need to urgently tackle domestic abuse in communities right across Wales.

Secondly, could I ask for a statement from the Welsh Government in relation to the resumption of elective surgery across Wales? I've received representations from people in Pembrokeshire who are waiting for treatment in considerable discomfort and pain, and they're calling for support and assurances that they will receive treatment. The health Minister has made it clear that it could take the Welsh NHS five years to tackle the backlog in treatments, and I appreciate that there will be a debate on this issue tomorrow, but I believe that it is critical that we have a statement from the Minister on his specific plans to resume all NHS treatments and surgeries across Wales, and how he plans to expedite those services so that people waiting for treatment across Wales can be assured that the Welsh Government has a plan in place to ensure that non-COVID treatments can be delivered sooner rather than later.

I'd be very pleased to ask my colleague the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip to provide that update to colleagues on Welsh Government efforts to tackle domestic abuse in Wales. It's been a continuing concern for us throughout lockdown and the fact that, for many people, home isn't a safe place. And I'm sure that the Deputy Minister will be very pleased to provide the latest on Welsh Government action in this respect.

And, as you say, there is a debate tomorrow afternoon on the resumption of elective surgery, but I do know that my colleague the health Minister is working on a plan for the next steps for the NHS and that he does intend to publish something by the end of this month that will encapsulate, I hope, the kind of vision that Paul Davies is seeking this afternoon.

Concerns have been raised by charities working with people with cancer that many people throughout this country may have missed a cancer diagnosis. Now, people leaving it too late to get concerning and persistent symptoms checked out was a problem in the Rhondda before the COVID crisis. Too many people were getting a cancer diagnosis at a late stage, often when they turned up for treatment at the accident and emergency department. As we move beyond COVID, the Rhondda needs to see a concerted effort to tackle this cancer diagnosis backlog. Can we have a statement from the Government so that we can understand how the Government is planning specifically to do that, especially in an area like ours with greater health inequalities? Could you include in that statement support for a specialist, accessible cancer diagnosis centre in the Rhondda?

Will you also agree to light up all Welsh Government public buildings to remember all of those that we have lost to COVID on the memory day of 23 March?

Thank you for raising two really important issues. On the first, I just want to reinforce what Leanne Wood has said this afternoon about how important it is to go to your GP should you have any concerns about symptoms that might be related to cancer. The message really is that your NHS is still there for you in these difficult times. Our cancer recovery guidance has been part of the NHS framework planning system since quarter 2 of last year. Health boards are already planning their treatment capacity for cancer care on a quarterly basis, and also responding on a day-to-day basis to deliver as much cancer treatment as they possibly can in the context of the pressures on their services. As we start to emerge now from this second wave, we are looking specifically at how we can move permanently to recover cancer services, and feeding that into our border recovery plans for the NHS, which I have just referred to in an answer to Paul Davies. I can also add that, in February, my colleague the Minister for health held a national meeting with NHS Wales to discuss the recovery of cancer services specifically. Proposals are currently being developed to support that recovery, again as part of that broader recovery approach that I described. So, there will be further information coming forth in due course—as I say, by the end of the month—in respect of the recovery of the NHS.

On the matter of the memory day, I can confirm that we are currently giving very good thought to how best we can mark what will be very sober moment, I think, in terms of the journey that we have all been through in respect of coronavirus. I'm sure that we will be able to say more on that very shortly.

Trefnydd, I know that one of the Ministers who assiduously watches this is our tourism Minister. So, I wonder if, through you, I could ask for a statement or for some clarification on the latest move by Tripadvisor, which has worried many of the small to medium-sized tourism operators in my constituency. Tripadvisor already takes 15 per cent commission on any sales that come through its site. For a small operator, that's quite a significant chunk. But, interestingly, in the last couple of months, they've sent out an e-mail to all operators to say that, under their new terms and conditions, they're bringing in rights, in perpetuity, for them to have complete access to any pictures and other materials on the websites. Now, this could be completely normal practice. Who knows? But, they are worried that if they decline this kind offer from Tripadvisor to have in-perpetuity rights to all content from their websites—and some of the content on their websites, by the way, Trefnydd, includes Visit Wales content as well—then they will be kicked off Tripadvisor. No matter what you say about Tripadvisor, good or bad, they are a powerful generator of interest in small and medium-sized operators. I will write to the Minister on this as well, Trefnydd, but I wonder if, though your offices, I could seek a statement or some clarification on what guidance can be given to small and medium-sized operators on this assertive new move from Tripadvisor.

Thank you to Huw Irranca-Davies for raising this. I can see on the corner of the screen my colleague the Deputy Minister for tourism, and he's been listening intently to the situation that you have described this afternoon. I know that he will be keen to explore what support we can offer to the small businesses that are affected within the tourism sector and will look forward to your correspondence with further detail.

Trefnydd, can I call for two statements? The first is from the Minister with responsibility for mental health on the mental health and well-being benefits of angling in Wales. I've been contacted by many people who like to go fishing, often alone, in solitary places, who have found it really difficult to cope with life during the latest lockdown, because they've been unable to drive to local fishing spots. I do think that this is something that the Welsh Government does need to carefully consider in the forthcoming review of the coronavirus restrictions. Whether the review considers fishing or not, I do think that this important pastime for many thousands of people across Wales does merit some consideration by the Minister responsible for mental health in the future.

Can I also, Trefnydd, call for a statement from you with your finance Minister hat on to provide an update to the Senedd on the development of a procurement advice note on the public contract regulations for discretionary grounds for consideration of excluding businesses from public tenders? You'll be aware that we had some correspondence on this issue last year following your response to a written question that gave rise to concerns that the Welsh Government was planning on publishing a procurement advice note that would primarily impact the nation of Israel. I would be grateful if you could give us an update on this particular matter, because you did suggest in your last correspondence that you'd be making some final decisions on this in December. It's now March, and I think that people do deserve an update. Thank you.

On the first issue, which was the request for a statement on the mental health and well-being benefits of angling, I know that the Minister with responsibility for mental health will have listened very carefully to that request. Of course, when we're deliberating all matters relating to restrictions that we are putting on people's lives, we do understand how difficult things are for people. All of the things that normally support our well-being, whether it's angling or the gym or seeing family and friends—having those things removed from us clearly does have a strong and difficult impact on people's lives. We're very aware of that when taking those decisions. But as I say, the Minister will have heard that specific request.

As I said when we last discussed the procurement advice note, I have agreed to take further advice. We have had that advice now, which I'm still considering. But I will write to you shortly in terms of the way forward. Thank you.

Two issues, if I may, Trefnydd. Firstly, can I add my voice—including Darren Millar, actually, last week—to those calling for the reopening of garden centres across Wales? Now that COVID-19 cases appear to be below the number that originally triggered the lockdown, if we are going to look for businesses to reopen first in the shorter term, then garden centres, I think, should be at the top of that list. They are large areas, mainly open air, with plenty of opportunities for social distancing. So, I wonder if we can have an update from the Minister on any discussions with the garden centre sector on reopening them as swiftly as possible.

Secondly, the BBC documentary The Story of Welsh Art aired recently. I'm not sure how many Members saw it. That featured Abergavenny's world-renowned Jesse tree, a fifteenth-century sculpture at St Mary's priory church depicting the lineage of Christ from the Bible. Other Welsh treasures from across Wales were part of that programme. Wales is blessed with cultural treasures that have attracted tourists to Wales for many years and can do so again in the future. So, I wonder if we could have a framework or an update from the Minister, as we come out of lockdown, as to how Wales's cultural heritage can be used to kick start the tourism economy again across Wales, so that as we build back better and grow back greener, we also grow back culturally stronger and we put the treasures of Wales at the centre of that growing-back process.

Nick Ramsay will have heard the First Minister outlining the steps that we're taking as we move towards that three-weekly review on 12 March. He'll be considering all the representations that colleagues have made over the recent weeks, but then also, of course, taking the advice that we receive from our scientific and medical advisers in terms of determining where we are able to make those easements. I don't want to pre-empt anything that the First Minister might say on Friday. Discussions are still going on within Cabinet and advice is still being taken as we move towards that review point.

I completely agree that our cultural treasures have huge potential for us in terms of helping us with the recovery, both in terms of the kind of tourism that we would want to see from elsewhere within the UK, but also our own staycations and our own tourism that we will probably want to undertake within our own country over the course of the summer. Because I think if the coronavirus has taught us anything, it's about valuing those things that we have here on our doorstep. I think that those cultural treasures such as the Jesse tree at St Mary's, which Nick Ramsay has described, serve to be very good examples of that. I can see that the Minister is listening again carefully to the suggestion about the role that these treasures can play in our recovery.

Finally, Delyth Jewell.

As we approach the end of this Senedd term, Trefnydd, and as we mark National Intergenerational Week, I'd like a statement, please, from the Government on the importance of intergenerational solidarity. I'd like the statement to acknowledge the real loneliness that's been suffered by both younger and older members of our society, as well as the ageism that's been too present in our national discourse throughout the pandemic. Often, the young and old were pitted against one another in the context of lockdowns in the press, with some commentary focusing on young people's apparent selfishness and others insinuating that protecting older and more vulnerable people was in some ways too high a price to pay. Both of those narratives have been deeply damaging. Both young and older groups have been marginalised and both need support and a stronger voice in decision making to be central in our communities.

At the end of last year, Trefnydd, a number of us set up a cross-party group on intergenerational solidarity, and this week we'll publish our recommendations to mark intergenerational week. It's in response to these that I'd like to see a Government statement, please. Our group feels, with one voice, that plans for recovery from COVID should promote solidarity between generations, that a Minister should be tasked with overseeing this, that more funding should be given to community groups to promote intergenerational solidarity, and that it should be embedded in the curriculum. As we mark our way coming out of the pandemic, decisions over vaccine prioritisation, protecting the public and reopening society are current, they are layered and they are complicated. Reasserting intergenerational solidarity is vital in the context of each of those decisions, because relationships between generations enrich our society, they matter, and they should be strengthened.

I am really grateful for the way that Delyth Jewell has just framed the work that the cross-party group has undertaken. If a copy hasn't yet found its way to the Welsh Government, I'd be really keen for us to have a copy, so that we can consider and explore those recommendations that you've just described. Because I completely agree that the framing of some of the debate that we've had throughout the pandemic has sought to pit groups against each other. But, actually, we're all in this together, and some of the people who have been most damaged by the pandemic have been our oldest citizens and also our youngest citizens; both of those groups are paying the highest price in different ways. So, I'm very keen to see the piece of work and explore the ideas that Delyth and her colleagues will be bringing forward.

I thank the Trefnydd.

The next item is a statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services, an update on COVID-19 vaccinations. The Minister, Vaughan Gething.

I'm proud to announce that we have had another week of real progress and highlights for our vaccination programme here in Wales. One million people have now had their first dose of this potentially life-saving vaccine. This is fantastic news—another significant milestone for this truly remarkable programme. Once again, we've reached this marker ahead of the indicator date set out in our recently published strategy update. This is thanks to the sheer hard work and determination of the many hundreds of people working both behind the scenes and in vaccine delivery clinics right across the country.

I am sincerely and genuinely grateful to each and every person who has taken up their offer of the vaccine. They have played their part, done their bit, in this national effort to keep Wales safe, and they should be proud of the contribution they have made in this national effort. Every single dose really does count. Every vaccine administered is a step closer to a brighter future for us all. The vaccines are safe and effective, and I urge everyone to take up their offer when it is their turn. I look forward to having my own first vaccine in the coming days.

We're making significant progress towards achieving milestone two, as set out in our vaccine strategy update. More than 85 per cent of people between the ages of 65 and 69 have already received their first dose of the vaccine, and people in the 50 to 64 years old age groups are already being called for their appointments. With four in 10 of the adult population now vaccinated with at least one dose, we are making excellent progress.

I want to end by thanking everyone who has played their part, not just in the success to date, but more so, to recognise that this has come with support from all sides within this place and outside it, and I look forward to more support for our vaccination programme in the days and weeks ahead. We still have a significant task ahead of us, but I'm confident that we'll achieve it on time and in a really successful way, as we have done to date. Thank you, Llywydd.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement, and once again, it is good news that we are vaccinating as many people as we are at present in Wales. I do have a couple of questions to ask you, though, in general about the vaccine programme. 

The first is that 15 per cent of care home staff have yet to be vaccinated, compared to less than 5 per cent of residents, and it's a much lower take-up than the healthcare staff—87.5 per cent of them have been vaccinated. Are you satisfied that all is being done to convince the more sceptical members of staff to get vaccinated, and what can we do to encourage them, because, as we know, our care home residents are among the most vulnerable in our communities?

My second question is about hospital outbreaks of coronavirus. What review is going on into the causes of hospital outbreaks? They're still occurring in pockets, and they're very detrimental to the starting up of services. Excuse me. I have read your framework for COVID-19 testing for hospital patients in Wales, but, of course, it doesn't really cover prevention within hospitals, and I wondered if you felt that we should do more to try and move that agenda along. I know, for example, in Hywel Dda University Health Board, we have quite a significant hospital outbreak at present in Withybush, and it is stopping the resumption of services.

While we're on the subject of health boards, would you consider what advice might be able to be given to health boards on cancelling and rearranging vaccine appointments? Many people have contacted me to say that they've received texts, they're desperate to go for their vaccine, they can't get there for one reason or another, but they haven't been able to get hold of anyone to rearrange it. And there's a feeling of guilt—I have to confess, I'm one of those—where I couldn't get back to anybody to rearrange my vaccine appointment, so I missed the first one, couldn't tell anyone, and they're now trying to make the second one. But I'm just one voice; I have been contacted by loads of people. They either get text messages where there's no phone number to go back to or no e-mail that they can drop it. And, of course, we can't all just suddenly appear to a particular date or a particular time. Can we do something about it? Because I think it's holding up some people being able to access vaccines, especially some of the more hard-to-reach groups that we've talked about many times before.

Andrew Evans, the chief pharmaceutical officer, has said that we have the capacity in Wales to deliver more than 30,000 vaccines a day. Now, we've not hit 30,000 vaccines a day since 4 March. I do understand some of it's to do with the supply, but reading your COVID update, dated 9 March, you're expecting that to increase with supply of vaccine, starting from this week and going forward, that there should be no problems. Do you think we'll be able to achieve that 30,000?

Finally, I just wanted to ask you about future plans. Mass vaccination centres—a number of them are in buildings and facilities that are used for other things, like leisure centres, and eventually they will kick back into play, and, therefore, we will not be able to use them as mass vaccination centres. Staff and volunteers are helping us at present, but at some point, they will have to go back to their other lives or to their day job. What plans are being put in place or looked at now to ensure that we still have the facilities and the human resource to be able to carry on vaccinating at pace, especially if we do anticipate a third wave? Of course, we're beginning to think that we may need to have a regular annual vaccination in order to protect us from coronavirus and the different mutations that pop up, therefore, we need to be able to build this into our system, and I wonder if you could update the Senedd on that. Thank you very much indeed. Apologies for the coughing fit.

I wish I could have brought you more water, Angela. [Laughter.]

Thank you.

Thank you for the questions. There's no need to apologise for needing to take a break with a cough. On care home staff and the vaccination rate, you're right to point out there was a lower rate of take-up amongst staff compared to residents. That's partly a feature of the vaccine hesitancy we see from a range of age groups. Of course, care home staff are made up of people of a range of different ages, including the younger age group, where we recognise that for people under 40, there's a larger hesitancy about the need or the reason to take up the vaccine. Some of the vaccine myths that are being spread by anti-vaxxers, the works of fiction, affect people who have or may want to have children again in the future. So, there is a concern that it may affect male or female fertility; there is absolutely no basis to that, but it is a persistent myth that is reappearing in every part of the UK and further afield as well. It's one of those areas where, actually, I think that one of the best things we can do, again, is to work right across the UK, regardless of our differing political stripes in each of the Governments, and even in this place too, to be really clear there is absolutely no truth to that, and it's about how we have a trusted and a unified message to persuade people to take up the vaccine, to reconsider the evidence about it. As I say, the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine doesn't come because I say that it's safe and effective, but I have a responsibility to be clear about it. It comes on the most trusted conversations people have and people they believe: our health service staff, scientists and often family and friends, people that you're close to, and that, unfortunately is both where people get trusted information, but it's also how misinformation can spread as well. So, there's a constant job of persuasion to do. Despite that, we are seeing very high levels of vaccination take-up within care homes, but certainly more for us to do, and you'll see that again when we move into the vaccination stage after groups 1 to 9 have been completed.

On hospital outbreaks, and the work we do on the nosocomial transmission, that's transmission between health and care staff and others, it's part of the reason why we think that there's been a stubborn continuance in north-west Wales. There's been an outbreak in Ysbyty Gwynedd, and we think that's led to higher figures there than would otherwise have been the case. We're about to publish an update on the advice and guidance on testing in hospitals. A significant part of that is about our work on nosocomial transmission, and we set out there how we're using both lateral flow devices, as well as polymerase chain reaction tests. Of course, that work is led by the deputy chief medical officer and the chief nursing officer here in Wales, so it's led by people who've got real professional leadership and respect, and it's also supported by the consistent advice that Public Health Wales have provided on how to minimise the prospects for nosocomial transmission, because those outbreaks can cause real harm. It's a positive feature of the reducing rates of coronavirus that those outbreaks will be less frequent than they would otherwise have been, and that's thanks to the hard work of everyone right across the country in helping to drive transmission rates down.

On your concern about health boards cancelling or rearranging appointments, I recognise that this happens from time to time, and it's about those people who may or may not be able to reset their appointments. I had to rearrange my own mother's appointment to take place as well, and it took some time to get through on the booking line, but I eventually did, and there was no trouble at all in rearranging the appointment. It is about the real encouragement of people to make the effort to rebook and to be really clear that the NHS won't leave people behind. So, if people do have difficulty attending their appointments, and they haven't been able to get through, they can still rebook and they should do so and take up the offer that is available, including if people have just changed their minds and now want to opt in to taking the vaccine.

I think you're right to point out the future challenges we'll have about multivaccination centres returning to their former purpose at some point in the future. It's a good problem to have, about our success in driving down the transmission and the need to have current facilities available in a different way. The positive aspect, though, is we have 546 different venues where the vaccine is already being delivered. So, as we get through more and more stages and successfully vaccinate the current groups of the population, the challenge will reduce. But your point about the longer term future is a fair one, too. We'll learn lots from this phase of vaccination about what we are likely to need to do in terms of redelivering a COVID vaccine in the future. What we don't know yet is when that would be and the sort of programme we'd have, because the current flu vaccination programme, for example, is largely delivered in general practice and community pharmacies. We still don't yet know if that normalisation is going to be possible in, if you like, the next stage of the vaccine, after we've protected the adult population in Wales. But we do think that we've already got the flexibility for future delivery to cover all adults within the country. 

Finally, on Andrew Evans's point about our need to deliver and our ability to deliver more than 30,000 doses a day, yes we do think we're going to be able to do that. We haven't done so in the recent past. That is simply a factor of supply. But, we do think that, through the rest of this week, you're going to start to see those figures return to about 30,000 doses in a day, and you'll see that carry on for a brief period of time, then a lull and then a steady rate of vaccine delivery as supply normalises out. And, on that basis, we're still in the fortunate position of having the best vaccination rate of any UK nation, with a greater portion of people in Wales having had both doses of the vaccine. That's good news for us, but it also shows that we're at the head of a very successful group of nations right across the UK at present, and I look forward to having more success to report in the coming days and weeks. 

May I once again congratulate everyone who has ensured that we've reached these incredible milestones—over 1 million people having their first dose; almost 1.2 million will have had either their first or second doses. It bodes very well for reaching targets in the coming months.

I'll make a few points, as I do every week. You don't need to respond to these, Minister, because we know that we disagree. I think we're in such a good place that we could be running a parallel programme with this in order to ensure that those workers who are most likely to be exposed to the virus could be vaccinated earlier, but we disagree on that, I know. I'll also ask once again, as I've done so many times, please can we have the full data on how much of each vaccine is provided to each nation? The past few days have been a good example of why that would be useful. Many have been contacting me over the past few days drawing attention to the fact that there is relatively more of the second dose being provided in Wales—people seeing that we are falling behind in their eyes in terms of the first dose. Now, it would be useful to have clarity from you on the record as to what is happening. Why has this strategy shifted towards the second dose and does that have anything to do with the fact that there are deficiencies in the supplies of one of the two vaccines coming to Wales? So, explain to us what's happening there, because people are looking very carefully at the data and they can see patterns emerging, and they can see that there has been change over the past few days. 

Two brief questions: unpaid carers—I'm certainly pleased that they've now been included in priority group six for vaccination. I know that the online form is available so that they can fill it in. I think it's available from most of the health boards, I think all bar one. Could I just ask what publicity work is being undertaken to ensure that unpaid carers are aware of that form and where to access it?

And the second question is on asthma. Now, research shows that people with asthma are at a slightly higher risk of being admitted to hospital if they catch this virus. They're also far more likely to suffer long COVID. But I've had one example of a constituent failing to find out whether she qualified for the vaccine. Ultimately, she got the vaccine. I was in touch with the health board on her behalf. But I understand some information has been provided to surgeries as to who with asthma should qualify. So, could you make that information publicly available? 

Thank you for the points and the questions. I welcome your congratulations to the NHS-led team for the significant achievement already achieved to date, and the confidence in the future delivery of this NHS-led vaccination programme in Wales. And, again, you're right, we do disagree on the JCVI advice, how we should follow it, and whether we should prioritise one group and deprioritise others. So, that's a point of fact that we disagree on that.

On second-dose delivery, we've made a choice on managing our stock of the Pfizer vaccine so that we can run the second doses effectively. It's about how efficient our programme is in making sure people receive their second dose in time, and that we don't end up with a problem later in this month where we potentially won't have enough second-dose stock available. And that would be a really big problem, I think. There are many people concerned about having to mix vaccines. Well, we're not doing that in Wales: a very clear approach to this. We're being efficient, and we have a different risk appetite, I think, to other countries about how they're going to run these doses deliberately, because you're right that there is some difference in the figures. The overall total of first doses delivered—the UK average is 33.5 per cent of first doses for the whole population; it's just short of that here in Wales. On the second dose, it's 1.7 per cent, but it's 5.8 per cent on second doses in Wales. And on the total doses delivered, the UK average is 35.2 per cent; in Wales, it's 37.5 per cent. So, we're delivering more vaccines per head than any other UK nation. And that information is available in the public domain, and I'm looking to make sure we publish not just the tables on the figures, but also some of those figures on UK comparison points as well. So, you don't have to wait for my statement; they'll be a regular part of how we publish information. And each country is already publishing their figures on how they use their vaccine stocks. So, rather than me trying to give a commentary on a run on how other countries are doing, I can talk about what we're doing and how we're effectively managing the stocks we have in a way that I think is highly successful.

On unpaid carers, it's possible that I'll be talking with the chair of one of the health boards who doesn't have the online form available later this week to understand why they haven't got that online form available. It is available online, and awareness of it is being spread not just through primary care, but, actually, crucially, through carers' organisations, who—. We went through a programme of co-designing the form—the Government, the NHS and those carers' organisations—and so we settled on something that we all think will work. And that takes you through a series of questions to make sure that you get your entitlement. That information is then entered into the Welsh immunisation system, and that should then generate the appointment. So, we want to see as much use of that online form as possible to give people a consistent experience across the country. 

On asthma, you're right, there has been a letter that's gone from one of the senior clinical leads in the Government, and there's a letter that's gone out to primary care, and, given that it will have gone out to a whole range of primary care providers, I think that's essentially public. I'll just make sure that arrangements are made to publish that advice, so everyone can see how that advice has been provided for primary care to then manage their lists of people in a way that, again, should be as consistent as possible across the country. I don't think there's any difficulty in doing it, and I'm sure we can issue a simple written statement in the coming days to do so. 

The people of Islwyn who I represent congratulate you and the Welsh Labour Government on hitting the historic milestone of the millionth vaccination. In my constituency of Islwyn, the mass vaccination in Newbridge leisure centre is effectively, and with skill, vaccinating large numbers of people. Minister, with four out of 10 of the Welsh adult population having had at least one dose, what is your message to the communities of Islwyn in regard to the progress being made to vaccinate every adult by 31 July?

I think people can have a high level of confidence about where we're going to get to, both in the middle of April, and, indeed, by the end of July, depending on supply. And it's supply that is the only issue that potentially holds us back. I think, to be fair, you'd have the same if you spoke to any of the NHS-led programmes in the UK. We could have delivered more by now if more supply was available. That's not a criticism; it's a statement of where we are, and I think that goes back to Angela Burns's questions as well. So, if you're waiting for your vaccine, and you're in groups 1 to 9, you can be confident that you will have had it, or should have been offered it, by the middle of April. I think that means we're in good shape to be offering the rest of the adult population in Wales their vaccine, if supplies hold up, from the middle of April onwards. And, again, the longer-term forecast on the stability of vaccine supply should mean we can do that by the end of July. It gets more uncertain the further into the future we are, but, in the conversations I've had not just with the UK Minister on vaccine supply, but other health Ministers in the UK, and, indeed, the two vaccine suppliers at present, both Pfizer and AstraZeneca,I think we will get a level of supply that allows us to do that. And that, again, will give us different choices about how the public can go about their business and return to more normality, all the while we're managing the risk of what is still an unfinished pandemic. But I'm grateful to hear that the constituency you represent are proud of what we're doing in this NHS-led programme.

Thank you, Minister.

The next item is the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021. And I call on the Minister once again—Vaughan Gething.

Thank you, Llywydd. I move the motion before us. Members will be aware the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) Regulations 2020 were reviewed on 18 February, and concluded that the whole of Wales should remain at alert level 4. This means that everyone must continue to stay at home for now. All non-essential retail, hospitality venues, licensed premises and leisure facilities must remain closed. This also means that people are generally unable to form extended households, otherwise known as 'bubbles'. Until the most recent amendments to the regulations, the only exception has been for single responsible adult households, adults living alone, or living alone with children, who could form a support bubble with one other household. Since Wales moved to alert level 4, households needing contact on compassionate grounds, or to assist with childcare, have been able to do so.

The regulations have, however, been amended so that households with any children under the age of one can form a support bubble—again, with one other household. This seeks to ensure that new parents or carers of children under one can receive support from friends or family during the crucial first year of a baby's life. This will also help with the baby's development. The amended restriction regulations also allow 16 and 17-year-olds living alone, or with people of the same age, without any adults, to similarly form a support bubble. And finally, the regulations have been amended to allow all venues approved for the solemnisation of weddings, formation of a civil partnership, or alternative wedding ceremonies, to open for this limited purpose. To be clear, wedding receptions, at present, are still not permitted.

We've clearly set out that our first priority is to get as many children and students back to face-to-face learning as soon as possible. With this in mind, our approach to easing restrictions will be in gradual steps. We will continue to listen to the medical and scientific advice, then assess the impact of the changes that we make. Despite the huge progress in rolling out vaccines that we've just discussed and the improving public health situation, we have seen how quickly the situation can deteriorate. Faced with new variants of coronavirus, especially the much faster spreading Kent variant, we cannot provide as much certainty and predictability as we would otherwise like. We will give as much notice to people and businesses as we can do ahead of any change. When we believe it is safe to ease restrictions, we will do so. I ask Members to support these regulations, which continue to play an important part in adapting the coronavirus rules here in Wales to ensure that they remain both effective and proportionate. Thank you.

Thank you. Can I now call the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Mick Antoniw?

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I've just a few short comments to make. We considered these regulations at our meeting yesterday morning, and our report contains three merits points that will be familiar to Members. Our first merits point notes the Welsh Government's justification for any potential interference with human rights. We've drawn particular attention to a number of key paragraphs in the explanatory memorandum that make direct reference to articles 2, 5, 8, 9, and 11 of the European charter of fundamental rights and article 1 of the first protocol. And our second and third merits points note that there has been no formal consultation on the regulations, and that a regulatory impact assessment has not been carried out by the Welsh Government. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.

Two changes here that we agree with, the first relating to venues for weddings and civil partnerships, and the second allowing households with one child under the age of one to form an extended household. I'm very pleased to see this happening in terms of well-being, and I make specific reference to the work that Bethan Sayed has done in this particular area, where she's been raising awareness as a young parent herself, of course. So, as I say, we will be supporting this. 

I will refer, if I may, just briefly, to the next review. I do hope, in terms of well-being, that we will be able to move to a 'stay local' instruction, rather than a 'stay at home', which I think would make a great difference in terms of people's well-being, and I look forward to having more of a road map on the way forward. But Ynys Môn is my constituency. We know that Ynys Môn is one of the areas where the number of cases is highest, and we know of the impact that the new coronavirus variant has, how quickly it spreads, and we see the latest figures this afternoon and the number of cases in Ysbyty Gwynedd and so on. Therefore, we must move on very cautiously. So, just a brief question: how will the Government communicate as clearly as possible the message that people can't use the fact that the door is being pushed ajar as a reason to push that door open, because we're not ready for that?

Thank you. Could I call on the Minister for Health and Social Services to reply to the debate? Vaughan Gething.  

Thank you, once again, to the legislation and justice committee for their scrutiny of the regulations. Once again, the regular reviews they undertake do help us to make sure that the legislation fulfils its purpose and is appropriately drafted, and they have, from time to time, picked up what I think are small, but important, differences in the regulations, which we have then corrected, once they have reviewed them. That is always helpful. 

On Rhun ap Iorwerth's point, I'm grateful for the support for these regulations. On your broader point about possible future regulations, you will have heard both myself and the First Minister refer to the possibility of a 'stay local' period before there is a wider move in travel. And there is nothing perfect about that, but we recognise that, in moving from one stage to another, an intermediate 'stay local' stage may well be useful. And this is about people being sensible with any rules or guidance. And if we're going to provide guidance on it, it is just that, not a hard and fast rule, and we ask people to be sensible about how they exercise that. And I recognise that, if I lived in the middle of Powys, what 'stay local' might mean could be very different to living here in Penarth or in the Cardiff part of my constituency. And so we ask people to exercise the level of common sense and support that has seen us to this point now. What I would not want to see is for people to take an approach to any potential easing that takes us well beyond where we need to be, because I want to see a safe and phased progress out of our current restrictions that does not mean we need to put the brakes on again. 

People need to be cognisant of, if they are going to travel, to make sure they're still observing the other restrictions that will still be there and in place, and in particular the challenges for all of us about making sure we keep our distance from people, good hand hygiene and not mixing indoors in particular. That's still the most dangerous and risky form of contact and, as I've said, the Kent variant does mean that this is a much more transmissible variant than the one that we have currently dealt with, and so that's why the extra caution is needed. It's for all of us, though, to play our part so we can have different choices to make in the future, and different choices that I certainly hope we can all agree we would not want to have to reverse back from.

So, thank you for your general comments and support, and I look forward to hoping that Members will now agree the regulations before us. 

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No, I don't see objections. Therefore, the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36. 

Items 5, 6, 7 and 8 have been postponed on our agenda until next week.

Therefore, item 9 is the Equality Act 2010 (Authorities subject to a duty regarding Socio-economic Inequalities) (Wales) Regulations 2021, and I call on the Deputy Minister and the Chief Whip to move the motion, Jane Hutt. 

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Members will be aware that on 15 July 2020 the First Minister, in his legislative programme statement, announced that the socioeconomic duty was one of five areas for delivery before the end of this Senedd term. This is one of our levers to reduce inequality, and I'm pleased that today we're able to debate the regulations laid before Members of the Senedd, which are a key part of delivering this commitment. If passed, the regulations will place a duty on certain public bodies, requiring them when making strategic decisions, such as deciding priorities and setting objectives, to consider how their decisions might help to reduce inequalities associated with socioeconomic disadvantage. The regulations before you simply list the Welsh public bodies who are captured by the duty, so the definition of a relevant authority means I'm restricted as to which public bodies the duty can apply. However, I have captured every public body that falls inside this definition, ensuring maximum benefit to the people of Wales. The duty also links to plans for the draft social partnership and public procurement (Wales) Bill, which is out for consultation. Both pieces of legislation seek to strengthen our social partnership arrangements and fair work agenda, as both help to address inequality from different perspectives. 

Thank you. I call on the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Mick Antoniw.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. We considered these regulations on 1 March and our report contains two merits points, which I'll briefly summarise for Members this afternoon.

Our first merits point noted that there is no equality impact assessment for the regulations and we asked the Welsh Government to explain what arrangements it has made to publish a report of such an assessment, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011. In response to our first merits point, the Welsh Government confirmed that a full integrated impact assessment on the regulations has been completed. Furthermore, the Government's response also confirmed that sections 1, 3, and 7 of the integrated impact assessment were published on the Welsh Government website on 23 February, and a summary of the equality impact assessment can be found in section 7.2. The Welsh Government also told us that the remaining sections of the integrated impact assessment are routinely made available on request.

Our second merits point related to the post-implementation review of regulations, and we highlighted that the regulatory impact assessment accompanying the regulations states that given the multiple outcomes anticipated as a result of the socioeconomic duty, a programme of monitoring and evaluation will be developed to correspond with key activities. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.

Thank you. I call on the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip to reply.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you very much to the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee for the report on the merits. He was able to answer the points that were made in terms of your questions relating to the integrated impact assessment, and what the impact of that work would be in terms of guidance, in terms of publishing those sections that summarised what action the Welsh Government is considering. And I'd also say that we will continue to support public bodies after the duty comes into force.

So, commencing the duty of course will take us forward in terms of the non-statutory guidance that we published last year. A substantial package of support has been prepared for public bodies for the duty and some are already working in the way intended, so I'm therefore asking Members to support this motion.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I do see objections, therefore, we vote on this item in voting time.

Item 10 on the agenda is the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2021. I call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government to move the motion, Julie James.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I move the motion. Following the consideration and passing of Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 by the Senedd last year, I am now seeking to make the necessary provisions so as to implement some of the reforms provided by the Act. The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 has strengthening and empowering local government at its core. The new performance and governance regime set out in Part 6 of the Act is a fundamental component of this, firmly defining principal councils as self-improving organisations through a system based on self-assessment and panel performance assessment. This new performance and governance regime is intended to build on and support a culture in which councils continuously challenge the status quo, ask questions about how they are operating and consider best practice in Wales and from elsewhere. It's my intention that the new regime applies in part from 1 April this year, with the remaining provisions coming into force at the 2022 local government elections. The consequential amendments regulations before you today will ensure that existing primary and secondary legislation accurately reflects the legislative changes resulting from the new regime, and I ask Members to approve these regulations today. Diolch.

Thank you. I call on the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Mick Antoniw.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Like the previous regulations debated this afternoon, we also considered these regulations on 1 March and our report contains two merits points.

The regulations amend the Local Government Act 1999 to, amongst other things, permit grants to be made by the Welsh Ministers to the Wales Audit Office in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by the Auditor General for Wales under chapter 3 of Part 6 of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. Our first merits point highlighted that chapter 3 of Part 6 of the 2021 Act is not yet in force. As such, our report asked the Welsh Government to confirm when and how the provisions in this chapter of the 2021 Act would be brought into force.

Moving on to our second merits point, the explanatory memorandum to the regulations refers to the 2021 Order, which is to bring into force chapter 1 of Part 6 of the 2021 Act and section 169 of the 2021 Act. Our second reporting point noted that, at the time of writing the report, the 2021 Order had not yet been made, and we invited the Welsh Government to confirm when this is expected to occur.

At our meeting yesterday we considered a Government response, together with a letter from the Minister, which provides an overview of the steps the Welsh Government intends to take to support the implementation of the 2021 Act. In response to our two reporting points, the Welsh Government states that chapter 3 of Part 6 of the 2021 Act is intended to be commenced at the same time as chapter 1, on 1 April 2021. It has also confirmed that the commencement Order bringing these provisions into force is intended to be made in March at the same time as these regulations before us today, subject to the Senedd approving the regulations. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. 

Thank you. I call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government to reply. 

No response is necessary. The Chair of the committee has already set out the answer to his own questions, and I'm very happy with that, so I call on Members to approve the regulations today. Diolch.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? I don't see any objections, therefore the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Item 11 on our agenda this afternoon is a debate on the third supplementary budget of 2020-21, and I call on the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd to move the motion, Rebecca Evans. 

Thank you. This supplementary budget presents the Welsh Government's final spending plans for the current financial year. It revises the financing and expenditure plans approved by the Senedd in the second supplementary budget in November. It increases the overall Welsh resources by £2 billion. This is a further 8 per cent increase on the position set out in the second supplementary budget and reflects a total increase of more than 32 per cent on spending plans set at the beginning of the year. 

In this supplementary budget, Welsh Government fiscal spending plans have increased by £2.13 billion. This includes £318 million for the reconstruction package announced in October, along with key allocations that continue to support the Government's response to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. A total of £660 million has been provided for business support through to the end of March. This includes £134.5 million of additional funding for the firebreak lockdown in October, an additional £5 million for the discretionary support fund, and £220 million targeted support for the ERF business restrictions fund, and sector-specific support. So, £12.2 million has been allocated for the cultural recovery fund to provide essential support to theatres, music venues, heritage sites, libraries, museums, galleries and independent cinemas, and includes the first freelancer fund in the UK. 

We have allocated £32 million to provide a £500 payment to support people who have been asked to self-isolate, or parents and carers of children who have been asked to self-isolate by test, trace and protect services, and £16.7 million to top up statutory sick pay for social care workers. Alongside our efforts on contact tracing and self-isolation support, we are delivering the biggest vaccination programme Wales has ever seen. To ensure the success of the programme, we have allocated £27 million for the deployment of vaccines, the majority of which will be provided to health boards. Sixty-nine million pounds has been provided for hardship support for higher and further education to support the many students who have faced upheaval due to the pandemic, and we continue to support local authorities with an additional £30.7 million for the council tax reduction scheme and loss of council tax.

In addition to these measures in response to the pandemic, some £825 million has been allocated in this supplementary budget to support other areas, such as £62 million for city and growth deals, providing £36 million to the Swansea bay city region deal, £16 million to the north Wales growth deal and £10 million for the Cardiff city deal. Thirty million pounds has been added to address the cost incurred in dealing with the recovery from the impact of flooding in February 2020, and for coal tip safety. A £270 million extension of the Wales flexible investment fund has been added, and £50 million to support local authority capital maintenance costs for schools.

I would like to thank the Finance Committee for their scrutiny of this third supplementary budget, and I will fully consider and respond to its six recommendations for the Welsh Government in due course, but I can say now that I am minded to accept them. I welcome the committee's recognition of the challenges faced this year regarding engagement and communication with the UK Government, both in respect of the need for clear, systematic changes to the funding process, and on specific issues such as infrastructure for Welsh ports and the lack of detail on the UK shared prosperity fund. I also acknowledge the committee's recommendation for continued transparency of Welsh Government spending in its annual outturn report, and my commitment to our agreed protocol that established this important element of our reporting framework.

I ask Members to support the motion. 

Thank you. Can I now call the Chair of the Finance Committee, Llyr Gruffydd? 

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and it's a pleasure to speak in this debate today on behalf of the Finance Committee. The committee met on 24 February to consider the Welsh Government’s third supplementary budget for 2020-21. As the Chamber will know, having a third supplementary budget is very unusual, but it does reflect perhaps the continued impact of COVID-19. So, we're grateful to the Minister for bringing this supplementary budget forward and the transparency afforded to the Senedd.

This budget consolidates adjustments arising from the UK Government’s supplementary estimates, and we heard that this regularises allocations to and from reserves, and transfers between and within portfolios. It also includes adjustments to the budgets of the Senedd Commission, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and Audit Wales.

During the second supplementary budget, many of the committee’s recommendations related to the issue of transparency. This situation hasn’t changed, and although we recognise that the pandemic continues to put a strain on the fiscal framework, it has been difficult for the committee and this Senedd to have a clear picture of the funding being made available to the Welsh Government. Our first recommendation is that the Welsh Government continues to press the UK Government for clear, systematic changes to the funding process in relation to the structure of UK fiscal events.

There's been an increase of £244.5 million to the health and social services main expenditure group compared with the second supplementary budget, and we believe that this is prudent given the continued uncertainty up until the end of this financial year. The pandemic has had a significant impact on local authority incomes and this will continue into the next financial year. Of course, throughout the pandemic the Welsh Government has provided emergency funding to local authorities, with the majority of that through the local authority hardship fund. We would like reassurances from the Welsh Government that the funding provided to local authorities is taking full account of the differential impact of COVID-19 on local authority incomes.

The situation has also had an impact on the ability of the third sector to raise revenue. It plays a key role in providing support and services to support health, social and local services. Whilst we welcome the additional funding provided within the third supplementary budget for the discretionary assistance fund and the third sector response fund, the level of additional funding is modest in comparison to the support given to health services, for example. The Welsh Government should therefore confirm that the additional funding provided fully reflects the impact on different areas and organisations within the third sector. 

This supplementary budget is the first since the EU trade deal was agreed. The Minister told us that discussions with the UK Government were ongoing regarding funding of the infrastructure costs to update ports. We recommend that the Welsh Government provides an update on these discussions when that is possible.

The UK shared prosperity fund has remained of interest to the committee since 2017, when the UK Government first announced that it would replace EU structural funds. At that time, very little detail was known, and the situation hasn’t improved much despite efforts made by the committee and the Welsh Government to access information on how this fund will be allocated or administered. Tomorrow, the Finance Committee, along with members of the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee, will take evidence from the Secretary of State and we will be pursuing these funding changes. We recommend that the Welsh Government continues to put pressure on the UK Government to ensure a fair funding settlement for Wales and that Wales does not miss out on one single penny.

As mentioned at the outset, this budget motion also includes adjustments to the budgets of the Senedd Commission, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and Audit Wales, and the committee is content with the variation in these budgets.

Finally, we are pleased that the UK Treasury has agreed that the Welsh Government can carry forward £650 million funding that was provided late in the financial year, in addition to the current limits to the Wales reserve. I would like to reiterate that the committee supports end-of-year flexibility. Having flexibility over borrowing limits, too, and reserves, would help the Welsh Government in its planning, particularly in the current circumstances. Thank you.

This month's Finance Committee report, as you've heard, on the Welsh Government's third supplementary budget for 2020-21 reports that this allocates almost £1.3 billion additional fiscal resource and almost £837 million in capital, with the main increases in economy and transport, housing and local government, and education. The backdrop is the £5.2 billion provided by the UK Government to the Welsh Government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The additional £650 million this financial year brings this to £5.85 billion, on top of £1.4 billion increased Welsh Government funding for 2020-21 following increased spending on public services in England. The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer has already confirmed that the Welsh Government will have at least an additional £1.3 billion to spend in next year's budget, and his budget last week added a further £740 million of funding to the Welsh Government. The Finance Committee recommends that the Welsh Government continues to press the UK Government for clear, systematic changes to the funding process in relation to the structure of UK fiscal events.

Further, the Minister told us that the Chief Secretary to the Treasury did allow a degree of flexibility in terms of carrying forward any consequentials generated through the operation of the Barnett formula over and above the £5.2 billion guaranteed funding previously confirmed on 23 December. So, the supplementary budget details the £660 million that will be carrying over into next year, and that is because of the very late notification. However, she fails to acknowledge that the excuse constantly given by the Welsh Government for its slow responses to just about everything, the COVID-19 pandemic, also applies to other Governments, and that, despite this, the UK Treasury worked closely with all three devolved Governments this financial year. As the Chief Secretary to the Treasury stated in his 23 February letter to the Finance Committee, officials have had even more frequent engagement; a full breakdown of 2021-22 funding was provided at the spending review 2020 last November, and they will also publish the next iteration of block grant transparency later this year, which will, again, include a full and detailed breakdown of funding. In reality, therefore, the Minister doth protest too much to justify carrying forward so much funding to spend at a later date.

As our report also states, reassurance is required from the Welsh Government that the funding provided to local authorities is taking full account of the differential impact of COVID-19 on local authority incomes. And the committee recognises that the role that the third sector plays in providing services that support health, social and local services has also been impacted in terms of ability to raise revenue. The level of additional funding that this sector is receiving is modest in comparison, as the Chair said, to the support given to the health service, and that will cost the health service dear.

You only need to read the explanatory notes with this third supplementary budget and you will see what an unprecedented year this has been. I'm sure we can all agree to that. Huge allocations like this within financial years isn't something that we've traditionally seen as part of the usual budgetary processes over the years.

May I praise the comments made by Llyr Gruffydd as Chair of the Finance Committee and make some further comments of my own? I understand the temptation for the Conservatives to say, as soon as any funding becomes available, 'Well, spend it immediately', but I do believe, generally speaking, that caution and holding some funds in reserve has been important, particularly when, on the one hand, you consider that the landscape has been evolving from month to month over the past year, but also that there is a symptom here of the fact that the Welsh fiscal system isn't one that works for us, particularly at such a challenging time.

I'll refer to two issues. First of all, the Barnett formula has proved to be a very ineffective tool—far too simplistic in how it distributes funding from Whitehall to the devolved Governments. I can take you back to one of the earliest papers written by Wales Fiscal Analysis at Cardiff University at the beginning of the pandemic, which suggested that allocating funds on a population basis wouldn't reflect the specific challenges posed by COVID for public services in Wales. And they were quite right; Wales has a higher proportion of older people and people with health complaints than is the case in England, something that isn't taken into account by what's described as the 'needs-based factor'. The paper also suggested that although the Welsh Government made a commitment to provide the same support for businesses through business rate relief and so on as is provided in England, the cost of providing that support wouldn't necessarily be provided for sufficiently by Barnett consequentials. I'll quote from the paper:

'For instance, Wales has a higher share of retail, leisure and hospitality properties (43%) compared to England (38%)—though this is likely to be offset by their lower average rateable values. Their lower rateable values meant that a relatively larger share of Welsh premises (75%) qualify for the £10,000 grant compared to England (70%). This is despite the fact that the grant is only made available to businesses with a rateable value of less than £12,000 in Wales, whereas businesses with a rateable value of between £12,000 and £15,000 are also eligible for this support in England.'

I think that the paper was right. On the publication of that report, Plaid Cymru argued that there should have been, at the very least, temporary reforms made to the formula, for example including a specific coronavirus needs-based factor. But ultimately, I think the pandemic has shown that we need that sort of longer term reform of Barnett, and we need it urgently.

The second issue is the inflexibilities placed on the Welsh Government in terms of the ability to borrow and draw down from the Wales reserve. I certainly—as did the Finance Committee—welcome the fact that there has been some budging by the Treasury on this, in reference to their agreement to allow £650 million to be carried over to the 2021-22 budget. But, we are still in no better position in terms of the Government's actual fiscal powers than we were at the beginning of the pandemic. The Minister has repeatedly said that the Welsh Government are in talks with the UK Government on addressing these inflexibilities. We are none the wiser really as to how those talks have gone, or are going, which suggests to me that things aren't going well; little surprise, given the fact that Government hasn't been willing to do things that it has been able to do—for example, borrow. I will quote Gerry Holtham here:

'Failing to borrow in two successive financial years'—

that's 2019-20 and 2020-21—

'seems unambitious.' I agree with him. So, Dirprwy Lywydd, these are unprecedented times. There's a lot in this supplementary budget—the third one, remarkably—to welcome here. But, what this financial year has shown is that the Government cannot afford to bury collective heads in the sand on the need to move forward on Wales's fiscal autonomy.

I very much welcome the third supplementary budget from the Welsh Government. Our clear approach in Wales to scrutiny of public finances is both transparent and reliable. As a member of the Public Accounts Committee and the Finance Committee, I do very much value that we prioritise and spend wisely the public moneys available to us in Wales.

However, in Wales, we have to operate—as has been said—within very significant constraints, unlike our counterparts across the UK, as presented to us by a Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer who refuses categorically to honour the devolution of this place as a mature Parliament, give Wales flexibility and give back control over how we spend key elements of our money. However, Deputy Llywydd, I expect little from a Chancellor who announces a budget with a plethora—a rainbow—of his own PR on Instagram and social media videos, and totally fails to mention in his speech the damning disarray of the 1 per cent pay offer to the nurses of England, who have fought, and are continuing to fight, right on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Wales, we value transparency in our public finances, and this couldn't be in more direct and stark contrast to England, where the UK Tory Government has not afforded scrutiny across the year of its financial proposals. The Welsh Government, then, is to be commended for its faithful and regular reporting to this Parliament at every stage of the process—seeking and affording public scrutiny of its proposals. As we await the unanswered silence around the shared prosperity fund, crucial to Wales, I wish to thank you, Minister, for all that you and the Welsh Labour Government have done, despite considerable constraints, to produce a clear, strategic third supplementary budget, which will build back fairer for Wales.  

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

This third supplementary budget is a really important part of the budget process. Approval of this supplementary budget will authorise the revised spending plans of the Welsh Government. It sets the limits against which our financial outturn position will be compared. It also authorises the cash that can be drawn from the Welsh consolidated fund to support that spending. I do thank Members for their contributions to this debate today. I will respond to a number of the points that have been raised.

There was a question seeking an update on the position in terms of the discussions that we have had with the UK Government on ports and borders. I can let colleagues know that I have now received a response to my representations to HM Treasury in regard to the funding for the infrastructure and the ongoing operations needed at the Welsh border, following our exit from the European Union. The Treasury has agreed, in principle, to fund additional costs associated with the inland sites in 2021-22 via a reserve claim. The Treasury has recognised our concerns about the substantive operational costs for these facilities and has confirmed that this will be addressed in the upcoming spending review. The UK Government should meet the additional operational costs of this significant and entirely new function directly resulting from EU exit, and which forms an important part of the Great Britain-wide biosecurity infrastructure, which will underpin an important element of the future trade deal. So, those additional operating costs will be important as well.

I was very interested to hear Mark Isherwood's analysis of the carry over of funding into next year. I just think it's beyond that the UK Government saw fit to provide such a significant additional amount of funding—£660 million—with six weeks to go to the end of the financial year. So, I was pleased that we were able to negotiate that carryover. But if Mark Isherwood or members of the public in Wales are wondering how we are in a position to carry over such a large amount of additional funding into next year for investment in our response to the COVID pandemic as we move forward, I can tell you that it is because we have managed Welsh public money properly here in Wales. We've driven value for money at every point in our process. We have been very careful with the investments that we've made and the decisions that we've made, and you can see that represented no more clearly than with the decisions that we took around contact tracing. Our system here in Wales is delivered as a public service, it's delivered through local authorities and our health boards, ensuring that there's value for money and that we've looked after Welsh people's money. Whereas across the border, of course, the system is much more poorly performing than our excellent system here in Wales, and has been outsourced to the private sector where huge profits are being made, and people are not getting the service that they're getting here in Wales.

And, of course, the kind of decisions that we were able to take on personal protective equipment here in Wales have also been looking at driving value for money for taxpayers. So, that is why we're able to carry forward funding into the next financial year, and I don't think any of us should forget that. And for me, this will be one of the big stories of the pandemic, when people look back on this period in the years ahead and compare the different approaches and responses of different Governments to the pandemic and the different priorities that have driven the decisions that we have made.

I will say, in terms of the period moving forward, I know that we do have our debate on the final budget later on, but there's been no meaningful engagement with the UK Government whatsoever on the 2021-22 budget, an absolutely appalling lack of engagement on the levelling-up fund and the shared prosperity fund, but I'm sure we'll have opportunities to discuss those things in more detail in due course this afternoon.

So, this has been a year of uncertainty, and one in which we have seen unprecedented changes to our fiscal position. I committed to ensuring that those changes would be transparent and fully scrutinised by the Senedd, which began with the first publication of our first supplementary budget last May—very early on in the crisis—an interim second supplementary budget in October, and culminating with this third supplementary budget today.

So, in total, over £6 billion has been added to our spending plans in year, which has been essential to deal with the immediate response to the coronavirus pandemic, and to start addressing the long-term impacts of the pandemic on services, on businesses and individuals, and this funding has been allocated throughout the year to deliver the most effective outcomes in Wales, and using the flexibilities that have been at our disposal. And I think, as all colleagues who have spoken in this debate have recognised this afternoon, it has been an absolutely exceptional year. I do want to put on record, Llywydd, my thanks to officials who have worked so carefully and diligently to support me in ensuring that we manage our position in year and bring through the supplementary budget in such good shape, and I'm very grateful to them. Diolch yn fawr. I move the motion.

[Inaudible.]

I'm afraid you're on mute, Deputy Presiding Officer. Or at least I can't hear you.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Sorry. So, the proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes, I did see objections. So, that's fine. So, we defer voting on this item until voting time.

So, now we move on to item 12, which is a debate on the Welsh rates of income tax for 2021-22, and I call on the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd to move the motion, Rebecca Evans.

Thank you for the opportunity to open this debate on the Welsh rates of income tax. As you know, Welsh rates of income tax were introduced in April 2019 and apply to income tax payers resident here in Wales. The Welsh rates for next year were set out in the draft budget announcement in December. In keeping with previous commitments, there will be no changes to Welsh income tax levels in 2021-22. This will mean that Welsh taxpayers will continue to pay the same income tax as their English and Northern Ireland counterparts. This will continue to provide stability for taxpayers as we seek to address the longer term impacts of the pandemic and the UK Government's Brexit deal.

Together with the block grant, Welsh taxes are essential to help fund Welsh public services upon which many in society depend. Protecting these services is now more important than ever, and there are significant challenges going forward. It is disappointing that the future planned freeze to the basic rate threshold of income tax, included in the UK Government's budget announcement last week, impacted more on those least able to afford to pay. This runs counter to our commitment to delivering progressive tax systems here in Wales.

My officials continue to work closely with HMRC, which is responsible for the administration of WRIT. I'm pleased to report that the WRIT project has been formally closed after successful implementation. The final cost of the implementation project was just under £8 million, which was lower than the original forecast. One of the final elements of the project was to amend the annual tax summary that's available to every taxpayer, via their HMRC personal account. For Welsh taxpayers, this now shows the amount of WRIT they have paid for the tax year. Alongside this, we have developed an online WRIT calculator, providing a breakdown of where individual contributions have been allocated across key public services. These two products raise awareness and understanding of WRIT and how it's spent, delivering public services here in Wales.

I was also pleased the National Audit Office's report on the administration of WRIT, published in January, confirmed that HMRC has adequate rules and procedures in place to ensure the proper assessment and collection of Welsh rates of income tax, as well as the appropriate governance measures. The Senedd is asked today to agree the Welsh rate resolution, which will set the Welsh rates of income tax for 2021-22, and I ask Members for their support this afternoon.

We do not support, in the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party, these Welsh rates of income tax, and we'd like to vote against them, but I shan't, because if they don't go through, we will see a massive hole in our public spending because of the amount by which the block grant has been reduced. So, we'll abstain on this motion.

We certainly don't support these Welsh rates of income tax because there shouldn't be Welsh rates of income tax, because we had a referendum in 2011, when voters were assured, on the ballot paper, 'The Assembly cannot make laws on tax, whatever the result of this vote.' That promise has been broken, and I'm afraid that referendum has been negated in consequence.

In 2016, December, Mark Drakeford, then finance Minister, now First Minister, agreed with the Westminster Government to devolve Welsh rates of income tax, having previously agreed not to, with that assurance on the ballot paper. And that promise was broken. We saw, in the 2017 Wales Act, the Conservative Government in Westminster break their promise as well. We were assured there would be no Welsh rates of income tax without a further referendum. That has not been the case.

I welcome what the First Minister says about publicising Welsh rates of income tax. A lot of people aren't aware of them, because they haven't changed. But, in one very important aspect, there has been a change, because when we got those Welsh rates of income tax devolved, the block grant was reduced by an equivalent amount, and it was necessary to project how much the block grant would be reduced in future years, including consideration of a forecast for those Welsh rates of income tax. Now we see that we are getting £35 million less money than we would, because of those Welsh rates of income tax, because their yield has not been as high as forecast, and we in Wales are on risk for that, because of that devolution of Welsh rates of income tax. Of course, there are other issues that the finance Minister can speak about in terms of the fiscal compact, but those Welsh rates of income tax should not have been devolved, and there is a £35 million cost contingent on that.

Now, the First Minister criticised the UK Government for freezing the personal income tax threshold, saying that those who find it hardest to pay would suffer the most. Of course, those who find it hardest to pay aren't paying the income tax, because many earn below that threshold, and particularly so in Wales. We also see the freezing of the upper-rate threshold, which, of course, leads to costs being borne by those who are more able to bear those costs, so I was surprised to hear that criticism. We need to understand that these rates being devolved, even if they haven't changed, is costing £35 million a year, on account of the revenue that we're not getting that was previously projected, and it is a breach of faith, and it negates that 2011 referendum because the promise on which it was based has been broken.

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

Thank you very much to Mark Reckless for his comments in the debate. I have an update for him that might change his mind in terms of the value of Welsh rates of income tax, because based on current forecasts, the net impact of WRIT is an increase of £30 million in 2021-22, and that, of course, is in contrast to the minus £35 million forecast in the Welsh taxes outlook in December. And that's partly to do with the result of recent data showing relatively higher earnings performance for income tax payers here in Wales. So, potentially that could change Mark Reckless's view of Welsh rates of income tax, although I suspect it won't be quite enough to do that. But I'm glad that he recognised the importance of taxpayer communication, because we are working closely with HMRC to ensure that people here in Wales are increasingly aware of Welsh rates of income tax. And our surveys, which we've commissioned by Beaufort Research, do show that there is an increase in terms of people's awareness. And as I've mentioned in the Finance Committee and in my opening remarks, we have introduced some new items this year, including that WRIT calculator that individuals can use online to see exactly where their Welsh rates of income tax are going in terms of supporting public services here in Wales. So, I think that's another step forward in terms of education, awareness, and also, importantly, transparency here in Wales. I'm grateful to Mark Reckless for his contribution, but would ask all colleagues to support our Welsh rates of income tax today. Thank you.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I see an objection, so we will vote again on this item at voting time.

Item 13 on our agenda is a debate on the final budget of 2021-22, and I call on the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd to move that motion—Rebecca Evans.

Thank you. I'm pleased to open the debate on the final budget for 2021-22, in what is the final budget of this administration.

The extraordinary circumstances that have shaped this year's budget preparation are well documented, but I am proud that we have risen to the challenge with a 2021-22 budget aligned with our values. We are an administration that delivers on our promises and stands by our public services as they continue their fight against this pandemic. When I published the draft budget before Christmas, I promised further funding as we better understood the path of the pandemic over the winter months. In the final budget, I am allocating more than £680 million to support Wales's public services over the coming months. This means, together with the early COVID measures we announced in the draft budget, we are allocating all of the COVID funding we received in the UK spending review last November.

This is a Government that is committed to standing by our public services and giving them the funding certainty that they deserve. The package includes more than £630 million for the NHS and local government to help support them support the people of Wales over the next six months. This significant funding boost will support our world-leading vaccination programme so that we can protect as many people as possible as quickly as possible, boost our testing capacity, and boost our highly effective contact tracing programme. 

This also includes an additional £206.6 million for the local government hardship fund, which will support vital social care services, provide homelessness support, and ensure schools adapt to their new ways of working. We continue to recognise the disproportionate impact this pandemic is having on our lives and our communities, and we have allocated a further £10.5 million to extend the discretionary assistance fund, providing support for the most vulnerable people in Wales during these difficult times. We are responding to the ongoing impact on the use of public transport, and providing a further £18.6 million to extend bus support into the second quarter of 2021-22. We recognise the important role employability and skills will play in our recovery. We're investing £16.5 million in apprenticeships to maintain current levels of apprenticeship places in 2021-22.

We're a Government that allocates funding where it can deliver the greatest impact. This pandemic has shaken our economy's foundations, and we recognise the need to act now to inject jobs and demand into a recovery that takes root today. Our final budget includes a capital stimulus of more than £220 million to move this work forward. This includes an additional £147 million to ramp up house building programmes and an extra £30 million to accelerate the ambitious twenty-first century schools and colleges building programme, helping to support economic growth, sustainable jobs and training opportunities across the sector.

We know that our hardest hit businesses need certainty too. I am setting aside £200 million in reserves for additional business support next year if it's needed to respond to the evolving challenges of the pandemic. Ahead of the budget, I called on the UK Government to extend the business support package in England, and it's why I took the immediate decision following the UK Government budget, once we had certainty on the funding available, to announce an extension to the retail, leisure and hospitality rates relief, with a cap for properties with a rateable value of over £500,000, and the enhanced leisure and hospitality rates relief scheme for 12 months.

The UK budget was presented at a critical juncture for the economy, and, while we welcome the additional £735 million revenue for Wales, we did not receive a single penny extra in capital next year to support the economic recovery. Disappointingly, there was no sign of real long-term help for the most vulnerable in our society. The Chancellor had the opportunity to make permanent the additional universal credit uplift, but he didn't, and the longer term changes to personal tax allowances are a stealth tax that will hit the lowest paid hardest. Of equal concern was the silence on spending pressures for public services, with no extra funding support for recovery in the NHS and other strategic priorities, including wider social care reform.

The UK budget did nothing to provide confidence about the future path of public finances beyond 2021-22. We face a reduction in our budget from 2021-22, partly driven by the withdrawal of COVID support, but also by underlying reductions to planned public spending built into the UK Government's medium-term plans. As noted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies:

'The Chancellor’s medium-term spending plans simply look implausibly low.'

Unlike the UK Government, we have continued our targeted and responsible approach, providing effective support in the course of this fast-moving pandemic, taking timely decisions and providing support when it's needed. To provide homebuyers with extra time to complete transactions, I announced last week an extension in our land transaction tax reduction period in Wales until 30 June. We announced yesterday a package of funding worth £72 million, taking total investment to over £112 million, to support teachers and learners impacted by the pandemic over this year. Building on funding we announced in the final budget, and to support our recovery, I am today announcing a further £8.7 million as part of a total additional investment of £18.7 million to support the extension of our employer incentive scheme and to bolster our flexi-job apprenticeship offer.

While we can't underestimate the scale of the challenges we are facing, we have provided certainty for our vital public services, are helping rebuild our economy with real social and environmental purpose, and protecting Wales from the worst effects of the pandemic. I am proud that we have provided sound foundations for the next administration to deliver a more prosperous, more equal and a greener Wales. Thank you. 

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

Thank you very much once again, Deputy Llywydd. I'm pleased to contribute to this debate too, this time on the Welsh Government's final budget, and I do so, of course, in my role as Chair of the Finance Committee. I'm also pleased that the Minister has accepted or accepted in principle every one of the 36 recommendations made by the committee.

During the debate on the draft budget, this Chamber recognised the uncertainty that surrounded the budget cycle again this year because of delayed UK fiscal events and a lack of forward funding figures. And, in speaking on behalf of the Finance Committee in that debate, Siân Gwenllian made the pertinent point that the draft budget was very much a draft, with Welsh Government holding significant unallocated reserves. Whilst the committee appreciated the need for some flexibility this year to deal with the uncertainty of the pandemic, that isn't conducive to effective budget scrutiny, and the approach taken for this budget should not set a precedent for future years.

The final budget allocates more than £800 million more than what was scrutinised as part of the scrutiny of the draft budget. It's certainly not ideal that we're considering a final budget here today when the UK Government budget, published a day after the Welsh Government's final budget, has announced an additional £735 million for Wales, which has not been considered as part of this budgetary process. I also note that the Welsh Government has responded to policy announcements in the UK budget by announcing the extension of some elements of the COVID non-domestic rate relief and the extension of the land transaction tax reduction to the end of June, as we've just heard from the Minister. I'm pleased that the Minister has outlined the changes between the draft budget and the final budget and the implications of the UK budget. This will assist the Finance Committee, of course, in considering potential changes to the Welsh Government's budget for 2021-22. 

This final budget allocates around £11.2 million for matters relating to Brexit. However, it's extremely disappointing that the UK budget announced that funding to replace EU structural funds will be directly allocated in Wales on devolved matters via the UK community renewal fund and the levelling up fund, bypassing this Senedd. Now, as I mentioned to the Chamber earlier this afternoon during the debate on the third supplementary budget, the Finance Committee, along with members of the European and External Affairs Committee, will take evidence from the Secretary of State tomorrow on the shared prosperity fund.

We are pleased that the Welsh Government has accepted recommendation 2, and we will continue to seek commitments from the UK Government that UK fiscal events will normally take place by a specified date. This is imperative to ensure that devolved administrations have sufficient time to carry out meaningful budget setting and scrutiny. In addition, we're pleased that recommendation 3 has been accepted and that the Welsh Government will continue to press the UK Government for multi-year settlements to be reinstated in time for next year's budget cycle. For the past three years, the draft budget has been produced and scrutinised under exceptional circumstances due to Brexit and the pandemic. Delayed UK fiscal events lead to delays in the publication of Welsh Government draft budgets, and that in turn has reduced the time available for scrutiny. This is very concerning, given that Brexit and the financial response to the pandemic will have an impact on public spending for years to come.

Now, this is the final budget of the fifth Senedd, and there have been a number of challenges as a result of COVID-19, and the financial impacts have been significant. It's likely that responding to the pandemic will still be a significant part of the response in 2021-22, but I am hopeful that the focus will shift to recovery during the coming year. It's clear that there'll be much work to be done by the next Welsh Government, and certainly by the next Finance Committee too. Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. 

After more than two decades of Labour budgets since devolution, Wales still has the lowest wage and employment levels and highest proportion of low-paid jobs in Britain and the lowest prosperity levels and long-term pay growth and highest poverty rate of all UK nations. We needed a budget to fix the foundations and build a more secure and prosperous economy for the future. Instead, what we got was a budget that papered over the cracks rather than rebuilding the foundations; a budget that shows this Welsh Government do not understand what went wrong in the last two decades or what is needed in the next. Welsh Government spending has increased by 4.2 per cent in cash terms to £22.3 billion, with 83 per cent of funding being provided by the UK Government. This has only been possible because of the prudent action taken by UK Government since 2010 to reduce inherited deficit. They could have gone faster, but that would have generated bigger cuts. They could have gone slower, but that would have generated bigger imposed cuts. After all, as anyone who's ever borrowed knows, borrowers borrow but lenders set the terms.

Whilst the future of the pandemic is uncertain, it is concerning that the Wales fiscal analysis report this month found not only that the Welsh Government has failed to allocate the £650 million provided by the UK Conservative Government on 15 February, instead rolling the funding over to next year, but also that, with additional consequentials from the UK budget and changes to projected devolved revenues, this means the Welsh Government currently has approximately £1.3 billion to allocate at future supplementary budgets. Now, we recognise that the Welsh Government must make provisions for contingencies. However, £1.3 billion is excessive, considering the Welsh Government knew for some time that additional funding was going to be made available. Although the Minister blames this on late notification by the UK Government, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has made it clear he's been providing an upfront guarantee of additional resource funding to the Welsh Government for 2020-21 in response to the Welsh Government's request for certainty to help them plan their own support arrangements in Wales. The UK spending review last November also confirmed an additional £1.3 billion for the Welsh Government, bringing Barnett-based funding provided to the Welsh Government to £16.6 billion in 2021-22. This equates to around £123 per head for every £100 per head the UK Government spent in England on matters devolved in Wales. He also confirmed the Welsh Government can carry forward into 2021-22 any additional UK Government Barnett-based supplementary funding, but added that it is for the Welsh Government to determine how to make full use of this to deliver on devolved responsibilities.

Taxation changes in the budget are as regressive as they were before the pandemic struck. The tax on aspirational opportunity is back, with land transaction tax for homes purchased between £180,000 to £250,000 reverting to levels before the pandemic, at 3.5 per cent. My casework is showing that that's causing a massive problem to people, particularly those from Wales who want to move back from across the border in England. And business rates continue to be the highest in the UK. The Welsh Conservatives have been calling on this Labour Government to use the £650 million provided to them by the UK Government on 15 February to implement business rates relief for businesses in Wales. This Welsh Government claims it was not able to announce business rates relief sooner, because the UK Government's funding plans had not been announced. However, the Scottish Government has exposed this for the nonsense it is by announcing the abolition of business rates for the retail, leisure, hospitality and aviation industries on 15 February, using its £1.1 billion of consequential funding arising from the UK Government's coronavirus spending announced then. Funding to announce this policy was available, but this Labour Government characteristically chose once again to dither, delay and play buck-passing party politics, withholding much-needed clarity on funding for businesses in Wales.

Now the Office of Budget Responsibility forecasts that Wales's output will not recover to pre COVID-19 levels until months after the UK. The Welsh economy requires a radical change of direction, rather than more of the same stale economic policies that successive Labour Welsh Governments have produced. Welsh Conservatives have called on the Welsh Government to implement a recovery plan for Wales, not just to see Wales through the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to deliver the public services that Wales needs after over 20 years of successive Labour Welsh Government failures. It is therefore deeply concerning that this budget fails to deliver the financial revolution needed to provide a recovery plan for the Welsh economy and people.

This is a budget that we in Plaid Cymru hope to inherit in a little over two months' time, so I will start with those parts that we welcome, although we do believe that the Government could have gone further. The £380 million in addition for the NHS, we welcome that. We welcome any additional funding for health and care at this time, given the acute pressures faced during the pandemic, and also the £50 million for the track and trace work. I'm pleased that the local government hardship fund has received an additional allocation of £207 million, with a further allocation of £224 million for education and housing, and £200 million for business support. That's to be welcomed too.

But of course, we know that that is only scratching the surface given the needs of businesses and the Welsh economy, given a year of COVID restrictions. That's where we start to get to the point where I see this budget has not been bold enough. The day after the publication of this budget, over £700 million of additional revenue funding was announced, due to decisions to increase spending in England. So, there is some additional flexibility here, and there is a balance to be struck, isn't there?

As I argued as we discussed the third supplementary budget earlier this afternoon, we have supported this element of caution in how additional funds provided during the year should be spent, and the need to hold some funds in reserve rather than spending everything today, as the Conservatives have been encouraging, which is rather irresponsible given how the circumstances of the pandemic have been constantly changing. But when we are talking about a 12-month budget such as this, I think there is room to map out more clearly and, in many ways, more radically how additional funds should be used over the next year.

So, I want greater clarity on business support, for example. What next steps are in place? Have the Minister for finance and the Minister for the economy discussed how best to spend the funding that will now be available over and above what was planned for initially? Is continuing with the current level of funding for apprenticeships at a cost of £16.5 million really good enough in this current climate? I wouldn't have thought so, when we know that we're facing a very major challenge in terms of youth unemployment. Surely we should be seeking to increase the number of training places and apprenticeships available. And as a Government in May, we in Plaid Cymru want to introduce an employment guarantee for young people at 16 to 24, alongside an apprenticeship or a college or university course—a modern version of the Roosevelt new deal, with the emphasis on building a green future.

I think there was a very real opportunity for the Welsh Government to set out its stall for recovery, yes, but also for providing fairness where that doesn't exist at the moment. I'm concerned, in looking at the figures that we have before us. I see that £1.3 billion is available to be allocated over the next year, according to the Wales fiscal analysis team at Cardiff University. I'm concerned at seeing that while seeing simultaneously that truly vulnerable people are in need now. So, we are of the view that there is funding left to extend free school meals and to freeze council tax—things that truly would make a difference to people. And, yes, it's up to Labour Members to answer to their constituents as to why they voted against the extension of free school meals, and not to prioritise fairness in this way, where we believe that there is a very real opportunity to have done so. But as I say, there was an opportunity to set the Government's stall out for economic recovery here too.

Twenty years of leading Welsh Government has seen Labour, I think, failing to lead the kind of transformation that would put the Welsh economy on a path towards higher paid employment, higher skill levels, and so on and so forth, and there is that opportunity now and we must take those opportunities. There's a vision, I think, that's been set out by Plaid Cymru of—

The Member does need to wind up, please. 

—a future—I will wind up—driven by green economic stimulus, creating 60,000 jobs, as we've mentioned, meeting our needs in terms of the climate and employment and higher salaries at the same time, and igniting the Welsh economy. And that's why the Welsh budget would be in safer hands in Plaid Cymru hands after the election in May, and that's why we'll be voting against this budget.

I'd like to welcome the Minister's statement this afternoon and this budget. It's probably the toughest budget around any of us in this place have seen, and certainly in the three Senedds I've sat in, this has been the most difficult year for any Government at any time. So, I think whatever our individual politics and whatever our individual views on the decisions that the Minister takes, I think we should congratulate her and give thanks to her, her team and the Government who have worked so hard to ensure that we've actually got money through the system and out of the door, sustaining and supporting jobs, businesses and public services in the most difficult of times.

I'd like to address three aspects of the budget this afternoon. First of all, overall spending on COVID over this period; secondly, the impact of the UK budget announced last week; and finally, the Welsh Government's plans for an investment-led, jobs-led recovery from COVID. It's fair to say that COVID has dominated our discussions over the last year and in looking back over the current budget, but it's also dominated our discussions and our debates on this budget for next year as well.

I strongly welcome the support and help that's been made available for people, and I continue to do so. The emergency assistance provided by the Welsh Government over the last year is something that has sustained many families and many communities throughout the country, but we know that's not going to stop at the end of this financial year, and I'm glad to see that the Government is putting in place the structures, the frameworks and the funding to ensure that we're able to continue to support people over the coming period.

The second aspect is that of the UK budget. What we saw last week was austerity with better PR: more investment in the Chancellor's own brand and ambitions than investment in the people we represent. We saw sleight of hand, warm words but more of the failed austerity. And, do you know, I listened to Conservative Members slavishly reading out their lines to take? I would say to those Members: do your own work, read yourselves, do your own research, and what you'll see is something different. You'll see the Institute for Fiscal Studies describing the budget figures as being implausibly low. You'll see the Resolution Foundation saying that it doesn't feel like the end of austerity, particularly if you're running a local authority or a prison. What you're seeing is a Welsh budget that's 4 per cent lower in real terms than a decade ago, and what you're going to see is a real squeeze on public services in the coming years. We've seen already what the UK Government thinks of health service workers. Well, we're going to see that extended over the next decade to all public service workers, and that's something not to be proud of but to be deeply ashamed of.

And finally, Deputy Presiding Officer, what are the plans for an investment-led, jobs-led recovery? I've been hugely impressed by the work of the finance Minister and of other Ministers within the Welsh Government, corralling money to invest in our communities. We already know that there is no additional capital funding in Wales in the next financial year, but it's gone further than that, and we've seen further sleights of hand and broken promises. The UK Government is being fundamentally dishonest in its approach. The shared prosperity fund to the levelling-up fund, we are seeing money being taken out of Wales, investment being taken out of Wales. We are seeing a Government that is concerned about its image and its identity but that doesn't, frankly, give a damn about its people, and that really worries me, because we are going to have to see more investment in people and structures and businesses in the next year than we've seen in decades, and it's not being done fairly and it's not being done at the level it needs to happen. We have seen the UK Government channelling money to Tory seats in the north of England and taking money out of Wales, breaking promises on replacing European funding, breaking promises on delivering investment, breaking promises on being a fair player. We are seeing a dishonest Government acting in a way in which I could never have believed a Government would act in the past.

So, in closing, I will be supporting the Welsh Government this afternoon in this Bill, but that won't surprise anybody. But what I want to be able to do as well over the coming year, and if I'm re-elected in May to represent Blaenau Gwent, is I'll be campaigning for the investment that this borough needs, that our people need, that these communities require to recover from COVID, and that means a Welsh Government providing that investment, because we know we can't trust the Tories to do so.

Whilst there are some aspects of the Welsh Government's budget that are welcome, such as the additional moneys for the NHS, overall there is much to dislike in this spending plan.

One of my major concerns is regarding the lack of business support. The coronavirus pandemic has not just been a health crisis; it has been an economic disaster. Wales experienced the greatest increase of economic inactivity of any UK nation. The economic fallout of our response to this pandemic could be felt for generations. We don't yet know the true economic cost of this pandemic; how many businesses will have to permanently shut their doors; how many jobs will be lost; and how many people will be forced into poverty as a result. Twenty-eight per cent of people in parts of my region are already living in poverty. How many young people will have had their life chances diminished? Many economic forecasters believe the fallout from the pandemic could rival the great depression of the last century. The UK saw its biggest fall in output for centuries—the biggest fall in annual GDP since the great frost of 1709. So, while we received some welcome news from the OBR that the UK economy will grow in future years, the fact the global economy will continue to flatline does not paint a great picture. It is therefore vital that we do all we can to limit the damage. The fact that the Welsh Government has failed to deliver a comprehensive programme of business support in this budget is deplorable.

It's also ironic that, earlier this afternoon, they chose to enact the socioeconomic inequalities duty of the Equality Act 2010. So, while it's true that the Welsh Government have some of the UK's most generous business support, it is also true that far too many businesses and people are left behind. Far too many businesses do not qualify for support, because the Welsh Government doesn't approve of their business sector, and those that do qualify find the application processes confusing, and they themselves are confused. The fact that local authorities are the arbiters of some support packages has led to a postcode lottery of support, with identical businesses receiving different levels of assistance, because of to whom they pay their business rates.

We had the perfect opportunity to introduce a tailor-made business support package to help the Welsh economy weather the COVID storm and recover, but this budget has failed Welsh businesses. As a result of the UK Government's pandemic spending, Wales received an additional £0.66 billion pounds. Of the additional £30 million resource spending allocated to the economy MEG, not a single penny was spent on helping Welsh businesses. Half of the moneys are to be spent on bus support and the other on workplace learning. And whilst both are worthy causes, that's not what the Welsh economy needs right now. Where is the shot in the arm that the Chancellor of the Exchequer promised English businesses? Sadly, Welsh business continues to be let down and left behind by this Welsh Government, and as a result, the people of Wales will suffer and poverty will continue to grow, despite the Welsh Government's new duty to tackle socioeconomic inequalities. Diolch yn fawr. Thank you.

In my brief contribution to this debate, I just wanted to make a few general comments on just one or two of the key areas in the final budget. I'll open by saying that I am very pleased to be supporting it, because unlike the UK Tory Government's budget, this Welsh budget is putting our NHS and our vital public services first—public services that have again shown us their true value and their worth—while the UK Government has again shown clearly that this is a worth that they don't recognise. The budget will also provide further support to Welsh businesses, despite what Caroline Jones is saying. We all hope that they start to emerge from the worst days of this pandemic, because businesses have been living on a knife edge for the last year, but in Wales, we've had a Government that has committed to supporting them more generously than anywhere else in the UK. Who knows how many businesses and jobs would otherwise have been permanently lost to our economy without that support? 

The budget will also ensure that the incredible roll-out of the biggest vaccination programme in our history continues to be supported and builds upon the success of our made-in-Wales track and trace system—a system, again, that is delivered here by our public services working for and in the interest of public service and not private profit. Thankfully, because of the decisions made by this Welsh Labour Government, Wales has avoided the scandal of the wasted billions that we've seen in England. I'm also pleased to see the support given to building more homes. We've seen such good progress on this already, but there's still so much more to do if we're to meet the needs of so many people that I see in my constituency who need access to an affordable home, whether that is to buy or to rent.

But of course, we know that many of our aims will be undermined if the UK Chancellor does not deliver a sustainable boost in our spending. This is where I absolutely agree with Alun Davies that our message to the Chancellor must be that now is not the time to start tightening the purse strings. If the last 10 years has told us anything, it is that austerity is not a sustainable way to manage the economy, as it embeds and deepens inequality. Austerity left our public services ill equipped to deal with a crisis as huge as the pandemic. It left most of the vulnerable in our society even more vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic and it weakened many sectors of our economy that will need support for many years to come if we're to rebuild fairer after this crisis subsides. Now is absolutely not the time to return to Tory austerity. Now is the time to rebuild this country so that we have a fairer society and a fairer economy. The UK Tory Government has shown us that it won't do that, but this budget, delivered by a Welsh Labour Government, is showing how we can. I'm proud to be supporting this budget, Llywydd, and I'm proud to be supporting our Welsh Labour Government.

I'm delighted to support this budget—a really difficult budget. With the lack of ability to forecast more than a year ahead, I think this has been very smart in many ways in some of the choices and the priorities made. It caused me to reflect, actually, on what we have been doing over the last five years, despite—as Dawn Bowden, my colleague, was just saying—the challenges of austerity, and then topped by the challenges of the pandemic.

I will turn to this budget at the moment and how it impacts on my constituency. I look over the last five years in my patch, and there isn't a single town or community that hasn't had a new school built that is affecting its primary or secondary school children, or a college that has had investment. It's the biggest investment since the 1960s in the infrastructure of our schools and colleges, and that has come under this Welsh Government. As we look forward, we have commitments there of over £50 million in terms of the band B twenty-first century schools, going forward from 2021 to 2026. I know that there will be more schools. All of those Victorian schools, most of which have now gone, will be transformed into twenty-first century learning hubs for our young people.

I look at the investment in active travel, Pencoed technology park—£2.5 million—the nearly £50 million that has been brought into this part of the Cardiff city region, into Bridgend and Ogmore. We are hoping for a very good announcement within the next few days that will allow an area that I know the Minister knows very well from her background, the Ewenny strategic site—we are hoping for good news on that as part of city deal funding and Welsh Government funding, to allow the brownfield remediation of that, so that we can get on with a big, large-scale development. This is despite the challenges that we have.

If you look at Maesteg Town Hall, there's the £7 million investment in there. I know that we are losing the European money now, and the UK shared prosperity fund is nowhere to be seen at the moment, but we have European money and Welsh Government money coming in to transform that iconic building, which was built with the miners' pennies from this town, like many across the Valleys areas. It will now be transformed as an iconic venue, like what they did with Gwyn Hall in Neath, for the twenty-first century. We have extra-care housing built to the tune of £3 million in Tondu and in the top of the Llynfi valley, providing not just residential care for older people, but wraparound elderly care, including bungalows, where people can move from apartments into bungalows outside, and so on, as their condition changes.

That's why I think that it's worth reflecting, as we look at this budget, going forward, on what we have been able to achieve in these five years, despite, I have to say, the long tail end of austerity. I think that it has been remarkable. It has been well prioritised. It's been on our children, it's been on our elderly, it's been on jobs and skills and getting people into jobs as well, with construction of homes and schools and highways development and so on.

Let me just touch on some of the aspects of this and why I will be supporting this today. I thoroughly welcome the fact that we have managed to find over £630 million for our NHS and for local government, not just in response to the pandemic, but the wider strains they're under. At some point, even with the challenges, a future Government here in Wales is going to have to deal with that long tail of austerity, which has hollowed out parts of local government. They have done incredible work, and our NHS and carers, under great pressure. But, that additional £630 million is very welcome indeed.

I hugely welcome the additional investment of £220 million within house building and the schools programme. I know that, in my area, I have walked into the homes that are being built with that money. I have touched the walls, seen the electrics being put in, seen the people sitting there, building these homes. That’s what this money is all about. It's not just bricks and mortar. It's people in jobs at a time when we need it absolutely the most. These are Welsh Government priorities. But, I have to say as well, with respect to everybody else in the Cabinet, they are Welsh Labour priorities in action as well, and I applaud that entirely.

I simply want to say that it is going to be difficult for the next Government coming in. It really will be, not least because the UK Government seems to be taking away much of the support that we have seen previously from EU funding. The UK shared prosperity fund and so on is still nowhere to be seen whatsoever. It looks like pork-barrel politics to me. But, we need to continue on this set of priorities. Ultimately, it is about looking after the communities that need it the most, and keeping people in jobs, now and into the long-term future as well, and giving people hope. That's what this budget does. It gives people hope, even in the most challenging of times. So, well done, Minister, and thank you for what you've done, not just now, but in the years gone by as well.

This budget may very well be replaced by a substantially changed budget in the first supplementary budget produced post May, depending on the result of the election. Whilst council tax funding is set for the year, all other areas of expenditure can be either increased or decreased. With less than nine weeks to go to polling day, it would be helpful if the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru produced their own spending plans, and actually made them balance. Plaid Cymru have identified a large number of areas they want to increase expenditure in, but have not identified where that funding is coming from. The Conservatives have a policy of cutting taxes and increasing expenditure, which, as we all know, is impossible.

Whilst I will be supporting the budget, it is not uncritical support. Firstly, I am disappointed that money has not been found to provide free school meals to children of parents on universal credit from September when they return to school after the summer holidays. Hopefully, this will be resolved in the first supplementary budget.

Secondly, I do not believe this budget is for a post-COVID world, with an expectation of mainly a return to March 2020. That seems to be the theme of an awful lot of people who have been speaking prior to me. Working at home, online retail and online meetings have become the new normal. There will be a small return to pre-March 2020 activity in these areas. We have seen the changes mentioned above become the new norm, which was the direction we were moving in pre COVID. I know a number of people thought the fourth industrial revolution was going to be artificial intelligence. They were wrong; the fourth industrial revolution is about home working.

I would urge the Welsh Government to postpone road schemes that are not yet started until we see what demand is like. Certainly, I would again urge the Welsh Government to be very wary of using the mutual investment model. The National Audit Office found little evidence that Government investment in more than 700 existing public-private projects had delivered financial benefit. The cost of privately financing public projects can be up to 40 per cent higher than relying solely upon Government money, auditors found. Anyone who thinks that the mutual investment model leads to the private sector taking the risk is deluding themselves. The risk will be factored into any bid. Even an additional 10 per cent would cost £10 million for every £100 million contract.

Turning to the environment budget, the environment is always a top priority for everybody in the Chamber, except for when we get to budget time. Then it makes its way down, unfortunately. I welcome some of the things the Welsh Government is doing in terms of the environment, like increased budget allocation for fuel poverty. I hope that it will be sufficient to deliver progress to meet the proposed fuel poverty target set out in the plan. I further welcome additional money for delivering home energy efficiency via Arbed and Nest. The expectation that 5,500 homes will benefit from Arbed and Nest, plus the many thousands who benefit from home energy efficiency advice from Nest, is welcome. Too many people in my constituency and others are living in cold, damp homes. Far too many people live in homes that are very expensive to heat, which affects everything from their health to their children's educational attainment. I also welcome the Welsh Government's energy service, providing support for public sector bodies to help them develop energy efficiency and renewable energy schemes. I'm also aware of public sector organisations using invest-to-save to improve energy efficiency. The public sector needs to lead on improving energy efficiency. I hope we'll get a further update on what invest-to-save has done to improve energy efficiency in the near future.

Last August, the clean air plan for Wales to take a strategic direction on developing capacity and capability across Wales came in. If you believe, as I do, that the short-term reduction in transport is likely to be long term as more work from home at least some of the time, then air pollution from vehicles will reduce. I welcome the additional money for pilots to promote ultra low emission vehicles across the public sector. I also welcome the progress made by councils such as Swansea on increasing the number of electric vehicles they're using.

I would urge the Government to bring in an extended producer responsibility for plastic packaging. An easy win would be for all wrapping paper and card to be just paper as opposed to plastic and paper or glitter coated. That can actually be achieved at no cost. Whilst funding for additional producer responsibility is not in the budget, the Welsh Government should get funding from its share of any expenditure from Westminster on this.

Finally, I would urge the Welsh Government to look again at funding for NRW. When they cannot carry out basic air pollution and water pollution activity that the Environment Agency used to do, there is a problem. Thank you.

I also support this budget, and I again commend the Minister and the Welsh Labour Government for the twin commitment of tackling ambitiously the successful efforts in Wales to bear down on the pandemic and to start the process of building back our economy fairer, after a decade of starvation of funding and underinvestment to Wales. It is also right that the Welsh Government has reliably and properly put its supplementary budgets before this place, unlike the UK Government. And, although I welcome very much today's update from the finance Minister around her negotiations, it remains not right that Wales is consistently and constantly, more often than not, denied immediate flexibility to use our own money, and often treated like a backwater Government department. We are an equal partner within the UK nations, and we should be able to govern as such. It's also worrying that 20 years on in a devolved Wales, the UK Government seem determined to undermine and frustrate Wales's democratic mandate of a mature devolved fiscal governance framework.

Deputy Llywydd, this final budget adds £682.2 million for COVID-19 efforts, including £630 million to extend public contact tracing to protect core NHS services, and to support local authorities for the first six months of 2021-22. It is no underestimate to say that this money will support Wales's vaccination programme, which is one of the most successful in the world. A million vaccinations is a wonderful testimony to the Welsh Government, the NHS and all those who are delivering for Wales.

Deputy Llywydd, we see, in this final budget, the socialism of this Welsh Labour Government as we set out how we build back a truly fairer Wales: a strong capital package of more than £220 million to pump prime the Welsh economy. This is Keynesian economics at its very best. £147 million to ramp up house building, £30 million for our ambitious school buildings programme to help create jobs. But, then again, what do we see across the political aisle? Well, it's already been said: nothing but wasted billions of public money on appalling track and trace and just political expediency and opportunism, despite Wales providing the highest support package of all the UK nations. So, maybe I can forgive the Tory UK leadership here for not having time—and the Welsh Tory leadership—for doing their arithmetic, but I do not forgive them for not standing up for Wales. It is a fact that in 2021, the Welsh Labour Government committed hundreds of millions more in funding for business support in Wales than it has received in consequentials.

And in closing, Deputy Llywydd, I believe, whether you are young or old in Wales, a business, or whether you're a schoolchild, a lone parent or a family home schooling around that kitchen table, we know that this Welsh Labour Government is on your side. This budget does deliver for the people of Wales and their priorities, and we will emerge from this coronavirus pandemic, ready and able to build back better a fairer Wales, and for the many and not just the privileged few. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll now call those Members who've indicated they want to make a brief intervention. Nick Ramsay.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I wasn't going to speak in this debate, but it would have been the first final budget in living memory that I hadn't contributed to, so Mike Hedges spurred me on.

Mike Hedges said that reducing tax and increasing expenditure are incompatible. Of course, he will agree with me that they can be compatible over the longer term, providing that the economy is stimulated and enterprise is encouraged. So, can I make a plea to the Minister that she listens to what the Finance Committee has said, and other Members and backbench Members have said, over the last Senedd term, and we look at ways that the Welsh Government's longer term objectives can be better aligned to individual budgets? Because I think we often talk about the short term but we don't look at where we're going over the longer term. Rhianon Passmore just spoke about that very important term, 'Building back better', and we spoke about building back fairer. That's what we want to do, but that's only going to happen over a number of years. So, let's all work together to make sure that the good aspects of this budget can be extrapolated and Wales can be a better place in five years' time than it is now.

Thank you very much. I now call the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd to reply to the debate, Rebecca Evans.

Thank you. I've welcomed this afternoon's opportunity to debate our final budget for 2021-22, and I thank all Members for their contributions. As I outlined in my opening statement, this is a budget that's taken place amidst uncertainty and evolving circumstances, and I'm grateful to everybody for their contributions. I'd like to seek to respond to some of those key themes. In doing so, I'll just set the context again, in the sense that our core budget for day-to-day spending in 2021-22 is still 4 per cent lower in real terms than it was in 2010-11, and I think that really does speak to the level of the challenge that we face ahead of us. Particularly disappointing is our capital settlement for next year; it's £131 million down on this financial year.

And I'm frankly still reeling from a quite extraordinary meeting that I had yesterday alongside Ken Skates and Jeremy Miles with the Minister at the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and the Secretary of State for Wales, where we were essentially treated to a stakeholder briefing on the levelling up fund, and there's been absolutely zero engagement with the Welsh Government on that in the period up until now.

I was amazed when the Minister at MHLG told me, very proudly, that he was looking to install some people to be working in Cardiff so that there were people on the ground who knew and understood Wales, and so, of course, I had to tell him, 'Well, we already have people in Wales who know and understand Wales. That's the Welsh Government, it's our partners, it's the Senedd, and this is where those decisions need to be taken, as per the devolution settlement.' And what we're seeing essentially is an appalling assault on that, and everything that Alun Davies said in his contribution about the way in which the internal market Act is being used to circumvent the Welsh Government really did resonate with me. 

I do want to address some of the comments that were made in relation to the tax decisions that I've taken at this final budget. Of course, in the final budget, we've announced an extension to the land transaction tax temporary tax reduction period in Wales until 30 June. Since last July, all homebuyers here that have been subject to the main rates of LTT on properties costing more £180,000 have benefited from a tax reduction of up to £2,450, and those paying no more than £250,000 have paid no tax at all. So, only around 25 per cent of people purchasing their homes have been paying tax in that regard. And, of course, if the individuals who Mark Isherwood referred to want to come back to move into Wales, but to do so need to buy that bridging property, well, of course, they can have the additional tax that they pay back if they make that move and sell that additional property within three years. So, we do have those safeguards within the system to ensure that our tax here in Wales is progressive. If you want to know what's not progressive, again, as I've mentioned previously this afternoon, we only have to look at what the Chancellor has done in terms of the personal allowance rates, which will hit the lowest paid workers hardest. And, of course, it will be the lowest paid people who are paying the highest price for the coronavirus pandemic.

I'm really pleased that the Welsh Government has been able to provide 12 full months of rate relief for businesses in the retail, tourism and hospitality sectors. And, of course, I was astonished to hear Mark Isherwood's criticism of that, because the offer that we're making to businesses here goes well beyond that which the Chancellor has offered to his businesses across the border. And I think that we can be very, very proud of our record of supporting business here in Wales. We've said on a number of occasions that the Welsh Government has provided more financial support to businesses than we've received in consequential funding from the UK Government, and so that means that £1.9 billion is now in the bank accounts of businesses here across Wales. And more than £1 billion has been delivered through 178,000 grant awards in an unique partnership, working with local authorities who have done astonishingly good work helping us deliver those grants. And more than £520 million has been provided directly through the Welsh Government and Business Wales. Combined, that business support has helped to protect more than 165,000 jobs here in Wales, through a combination of grant and loan support. And I think that just speaks to the priority that this Government has put on saving people's jobs and their livelihoods through what we all recognise to be an economic crisis. 

And moving forward, the Welsh Government budget for the next financial year does set aside £200 million in reserves for additional business support next year, to respond to the evolving challenges of the pandemic, and I'm very pleased that we've been able to do that. 

Interesting to hear Plaid Cymru's fresh idea about a guarantee. Well, of course, Welsh Government announced our guarantee for young people much earlier on in the crisis, where we've guaranteed young people that we will support them to gain either a job or further forms of education, or support them into self-employment. I was really pleased in my opening remarks today to be announcing £18.7 million to extend business incentives to recruit more apprentices here in Wales. This is an extension of the scheme that we launched in the autumn, which has already seen more than 1,300 new apprenticeships delivered here in Wales.

Of course, climate change has been a theme that has run right through our budget deliberations this year. I remember at the budget last year, the big story then was that we were delivering the biggest package ever of support for the environment through our investment in decarbonisation and biodiversity. Well, this year, we've kept the vast majority of that funding in place, but we've gone further and allocated nearly £80 million additional capital funding to deliver interventions that promote decarbonisation and further enhance our rich biodiversity here in Wales, alongside an additional £17 million of revenue to support the interventions. Those things include, for example, £20 million extra for active travel, bringing our investment in active travel to £50 million in the next financial year; £26.6 million to boost the circular economy; £20 million for Nest, to enhance that, and Arbed and our clean energy schemes; and £5 million for the national forest, which I think is something that we're all particularly excited about. That takes the overall budget to £32 million in the next financial year, and that's alongside other interventions, such as £5 million for taking forward the delivery of a carbon-zero pilot project that will be seeking to decarbonise schools and colleges in Wales. So, you can see that our focus on climate change and addressing the climate emergency has not been diminished by the pandemic.

So, just to start to draw my remarks to a close, I'm really proud of the record of this administration. Despite a decade of austerity, we're investing further in our NHS, bringing our total investment over this term of Government to £37 billion, with more than £8.4 billion in 2021-22, excluding COVID support. We're providing local authorities with a total investment over this term to more than £25 billion with a further £16.6 billion of funding in 2021-22, and, again, excluding the additional support as a result of COVID-19.

And we're delivering on the key spending pledges that we made to the people of Wales in 2016. We've invested more than £200 million on our childcare offer; £689 million on all-age apprenticeships, alongside substantial EU funding into 2021-22; £100 million on improving school standards; the £80 million new treatment fund; and more than £610 million into 2021-22 providing rates relief for small businesses. And as I've just set out, we're taking serious and sustained action to tackle the climate emergency. Over this Senedd term, £2 billion has been invested in housing, delivering more than 20,000 affordable homes, with a further £200 million for social housing in 2021-22 to provide 3,500 additional new homes. And we're investing in the areas where we will have the greatest impact on prevention, and that is very much at the heart of our approach, and you'll see that with our continued record levels of investment in the pupil deprivation grant of more than £100 million in 2021-22. So—

The Minister does need to wind up.

I will just finish my remarks by putting on record my thanks to the Finance Committee and the other scrutineers for the work that they've done with this budget, but also their work over the past extraordinary years, and I again thank my officials for the extraordinary work that they've done. I commend the motion to colleagues.

Thank you very much. As voting on the Welsh rates of income tax for 2021-22 has been deferred until voting time, I will defer the vote on the final budget until voting time.

So, we move on to the next debate, which is the local government settlement of 2021-22, and I call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government to move the motion—Julie James.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Today, I'm pleased to present the 2021-22 local government settlement for the 22 unitary authorities in Wales to the Senedd for its approval.

Before I start, I hope you will join me in thanking local government for the critical work they do day in, day out for communities, people and businesses across Wales. Local authority staff work for their communities throughout the year, from refuse and recycling teams, teachers and social workers, to enforcement officers and housing teams. This is true each year but never more so than over the past year, as councils, their staff and elected members have responded and are continuing to respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. And it is not just those in the front-line roles, either. Without those in what we often call back-office jobs, we would not have been able to get support out so quickly to businesses across Wales or able to provide food to vulnerable and shielding households, or had such successful test and trace arrangements contributing to the ongoing reduction in the numbers of cases of the coronavirus. We cannot forget either that many authorities have also responded to the unprecedented flooding that has afflicted so many residents and businesses in Wales over the past 13 months. This has had a huge and sometimes repeated impact on many communities.

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

This year, I am pleased to be able to propose to this Senedd a settlement that means that, in 2021-22, the increase in the general revenue allocation to Welsh local government will be 3.8 per cent. This is the second-highest increase on a like-for-like basis in 14 years; the highest, of course, was this year. This is a good settlement for local government, and local government has welcomed it. It provides local government with a solid platform for the forthcoming financial year to continue to deliver the front-line services Wales needs. In 2021-22, local authorities in Wales will receive £4.65 billion in general revenue allocations from core funding and non-domestic rates. This baseline settlement increase of £176 million reflects an increase in the revenue support grant to respond to the negative impact of the pandemic on non-domestic rate collection. It also accounts for the impact of freezing the NDR multiplier. Through this settlement, we're also continuing to provide £4.8 million for authorities to deliver additional discretionary rates relief for local businesses and other ratepayers to respond to specific local issues.

The Minister for Finance and Trefnydd has been clear that one of the hard choices we have faced in setting our spending plans for next year is our approach to public sector pay. The reality is that we did not receive any additional funding through the Barnett formula to provide for public sector-wide pay awards next year, given the UK Government's decision to pause public sector pay rises except for the NHS and those on the very lowest wages. Last week's budget confirmed that the UK Government intends to cap pay increases in the NHS at 1 per cent and maintain the pay freeze in local government. People in Wales and most of us in this Senedd will be appalled at this failure to recognise the contribution of public sector workers throughout the past year. Pay negotiations in local government are conducted by local authorities across England and Wales. I regret the stance taken by the UK Government. The Welsh Government has done all it can to protect the funding for local authorities. The implications of pay awards in 2021-22, whatever they turn out to be, will need to be accommodated within authorities' budget planning in the light of this settlement.

In determining the distribution of funding across authorities for the settlement, we have directed funding into the schools part of the formula to recognise the decisions made on the 2020-21 teachers' pay deal. We are also continuing to provide funding for our proposals for new eligibility criteria for free school meals, given the continued delay to the roll-out of universal credit by the UK Government. Through this settlement, every authority will see an increase of at least 2 per cent over 2020-21 on a like-for-like basis, something that would have been unthinkable in the 10 years prior to 2020-21. I know that some authorities have commented on the variance between the highest and lowest increases. The improved estimate of relative population means that authorities with relatively higher population growth are seeing this reflected in their funding. As is always the case, these changes have been agreed with local government through the distribution and finance sub-groups. We should all be confident that our framework for distribution is based on transparent and publicly shared data that has been agreed and developed in partnership with local government.

Senedd Members may indeed contrast this arrangement with the pork-barrel approach to local funding that appears to characterise other Government administrations. In this context, I have given careful consideration to the potential of including a funding floor for the settlement. The principle of a funding floor is to ensure that no authority suffers an unmanageable change from one year to the next. I have decided not to include a funding floor in this instance. 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 2021-22. These currently amount to over £1 billion for revenue and over £760 million for capital for our shared priorities with local government.

Turning to capital, general capital funding for 2021-22 will be set at £198 million. This includes £20 million for the public highways refurbishment grant and a continuation of an additional £35 million provided for in the budget for 2020-21. This will enable authorities to continue to respond to our joint priorities of decarbonisation, the climate emergency and economic recovery following COVID-19.

The relationship between Welsh Government and local government has only been strengthened by the events of the past 12 months. I hope this positive relationship will continue beyond the term of this Government. It is because of this positive relationship that, in Wales, we recognise the need to support local authorities to respond to the pandemic. We knew that local government had the people and the skills to respond. This financial year, we have made available over £600 million to local government to enable them to do so. It has supported authorities to replace their lost income and meet additional costs from their core services. It has funded support for businesses and individuals, for schools and for families. I am very proud of the way local government and Welsh Government have responded together to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope that we can continue to work together to meet the challenges of the future, in particular to build a greener and more equal Wales.

I am aware a second good settlement in as many years does not make up for 10 years of the UK Government's austerity agenda, however. Having been part of setting a council budget, I know the challenges local authorities will still have had to make in setting their budgets. The setting of budgets, and, in turn, council tax, is the responsibility of each local authority. 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. The confirmation in the Welsh budget of over £206 million for the continued provision of the local government hardship fund will ensure that the financial impacts of the pandemic on local government will not be an added pressure on council tax payers. As I have said on more than one occasion, no-one goes into politics to want to cut services. I am proud that, through supporting local government, we are maintaining and delivering the services the people of Wales want and need. This final local government settlement is a core part of our budget to protect public services and our economy, to build a greener future and create change for a more equal Wales. I ask the Members of this Senedd to support the motion. Diolch.

Minister, firstly, I'd like to join you in commending the incredible work that our councils have done during the pandemic; the way that they've reacted and responded to the pandemic in all forms and the floods has been exceptional.

The local government settlement is a missed opportunity. Local councils in Wales will receive a smaller increase in funding compared to the previous financial year. This is in spite of the challenges facing councils as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister claims this is the best possible settlement, but this is clearly not the case. It's disappointing that, despite receiving substantial additional funding from the UK Government, the Welsh Government has not provided local government with an ambitious long-term funding settlement to help our communities to build back better. Yet councils have repeatedly warned that they will face significant financial pressures over the next few years, and the lack of financial certainty from this Welsh Government could place vital local services at risk in the future.

I welcome the increase in funding for councils and particularly that rural councils will be receiving a larger share of the funding. That is welcome, as is extending the business rate relief, finally following the rest of the UK, but the settlement is still biased towards Labour-run councils in south Wales. Of the five councils with the highest increase in their settlement, all are located in south Wales; four of the five councils are all Labour-led. Councils in north Wales have generally received a lower increase compared to elsewhere, with only Flintshire receiving an increase in funding close to the Welsh average increase. Welsh Conservative-run councils are once again receiving a below-average increase in their settlement, receiving the second-lowest average increase in the 2021-22 settlement, which comes on top of the lowest average increase last time. It is disappointing that calls by local authorities and the WLGA to introduce a funding floor, as you talked about before, to ensure that all councils receive a fair settlement have been ignored by you, Minister. Furthermore, funding allocations made through the local authority hardship fund have exacerbated the existing regional funding inequalities.

We welcome the support provided to councils during the pandemic through the local hardship fund. However, the funding is primarily aimed at relieving pressures during this financial year, rather than providing the long-term sustainable funding the councils need. It is also true that councils in south Wales have received approximately 63 per cent of the funding allocated through the hardship fund so far, while councils in north Wales have received just 19 per cent. As we begin to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to recognise the financial and economic costs of the pandemic on families across Wales by helping them to keep more of their hard-earned money to support themselves and their families. That is why we are calling for the Welsh Government to lower the costs of living in Wales by freezing council tax this year.

Presiding Officer, this settlement is a missed opportunity to help councils and communities to build back better following the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite substantial resources from the UK Conservative Government, the Welsh Government has failed to provide councils with a long-term ambitious funding settlement that enables them to invest in the services they provide and react to the impact that the COVID pandemic will have in the future. We need a fair funding settlement for all those councils to enable them to deliver services that people need, and an independent review of the funding formula to ensure that all local authorities receive their fair share of funding. Thank you.

I will also start by thanking local authority staff for the hard work that they've been doing the length and breadth of Wales in dealing with the impacts of the pandemic over the last 12 months. Throughout this troubled period, councils have often succeeded in ensuring that key services continue to be provided in exceptionally difficult circumstances, be that in the care sector, the refuse sector or in teaching. I think it's important that we thank them on the record.

The financial increase in the settlement is something to be welcomed, and I'm aware that some councils are very pleased with the settlement. But it's important to bear in mind the context, namely that this budget follows a decade of severe cuts, with councils having to make huge savings over the past decade. The analysis of the Wales Governance Centre shows that spending has fallen by 7.7 per cent in real terms between 2010 and 2019. It is disappointing, and it has already been said, but it is disappointing that the Government has decided not to set a funding floor in order to ensure that the two councils in receipt of a far smaller increase than the others, namely Ceredigion and Wrexham—they will get 2 per cent and 2.3 per cent; they will continue to lose out. I estimate that the cost of implementing this would be around £2.4 million, and I find it difficult to understand why this hasn't been provided, given that it could have made a significant difference to those councils.

Analysing the financial needs of the councils isn't simple, given that funding to deal with COVID is provided separately and that we need to take into account that council incomes have fallen, for example, through fees and payments that haven't been received for parking, and that taxation revenue has fallen in tourism and leisure. So, councils will come to the conclusion that they don't have enough funding to provide all of their services, and they will have some very difficult decisions to make. Once again, they'll have to choose between cutting jobs or increasing council tax quite substantially.

I called on you, Minister, at the beginning of February, to consider using some of the unallocated funds and to provide it to councils in order to enable them to avoid increasing council tax for the next financial year. Since then, the Conservatives have also adopted the Plaid Cymru policy, also asking for the same freeze. That's ironic, and I have to point this out, because this is a direct result of the Conservative policy of austerity, in terms of councils having to increase council tax repeatedly over recent years in the first place. As the Minister is fully aware—I know we're agreed on this—council tax is a very regressive form of taxation, and now another five-year term has gone by with a Labour Government not doing enough to make the system fairer. Facing an increase in council tax will be a huge blow to many families and individuals who've faced hardship over the past year. Yes, the budget for supporting those who are unable to pay council tax is important—it will provide crucial support, I recognise that—but that's just a sticking plaster, a short-term response to a long-term problem that will hit the poorest hardest in terms of taxation. If Plaid Cymru is in government after May, we will reform this tax in order to make it fairer and that will be a priority, and it will make a significant difference to the budgets of some of the families in greatest need. 

But to conclude, Deputy Llywydd, I would like to ask the Minister whether she agrees that we need to provide local government staff with fair salaries reflecting the crucial work that they have been doing during the pandemic, because, unfortunately, the settlement doesn't allow for this, which will mean that councils will have to try and find the money within existing budgets, which are already very tight indeed. The Unite, Unison and GMB unions have called for a pay increase of 10 per cent for council and school staff. Again, there is no provision in this settlement for any increase. So, I'd like to hear the Minister's comments on that when she responds to the debate. Thank you.

There are three things that either get overlooked or are presented in a confusing manner in the way the amount that each local authority gets is presented. I can think of no other area of Government expenditure where the percentage increase rather than the actual amount is announced, so the actual amount is lost and discussion resolves around the percentage change. Ceredigion, which we heard about earlier, had one of the lowest percentage increases, but it's actually twelfth in the league table of Government funding per person. And I would urge people to look at the league table of Government funding per person. They do hide it on page 5 of the data they provide, but it is there.

The Government's local government grant is to top up council tax, hence why Blaenau Gwent has the largest aggregate external funding. It has over 50 per cent of its properties in band A, and Monmouthshire has the lowest, with over half its properties in band E and above. There is a direct correlation between council bands in an area and the aggregate external funding each council receives. That that increase is driven mainly by relative population change is well known. As I will not be able to intervene on Russell George, I want to emphasise that Powys gets £16 per head more than Swansea. While Powys had the added cost of rurality, Swansea has the cost of providing regional facilities and for things such as street homelessness. Of the four councils receiving the most aggregate external funding, two are Labour controlled. Of the four receiving the least, two are also Labour controlled. On north Wales, three of the councils are in the top half of Government support and the other three in the bottom—hardly prejudiced against north Wales.

As part of the local government settlement, local authorities are receiving nearly £4.5 billion in core revenue funding and non-domestic rates to spend on delivering key services. And that's what local authorities do: they deliver key services. The non-hypothecated general capital funding will be £198 million, an increase of £15 million over that announced in the final Welsh budget last year. The increase in capital budgets over the last three years enabled local government to invest in increasing the supply of housing, which will minimise the pressure on local authorities' budgets and the homelessness services. It will also allow councils to start to respond to the urgent need to decarbonise in light of the climate emergency declared by the Welsh Government and many councils over the past year.

Overall, the settlement represents an increase of 4.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis. No authority has an increase of less than 3 per cent, with the highest at 5.4 per cent. In terms of local government support, it's a good settlement in comparison to the 10-year average and most years during the time I've been here. I would like to compliment local authorities on keeping their basic services working and supporting local businesses during the pandemic. Local authorities have done a phenomenal job, but local authorities always do a phenomenal job. 

It is important that all parts of the Westminster and Welsh Governments have not performed as well. While I often call on organisations to help themselves rather than asking for more money, that is what councils do. Swansea Council's budget position for 2019-20 improved by £18 million compared to the estimate set out at the beginning of the financial year. The council's £445 million budget for 2019-20 has produced a better than expected position in social services, and the careful use of the council's contingency fund, amounting to just over £11 million saved between them. This has been boosted by a further £7 million of capital financing savings as part of the medium-term strategy to fund the overall capital programme and future borrowing. 

This is how Swansea Council will be spending the extra money: schools will get an extra £6.85 million directly into classrooms, with £7.1 million for new IT kit, which has been such a help to schooling at home recently. Parents will see school meal prices frozen for the year. Social services, which have borne the challenge of COVID-19 in supporting the vulnerable, will get £7.7 million more, plus there will be £5.5 million on top to absorb any further pandemic pressures. For the environment, there will be an extra £6.1 million and a new team to deal with litter, street cleaning, and extending pothole repair services. There will be a new rapid-response team to deal with flooding problems. There will be more cash for better sports parks and community facilities, including £100,000 for improved public toilets, new free public Wi-Fi services, and investing in planting thousands of new trees and developing more green spaces.

Swansea is just one of the councils that is doing a phenomenal job. It's the area that I represent, and the one that the Minister represents, but it really is: give councils the money and they will do the job. They will do it better than any other organisations. We have seen, in England, during the pandemic, that the private sector is very good at making profit but not very good at delivering things such as school meals. If councils are given the funding, they deliver for our communities. I hope that this Government will continue to fund councils fairly and well, because the money they spend benefits us all.

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'm just wanting to thank Members for their interest and their contributions. Just responding to the specific points that Members raised, just for a moment, I'm almost speechless at the brass neck of Laura Jones, who tried to accuse the Welsh Government of the kind of pork barrel politics that she has obviously come to expect in a local government settlement, as she represents a party that has been accused by a professor in Cambridge, Professor Diane Coyle, the Bennett professor of public policy at Cambridge University, of being pretty blatant in their pork barrel politics in directing £4.8 million of funding to Tory seats with no justification whatsoever. You can tell that that's what she expects of others, but I am here to tell her that we do not behave like that in Wales. As Mike Hedges pointed out, you can look at the amount-per-capita spend in an entirely different way, and the increase year on year, and you can see that there is absolutely no bias towards Labour authorities or towards any particular region. The distribution settlement works fairly and well, and it's why we have such a good relationship with local authorities, which is also not the case across the border, where the assumption on the level of funding available for local authorities assumes a council tax increase of 4.99 per cent across the board.

Turning to what Delyth said, I agree with a large percentage of what Delyth said. I did actually say, though, in my opening remarks, Delyth, that we were absolutely appalled at the UK Government stance on public sector pay. They're reneging on the promises they made to the NHS staff, and there is absolute naked disregard of the work that people have put into public service over the pandemic, both in England and indeed across Wales, where of course we have kept all of our response services in the public sector and people have absolutely stepped up to that challenge in a way that I am extremely grateful for. I say again, with no apology whatsoever, that without local government employees we could not have made it through the pandemic in the order that we have, and I am very grateful to them. However, we are not funded to provide that settlement, and it is dreadful that we are not funded to provide the settlement that we would have liked to have provided, because of course we will not get a consequential from the pay settlement in England, because they are not going to do it. It's outrageous, really. 

In terms of the comments on the sufficiency of the settlement, the Government does recognise the priorities and pressures we and local government are facing through the settlement and the wider funding available to local government. As is set out in the Welsh budget by my colleague and friend Rebecca Evans, the Minister for finance, our funding priorities continue to be health and local government services. This financial settlement is a significant continued improvement in funding for local government and delivers on that priority. 

Just to reflect what Mike Hedges said, it reflects our commitment to supporting those who need it most, and we know that that can mostly be delivered via our local councils. As he said, the range of things that local authorities are able to deliver across Wales, because of this excellent settlement, is something that will benefit us all. Of course we would have liked to have done a longer term settlement, but of course we are ourselves not given that longer term settlement, and so we cannot give onwards to the authorities that which we are not given ourselves. We've had that discussion on a number of occasions with local government and I know that they have made that point directly to the Secretary of State themselves that this is something we all need, and the Minister for finance said earlier that it would be much better if we had a multi-year settlement so that we could all plan for the future in a much more reflective way.

Delyth also made very good points about the ongoing pandemic and its wide-ranging and disproportionate effect on deprived residents across Wales. But I am pleased to be able to say, Delyth, that the hardship fund has completely covered off the areas that you mentioned, rightly, as areas of concern. So, we have been able to replace the lost income from car parks and other venues across Wales, and we have also replaced the lost income that care homes have not received, and we have also replaced the lost income for council tax and for NDR. So, local authorities are not in a position where the pandemic has stopped them being able to do things that they would otherwise have been able to do.

I wasn't asked in this debate—but I've been asked elsewhere, and so I'll reflect on it—why we are using 'COVID funding' to allow authorities to do things like, for example, repair potholes in roads. And the answer to that is because it's replacing income they would otherwise have used to repair the potholes in the roads. That's the purpose of it. It's not just for public health purposes, it's to replace lost income and lost opportunities. So, I'm very pleased to be able to say that we've done that on an ongoing basis, and, again, my colleague Rebecca Evans has been able to say that we will be able to do that going forward for at least the next six months as part of the COVID response, and local authorities have been very glad to have had that confirmation of their ongoing efforts.

So, we will be able to continue to maintain full entitlements under our council tax reduction scheme for 2021-22, and again we're providing £244 million in the local government settlement in recognition of this, and that is because, as we said, 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. I'd just like to point out to Laura Jones that this council tax benefit does not exist in England. Perhaps she's forgotten that. We are protecting the most vulnerable in our society against the disproportionate effect of council tax, and that is not the case in England.

The settlement today continues to provide unhypothecated capital funding to local authorities to meet their own priorities and to invest with Welsh Government in our shared priorities. It continues the additional £35 million provided for in the budget for 2021, and £20 million for the public highways refurbishment grant, which can include support for active travel infrastructure. The budget today announced a capital stimulus programme of over £224 million. This includes an additional £147 million to ramp up housing programmes, and an extra £30 million to accelerate the ambitious twenty-first century schools and colleges programme. This capital investment is helping to support economic growth, sustainable jobs and training opportunities in every part of Wales, as well as the benefits of the capital structures themselves.

Many of you today have made the case for your own local authority, of course. The formula produces relative winners and losers, but all authorities saw an increase in funding on a like-for-like basis this year, and all authorities see an increase next year. No authority should be in a position where they're disadvantaged, as the planning assumptions that we gave them are at least what they received. The distribution formula is a joint endeavour between the Welsh Local Government Association and the Welsh Government. We agree all changes through established working groups. The formula continues to use the most up-to-date, appropriate data, and there is an ongoing programme of work to refine it and 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. This means that we here in Wales are absolutely confident that we deliver an equitable and objective distribution of the funding available, unlike what is happening in England before your very eyes. I want to reassure all areas of Wales that there is no deliberate bias or unfairness in our formula, and to suggest so is absolutely unfair to those who engage so positively in the work to deliver it, and that is across all local authorities and the experts again who sit on our distribution sub-group.

As I say, any formula, of course, means winners and losers. If local government collectively wishes to more fully review the formula, I am open to that. I say so endlessly on the floor of this Senedd, Deputy Presiding Officer. I will say it again. But we should be mindful of how long the fair funding review in England has taken to produce a similar concept to what we already had in Wales, though without the same level of funding for councils in England as we provide here in Wales. But no system is set in stone. Several research papers on local tax reform have been commissioned and published by the Welsh Government as part of an extensive programme of work on options for potential local government finance and local tax reform. We hope this research informs the development of the local government finance system during the next Senedd term, whoever is in power.

I am more than happy to commend this settlement to the Senedd; I am proud of it. It reflects our commitment to public services and continues to support local government across Wales to deliver for the people of Wales. I remain grateful to local government, and I am very grateful indeed to my own team of officials who have worked so very hard to deliver this settlement to us. I commend the motion, Deputy Presiding Officer.

Thank you very much. And the proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? Is that an objection from—? [Objection.] Okay, thank you. I didn't know whether you were flicking your pen then or not. Yes, there is an objection. So, we will vote on this at voting time.

We now move to the next debate on our agenda this afternoon, which is on the police settlement of 2021-22. Again, I call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government to move to the motion—Julie James.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Today, I am presenting to the Senedd, for its approval, details of the Welsh Government's contribution to the core revenue funding for the four police and crime commissioners, or PCCs, in Wales for 2021-22. Before I do so, Deputy Presiding Officer, I'd like to pay tribute to all of those who serve in our police forces. Over the past year, our police forces have had to deal with unprecedented challenges as a result of the pandemic. They have put themselves on the front line in enforcing national restrictions, risking their own and their families' health and well-being. The pandemic has, of course, not been the only emergency incident that police have helped to deal with over the last year. Those who serve in our police forces across Wales not only keep our communities safe, they maintain the highest standards of duty, dedication and, at times, bravery. Particularly given the recent events, I'd like to record my gratitude to all of the Welsh emergency services for their resilience, and I'm sure these comments will be echoed in this Chamber. 

I recognise the importance of the Welsh police forces and their vital role in protecting and serving our communities here in Wales. The police service in Wales is a positive example of how devolved and non-devolved services can work effectively together. Members will be aware that the core funding for the police in Wales is delivered through a three-way arrangement involving the Home Office, the Welsh Government and council tax. As policing policy and operational matters are non-devolved, the overall funding picture is determined and driven by the Home Office. The established approach to setting and distributing the Welsh Government component has therefore been based on a principle of ensuring consistency and fairness across England and Wales.

I would like to thank PCCs again for their patience this year. Due to the delay in the UK Government's spending review, the Welsh Government's final budget was not published until 2 March. This has once again resulted in PCCs having to set their precepts before the police settlement passed through the Senedd. As outlined in the final police settlement announcement on 4 February, the total unhypothecated revenue support for the police service in Wales for 2021-22 amounts to £408 million. The Welsh Government's contribution to this amount through revenue support grant and redistributed non-domestic rates is £143.4 million, and it is this funding you are being asked to approve today. 

As in previous years, the Home Office has decided to overlay its needs-based formula with a floor mechanism. This means that, for 2021-22, PCCs across England and Wales will all receive an increase in funding of 6.3 per cent compared to 2020-21. The Home Office will provide a top-up grant totalling £23.1 million to ensure Dyfed-Powys Police, North Wales Police and Gwent Police forces meet the floor level. In terms of core funding, this is a cash flat settlement.

The Home Office advises that the 6.3 per cent increase is to provide funding to recruit an additional 6,000 police officers, shared amongst the 43 forces in England and Wales. The Welsh Government is determined to strengthen the economy and create employment opportunities across the country. I welcome the opportunity for people across Wales to consider a career in the police forces. The Prime Minister has committed to a target of 20,000 new officers by the end of 2022-23. However, this target must not be met at the expense of core police services. As in 2020-21, the Home Office will continue to provide a specific grant to PCCs in 2021-22 to fund the additional pressure as a result of the UK Government's changes to the pension contribution rates. The Home Office have kept the grant value at £143 million in 2021-22, with £7.3 million of this allocated to PCCs in Wales. 

PCCs also have the ability to raise additional funding through their council tax precept. The UK Government has set the upper precept limit for PCCs in England to £15 in 2021-22, estimating this will raise an additional £288 million. Unlike the limits that apply in England, Welsh police and crime commissioners have the freedom to make their own decisions about council tax increases. Setting the precept is a key part of the police and crime commissioner's role, which demonstrates accountability to the local electorate.

We appreciate that difficult decisions are necessary in developing plans for the coming years with only a one-year budget. The Welsh Government is committed to working with PCCs and chief constables to ensure funding challenges are managed in ways that minimise the impact on community safety in Wales. As part of this, the Welsh Government, in its 2021-22 budget, has continued to fund the 500 community support officers recruited under the previous programme for Government commitment. The Welsh Government has maintained the same level of funding for the delivery of this commitment as in 2020-21, with the £18.6 million agreed in the budget for next year, subject to, of course, the vote this afternoon, Deputy Presiding Officer. One of the main drivers behind this project was to add visible police presence on our streets at a time when the UK Government is cutting back on police funding. The full complement of officers has been deployed since October 2013, and they are making a positive contribution to public safety across Wales. They will continue to work with local communities and partners to improve outcomes for those affected by crime and anti-social behaviour.

Returning to the purpose of today's debate, the motion is to agree the local government finance report for police and crime commissioners that has been laid before the Senedd. If approved, this will allow the commissioners to confirm their budgets for the next financial year. I therefore ask Senedd Members to support this motion today. Diolch.

I, of course, Minister, would like to join you in commending the work of the police forces in its entirety, and the emergency services also, particularly during the pandemic. I do, however, believe that they could have been better protected on the front line.

The total amount of central support for police forces in Wales in 2021-22 will be £408.2 million. This is an increase of around £24 million compared to the previous financial year. Thanks to the increase in the financial support from the UK Conservative Government, police forces in Wales will receive a 6.3 per cent increase in funding for the upcoming financial year. This comes on top of a 7.5 per cent increase in funding for the current financial year. This will help police forces to tackle crime and deliver safer streets, enabling Welsh communities to build back safer.

However, the Welsh Government's contribution to the police settlement has stagnated. The Welsh Government will provide a total of £143.4 million, which is the same level of funding as in 2019-20 and 2020-21. In fact, the Welsh Government support for the police settlement has increased by just £4.7 million between 2017-18 and 2021-22. By comparison, the UK Conservative Government support has increased by £53.6 million between 2017-18 and 2021-22, meaning that the total central support for Welsh police forces has increased by more than 16 per cent since 2017. This is a 5.7 per cent increase compared to 2020-21, significantly higher than the rate of inflation. This means that the Welsh police forces will share total resource funding of over £780 million, highlighting the benefits of being part of the union by ensuring that police forces have the resources they need to keep Wales safe.

Welsh Labour and Plaid police and crime commissioners have increased the police precept, as you outlined, by almost a third since the last PCC elections, taking even more money out of people's pockets. Despite complaining about a lack of funding, Wales's PCCs have spent more than £8 million on public relations and staffing costs between 2016 and 2020. Welsh Conservative PCCs would tackle this unforgivable waste of public money and instead focus on delivering on people's priorities—putting more police officers on our streets, tackling crime and creating safer streets. The most recent statistics show that an extra 309 police officers have been so far recruited in Wales under the UK Government's recruitment strategy. Meanwhile, the UK has announced an additional 283 police officers will be recruited in Wales under year 2 of the police uplift programme in 2021-22.

Furthermore, Wales will benefit from additional specialised police officers, ensuring that Wales is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and organised crime. Recent statistics show that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, crime in England and Wales has reduced by 6 per cent in the 12 months to September 2020, highlighting that the UK Government's investment in our police is delivering results.

While the Conservatives are supporting the police and delivering safer streets, Welsh Labour and Plaid are obsessing over the devolution of justice, legalising drugs and votes for convicted criminals. The Welsh Government's Commission on Justice in Wales report recommended the full devolution of justice to the Welsh Government, yet this fails to recognise the cross-border nature of criminal activity and the importance of working together to tackle crime. Any devolution of criminal justice may hinder collaborative working between police forces in Wales and elsewhere in the UK. Presiding Officer, the UK Conservative Government is delivering on the priorities of the people of Wales by ensuring that there are more police officers on our streets, as well as emphasising its commitment to deliver the resources our police forces need. Many thanks. 

Like all Welsh public services, the police service has been subject to austerity since the banking crash of 2008, and every police service in this country has seen its front-line contact with the public diminish as police stations have closed and police bases placed further away from the communities that they serve. Everyone that I have spoken to who works in the police service wants more resources. There are now specific COVID-related issues that the police have seen place extra demands, additional demands, on their time and resources. I'd like to take this opportunity to add my thanks to everybody who has worked on the front line in the police service and all other key workers, who've seen their working lives altered beyond all recognition as a result of this COVID crisis. It's important to put on record that their efforts are very well appreciated by us all. 

COVID means that there are more laws to enforce now, and while some account might have been taken of that in financial terms, the fact remains that years of successive budget cuts have left the police with challenges during COVID, just like all other public services have faced challenges as a result of COVID. And, of course, cuts to other public services impact upon the police, too. More homeless people, more work for the police. Cuts to mental health services sees more people with mental health problems having to be dealt with by the police, when many years ago they would have been able to have much easier access to the specialist support that they need. 

Now, I know that Plaid Cymru's police and crime commissioner candidates have some fantastic ideas as to what could be done in that role. And, of course, we have two police and crime commissioners who are already doing fantastic work in that role. But, of course, all of their ambitions will be limited, to some extent at least, by budgets. It's no secret that Plaid Cymru wants to see the police—in fact, the whole of the criminal justice system—devolved. It makes no sense for some of the public services to be devolved but not the police. We want to be able to treat substances as a health issue and not a criminal issue, where that's relevant, but we can't do that without responsibility over police and crime. How can we properly address adverse childhood experiences when health and education are devolved but policing and criminal justice aren't? Scotland is showing us how, with devolved police, you can take a whole-systems approach, focusing more on crime prevention, early intervention, multidisciplinary support to divert people away from the criminal justice system where that's the right thing to do—something we should be able to do, especially when the person's problem is more of a health problem than a criminal problem. 

Plaid Cymru will soon be outlining our plans ahead of the PCC elections to make police funding in Wales fairer. There is so much more that we could do to combat fear of crime, to be more visible in communities, to reduce crime and reoffending, to tackle ACEs, to support victims and tackle hate crime. But, to do this properly, the police need decent investment. The Government knows that this settlement is inadequate, and it knows that what is before us today is not enough. 

I very much agree with other speakers in this debate this afternoon. We all owe a great deal to police officers and to all those who have been working on the front line in the emergency services, particularly over the last year with the additional pressures of COVID and the additional pressures that they have had to face. And in paying tribute to them, we shouldn't try to pretend that they're not under the pressures they are under, and we shouldn't try to pretend that they have received the funding and the resources that they deserve and they need.

If I was a Conservative spokesperson in this debate, I would probably do what Laura Jones actually did do, which is to choose a year—I think she chose 2017—when funding was at its lowest, and then demonstrate that the Conservative UK Government had been generous by replacing some of the funding that they themselves had already cut from the budget. Had she been completely honest in her approach, she would have gone back to 2013, because that's the furthest back we can go under current comparisons, and she would have looked at the funding that was available to police forces from the Home Office in 2013 and 2014. I've done that; it was £240 million, which is a curious figure, because it's the same figure that's in today's budget from the Home Office. We've had eight years of funding that's been cut by the Home Office and replaced in the last two or three years, so the Home Office funding to Welsh police forces today is exactly the same in cash terms as it was back in 2013 and 2014, and trying to pretend that that is in some way generous or that the Home Office and the UK Government are in some ways increasing funding to the police is exceptionally disingenuous and, frankly, dishonest; it doesn't tell the truth about police funding over the last few years.

But there's another truism there as well, and that is that the Home Office has changed through its own cuts and through a wider strategy. In terms of the balance of funding for the police back in 2013 or 2014, the council tax precept as part of overall police funding formed around 37 per cent of the total budget available to police forces. Today, that figure is 47 per cent. Nearly half of police funding today in Wales is raised in Wales. It's not provided by the Home Office. And of course, the average precept has increased from £198 in 2013-14 to £274 today. And that is to replace the cuts that have been made by the Home Office in police funding. So, let's be honest about this debate, and let's be honest about what's happened in recent years. That's a tragedy for individual police officers, it's a tragedy for the police service, and it's a tragedy for the communities that need the police to keep us safe. We need to do something about that.

I agree with much of what Leanne Wood had to say in this debate, because the issue around the support and structure of policing isn't simply around the distribution of criminality; if that were the case, then the UK Government would never have taken the UK out of the EU justice system, which is probably the single most destructive thing that's been done in the last few decades in terms of addressing issues of criminality and catching crooks, quite frankly. There'll be more people evading justice today because of that single decision than we've had in any time in recent years.

But we need to go further and to do more than that. If we had a justice system that was fit for purpose in Wales, then we would have a justice system that addressed the issues of women in it. We do not. For centuries, we've had criminal justice controlled by Westminster without giving a damn about the interests of the people in Wales. There has not been a single centre for women established throughout all those decades and centuries of central control, and that is a tragedy. We also know that up until a few years ago, there was no secure facility in north Wales, and then a superprison was created in Wrexham that doesn't meet the needs of north Wales, but meets the needs of the justice system largely in England.

So, we don't have a criminal justice system that's fit for purpose. We don't have a criminal justice system that is funded properly. The debate we had in the budget debate demonstrated very clearly that we'll have a Ministry of Justice that will see further cuts in the next five or six years and that will lead to even more pressures on the police force and even more pressures on the criminal justice system. I think what the police force want from this Parliament isn't warm words and sympathy, and a level of, frankly, dishonesty; what they want is funding and resources and the ability to be structured, governed properly amongst other public services in Wales, accountable to the communities they police, and the ability to do the job.

I now call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government to reply to the debate—Julie James.

Diolch, Llywydd. I would like to thank Members for their interest and contributions today.

Once again, what to say to Laura Jones? I don't know whether she just didn't understand it or is being disingenuous, as Alun says. But just to reiterate once more, the funding provided through the Welsh Government accounts for 35 per cent of the core revenue grant funding for policing in Wales. When council tax is included, 65 per cent of the general funding for policing in Wales is administered here. Obviously any devolution of policing that happens would need to come with the appropriate funding. I absolutely agree with both Leanne Wood and Alun Davies about both the importance of us having control of that in order to do all of the things that they both set out, and with which I entirely agree, and our ability to fund those strategies, possibly.

Laura Anne Jones, I'm sure, knows that the Welsh Government passes on the amount agreed with and transferred to the Welsh Government from Her Majesty's Treasury and the Home Office. Policing is non-devolved, as I'm sure she knows, and it's obviously not appropriate to reduce funding for devolved responsibilities in order to increase them for non-devolved responsibilities. I think that's just self-evident. So, she was either, as I say, being disingenuous or fundamentally misunderstands the purpose. I suspect strongly, as Alun Davies said, she was merely trying to make a political point very poorly.

I'd just like to reiterate once more that community safety is obviously a top priority for this Government. As I said in my opening remarks, whilst this settlement appears on the face of it to be a good settlement, as Alun and Leanne both pointed out, it is in fact cash flat in terms of core funding, and therefore not in fact a good settlement at all. It merely restores the police to where they were before.

I know that some police and crime commissioners have expressed concern that while additional funding has been provided for new officers, there is still insufficient funding for the existing complements. However, this is a matter, unfortunately, for the Home Office, as it's not devolved to us, and there's nothing we can do to make that up. We are, however, committed to working with PCCs and chief constables to ensure that these challenges are managed in ways that limit the impact on community safety and front-line policing in Wales. Continuing to work in partnership, as always, to identify and take forward opportunities is very important, as is demonstrated by the successful deployment of our 500 community support officers, who have made such a difference to the visible police presence on our streets in this last year, as always.

On that basis, Llywydd, I commend this settlement to the Senedd. Diolch.

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] Yes, there is an objection—[Interruption.]

Yes, I did see. Thank you.

Therefore, I defer voting under this item until voting time.

We have now reached the debate on Stage 4 of the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill. I call on the Minister for Education to introduce this item—Kirsty Williams.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I formally move the motion.

I would like to begin by thanking the Chairs and members of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, and the Finance Committee, as well as other Members who have contributed to the scrutiny of this historic Bill. Thank you also to the Commission staff for their conscientious and diligent work, as well as the unstinting counsel and exemplary efforts of my officials and others across Government. They have gone above and beyond in maintaining their, and my, optimism in delivering on behalf of pupils, parents, teachers and our whole education system during these challenging months.

In the spirit of what I have called 'our national mission' over the last five years, I'm also grateful to all of those across the country who have helped shape the Bill and associated guidance. It is not the easiest journey when Governments pursue radical reform and do it through co-construction, co-operation and collective effort. It might—indeed, it probably would—have been simpler to cook up plans in Cathays Park in a back office and issue a 'take it or leave it' offer. But our combined efforts with teachers, academics, parents, and many organisations here and abroad is worth so much more because of that 'national mission' spirit.

Presiding Officer, as you know, I'm a student of American history, and John F. Kennedy, during a challenging time of his presidency, said:

'Our deep spiritual confidence that this nation will survive the perils of today—which may well be with us for decades to come—compels us to invest in our nation's future, to consider and meet our obligations to our children and the numberless generations that will follow.'

Llywydd, it has been a year full of perils, but we have maintained our focus and our commitment to investing in Wales's future and meeting our obligations as a Government and as a Parliament. It has taken a great deal of time and effort to get to this point. It may have taken several years, but now we have this historic and innovative Bill, made in Wales for Wales, which will reform and effectively deliver on the purpose and vision of the curriculum. I am really proud to be a Minister to have got to this point, but, equally, I am a proud parliamentarian. I have sought to view this Bill's Senedd journey through not only a Government's perspective, but through my eyes as a long-time Member of the opposite side. I hope that colleagues have valued the creative tension, the consideration of big ideas and, yes, the compromises along the way, because I certainly have.

In particular, the constructive challenge offered by the CYPE committee has given us a better and bolder piece of legislation. Each Member and each party has made their contribution, and our pooled efforts and our shared purpose has shown this Parliament at its very best. It may not have been possible, that genuine challenge and co-operation, without the drive and determination of the committee Chair. Lynne, we are both Members of the class of 1999 and I may be graduating this year, but it is my firm belief that you still have much more to contribute to reforming education and, in particular, promoting good mental health and well-being support for all. 

One of the core principles of the Bill is to reduce prescription in the curriculum, and to allow our teachers and other education practitioners the freedom to make decisions around teaching and learning that are appropriate for their learners, but within a national framework. The focus of the Curriculum for Wales is on enabling children and young people to fulfil the aspirations set out in our four purposes. The Bill will support this by providing a framework for a broad and balanced curriculum, based on promoting children's rights and putting learners' mental health at the forefront of implementation. Another key aspect is to support the improved teaching and learning of the Welsh language, and, indeed, other languages, in all schools and settings. 

Llywydd, in delivering on our national mission over these years, I have often invoked the great Welsh educationalist and progressive Elizabeth Phillips Hughes. She was the only woman on the committee that drafted the University of Wales's original charter, and she was the first principal of the Cambridge teacher college for women. In a pamphlet of 1884 arguing for co-education and the promotion of women's education, and the importance of a Welsh dimension to our education system, she said that 'education must be national, and it must be in our own hands'. Today is a day where we can say that we are delivering on that promise, because of our own Government, and because of our own Parliament. The education of the future is truly in the hands of our teachers, our schools and our nation.  

This Bill is the product of a shared desire to reform education and improve the life chances and futures for all of our children and young people. If approved today, it will provide for the most significant legislative reform to compulsory education in Wales for decades. I urge Members of our Senedd to support it. Diolch yn fawr. 

I must begin by thanking our dedicated Chair, my fellow committee members, clerks, researchers and lawyers of the Children, Young People and Education Committee for the phenomenal amount of work that went into scrutinising and improving this Bill. The evidence sessions were scrupulously balanced, witnesses were thoroughly challenged on their evidence, and you can see from the number of recommendations that the committee made at Stage 1 that we have lived and breathed it almost as much as the Minister and her department.

We took and analysed a lot of evidence—much of it at the same time as the committee was scrutinising COVID—so the work of the Chair and the staff needs well-deserved recognition on the record. And I thank the Minister too, who has put her heart and soul into this, and she will be remembered for it. Obviously, we welcome her willingness to move on the matter of life skills—something her Cabinet colleagues have resisted over the years without any compelling reason—and we are also grateful to her for securing a strong place for the teaching of menstrual well-being, both fought hard for by my colleague, Suzy Davies.

It will be down to the next Senedd now to ensure that the Minister's intentions are properly reflected and taught, but what has impressed me has been the Minister's willingness to consider changes to the Bill at all stages, even on controversial areas of the Bill, if it meant a fairer way of achieving her goals within it. The swift acceptance of the need to fix the Welsh-language provisions and the movement on all schools being under an equal duty to have regard for an agreed RVE curriculum were about getting rid of discrimination. The new spotlight on mental health and children's rights was a recognition of policies that improved the effectiveness of the Bill, even if they disrupted the design of the Bill. One of the big lessons learnt is that the Bill would have been a lot easier to understand and scrutinise if it had been drafted from scratch; much of the running around after Stage 1 was needed because of the cutting and pasting of phrases from pre-devolution education Acts and references back to them. We have the legislation Act, which took the Assembly time that it could ill afford when we were in the throes of leaving the EU. I hope the sixth Senedd doesn't leave it on the shelf. The ultimate test of this Bill will now be that it raises standards for all and equips our young people to be inquisitive, adaptable, responsible, confident problem solvers who grow up thinking they have a duty to contribute to society, whatever their background.

Without a huge investment of time and training the current workforce and expanding it, there remains a risk that these monumental changes will fail or take effect too slowly. I also hope that we work hard to ensure, in the next Senedd, that schools will forge strong links with local businesses and experts to ensure and to enable the very best real-life education, which I know that the new curriculum will allow for. The RSE code and some work around assessment—this is the curriculum and assessment Bill, after all—will need detailed scrutiny in the early next Senedd.

Suzy Davies, our shadow Cabinet spokesperson for education, deserves many, many thanks for all her hard work in scrutinising this Bill. It's a shame she can't be with us today, but she needs thanks on the record for all her contributions towards this.

But congratulations, Minister. I look forward to seeing the new curriculum achieving all that we hope it will achieve, and I encourage Members to support this Bill. Thank you.

Plaid Cymru supports the direction that the new education curriculum takes us in. The young people of Wales have wanted to learn skills appropriate for life and modern workplaces for some time. We also believe in empowering teachers and giving them the freedom to teach creatively. The emphasis on the development and progress of the individual is also to be warmly welcomed. Enabling every individual, whatever their circumstances, to reach their full potential, is at the core of our values as a nation.

There is a real opportunity, through the curriculum, to start to transform the education system in Wales. If it is to properly take root, our teachers will need the space and the opportunity to fully understand the requirements of the new curriculum. This is more important than ever given COVID, when there will be so many challenges facing our schools, but I do agree with the Minister that the emphasis of the new curriculum could be beneficial in that recovery, with the excellent emphasis on mental health and well-being.

If the curriculum is to succeed, then giving our teachers the opportunity to adapt is crucially important, and to do that they will need the support of supply teachers and that will be priceless. We will also need sufficient teaching resources, and to deliver that, we need an injection of financial investment so that that can reach the schools. We also need to align the assessment and schools accountability systems to the new curriculum. We need to re-design qualifications and to move away from examinations and towards ongoing assessment. The emphasis on individual progress needs to be reflected in the way that we assess too.

In turning now to the Bill itself, I do believe that the Bill itself is flawed. There is no consistency within it, because it does emphasise certain mandatory elements, but rejects and refuses to include others. Whilst agreeing with the inclusion of relationship and sexuality education, and religion, values and ethics on the face of the Bill, Plaid Cymru argued for the inclusion of two other mandatory elements that could also contribute towards creating that social, far-reaching transformation that we want to see, namely the history of Wales in all of its diversity, including black and people of colour history, and environmental education, including climate change.

Whilst there is an assurance that these two transformational elements that are on the face of the Bill will be taught, there is no assurance that the other two that I've mentioned will be given due attention, and for me, that is a fundamental flaw within the Bill. Guidance simply isn't enough. It's easy to scrap guidance or to change guidance, unlike issues which have a statutory basis and are included on the face of the Bill.

I've not been given a logical explanation that could convince me as to why my amendments couldn't have been accepted, which also includes significantly strengthening the way the Welsh language is taught in our schools. We will, therefore, vote against the legislation today, and we, in Government, will seek an early opportunity to amend it.

Thank you, Llywydd, for this opportunity to make a brief contribution on what I think is a landmark occasion today. Passing this Bill will not just be setting the legal framework for the first review of the curriculum in over 30 years—it will be our first Curriculum for Wales, co-constructed with the profession and made in Wales. And if ever there was a time for a curriculum rooted in well-being, now is that time, after all our children and young people have been through.

Despite the constraints of the pandemic and the virtual proceedings, the committee did undertake a full Stage 1 process, and I hope that anyone who has read our Stage 1 report will agree that we did our best to do this Bill justice. So, I'd like to thank the whole committee for their hard work on this Bill, but also to say a very special thank you to my committee team. Llinos Madeley and Michael Dauncey worked incredibly hard, grappling with some very complex and challenging issues, and have provided absolutely wonderful support for the committee's work on this Bill. And as this may well be my last opportunity to do this in the Chamber, I also wanted to take this opportunity to place on record my thanks to the whole committee team, both clerking and research, for the absolutely phenomenal support they've given me and the rest of the committee in the last five years. Diolch o galon.

I'd like to thank the Minister for her consistent ready willingness to engage and listen to the committee throughout this whole process. I've always believed that strong committee scrutiny provides better Government, and that is very much, I think, in evidence with this Bill, and also to thank her officials, who I think have bent over backwards to engage with the committee, arrange extra briefings and always been there to respond to our queries. So, my heartfelt thanks to them as well.

In particular, I am absolutely delighted that the Minister agreed to place mental health on the face of this Bill, signalling not just that mental health is a critical aspect of what is taught in our new curriculum, but a system-wide consideration to inform every decision around the curriculum. That will make such a huge and fundamental difference to young people in Wales. And in saying that, I want to thank Samaritans Cymru and Mind Cymru who've worked so hard with me behind the scenes to push for this amendment. There is, of course, more work to do, and I'm sure the Minister won't be surprised to hear me say that if re-elected, I look forward to working with her successor to ensure that the new duty is supported by strong guidance and clearly linked to the work that is being undertaken on a whole-school approach to mental health.

But in closing today, I'd like to thank the Minister for bringing forward—and the whole Welsh Government—this landmark piece of legislation. I have absolutely no doubt that this will make a huge contribution to ensuring that we have well-rounded, successful and, above all, mentally well children and young people in Wales. Diolch o galon.

We in the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party oppose this Welsh Government Bill. There are good parts to this Bill, and I don't dispute that, and some of it has been outlined by the Minister today—some of those good parts—and in many ways, she has been, despite my profound political differences with her, a very able Minister. And some of the good parts were also highlighted in the contribution by Laura Jones, which I thought was very useful in demonstrating how the Bill has, in some ways, changed, as the Minister interacted with the relevant committee. So, those are good points, but my party does have some very strong differences with the Minister and the Government over this Bill, and I think, in the interest of brevity, I need to, perhaps, quickly go over those points of difference. 

We believe that the Bill will lead to more divergence from the curriculum in England, leading to more difficulty in comparing the performances of school students in Wales with their peers in England. The continuance of the Welsh baccalaureate, which effectively compels Welsh students to study for an extra A-level, which is not widely recognised by English universities, is another area of divergence that will hinder students in Wales. At a more fundamental level, the downgrading of English teaching in the interest of immersion in Welsh is a sinister development that will surely disadvantage Welsh schoolchildren who are not from a background of speaking Welsh at home—and we know some of these children from these backgrounds do now go into Welsh-medium education. As far as the teaching of the Welsh language to English-medium pupils is concerned, our basic principle as a party is that what is required is a measure of choice, not compulsion. So, we do not go along either with the continued policy of compulsory Welsh up to the age of 16.

Now, although I know that the Minister herself actually wants Welsh students to succeed not only in Wales but also further afield—and she's certainly not intending to narrow the horizons of our young people—unfortunately, I believe this will be the long-term effect of some of these measures. We in Abolish believe that, increasingly, the effect will be to push Welsh students towards studying in universities in Wales, and not venturing further afield. In effect, this may be part of a movement towards guiding young people in Wales to stay in Wales. The narrowing of opportunity this entails surely cannot be a good thing, and so, for these reasons, we are voting against the Bill today.

I would like to thank the Minister for her efforts, regardless of our disagreements over the course of the Assembly term, and I do wish her well in whatever she decides to do next. Diolch yn fawr.

The Minister to respond—Kirsty Williams.

Thank you very much. Can I thank those who have contributed this afternoon? I'm disappointed to hear that Suzy Davies is not able to join the session this afternoon, because I know that she has worked incredibly hard on this Bill, and I know that she's been fully committed to the scrutiny process. And, as I said in opening my comments today, I think we have a better Bill as a result of the efforts of the CYPE committee, and I have gone to great lengths to try and respond positively to the cross-party report that the committee published to try and meet those aspirations.

Can I thank Gareth Bennett for his kind words on my retirement? Can I gently remind him that the Welsh baccalaureate is accepted by the vast majority of institutions across England and Wales. Indeed, Presiding Officer, my own daughter was saved by her Welsh baccalaureate grade, which allowed her to go on to university this year, and there are many students like that. It's disappointing that the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party won't be supporting the Bill today, but perhaps not so disappointing as the fact that Plaid Cymru—The Party of Wales will not take this historic opportunity, for the first time in our nation's history, to have our own curriculum, designed by the teachers of Wales for the children of Wales.

Can I just say once again, for the absolute avoidance of any doubt, Welsh histories and the story of Wales will be a compulsory part of this curriculum? It is included in the statutory guidance that has already been issued and will have a statutory underpinning as a result of this vote—hopefully, successful vote—this evening. There will be no way a school cannot teach the history of Wales, and, indeed, every single area of learning and experience is required to have a golden thread of a celebration of Welsh identity in all its diversity in every area, and that is underpinned in the legislation before us. The same is also true for issues around teaching on the environment and the climate crisis. Now, I accept it's election time, and there are petitions and e-mails to be sent, but it's regrettable, as I said, on this historic day, with the opportunity for the first time in our nation's history to have our own curriculum, that The Party of Wales will choose to vote against.

Can I conclude by thanking Lynne Neagle for her tough, astute, tenacious, sometimes bloody mindedness in her approach to this legislation? I mean that as a compliment, Lynne. As I said earlier, the results of the committee's work have made this a better Bill, and I have loved every minute—well, almost every minute—of being a Minister, but it is my experience on the backbenches, of having sat through endless Government debates and Government pieces of legislation that has guided my interaction with your committee over this time. I'm grateful for your leadership, and I applaud you for the work that you have done that has got us to this point. Presiding Officer, I commend this piece of legislation to our Senedd.

In accordance with Standing Order 26.50C, a recorded vote must be taken on Stage 4 motions, so I will defer voting on this motion until voting time.

And that brings us to voting time. So, we will take a short break in preparation for the voting. Thank you.

We move now to voting time, and the first vote this afternoon is on the Equality Act 2010 (Authorities subject to a duty regarding Socio-economic Inequalities) (Wales) Regulations 2021, and I call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 46, two abstentions and three against, and therefore the motion is agreed. 

The next vote is on item 11, the debate on the third supplementary budget 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. In favour 28, 11 abstentions and 12 against, therefore the motion is agreed. 

Item 12 is the debate on Welsh rates of income tax 2021-22, and I call for a vote on that motion tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 48, two abstentions and one against, and therefore that motion is agreed. 

The next vote is on the final budget 2021-22, and I call for a vote on the motion. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 28, two abstentions and 21 against, and therefore that motion is agreed.

Item 14 is next, which was the debate on the local government settlement 2021-22. I call for a vote on that motion tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 28, four abstentions and 19 against, and therefore the motion is agreed.

Item 15 is next, which is the motion on the police settlement 2021-22. I call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 37, four abstentions and 10 against, therefore the motion is agreed.

The next vote will be on item 16, the Stage 4 of the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill, and I call for a vote on the motion tabled in the name of Kirsty Williams. Open the vote. Close the vote. In favour 32, one abstention, 18 against, and therefore the motion is agreed.

That brings our voting to a close and today's business to a close. Thank you. Good evening to you.