First Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon. If I could also endorse the sentiments around the autism Bill, this is something that I have questioned you on in First Minister’s questions, and it is good to see that work is being carried out by the Welsh Government to see exactly what is the most appropriate way to take these issues forward. I think this is one area where there is cross-party consensus, and I would welcome regular updates from the Government as to the progress they are making.

I would also ask the First Minister—. I appreciate, obviously, the events on Thursday and the points you made in the earlier statement clearly indicated that the legislative programme will be difficult to shape and craft, going forward, because there are uncertainties as to exactly what scope the legislative programme might need to consider and how it might to need to adapt legislation, if at all, here in Wales depending on how the negotiations go. But I think we were all familiar with the last Assembly and how, for an 18-month period at the beginning of that, legislation was very slow to come through this Assembly. You’ve indicated that six Bills, obviously, are going to come through in this legislative session, but we did hit that brick wall, as all legislatures do when their term ends, and the public health Bill was lost.

I think everyone regretted the public health Bill being lost, because there was a lot of good stuff in that public health Bill, and, if the Government had listened to the representations that were made from many quarters—and my party I include in that—around e-cigarettes, that legislation could actually be on the statute book and actually available to professionals to use in improving public health here in Wales. So, I would hope that the sentiment you’ve expressed in this statement about listening, and about working with parties in this institution and also people who respond to consultations, is very real in this legislative timeframe we’re talking about, because the public health Bill last session clearly showed what damage can be done when, actually, sensible lobbying and sensible proposals are not taken on board, and that Bill was lost.

I would ask: do you just envisage the new public health Bill that is coming forward just being what was the public health Bill minus the e-cigarettes, or are there other areas that, through its legislative passage through the committee stage in the last session, the Government didn’t take on board, but carried a great deal of merit and would deserve exploring and maybe incorporating in the public health Bill going forward? I think you’ve indicated that it is going to be just a replica Bill, from what you were saying, but I would ask the First Minister and his Minister to give consideration to some of the consultations and, indeed, some of the representations that were taken through last time that didn’t make it into the Bill, because there are areas that do commend improving that Bill if that can be done.

The additional learning needs Bill—we had a piece of legislation in our own legislative programme in the Assembly election campaign, and I do welcome that Bill being put into the legislative programme, especially as one of the first Bills to come through. You talk about how it will create a new environment to improve additional learning needs provision for young people and children; how exactly do you see that legislation working to make those improvements, because the real benefit of legislation is its being able to be enacted on the ground? We all support the principle of making those improvements, but could you give us an example, from the consultations that you’ve touched on here, as to how that Bill will make a real difference to young people’s lives here in Wales? We disagree on the trade union provision in the legislative programme. We debated this in the fourth Assembly and I’m sure we’ll debate it in the fifth Assembly, but it commands support from your benches, and obviously it will command support from other parties, and so that will be an integral part of the legislative programme.

I do regret the legislative part of this programme about the right to buy. I do believe that that is one of the biggest drivers of aspirational attainment over the last 30 years: the ability to own your own home. And 138,000 people have benefited here in Wales from the ability to own their own home. You say that it’s like filling the bath with water without the plug in, but actually, if you have a housebuilding programme that actually meets the demands placed by people to acquire houses, then obviously you are going some way to actually meeting that need and meeting that demand. Successive Welsh Governments have not had a housebuilding programme to meet the requirements and the need across Wales, and that’s evident from the numbers that have come forward. But, again, I appreciate that’s an ideological difference between us, and you will bring that legislation forward and it will be scrutinised accordingly.

The other point I’d like to touch on as well is the land transaction tax, and the complexity that you talk about in bringing this piece of legislation forward. I’d be grateful if you could give us assurances that the complexity is around the areas that the Bill is looking to deal with not, maybe, meeting some of the observations that have come from the professionals and from the sectors that are going to be affected by this Act that you are going to be bringing forward. There is concern from the sector around the scope of the legislation that you are looking at. So, I would be grateful if you could maybe give us an indication as to why exactly you have identified those complexities. Thank you for your statement this afternoon, First Minister.