The next item on the agenda is a statement by the First Minister on the programme for government. I call on the First Minister, Carwyn Jones.

Thank you, Llywydd. It’s a pleasure to announce the publication of ‘Taking Wales Forward’, our programme for government for the next five years. It is a bold, strategic and ambitious programme, but also one that is focused unerringly on delivering real improvements in the everyday lives of the people of Wales. The document is clear, concise, and I want to ensure that everyone in Wales can pick it up and understand exactly what this Government will be doing for them over this Assembly term.

Fel Llywodraeth, rydym ni am gael economi gryfach, decach, gwasanaethau cyhoeddus gwell a diwygiedig, a Chymru unedig, gysylltiedig, a chynaliadwy, ac mae ‘Symud Cymru Ymlaen’ yn amlinellu sut y byddwn yn ymdrin â'r dasg o gyflawni’r amcanion hynny. Bydd yr Aelodau'n gweld, er ei fod yn canolbwyntio ar y prif addewidion ym maniffesto Llafur Cymru, mae hefyd yn cynnwys elfennau allweddol y cytundeb â'r Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol, y daeth Kirsty Williams yn Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg yn eu sgil, a hefyd y meysydd blaenoriaeth y cytunwyd arnynt gyda Phlaid Cymru cyn toriad yr haf. Bydd yr Aelodau hefyd yn gweld ei bod yn ddogfen wahanol iawn i'r un a gyhoeddwyd gennym bum mlynedd yn ôl. Rwyf wedi bod yn glir ers cael fy mhenodi’n Brif Weinidog y bydd y Llywodraeth hon yn gweithio'n wahanol i rai eraill. Rydym yn awyddus i weithio'n greadigol gyda'r holl bartneriaid ledled Cymru i ddod o hyd i atebion i'r heriau yr ydym yn gwybod sy’n ein hwynebu.

Yr ymrwymiadau a nodir yn 'Symud Cymru Ymlaen' yw ein prif ymrwymiadau. Fodd bynnag, gwyddom na fydd y rhain ar eu pennau eu hunain yn cyflawni ein huchelgais ar gyfer ein gwlad. Gwyddom hefyd bod y modd yr ydym yn cyflawni pethau yr un mor bwysig â'r hyn yr ydym yn ei gyflawni—y gall ystyried rhaglenni ar eu pennau eu hunain leihau eu heffaith, neu hyd yn oed greu problemau mewn mannau eraill. Dyna pam na fydd ein hagenda ar gyfer y Llywodraeth hon yn cael ei phennu’n ddigyfnewid wrth gyhoeddi 'Symud Cymru Ymlaen', ac mae heddiw yn nodi dechrau cyfnod pan fyddwn yn ystyried yn fwy manwl sut y gallwn weithio gyda'n gilydd a newid gwasanaethau er mwyn cyflawni ein blaenoriaethau.

Bydd y pedwar maes a nodir heddiw yn sylfaen i’n hamcanion llesiant. Bydd datblygu pedair strategaeth drawsbynciol sydd wedi eu cydblethu yn ein galluogi i ystyried sut y gallwn ddefnyddio'r dulliau sydd ar gael i ni er mwyn cael yr effaith fwyaf. Felly, mae 'Symud Cymru Ymlaen' yn ymgorffori ein hymrwymiad i fod yn Llywodraeth agored a chynhwysol, gan ddefnyddio ymagwedd ‘yr hyn sy’n gweithio’ wrth geisio cyflawni ein hamcanion cenedlaethol a rennir, a gweithio gyda'r bobl sydd yn y sefyllfa orau i wneud gwahaniaeth yng Nghymru.

Wrth gwrs, ers etholiadau'r Cynulliad, rydym wedi cael pleidlais y DU i adael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd—ac rydym yn dal i fod ymhell o fod yn glir ynglŷn â’u goblygiadau llawn, yn enwedig o ran cyllid cyhoeddus. Fel Llywodraeth, roeddem o’r farn ei bod yn ddarbodus ac yn gyfrifol i dreulio toriad yr haf yn edrych o’r newydd ar y rhagamcanion ariannol sydd ynghlwm â'r rhaglenni sydd wedi eu cynllunio. Ond, ni fyddwn yn gadael i’r ansicrwydd hwn bennu telerau'r Llywodraeth hon. Heddiw, gallaf gadarnhau, Lywydd, ein bod yn bwrw ymlaen â'n hymrwymiadau yn llawn. Y rhain oedd y polisïau y pleidleisiodd pobl Cymru drostynt, a'r rhain yw’r polisïau y byddwn yn eu cyflawni. Oes, mae yna benderfyniadau anodd o'n blaenau, a bydd angen i ni fod yn arloesol yn ein gwaith cyflawni, ond byddwn yn cadw at yr addewidion a wnaethom.

Bydd sicrhau buddiannau cenedlaethol Cymru yn nhrafodaethau hir a chymhleth yr UE sydd o’n blaenau, wrth gwrs, yn flaenoriaeth allweddol i ni, ac rwy’n hyderus bod gennym y tîm cywir wedi’i sefydlu i ddarparu’r arweinyddiaeth genedlaethol gref sydd ei hangen. Ond nid oes unrhyw amheuaeth bod hon hefyd yn Llywodraeth sydd eisoes yn cyflawni, a bydd yn parhau i gyflawni ein hagenda ddomestig hefyd—y materion bob dydd sydd bwysicaf i bobl yn eu bywydau bob dydd.

Lywydd, rydym am gael Cymru ffyniannus a diogel. Felly, byddwn yn torri trethi i 70,000 o fusnesau, yn creu banc datblygu Cymru, yn gweithredu'r cynnig gofal plant mwyaf hael yn y DU, yn creu o leiaf 100,000 o brentisiaethau ansawdd uchel ar gyfer pob oed, ac yn cyflwyno 20,000 o gartrefi fforddiadwy ychwanegol, rhai ohonynt trwy ein cynllun Cymorth i Brynu llwyddiannus sy’n parhau.

Rydym am greu Cymru iach a gweithgar. Felly, byddwn yn recriwtio ac yn hyfforddi mwy o feddygon teulu, nyrsys a gweithwyr iechyd proffesiynol, yn dyblu'r cyfalaf y gall pobl ei gadw wrth fynd i ofal preswyl, yn cyflwyno cronfa driniaeth newydd i alluogi pobl i gael cyffuriau arloesol yn gyflym, yn buddsoddi i leihau amseroedd aros, ac yn gwneud yn siŵr bod ysgolion yn rhoi cychwyn egnïol mewn bywyd i blant.

Rydym am greu Cymru uchelgeisiol sy’n dysgu. Felly, byddwn yn buddsoddi £100 miliwn ychwanegol i wella safonau ysgolion, yn cyflwyno cwricwlwm newydd i roi i ni'r sgiliau y mae eu hangen arnom, yn hybu rhagoriaeth addysgu, yn ymestyn y grant amddifadedd disgyblion, ac yn sicrhau system hael a chynhwysfawr i gefnogi myfyrwyr Cymru.

Lywydd, rydym am gael Cymru unedig a chysylltiedig. Felly, byddwn yn darparu ffordd liniaru i'r M4, gwelliannau i'r A55, yr A40, a llwybrau allweddol eraill, system metro yn y de ac yng ngogledd ein gwlad, a band eang cyflym, dibynadwy i bob eiddo yng Nghymru. Byddwn yn gweithio tuag at gael 1 miliwn o siaradwyr Cymraeg erbyn 2050 ac yn bwrw ymlaen â'r gwaith o ddiwygio llywodraeth leol, sy'n gweithio gyda chynghorau i ddarparu'r gwasanaethau gorau i bawb, waeth ble y maent yn byw yng Nghymru.

Lywydd, dim ond rhai o'n blaenoriaethau allweddol yn ‘Symud Cymru Ymlaen’ yw’r rhain, ac wrth gwrs ein blaenoriaethau yw gwella llesiant pawb. Yn yr ysbryd hwnnw, bydd pob un o'r rhain yn cael eu llunio a'u datblygu yn unol ag egwyddorion arweiniol Deddf Llesiant Cenedlaethau'r Dyfodol (Cymru) 2015, gan ystyried sut y gall pob un o'n camau gweithredu gael yr effaith fwyaf posibl ar draws yr ystod o bethau sydd bwysicaf i bobl Cymru.

Ffyniannus a diogel, iach a gweithgar, uchelgeisiol ac sy’n dysgu, unedig a chysylltiedig—y rhain yw’r meysydd lle y gallwn gael yr effaith fwyaf, ac y gallwn gyfrannu at bob un o'r amcanion cenedlaethol. Nid yw hon yn agenda i ni fel Llywodraeth yn unig, ond i'r sector cyhoeddus cyfan i’w chefnogi a’i chyflwyno.

Lywydd, mae’r rhaglen lywodraethu hon yn rhoi'r hyn y mae ei angen arnom er mwyn mynd i'r afael â'r heriau mawr sydd o'n blaenau, a gwneud y gwahaniaeth pendant i fywydau pobl y maent am ei weld. Mae’n ein galluogi ni i ymdrin â’r pum mlynedd nesaf â hyder, egni ac eglurder. Rydym wedi pennu’r uchelgais, ac rydym wedi nodi'r hyn y byddwn yn ei wneud i’w chyflawni, a nawr byddwn yn bwrw ymlaen a’i chyflawni.

Thank you, First Minister, for today’s statement, and for unveiling your much-anticipated programme for government.

You’ve stated that the Government’s relentless focus for the next Assembly will be on improving Wales’s economy and public services. Is it not true that that’s been the Government’s focus for the past 17 years? Of course, I don’t think any party in this Chamber would disagree with such aims, or, indeed, many of the other aspirations outlined in the programme for government. There are many things in this that no-one could disagree with. It’s a wish list in many ways. It’s a list of platitudes. Who would not want to enable the people of Wales to live healthy and fulfilled lives, or for them to live in a more prosperous, healthy and united country, or to build a Wales that is more confident, more equal, better skilled and more resilient? The question is: after 17 years of a Labour-led Government, why are we not yet prosperous, healthy, equal or even united? Have you ever reviewed the success of previous programmes for government?

A critical five years lies ahead for Wales, on that we can agree, and I’m eager to learn how your Government will both address the challenges and capitalise upon the opportunities that the people in this country currently face. We were led to believe that you were unveiling a five-year plan to take Wales forward today, and as such I’d hoped to learn in greater detail how, exactly, your Government will do just that. However, as was the case with your previous programmes for government, we’re offered an exhaustive list of objectives and priorities, but very little by way of detail as to how you will achieve them.

Last week, Plaid Cymru published our programme for opposition—a comprehensive policy package that aims to markedly change this country—and it’s good to see many of Plaid Cymru’s policies included in your programme for government. Several of them are recognisable as being part of our post-election one-off agreement with the Government—a new drugs and treatments fund, a Welsh development bank, a national infrastructure commission for Wales, more free childcare for three and four-year-olds, and additional good-quality apprenticeships for all are matters we all agreed on as part of that compact. It’s good to see that the Government also intends to continue with Plaid Cymru’s intermediate care fund. These are commitments secured due to Plaid Cymru’s responsible opposition, and they will deliver tangible benefits to people’s lives.

What this programme doesn’t do is tell us how it’ll be delivered. For example, you state in the programme that you will aim to secure successful, sustainable rural communities. This, of course, is something that we can all agree with, and I’m glad to see that your Government has listened to Plaid Cymru calls for the introduction of a small-grants scheme under the rural development scheme. However, you also note that you will support community-led projects, promote skills development, job creation, entrepreneurship, community energy, rural transport and broadband access. But, you provide no detail as to what this support might look like, so I’d be grateful if you could please elaborate on that point in your response, First Minister.

What we have here today is a list of priorities, a description of problems, and a few Plaid Cymru policies added in. What we want is more detail. So, I ask the First Minister whether he can provide greater detail on the key commitments outlined in the programme for government. We want to know more about the ‘how’, not just about the ‘what’. You state that you will constantly seek new markets and investors from around the world and promote Wales as an active, international partner. Again, can you please tell us how? The programme notes that the Government will invest an additional £100 million to drive up school standards over the next term. The Welsh education secretary made it clear in a recent speech that there’s no binary choice between either investing in class sizes or in teaching—that they’re not mutually exclusive. Could the First Minister therefore confirm whether the pupil deprivation grant and the costs of reducing class sizes are in addition to that £100 million? As well, can you tell us what you’ll do if this doesn’t drive up standards? Another commitment that you make is to improve access to GP services. Now that’s something that’s been a long-term ambition of yours. The percentage of GP practices offering appointments after 6.30 p.m. has declined since 2012, while there are only a handful of GP practices offering weekend appointments in the whole of the country. So, tell us, how are you going to meet that commitment?

Finally, it’s concerning that the programme for government makes so little reference to Brexit, given that it will almost certainly be one of the defining factors—if not the defining factor—influencing Welsh Government policy over the next five years. So, could I ask the First Minister which commitments have been specifically included in the programme for government to address the opportunities and challenges facing Wales following the vote to leave the European Union?

The people of this country don’t look to their Government to reiterate the many challenges that they face, or to list or describe the problems that need to be solved. People are more than aware of the difficulties that they face. What people expect from their Government is leadership, answers, solutions. When and how does the First Minister intend to provide this?

Well, I’m surprised to hear the leader of Plaid Cymru describe the policies that are included in this document as ‘platitudes’. Free childcare for working parents is a key pledge in the Labour manifesto; reducing tax for small businesses—a key pledge in the Labour manifesto; a development bank for Wales—both manifestos supported that; a new treatment fund for life-threatening illnesses—a key pledge in the Labour manifesto; increasing the capital limit for people going into residential care—a key pledge in the Labour manifesto; and 100,000 quality apprenticeships for all ages—a key pledge in the Labour manifesto. Now, of course, there are issues in here that weren’t in our manifesto and which reflect the discussions that we have had with her party. But, for her to say that, somehow, we come to the table with no ideas, given the fact that our manifesto was chock-full of them and those ideas are included in this programme for government, alongside others, of course, does not cut the mustard.

As far as the suggestion that it is a wish list, it isn’t a wish list. In 2011-16, we delivered on every promise we made—every promise we made. People knew that on the doorstep and they appreciated that on the doorstep. As a result, we wanted to produce a programme for government that did not make a wish list of promises that couldn’t be delivered and couldn’t be paid for, but to have promises that were in place that could be paid for. That’s why it took us until the summer to look at what the situation would be post Brexit, to make sure that we could be sure and that we could say to the people of Wales that we could deliver on these promises even with Brexit. We can’t have a document that simply talks mainly or wholly about Brexit. People know that’s happening; it’s hugely important now that we get on with delivering for the people according to what the manifestos have said. People want to know what’s going to happen with health and education, they want to know what’s going to happen with housing—and 20,000 more houses are going to be provided, of course—and they want to know that the Government that is in place will deliver on the promises that it has made, and we’ve done exactly that.

In terms of the economy, well, we’ve the lowest unemployment of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in Wales. We have the lowest. We’ve the lowest youth unemployment, and we’ve the best foreign direct investment figures for 30 years. These are coming about through hard work. People do not come to Wales unless you go out and sell yourselves around the world. When I became First Minister, much of the overseas operation had been shut down, I have to say. Many of the offices had gone, and there was no real overseas activity. That had to be rebuilt. And we see what has happened as a result of that. We see the work that has been done with employers like Aston Martin, who have come to Wales because of—and these are their words—the passion and professionalism of the Welsh Government. You have to go out and fight for these opportunities.

When it comes to rural communities, yes, we will deliver for rural communities. One example I can give is broadband. By the summer of next year, 96 per cent of premises will have access to superfast broadband. That wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the fact that money had been provided from the public purse for that to happen, because the market would never ever have done that. We have delivered as a Welsh Government broadband to many, many communities that would never have had it otherwise, and we are proud of that.

When it comes to some of the other issues that she raised, we’re more than happy with our pledge for the £100 million for education. We will continue to build schools across Wales, even as they are not built in England. We will continue to invest in education, both in terms of buildings, yes, but also in terms of the workforce.

We have seen more and more GP practices remaining open into the evenings, and some on weekends. We need to see further progress in terms of weekends, that much is true. But, what we have here is a programme for government that is strategic, that is deliverable, that is affordable and one that we as a party stood on in the election and, of course, we’ve reached out to other parties in order to put this programme for government together. We will continue to work with all those who want to stand up for Wales and deliver the best for our country, and this document reflects the discussions that have taken place.

First Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon. It is somewhat disheartening to see that the collective intellectual might of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Labour Party and the Liberals have come up with a document that runs to 15 pages, and that includes the front cover. Fifteen pages for five years’ worth of government hardly fills you with confidence, I have to say. Obviously, it’s a pale imitation of the 666 pages that the previous Welsh Government, of which he was First Minister, delivered the last time they delivered a programme for government. But I do genuinely hope that the Welsh Government does succeed. You might find it odd to hear that from an opposition leader but, ultimately, if you do not succeed, it is the people and the communities the length and breadth of Wales who will ultimately suffer. So, people go to the polls, they vote and this Assembly convenes. But it is rather disheartening to say the least—it’s disheartening to say the least—that this is the best effort that the Welsh Government can come up with for a five-year programme for government when we were told that they needed to spend a summer to reflect—reflect—on their priorities.

Actually, when you look at what the First Minister achieved in the last Assembly, in which his flagship policy was the Williams commission, which was going to reorganise local government and he was going to drive this through and reform the map of local government in Wales, irrespective of what people thought of that, it does show the limitations of this First Minister in his ability to drive through change and drive through a programme for government. And that is a real, real Achilles heel for anything that sits in this document, because the First Minister has proven within his first term that he is unable to deliver for the people of Wales and, indeed, the commissions and operations that he does set up. I do hope that the First Minister will actually graft this term and actually deliver the changes that will improve people’s lives, whether that be in education, whether that be in the economy or whether that be in the NHS.

I do hope that, in responding to the questions that I will put to him, he will be able to confirm that this programme for government, by the end of 2021, will put the Welsh education system over and above the Vietnamese education system, which is where we are ranked at the moment in the league tables. So, will he confirm that the education initiatives—it’s hardly a brilliant goal to aim for but will he give us a target that we will be above the Vietnamese when it does come to 2021? When it comes to the economy, will the First Minister confirm that, by 2021, this programme for government—this programme for government—will make us more economically prosperous than areas of Romania and Bulgaria, where we are matched against at this moment in time, and that’s after 17 years of Welsh Labour in Government here? Will he, at the end of this period in 2021, confirm that this programme for government will deliver an NHS that will not have the longest waiting times of any NHS in the United Kingdom? Those are three simple questions that I hope he will be able to respond to and say, ‘Yes, yes, yes’, so that, in 2021, we will be able to benchmark him against his Government’s performance.

But I do think the one thing that is a damning indictment of 17 years of Labour failure is this document that talks about bringing forward a new treatment fund, when we spent the whole of the last Assembly making the point about a cancer drugs fund and access to medicines here in Wales. The document itself, after 17 years of Labour in Government, talks of a

‘postcode lottery for drugs and treatments not routinely available on the NHS’ in Wales. You have been running the NHS for 17 years, First Minister. It is your party that has created that postcode lottery for access to medicines across Wales. So, when we look at this programme for government, we can clearly see no real change of course, no real change of direction, just more of the same. And I just hope that, ultimately, the First Minister will get to grips with the situation and start delivering both economically, educationally and for our NHS so that people will not feel let down again at the end of this fifth Assembly.

I think it’s important to remind the leader of the Conservatives of one thing: he lost the election. He tried all this before May. He made all these points and, in fact, his party went backwards. Many of us remember he was on tv saying, ‘I will be First Minister’. He was doing it at 10 o’clock on the night of the election. I look at Ken Skates because his people were saying that Ken had lost his seat. He lost the election. He has to understand that, and to use the same old tired arguments over and over and over again—we need to see some new thinking from the Welsh Conservatives. I think the people of Wales would benefit from the Welsh Conservatives working as an active opposition not as a party that continuously rolls out the same old arguments that they continue to lose.

On education, we’re happy with the progress that’s been made with GCSEs, and, with A-levels, we’re seeing great progress there. We’re seeing buildings going up across Wales. I was in the Deeside sixth last week—a brand new building. That wouldn’t have been built if it had been a few miles over the border, not in a month of Sundays, because those programmes were stopped by the UK Government, by his party. We’re proud of that. When it comes to the economy, yes, we’re making up for the 1980s and 1990s that his party created. We’re proud of the fact that unemployment is 4.1 per cent. That would have been unimaginable under the Tories. Can you imagine that—that young people are invested in, that Jobs Growth Wales is probably the most successful scheme of its type in Europe if not around the world? We are happy with that. We know that there is still a challenge for raising GDP, but now we see more and more jobs coming into Wales that are better paid and better skilled. People don’t see Wales as the cheap wage destination that his party promoted in the 1990s. That’s the way Wales was promoted in the 1990s. The people of Wales deserve high-quality jobs, and that’s what we are delivering.

When it comes to the NHS, we don’t have an NHS where doctor strikes are provoked. That’s one thing I can promise the people of Wales we will not do, and we will continue to deliver the best healthcare, making sure that it’s financed and, of course, delivering on a new treatments fund, different to what the party opposite suggested. They dropped it in England, of course—it’s gone; the cancer drugs fund is gone in England, so they’ve missed the boat on that one. What we have in place is something far more comprehensive, and, to my mind, far fairer because it takes into account all people with life-threatening illnesses, not just cancer, and that was hugely important.

Let me just put one thing to the leader of the Welsh Conservatives: my party, Kirsty Williams, Plaid Cymru and UKIP share one thing in common, and that is that we all say that Wales should not lose a penny of European funding as a result of Brexit. UKIP have been saying that. He doesn’t. Will he support the people of Wales and say that Wales should not lose one single penny of funding as a result of Brexit? Is he really the leader of the Welsh Conservatives or London’s representative in the Welsh Conservative party? That’s the issue that he has to answer. Let him stand up for Wales, make the case with his colleagues in Westminster and say as leader of the Welsh Conservatives, ‘I will not tolerate Wales losing out a penny as a result of European exit’, just like every other party in this Chamber and just like every single person in Wales would want to see.

In one thing, at least, I agree with the leader of the opposition, in that what we’ve heard today from the Welsh Government is a potpourri of platitudes. The one thing it will do is at least help the Government meet its recycling targets, because we’ve heard it all before many times—twice previously since I’ve been in this place from the beginning of May. If you look through the transport section—repackaging the improvements to the M4, the A55, the A40, the south Wales metro, the new not-for-profit rail franchise—there’s nothing in the transport section at all that we have not heard before. Twenty thousand affordable homes—that was announced last June and that was a Lib Dem policy, not a Labour policy anyway. So, it’s all motherhood and apple pie. And it’s a bit of a cheek, really, for the First Minister to say that this is what the people of Wales voted for. He seems to forget that, in the election, two-thirds of the people of Wales voted against the Labour Party; he lost the election.

I’m sorry to see from the foreword to this document that the First Minister is still a miserabilist about Brexit, because he’s still saying that every objective analysis of the potential impact of Brexit says we should be prepared for a shrinking economy. Nothing could be further from the truth; all the economic figures that have been released since the summer show the economy expanding, and there’s no reason to think that this is not going to continue. So, what we’ve got in this document is just a load of meaningless guff. We had some choice examples that were quoted by the leader of the opposition. In local government, they’re going to build a shared understanding of the challenges facing local government and wider public services; develop wider conversation about the reform needed on further and higher education; prioritise support for enhanced links between education and industry; better utilise our existing relationships with Welsh universities; consult further on the specific recommendations of the Hazelkorn review on housing; continue long-term collaboration with housebuilders to deliver accelerated rates of housebuilding—not a single house will be built on the basis of words alone; explore options to end land banking. It’s all words—there’s no action at all which could possibly come from it.

And, on the very important section on agriculture—work with partners to secure a prosperous future for Welsh agriculture. Well, who wouldn’t? But we’ve heard nothing about bovine TB. We hear nothing about the threat to the viability of farms from nitrate-vulnerable zones. We hear nothing about the collapse in farm incomes. At least in the UKIP manifesto, we promised that we would reallocate parts of the agriculture budget by putting a cap upon the subsidies that would be paid out to farmers at £125,000 a year, so that the real beneficiaries of the common agricultural policy in Britain would be the small farmers, the family farms and not the agri-businesses and the multinational companies. There’s nothing of that kind at all in this document.

On business rates, we can welcome smaller bills—[Interruption.] We can welcome smaller bills for up to 70,000 firms, but why not have a root-and-branch reform of the entire clunking property taxes system, where we can relate what is charged to the profitability of the businesses that have to pay them so that we don’t have this block upon setting up new businesses because of the hurdles they have to jump on business rates?

Fast reliable broadband to every house—by 2021, I presume. I hope the First Minister can deliver, and, like the leader of the Conservative Party, I want him to say today that, yes, every single property in Wales—that’s what it says in this document—will be connected to fast and reliable broadband by 2021.

On apprenticeships, again, we can welcome cautiously what is said in this document about apprenticeships, but what we must be sure of is that big companies, multinationals in particular, are not just paying people at apprenticeship rates and not providing proper, substantive qualifications as a result, but just producing equivalent qualifications that are of no possible economic value in the workplace.

Lastly, on the health service, which is, of course, an unrelieved catalogue of failure after 20 years of Labour Government, with half the hospital boards in this country in special measures—what about the GP crisis? We’ve raised in this Chamber in the last few weeks, from all parties—Simon Thomas has raised problems in Newtown, I’ve raised problems in Blaenau Ffestiniog, and Paul Davies has today raised problems with GPs in his own constituency in Pembrokeshire? We’ve heard nothing—nothing in this document—that will take us any further forward in solving the problems of GP recruitment. As for closer links between health and social services, this is vitally necessary, but when are we going to put some meat upon these bare bones that we’ve heard today?

So, I hope, like the leader of the Conservative party, that the First Minister is able to deliver on the vapid promises that he’s made in this document today, but let’s have some detail, let’s have something we can really debate about, not just empty words.

I welcome his comments from outside Wales and suggest to him that he would carry more weight—

That’s silly.

No, it’s not silly. They’d carry more weight if he actually lived in Wales if he’s going to criticise what we’ve done within Wales. I think that’s perfectly fair—perfectly fair.

As far as he says there’s no detail here, well, free childcare for working parents, the detail is there; the development bank, the detail’s there; the reduced taxes for small businesses, that detail is there; the treatment fund; the capital limit; the action to train GPs; the apprenticeships; the school standards; the infrastructure commission; the metro; the M4. These are not vague words, these are policies that we are determined to take forward to improve the lives of the people of Wales. There is a budget yet to come before this Assembly, and there is legislation that is yet to come before this Assembly as well.

Is he saying that we get rid of nitrate-vulnerable zones? Because, I tell you what, there are many people in Wales who’d be very concerned at that and what it would mean for the rivers and what it would mean for some of our estuaries, particularly. They’re there for a reason, they’re not there to try and do something that has no sense at all. They’re there for a reason in terms of protecting our environment.

I have to say to him: he talks about health and social services; we are doing that. He will know that the last Assembly saw legislation looking at strengthening social services and enabling social services to work more closely with health. If he looks at the legislation that’s been passed here over the past—well, since we’ve had the powers in 2011—he will see that these are issues that we have addressed and will continue to address as part of the legislative programme going forward for this year and beyond. He will see that what we have put in this programme for government will lead to the promises that we have made being delivered on. It is the easiest thing in the world to make wild promises that are uncosted and then find you can’t deliver on them; we resisted that in the election and we resist it now, because the people of Wales know that what we say we will do, we’ll do.

All leaders have now spoken, so I ask for questions from Members as I call them. Jenny Rathbone.

I note with interest that you obviously highlight the fact that we have an obligation to reduce our carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, and you also highlight the importance of the south Wales and north Wales metro, as well as getting all local authorities to deliver on joined up active travel. How do you think we’ll be able to measure the progress on these bits of the programme and what target do you think we should be setting in the interim basis to ensure that, suddenly, in 2040, we don’t realise that we haven’t met our obligations?

I think there are a number of ways of doing that. Improving the public transport offer is absolutely key and, by that, I don’t just mean the metro—important though that is—but encouraging cycling. The Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013, of course, was hugely important in terms of starting the process of, and I use the word, as far as the public are concerned, ‘normalising’ cycling—that, where a new road is built, a cycle path is automatically built with it. I think that’s absolutely the way of the future. In some ways, the people who built the old Briton Ferry bridge were ahead of their time by putting a cycle track on the bridge in the 1960s. That is what we have to encourage: that, where we have road schemes, therefore, cycling is part of that, where we can segregate cyclists from cars—[Inaudible.]—as well, of course. We know that there are some parts of Wales where there’s so much traffic that cars are idling and the air quality’s poor. Unless that’s dealt with, it’ll continue to be poor.

But, for me, it’s about making sure that the public transport system that we have is second to none, that it’s cheap, it’s reliable, it’s comfortable and it’s safe. That’s what the two metro systems have been designed to deliver: to make it far easier for people to feel they don’t need their cars. If you look at the north of Cardiff, for example, there is no way of building a road to the north of Cardiff that’ll help with the A470, but there are opportunities for increasing the frequency on the railway lines and, indeed, looking at light rail options further on down the line in order to provide those options. In doing that, of course, we can help then to look to reduce carbon reductions as far as transport is concerned.

What we are seeking now is detail, First Minister, and there are a number of things that are missing or very weak in the programme at the moment. May I ask you specifically, therefore, starting with that point that Jenny Rathbone made, you talked about ‘making progress towards’ reducing carbon emissions by 2050, but have you therefore dropped the target of reducing carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020? Because there is no target here now, just some goal to ‘make progress towards’.

The second point, on saving energy, I can’t see any reference in the programme to any energy saving programme. Will the Government have such a programme and a housing renewal programme in order to save costs and energy?

There is no mention of a TB eradication programme. Is it still the Government’s intention to have such a TB eradication programme in our rural areas?

Finally, there is no mention in this new programme for government of one of the major things that the previous Government had, which is Communities First. Where is Communities First and are you committed to retaining the same funding for Communities First as has existed in the past?

Well, first of all, this isn’t a document with all the detail, as he will understand, because this is a strategic document to give you the Government’s direction. As regards carbon, one of the things that we can’t do anything about are the non-devolved issues, but that doesn’t mean to say that we’re not going to do anything because of that. We must ensure that fewer and fewer people travel in cars. That’s one thing that we can do. But we know, of course, that we must support industries such as the steel industry to reduce the emissions here. But we must also ensure that we don’t do anything that creates a situation where they move out of Wales. So, there is a balance that we must strike there.

As regards TB, TB is still important. We know that we must continue to reduce the number of stock that are actually infected with TB, and that’s crucial for rural areas; I understand that.

As regards Communities First, everything, of course, is considered in the budget process. The budget itself has not been presented to the Assembly as yet, but it’s true to say that, while we are progressing some of the pledges in this programme, difficult decisions will have to be made about every department of Government. But what is important is that we should adhere to the four themes that I’ve alluded to, and that’s exactly what we intend to do.

Minister, I’d like to understand what your ambition is for the health of the people of Wales. Fifty-one per cent of our population at present are battling with some form of illness. I would like to understand where you would like to see that position by the year 2021.

Reading through your ‘Taking Wales Forward’ document, I’ve noticed again that you major on the fact that you’d like to establish a parliamentary review into the long-term future of health and social care in Wales. I’ve had the great good fortune to have had a number of discussions with the Cabinet Secretary on this. I would like to make it very clear, though, that, whilst the Welsh Conservatives believe that this has the opportunity to deliver a blueprint for national leadership and strategic planning, I would not like to see this parliamentary review as an opportunity to kick a number of difficult decisions the NHS in Wales will have to take into the long grass.

So, Minister, can you assure us that this parliamentary review will not deflect you from putting an enormous amount of energy into resolving the crises that we have in primary healthcare? I’ve noted in your programme, ‘Taking Wales Forward’, that you’re going to put a lot of effort into the recruitment of GPs—something we’ve discussed, and something I’ve discussed with the Cabinet Secretary—but I would also like you to come back and ask or perhaps tell us whether you’re going to be putting the same kind of levels of effort into ensuring that we have adequate nurses, physiotherapists, clinical psychologists and occupational therapists, because we do have a real crisis brewing there. Hywel Dda Local Health Board: 30 per cent of their general practice nurses have indicated that they’re going to be leaving in the next five years. That’s an enormous number, and that’s just one health board.

You talk about increasing investment in facilities to reduce waiting times. First Minister, waiting times is one of the areas that I think the Welsh Labour Government have failed in substantially: 14.3 per cent of Wales’s total population remains on a waiting list. What I would like to understand is: how do you anticipate reducing these waiting times, and where does it stack up in your priority for healthcare?

I’d like to, finally, Presiding Officer, turn to your commentary here on mental health and well-being. I would say to you that mental health has been, for some time, the poor relation in health service provision in Wales. Children’s mental health has a very poor level of funding. At present, it’s about £13.50 per head of population of children. In comparison, £65 is spent per head on older people’s mental health services. First Minister, do you intend to put more funding into mental health services? Do you intend to put more funding into child and adolescent mental health services? Are you able to tell us today when you intend to bring forward the additional learning needs Bill? First Minister, will you be considering bringing forward an autism Act, and will you accept that mental health services are very difficult to deliver in a rural model as, indeed, are all health services? So, I’d finally like to ask you: will you commit to looking at—or do you intend to look at—how we might be able to develop a rural health model that can sit alongside the national health service so that people in the rural areas of Wales, which are substantially, in terms of land mass, by far and away the greater part of Wales—they may not be so in population terms—actually enjoy equality and freedom and the right to access healthcare services as near to them as possible and in a really timely manner? Because they are in danger of becoming yet another orphan within the NHS family.

A number of questions there: first of all, when we look at health, we have to remember that our population is older than the UK average, and generally less well than the UK average. Part of that is the legacy of mining and the legacy of heavy industry, which we’re still dealing with. We intend, of course, to keep on funding health in Wales at a level per head that is higher than in England. The parliamentary review clearly can’t get in the way of decision making. There are difficult decisions that have to be made in health. I’ve been in this Chamber when a decision is made and it’s almost like one of Newton’s laws: there’s an equal and opposite reaction, where there will be opposition to a particular course of action, but quite often that needs to be taken forward. One of the issues that I’m absolutely determined not to see is that people in rural Wales have a worse service than people in urban Wales because they live in rural Wales and because it’s better to have a local service than a specialised service. I’ve never believed that. We’ve seen it in Aberystwyth, for example, where colorectal cancer surgery was moved from Bronglais to Cardiff. The survival rates went up. I know it’s further away but, actually, the outcomes for people were far better. Sometimes, I agree, it is important to have treatment as close as possible, whether it’s with the pharmacy or the GP, or through practice nurses or through the hospitals, but there will be conditions that will need to have very specialised services to give people a better chance and a better outcome. That balance is never an easy one to achieve.

With GPs and the nurses, I mentioned in my speech that it goes beyond the GP workforce, but nurses and other professions as well. What we must avoid doing—yes, we do need to recruit and train more, I follow that, but we need to avoid giving the impression that Wales is not a place that doctors from overseas want to come. We’ve always recruited from other countries. Other countries have always recruited from the UK. It’s an international market. I would not want the impression to be given that the UK is a more difficult place to come to work, because we do rely—and always will rely—on professionals coming in from other countries. The further west you go, in terms of hospitals, the more that reliance can be. So, we must absolutely make sure that we are seen as a welcoming place for medics and nurses to practice in the future.

In terms of some of the other issues that you mentioned, well, it is not correct that 14.3 per cent of people are on a waiting list. There are two points to make there. First of all, you are on a waiting list as soon as you are referred from a GP—that day, almost. So, that’s not a fair comparison, I would argue. Secondly, many of the people are being counted more than once because they are on more than one waiting list. There are issues that we have explored in this Chamber over the past five years, in terms of improving waiting times, but there are issues that are the same across the UK. We know from the Nuffield report that health services across the UK are in a broadly similar position and face similar challenges.

She raises an important point about mental health. We took the decision some years ago to ring-fence mental health spending. CAMHS: it is true to say that the demand outstrips supply very quickly. That is true. That is why we have put more money into CAMHS, in order to make sure that enough resource was going into it, so that there weren’t extraordinarily long waiting times. It proved popular as a service, and being able to catch up was hugely important.

On the ALN Bill, I think that I have already announced that has been confirmed for introduction in this year of the Government’s legislative programme. We are still considering where a piece of autism legislation would go. In terms of the rural model, there’s one thing I disagree with her on. I don’t agree that rural healthcare necessarily costs more than healthcare in Valleys communities. Of course, in many of our upper Valleys communities, people’s state of health is not as good. So, quite often, the costs of looking after them can be higher than people who live in rural Wales. Nevertheless, there are issues in rural Wales that have to be resolved, and the mid-Wales collaborative is a good example of how professionals can work together and with Government to deliver a rural health service. That’s a good example that has worked well and could serve as a good example for the rest of Wales. So, yes, the challenges are there, but we are up for those challenges to deliver the best for people, wherever they live—urban, rural, north, south, east or west.

First Minister, as you’re aware, I’ve long campaigned to turn the A40 in my constituency into a dual carriageway, and I note that there was a reference in your programme for government to improve the A40 in west Wales, which, without doubt, will improve the economy of Pembrokeshire. Given that the former Minister in your previous Government had noted the benefits of dualling the A40 and the benefits that would come to west Wales, can you confirm that you haven’t discounted the possibility of dualling the A40 in Pembrokeshire?

No. We know that that is vital. But, what is problematic, of course, is the position as regards European funding, ultimately. It’s also true to say that we need to look at the route from St Clears to Haverfordwest and ensure that that is improved. But, no, we haven’t forgotten the A40. We understand its importance, and it’s very important in order to get the traffic up to Fishguard and the ferry that departs from there. But, the improvements to the A40 remain on the agenda.

Thank you for your statement, First Minister. In it you mentioned a ‘what works’ approach and innovative delivery. There’s a nod in the shared challenge and opportunities section of your pamphlet today to the Government not having a monopoly on good ideas nor on delivery. In which portfolio areas do you anticipate seeing more co-production, more localism and less command and control by local government and central Government?

Well, I think there’s great scope for looking to devolve services locally where the structure is right. I don’t believe the structure is right at this moment in time with our 22 local authorities. Working with them, we would like to get to a position where we have a structure in place where they can deliver more effectively, where they don’t have departments that effectively begin to collapse because one or two people are on the sick or have left the department, and to make local government more sustainable in that regard. I don’t think the structure is there at the moment. But, as that structure is developed, working with the local authorities, I think there are opportunities there to look to devolve more services locally. But the structure has to be right first.

First Minister, how are you planning to improve your Government’s procurement policies, particularly in support of small businesses across Wales? Secondly, you pledged to invest in the transformation of the hospital estate in today's statement. Can you give us an update on a completion date for the new critical care centre in Cwmbran? There seems to be some confusion over this.

Well, it's still a priority for us, of course. We know how important modern facilities are, and that work is still ongoing in terms of the business case process. In terms of the other issues raised on procurement, I think we covered that quite extensively in First Minister's questions. The key for small businesses, quite often, is to be able to work together with other small businesses to bid for bigger contracts. Agriculture was a real problem in this regard some years ago, but now is a good example of where we looked at the—. I'll give an example: we looked at the supply of beef into the Welsh NHS. Farmers said to me, ‘Well, we don't get any beef in’, and they were right, but the problem was there was no supplier in Wales who could supply the NHS day in, day out, week in, week out, month in, month out. They couldn't do it; they weren't big enough. That was resolved by looking to get suppliers working together to resolve that issue of supply, and the same thing has happened with other small businesses. We've been providing advice as to how they can go about doing that. So, whilst it is true to say that we must make sure we don't have contracts that are so big that it's not even possible for small businesses acting together to bid successfully for them, it's also important to make sure that businesses work together to be big enough in order to bid for contracts that are within their grasp.

First Minister, I was very pleased to see the reference to the A55 and improvements that the Welsh Government wants to make to the A55 in your programme for government, but there's not a great deal of detail in what those improvements may or may not be. You'll be aware that we've got congestion problems on some parts of the A55. We've had flooding problems in the past and there is no hard shoulder for many miles of the A55 as well, which causes problems when there’s a breakdown or an accident. Can you tell us precisely which stretches of the A55 those improvements may or may not be made on over the next five years in terms of some progress?

Can you also refer, in addition to that, to any progress that you might be able to inform us about in terms of the development of the sub-regional neonatal intensive care centre in north Wales? I was very pleased to hear the Cabinet Secretary for health in the committee last week make reference to some progress on this, but can you still reassure the people of north Wales that this will be delivered in accordance with the timescales that you have previously set? I am concerned that there may be some delays in the process at the moment.

And, just finally, there is reference to free childcare in the document as well. I'm very pleased to see that you're following the lead of the UK Conservative Government on the free childcare commitments that they have made, but one of the concerns that has been raised with me is that there was a document that was commissioned, a piece of work that was commissioned, by the previous Minister for education in relation to squashing the school week to four days, rather than over the current five-day period. That, of course, would create some turbulence in the childcare market, if we can call it that. What consideration have you given to that as part of your programme for government, and will you join me in dismissing the suggestion of a four-day week in our schools this afternoon?

Well, first of all, on the A55, if we start eastwards, we know there are issues around the junctions further east and the issues around the junction with the A494. The Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr roundabouts are going, so that the problem will disappear on that stretch of the road. If we go further west, we're still looking at the issue of a third Menai crossing. The A55 is not a true dual carriageway, given the fact that it's a single carriageway over the Britannia bridge, and that is—I've seen it myself often enough—a real choke point as well. No-one would build a road to that standard now—I mean, there are no hard shoulders, and it's a major route. One of the issues we’ll be looking at over the next five years is to see where the road can be widened and where funds can be allocated for that to happen, but Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr are the first two areas that will be looked at.

He mentions flooding. The issues in Talybont are resolving with the help of Gwynedd Council. The issues between Aber and Tai’r Meibion again have been taken forward, with the flooding that occurred there. But the issue for the A55 to me is getting rid of the roundabouts to help the flow of traffic, and, of course, in time, widening the road to a standard that we would expect—even a hard shoulder, which isn't even there in some parts of the road now.

On the SuRNICC, there is no delay. The SuRNICC is proceeding as planned. He would have heard me say many, many times in this Chamber that the SuRNICC was my decision to place in Glan Clwyd, and I stand by that decision. It will move ahead; I can give him that assurance.

In terms of free childcare, well, I mean, I'm not sure what his party's policy was on free childcare in the election in May. It wasn't detailed, but from our perspective, we said what we would do in terms of 48 weeks a year, in terms of 30 hours of free childcare, and that’s exactly what we intend to deliver.

On the PPIW report, it’s just that—a report. It’s not Government policy. It’s not long been delivered, actually, in the past week. It’s not something that is under active consideration.

First Minister, thank you very much for this statement. I think four times you pledged in your statement that you want a Wales where the prosperity is right from the top. Actually, I represent the region that has the poorest population in the United Kingdom. The thing is, I’m glad that at least you have accepted it, and this is your first pledge: that you are going to bring prosperity after 17 years now. Can I ask your Government what is the intention to strengthen ties between education, employment, employment agencies and the local business communities, and to ensure that apprentices have work-ready skills that are more aligned to economic demands, irrespective of age or gender, in Wales? Thank you.

This is hugely important. He will know that, last week, I launched an initiative to link skills to employment and education. He welcomed it publicly, and I thank him for that. It is European funded, of course, some of it, but it was something that found favour with him. We know full well that it is hugely important that, as we identify which skills are needed for the future in Wales, we work with employers and work with the education sector to make sure that (a) the skills are identified, and (b) that they’re provided.

One of the questions I always get asked by potential investors into Wales is ‘Have your people got the skills that we need?’ It’s not about ‘How cheap are you?’ anymore; it’s ‘Have you got the skills?’ We are able to answer those questions, and that shows, of course, with the numbers of new investors that have been coming in over the past five years.

Given that wage levels in Wales remain below the levels in Scotland and England, that child poverty levels in Wales remain above the UK average, that working-age worklessness levels in Wales remain above the UK average, and that prosperity per head in Wales, measured by the value of goods and services produced, remains the lowest amongst the 12 UK nations and regions—and the gap has actually widened—how do you propose to work differently with the voluntary and private sectors in order to finally turn those negative results round and impact positively on those communities who are stubbornly trapped in that situation?

You talk about helping communities take ownership of community assets where appropriate. Given that—I hope you’ll agree—the most important asset in our communities is people, how will you engage at last with the global co-production revolution that began almost half a century ago, by working with the co-production network for Wales, launched on 26 May, backed by Big Lottery funding, and backed by scores of statutory and voluntary organisations across Wales, who are getting on with the revolution, but need you to buy in and do things differently? You refer to the metro system in the north of the country. How will you engage with the north Wales growth vision, and with ‘Team North Wales’, the statutory, voluntary and private sectors united behind that vision, which doesn’t mention the metro in its document anywhere, to ensure that what the Welsh Government proposes is in line with what the region is asking for? Note that the word is not in the document, although many of the other projects needed by the region, some of which you referred to, are. But, above all, the powers should be devolved to the region to take that forward.

Finally, in terms of some of the matters that Angela referred to, you sort of skated over autism legislation. I again chaired a meeting of the cross-party autism group, in this case in north Wales, last Friday. I can tell you that the autism community in Wales is completely united over the need for legislation, because it impacts so adversely on their lives, because the strategy has failed to deliver, because they need statutory duties on sector providers, they need assurance over diagnosis and post-diagnostic support and they need to tackle the atrocious levels around training and awareness. Similarly and finally, the deaf community in Wales is calling for the Welsh Government to look at British Sign Language legislation. The Scottish Government has introduced legislation, and Northern Ireland is looking at how, within their powers, they could do something there. What is the Welsh Government proposing to do so that, again, the disabling experience of too many deaf people, because of the barriers that aren’t being removed, can be tackled?

In terms of child poverty, it wasn’t exactly helped by the bedroom tax or the cuts that were made to the welfare system, which his party has to take responsibility for. What I said earlier on is this: on many economic indicators, we have done incredibly well. The challenge is to keep on increasing our people’s collective gross domestic household income and, ultimately, gross domestic product. That is happening. The days when Wales was being sold as a cheap place to do business are long gone. The jobs that we are attracting are well-paid jobs, they’re committed to Wales, and that will see our GDP per head increase. Of that, I have no doubt over the medium term.

In terms of community assets, we’ve got no difficulty with co-production. We seek to work with people to draw on their expertise as to how we take that forward. In terms of the metro, the metro is there. We will work with all organisations in order to deliver it. Of course, the metro is designed to ensure that the economy of the north-east of Wales works in co-prosperity with the economy of the north-west of England—we know that the metro itself is not going to be self-contained in the north-east of Wales—in order to deliver prosperity for both regions.

In terms of autism, we’re not opposed to autism legislation in principle. That’s something that we will continue to explore, and he makes an interesting suggestion when it comes to British Sign Language and how we can ensure that BSL is better recognised and better entrenched in our community. That’s something on which we are happy to take views and keep an open mind.

And finally, Janet Finch-Saunders.

First Minister, I’m somewhat baffled by the lack of mention of local government in your programme for government, particularly so when you’ve been using rhetoric about what was in the manifesto. Well, it was, actually, in fact, in your manifesto that you do recognise the vital role of local government—

‘so we will seek to create stronger, larger local authorities, as well as stronger town and community councils, leading to the devolution of powers from Cardiff Bay.’

Now, just how are you going to do that after the shambles of the previous term? You’ve left many local authorities, which include very principled and hard-working officers, elected members and front-line workers, in complete disarray. Statements from your party only last week mentioning that the plan is now on hold for 10 years provides yet even more uncertainty, and I think, actually, it’s an absolutely disgrace that you’ve completely omitted any mention of local government, be it reform or what you intend to do. These services that are delivered by local government are actually seen by many residents as far more worthy and more important to them than how you operate here as a Welsh Government. So, I would really like to ask what plans you have—tell us, tell the Chamber, tell the people of Wales, just how you intend to take local government forward and to actually put behind us once and for all the absolute fiasco and shambles that your Government left us in in the previous term.

I’d argue that the shambles was created in the mid-90s—we can argue much of the afternoon about that—with the 22 authorities that were created and, indeed, their boundaries. Why would somebody take some of our poorest authorities and make them as small as possible? We know that these are issues, and we know that the system is not sustainable. I’m sure we can argue that, where we have a situation where one local authority had to be taken over because it couldn’t take any decisions, where we had six local authorities at one point in special measures for education, where we’ve had problems with social services—we’ve had particular problems in Pembrokeshire, with what was happening there with the chief executive—clearly, the system as it stands isn’t sustainable.

How do we go forward? The map before the election is clearly gone. Let’s accept that, and I’ve said that before publicly and in this Chamber. I know that the Cabinet Secretary has spent the summer talking to local authorities, with a view to getting an agreed way forward. For some, it will mean voluntary mergers, and there’s interest there; for others, it will mean working regionally in terms of service delivery. So, the councils will still exist; they will be the point of entry, as it were, for the public, but services in the future would be delivered regionally. So, you would have one department. For example, there’s no reason why you can’t have one social services department for a number of authorities. Why is that a good thing? It creates the critical mass that a department needs, so that if people are on the sick, one or two of them, it doesn’t create a problem within the department. I’ve seen this happen in smaller authorities. We can do that by working with authorities and do it by consensus.

I do think that town and community councils should be given more powers, and I think that’s something that local authorities, principal authorities, need to look at as well. They can’t all be given the same powers because there’s an enormous disparity in their sizes: some represent 100 or 200 people; others represent many thousands. But that is something that we want to look at.

The current system doesn’t work, but we want to work with local government to make sure we get to a system where services can be delivered more robustly, more consistently, and, of course, better.

And most certainly finally, David Melding.

Thank you, Presiding Officer, for your indulgence. Can I welcome the commitment to deliver an extra 20,000 affordable homes, First Minister? By my calculation—and I would like you to confirm this—that means that you are raising the target for the next five years for the housing market to produce not 8,000 homes a year, but now 12,000 homes a year. I do hope you can confirm that, but I do point out that the current level of house building is actually falling in Wales, and we’re unlikely to build even 8,000 homes this year.

Well, our target is 20,000. Some of that will be met, as I said, through Help to Buy. There will be different models that will be appropriate for different people—I think that’s true—and we need to be innovative in terms of seeing whether there are ways in which we can acquire existing houses—not compulsory, of course—in terms of making them available to the local market. These are all issues that will need to be examined.

We know in some parts of rural Wales—Powys, for example, lost half of its public housing stock in the 1980s and 1990s, with enormous consequences. I’ve met people who can’t live in the villages that they’re from—they’re living in mobile homes as a result of it. Well, we can’t tolerate that; it’s a social justice issue, as far as the future is concerned.

So, yes, we have the target of 20,000 homes. There will be a mixture of different ways as to how we reach that target, but we are determined to reach it.

I thank the First Minister.