Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m grateful for the opportunity to respond to this debate today. Our town and city centres face complex challenges that we recognise—the difficulties they face remaining relevant and competitive, as many Members have alluded to today. The circumstances in which they operate are continually changing, and they face challenges from both economic circumstances and the wide range of choice available to consumers, including online shopping, as Members also mentioned.

The Welsh Government is supporting local authorities and others in their efforts to adapt, to evolve and to meet the challenges that they face. Across our policies and programmes, we have supported our towns and cities to diversify and become places to live, to shop, to work and to socialise. Through Vibrant and Viable Places, the Welsh Government has invested £110 million in 11 towns and city areas, creating jobs, supporting people into work, and leveraging £300 million in additional investment. The programme has also been instrumental in delivering new housing. A recent success story is the rise in business improvement districts: there are now 12 established BIDs in Wales, and we’ve also supported 20 town-centre partnerships. As this shows, the Welsh Government does recognise the importance of vibrant and diverse high streets that support local enterprise.

Whilst there is a mixed picture in different areas, we recognise the current national position with regard to vacancy rates, and that some areas have lost their community spaces or services as a result of low footfall. I did listen to the comments by Mark Reckless earlier on regarding two particular areas. I do agree with him, actually; there are some vibrant communities, particularly in Abergavenny, in the constituency of Nick Ramsay, and that’s something that we should celebrate. We should congratulate the town centres and the people who use those town centres on the way they’ve adapted the opportunities there. It has been a very difficult few years for some areas to get back onto their feet, following the economic turndown and the ongoing challenges they face. We have a £20 million town centre loan scheme, for example, aimed at bringing empty premises back into use and giving community assets a new lease of life.

The point in the motion on car parking charges is an interesting idea. Last year, a report commissioned by the Welsh Government assessed the impact of car parking charges in relation to footfall. The full report is available on the website, and the picture is complex. As our Member makes clear, we would welcome further exploration of it by the Assembly and its committees. We cannot, however, Deputy Presiding Officer, accept any attempt to commit Government to particular items of expenditure ahead of any budget process, as Members will be aware.

At the same time, we cannot support the Conservative amendment’s attempt to remove the idea from the motion. We’re not opposed to the broader strategic approach to the problem facing the high street, as outlined in the Tory amendment. A whole-Government approach to regeneration is a fundamental part of our current framework. Sadly, the effect of amendment 1 is to delete all reference to car parking, and therefore we cannot support it today. This Government has consistently shown that we recognise the importance of high-street businesses, and I’m happy to support amendment 3.

Finally, I’d like to emphasise that the future of our town centres and city centres is an important one to this Government. The contribution from Lee Waters in regard to the opportunities of business rates is something that I’m sure the Cabinet Secretary will take very seriously in terms of the opportunities to explore how we can share the benefits of all types of shopping to create resilient communities and resilient shopping centres. I’m grateful to the Member—