It looks like I’m going to regret my generosity. [Laughter.] I certainly will make sure that we do contact each other, and we arrange those conversations. In many ways, although we sit on different sides of the Chamber, I know that the ambition is shared, and I don’t think that these matters are party political issues. I don’t simply think they’re a matter for Government and opposition either. I think they’re a matter for us getting it right for some of the most vulnerable students in the country, and we have an absolute responsibility and duty to do that. I hope that this Government will help discharged that duty.

But I also recognise that in any democracy a Government cannot discharge that duty in isolation, and that the parliamentary process of scrutiny of debate, of discussion, is absolutely essential to the creation of good legislation, and to create a legislative framework in which professionals are able to exercise their judgments and able to deliver the sort of excellence in support that we all want to see. So, the Government certainly accepts its responsibilities, but we recognise the role that is played by everybody who sits in this Chamber.

And I hope, over the coming months, as we have this debate, that we’ll be able to have that sort of very rich debate about how we can best achieve the sort of statutory framework and transformational programme that will deliver for people across the whole of the country. And let me say this: the Government will approach that debate with a generosity and with an expectation that we will reach out across the isles, as the Americans would say, in order to actively seek support across the Chamber for that, and will accept where it believes we might have got things wrong. So, certainly, it is not my wish to pursue legislation using the weight of numbers; it is a process of legislation that will engage in a wide-scale debate here in the Chamber, in our committees, and in the country, in order to get things right, and I think that’s more important, at the end of the day, and I certainly look forward to the conversations that we will have on that.

Can I say this? The issues that you raised over consistency are ones that trouble me greatly. There’s a lack of consistency in diagnosis—we’re talking about dyslexia this afternoon, but you could easily raise that to a number of different matters and conditions, and your intervention on autism is an example of that, and I would be surprised if diagnosis wasn’t a part of the conclusions that you’ve reached. So, let us look at how we can ensure consistency—consistency in the ability to gain a fair diagnosis, consistency, then, in the plans that are put together for each individual person, student, pupil, however you wish to describe the individual, and then consistency in delivery as well. Because one of the things that I’ve learnt in the years that I’ve been a Member here is that, whilst we as politicians believe that all the problems of the world might be solved by a vote in this place or by the creation of a new or different legislative framework, what I think we’re all acutely aware of is that it is the delivery of services that really matters, and that means we rely on an excellent, well-motivated workforce that has the legislative tools available to them and structures that enable them to do their jobs, but also has both the resources and the support in order to provide that for pupils or students. And, certainly, it’s a commitment of this Government to do that.

Let me say this: there are protocols in place about discussing timetables, and I hope Members will forgive me if I’m not too specific this afternoon. But we will introduce the ALN Bill before Christmas, with the consent of the Presiding Officer, and we will then seek to have an active and proactive debate across the country. We will publish the statutory guidance as soon as possible after Christmas—I would anticipate in early February—to enable a conversation and an examination of our proposals that relies not simply on the primary legislation but also on the statutory guidance that will deliver that primary legislation. And I think it’s only right and fair that people who have an interest in this field are able to look at the whole range of legislative tools that we’re seeking to put in place that will enable us to have that much richer debate that I spoke about earlier.

So, we will do that. We will actively seek to have conversations with different groups of people, with practitioners and with those with an interest in the field, as well as Members here. We will seek to have that debate, which will be about listening—about listening to what people are telling us, listening to the experiences that you’ve described this afternoon and which others have described at other times, and then responding, because listening is important, but also hearing what is being said is important. And, when I talk about the process of debate and discussion, I hope that, as a Government, we will be able, when the Assembly reaches the point at which it’s happy to take this matter forward, then we will be able to have a Bill that goes to committee that won’t become a political football but where we will, together, collectively seek to improve the legislation in such a way as delivers the sorts of outcomes that—. Yes, I will.