Thank you to the Chair of the committee for her statement. Can I put on record what an effective Chair she has been during her tenure so far, as Chair of that committee—bringing the committee together, enabling us to work in a way where there is consensus around the table so that we can maximise our impact? I want to pay tribute to you, Lynne, for your work and your commitment and dedication to the task.

As the Chair has already said, there’s been a great deal of discussion and debate around the table as to where the emphasis of the committee’s work ought to be. Very early on in those discussions, we determined, as a committee, that we would continue to pick up on those issues that were legacy issues from former committees. I think it’s really important that all committees in the Assembly get smarter about following up on recommendations and work that they’ve done in the past. The Chair has touched on a number of these, including our follow-up work on Donaldson, and there are others, of course, on children and adolescent mental health services, neonatal care and a whole range of issues that have been the subjects of pieces of work in the past. I’m very pleased that the Chair has put on record her determination to make sure that those are continuously back on the agenda of the committee, so that we can hold the Government and other stakeholders to account for their delivery and promises on those issues.

I was very pleased that one of the first pieces of work that the committee has done has been on this whole issue of advocacy for children and young people. We know that there’s been some inertia in recent years in trying to get to grips with this problem and to have a proper fully functioning service across Wales for children and young people that is equitable in terms of access, and I’m very pleased that, even though that report is yet to be published, it’s already had an impact in encouraging the Government, and local government as well, to get together and move things forward significantly. And I know, in terms of the work that we’re doing on Gypsy/Traveller and ethnic minority grants in education, that that work also is drawing attention to something that has not received a lot of attention, frankly, in recent years, and it’s important to shine a light on these particular issues.

I have to say, I’ve been disappointed with the engagement, sometimes, of the Welsh Government with some of our inquiries. We’ve done a really excellent piece of work, I think, on youth services and youth work around Wales. And it has been disappointing that the Welsh Government has, perhaps, been making decisions before the outcome of our work has been published—sometimes rash decisions, which it’s then had to row back from. And I think that there’s a lesson there for the Welsh Government.

We have a role to play as parliamentarians in the Assembly, helping to contribute to shape the work that the Government does, and I think we’ve got a very useful contribution to make. So, that has been a little bit disappointing, and I was very pleased that the Chair has reflected very well the strong feelings of the committee when things have gone awry, to bring things back on track, in terms of that very important relationship.

I think it is important also to note the commitment that the Chair has given today to working very closely and carefully with children and young people, to make sure that their voices are heard regularly in the committee’s programme of work. We did undertake some outreach work as part of our youth services inquiry, but, of course, the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill provides us with further opportunities to do just that. And the Chair is quite right to raise the fact that, when the National Assembly has a youth parliament for Wales, which it is able to work collaboratively with, that gives us another forum, which can be usefully used to ensure that children and young people’s views are brought into our work.

So, I haven’t got a series of questions for the Chair, I’m afraid, other than to say, ‘Keep up the excellent work.’ I’m very pleased with the start that’s been made, and you’ve certainly got my party’s commitment to work collaboratively with you, and other members of the committee, to ensure that we do an effective job.