The following amendments have been selected: amendments 1 and 2 in the name of Paul Davies.

We now move on to item 7 on our agenda, which is a debate on the annual report on equality 2015-2016, including the Welsh Ministers’ interim report on equality 2016. I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children to move the motion—Carl Sargeant.

Motion NDM6217 Jane Hutt

To propose the National Assembly of Wales:

1. Recognises the progress made in partnership with other public bodies and the third sector to promote greater equality in Wales, as demonstrated in the Annual Report on Equality 2015-2016 and Welsh Ministers' Interim Report on Equality 2016, and

2. Reaffirms the Assembly's commitment to making Wales a fairer, more equal nation.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to open this debate on promoting greater equality, focusing in particular on the progress made in partnership with other public bodies and that of the third sector. We recently published the annual report on equality for 2015-2016, which provides an update on how the Welsh Government has met its equality duties. This year, the annual report on equality was published alongside the Welsh Ministers’ interim report on equality 2016. This additional report gives an overview of the progress made by public sector authorities in Wales towards compliance with the public sector equality duty. These combined reports capture a range of cross-cutting and collaborative steps to promote equality of opportunity in Wales, and reflect past achievements and look forward towards the challenges ahead.

This annual report on equality covers the final year of the strategic equality plan of 2012-16, and this was a challenging period for Wales, where the impact of welfare reform being felt by many people across the country—we know that inequality is more likely to grow during times of economic uncertainty. Nevertheless, over the past four years, we have introduced some truly groundbreaking policies and legislation, including the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, the Housing (Wales) Act 2014, the tackling hate crime and incidents framework, the framework for action on independent living and the children’s rights scheme. These examples were all developed to improve different aspects of life in Wales and support people in greatest need or facing particular challenges. They are continuing to make Wales a fairer nation, and clearly demonstrate our commitment to advancing equality.

The other thing these examples have in common is that they were all developed following engagement with people across Wales, including the third sector, and this commitment to engage communities continues to be the central and strategic direction of the Welsh Government. Under the Welsh specific equalities duty, we are required to review and refresh our equality objectives every four years. This ensures we are continuing to address the areas of inequality that impact on the people of Wales. In March 2016, we published our equality objectives for the next four years, and these objectives are based extensively on engagement and consultation with protected groups and stakeholders. This engagement provided the opportunity for them to shape the development of the equality objectives.

Our stakeholders strongly support retaining the core subject matters of the previous equality objectives, as they address long-term challenges that require focus and sustained action. Our new objectives will, therefore, build on the actions we’ve undertaken as part of the first strategic equality plan. The strategic equality plan of 2016-2020 contains the actions we are taking to drive forward our equality objectives. Our plan will help to continue to mainstream equality and diversity across all ministerial portfolios, tackling the areas of inequality that matter most to the people of Wales. As I mentioned during the recent Plenary debate on the Equality and Human Rights Commission annual report, our equality objectives are strongly linked with the seven key challenges identified in the commission’s ‘Is Wales Fairer?’ It was pleasing to discover that public authorities are also setting equality objectives based on those challenges. The EHRC review highlighted we have in making Wales a fairer and more equal nation. We strongly encourage public, private and third sector organisations to work together and take a joint approach to tackling inequality.

The Welsh Government continues to bring together groups representing people with protected characteristics through our various ministerial forums and stakeholder groups, and these include the disability equality forum, the faith communities forum, and the Wales race forum. These meetings keep us informed of the key issues and barriers facing people in Wales. Our decisions are heavily influenced by our engagement with third sector organisations, and we remain extremely grateful to those stakeholders, and we value their support and their dedication to making Wales a fairer, more equal nation.

Llywydd, this support is reciprocal, the Welsh Government is assisting third sector organisations with the equality and inclusion funding programme for 2017-20, and the programme consists of equality grants to support organisations that represent the equality for race, gender, disability and gender reassignment and sexual orientation. It also covers inclusion projects supporting Gypsy, Roma and Travellers, refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and tackling hate crime. The funding will support the important work of the third sector in contributing to the Welsh Government’s delivery on the SEP. The Welsh Government will continue to provide leadership and cross-Government action to promote equality. We value the role of others in taking forward our policy and legislation, including its implementation.

Llywydd, we fully recognise that collaborative working with public, private and third sector organisations is vital when tackling inequalities in Wales, so let us build on the progress made, and remain committed to removing those barriers that prevent people from reaching their full potential. Thank you.

Diolch. Rwyf wedi dethol y ddau welliant i'r cynnig a galwaf ar Mark Isherwood i gynnig gwelliannau 1 a 2 a gyflwynwyd yn enw Paul Davies.

Amendment 1—Paul Davies

Add as a new point at end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to clarify the progress made in relation to the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, Part 2 Code of Practice, which requires local authorities to work in partnership with people to co-produce the solutions to meet their personal well-being outcomes.

Amendment 2—Paul Davies

Add as new point at end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to implement effective action plans relating to progress in promoting equality in Wales, with measurable objectives and outcomes created for all future reports.

Amendments 1 and 2 moved.

Diolch. The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and wider society on the grounds, as we’ve heard, of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation. This annual equality report states that the Welsh Government’s evaluation of the strategic equality plan and equality objectives 2012-16

‘focuses on the extent to which there has been measurable progress on the Objectives’.

However, the evaluation itself reports large gaps in evidence and states that a priority for the Welsh Government will be working with other public sector organisations, and with the third sector to prioritise filling these gaps.

Well, it’s a decade since I and others on the then Equality of Opportunity Committee first called on the Welsh Government to implement effective action plans to progress equality in Wales, with measurable objectives and outcomes created for all future reports. In a 2009 debate on equalities here, I moved an amendment, again calling on the Welsh Government to deliver this. Hence our amendment 2 today, where the report and evaluation being debated today confirm that the Welsh Government has still not done this.

As the report records:

‘public sector bodies must “involve people who it considers representative of one or more of the protected groups and who have an interest in how an authority carries out its functions”.’

It is a principle of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 that a local authority should respond in a person-centred, co-productive way to each individual’s particular circumstances. That’s taken form the Act. As the Minister for Social Services and Public Health has confirmed to me, the Act places a specific duty on local authorities to promote the involvement of people in the design and delivery of care and support services.

However, there are worrying reports of local authorities failing to understand this. The local deaf community in Conwy told me that there was no consultation, advance notice, information or transition planning when Conwy removed the vital third sector-commissioned sign language services on which they relied. The council said they had adequate provision to deliver these services in-house, that they were acting in accordance with the social services and well-being Act, but instead of intervention and prevention services delivering independence and reducing pressure on statutory services, the deaf community told me that the council showed no deaf awareness and that their independence had been taken away from them.

To the detriment of affected constituents, Wrexham was unaware that the Act applied to the tender process for residential care and Flintshire that it applied to employment or to access the public pathways in accordance with the Welsh Government’s framework for action on independent living. Hence our amendment 1, calling

‘on the Welsh Government to clarify the progress made in relation to the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, Part 2 Code of Practice, which requires local authorities to work in partnership with people to co-produce the solutions to meet their personal well-being outcomes.’

I hosted December’s Sanctuary in the Senedd event with the Welsh Refugee Coalition. We need a measurable action plan for Wales to become a nation of sanctuary, as we do to address the increasing problem of older people being targeted by criminals due to their supposed vulnerabilities.

Calling for action to close the attainment gap, the Equality and Human Rights Commission Wales report quotes strikingly low GCSE attainment amongst Gypsy and Traveller children, looked-after children, children with special educational needs and children eligible for free school meals. Yet, Flintshire has been allowed to close a school that engaged with these very groups and improved their educational outcomes.

The commission reports only 42 per cent of disabled people in employment, including just 1 in 10 people with autism, compared to 71 per cent of non-disabled people. With 42 being the average age of retirement for someone living with multiple sclerosis, what steps can the Welsh Government take to enable them to remain in work for as long as possible?

The Llywydd took the Chair.

The Welsh independent living grant helps disabled people to live independently. A fortnight ago, the First Minister told me the decision to transfer this to local authorities followed advice from the Welsh Government stakeholder advisory group, but membership organisation Disability Wales advises that their preferred option of a Wales independent living fund was not included for the stakeholder group’s consideration. Nearly two decades after devolution, with the Equality and Human Rights Commission reporting nearly one in four people in Wales living in poverty, and with child poverty above UK levels, it is time that recycled warm words were replaced with real action.

The debate on the annual report on equality is timely, given what’s happening not only in the UK in this post-European Union era but also in the United States, with the racist and discriminatory attitudes taken by the new President against Muslim refugees. Future generations will look at this period in history, and we, as politicians, will be at risk of being harshly judged for not taking a stand in the rise of the extreme right wing. Too often these days, I’m reminded that politics is no longer a battle of ideas—socialism against conservatism, individualism against communism. Rather, it is an unremitting battle between the politics of mercy on the one hand and the politics of intolerance and prejudice on the other.

This report does demonstrate that Wales is not an equal nation. Almost one in four people in Wales is living in poverty; 32 per cent of children are living in poverty; 27 per cent of disabled people, and 38 per cent of ethnic minority people are living in poverty. Wales is not an equal nation. A little over three quarters of hate crimes that are reported to the police are race related, and it is black people who are most likely to suffer these attacks.

What’s most striking, generally speaking, in this report is that there hasn’t been much progress against many of the indicators included in the report. In those areas where there have been changes, progress has been slow. In the report, the Government notes that this reflects the nature of the indicators, where any movement tends to be gradual and over a long period of time. But in looking at the indicators, their content makes it very difficult to measure any successes. So, Plaid Cymru will be supporting the Conservative amendments today that call on the Government

‘to implement effective action plans…with measurable objectives and outcomes created for all future reports.’

But I must say that there is no doubt that it’s the Conservatives and their policies that are responsible for much for the inequality and unfairness that currently exist in Wales.

There is one specific element that isn’t included as part of the Government’s equality strategy and I do want to highlight in concluding my contribution to this afternoon’s debate, and that is geographical equality here in Wales. I will ask the Cabinet Secretary to consider including geographical elements in any strategy or any new reviews in future. There are major differences between salaries in different areas of Wales. For example, workers in Dwyfor Meirionnydd earn over £100 less per week than the Welsh average, and this is also true for a number of Valleys areas.

We’re all aware that a historical lack of investment by the UK Government has tended to benefit one part of the country, namely the south-east of England, over and above any other part of the country. But in looking at the per capita spend by the Welsh Government over the past four years, it is clear that that pattern has been adopted here in Wales, too. According to your own Government figures, capital investment in north Wales next year will be half of what it is expected to be in the south-east of Wales. So, if we are to tackle this lack of equality in Wales, we must ensure that any debate or any future strategies to make Wales a more equal nation do include geographical equality.

We heard mention earlier in the Chamber about the need for an economic strategy for Wales as a matter of urgency. Any such strategy should give full consideration to issues of equality—poverty, the geographical unfairness that exists in Wales, the inequality faced by minority groups, and also the inequality between women and men in the workplace, with 29 per cent of women earning less than the living wage. The figure for men is 20 per cent.

I look forward to seeing the eight equality objectives of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 starting to take root in Wales, but far, far, far more work needs to take place in order to achieve the aim of a more equal Wales. And crucial to all of this will be the local well-being plans that are to be published by 2018. We as an Assembly must scrutinise those in great detail to ensure that they do work effectively.

Thanks to the Minister for bringing today’s debate. We broadly support the aims of the report, and we also support the Conservative amendments. One of these deals with having measurable objectives. We can occasionally become overly obsessive about targets. However, an absence of meaningful targets will make it increasingly difficult for any Government to gauge how well its policies are going. I did comment on a comparative lack of targets in the ‘Taking Wales Forward’ document when we discussed it last year. I’m sure that many other Members did as well. This is also a feature of this equalities report. It is a basic rule of management technique that organisations need to be SMART. In the other words: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timed. So, the lack of targets does cause some anxiety.

We have a number of regulations in Wales that attempt to tackle the problems of lack of equality. The question is: how effective are they, in practice, and how effective can they be made to be? This morning, I sat in the Petitions Committee where we had a very good presentation from the Whizz-Kidz group. This was all about the problems faced by wheelchair users in accessing public transport. It was extremely eye-opening. There is clearly still a whole catalogue of problems facing wheelchair users, whether they travel, or rather attempt to travel by train, bus or taxi. The briefing we received from the Assembly’s research department indicated some of the regulations governing this area, some of which have been introduced in relatively recent years, yet still these problems persist. I asked the Whizz-Kidz if these problems needed stronger legislation, in their opinion, or simply better enforcement of the laws and regulations that already exist. The answer given was that what we needed was better enforcement.

My conclusion is that, sometimes, the Assembly legislates in a broadly appropriate manner but that, somehow, within a short period, there is a lack of effective enforcement, which allows inequalities to persist. This has also been apparent from recent inquiries undertaken by the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee. It seems that we need very regular engagement with the affected groups to tackle this problem. One possible solution, or partial solution, being proposed by the Conservatives today, and which has also been included in recent legislation, is co-production. This is a policy that is being repeatedly pushed by my next-door neighbour, Mark Isherwood. So, given the problems that I heard about today, would a greater use of co-production allow or help facilitate better enforcement of existing regulations? Thank you.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your report. I wanted to focus on the provision for Gypsies and Travellers. I know that many Members of the Assembly did attend the Holocaust memorial service last week on the steps of the Senedd, which was organised by the cross-party group on Gypsies and Travellers. I’m sure we were all very moved by the stories we heard about Gypsies and Travellers who had suffered in the Holocaust. I know that many people are unaware of the large numbers of those, the many hundreds of thousands, who died during that period. So, I think that was an opportunity for us to hear something about the Gypsy and Traveller community that is not generally known.

In many ways, the situation of Gypsies and Travellers in Wales has improved. One of the big steps that we took forward was to put a duty on local authorities to provide sites. I have contact with the all-party group in Westminster for Gypsy and Traveller law reform, and they are absolutely thrilled that we have been able to achieve that duty here in Wales, because that is something that was lost, and something that they‘ve struggled to get back on the agenda—of course, totally unsuccessfully, and the provision in England now doesn’t compare with what we’re doing in Wales.

So, that is a great step forward, and local needs assessments have been undertaken. Money has been made available to improve sites, so I do feel that we are moving along in the right direction. However, there are some areas of concern. Mark Isherwood has already mentioned in his contribution the very low education achievement of Gypsy/Traveller children. In fact, it is staggeringly low—I think it’s about 15 per cent compared to 68 per cent of the average school population. So, we’ve got huge strides to make in order to improve that situation. In the Children, Young People and Education Committee, we have been taking evidence about the changes to the education improvement grant, which mean that the Gypsy/Traveller element of it is no longer ring-fenced, and neither is the ethnic minority part. I think there are quite a lot of concerns coming out about whether this money is now being successfully targeted to the different Gypsy and Traveller projects, and so I hope the Minister will keep a careful eye on the results of that inquiry, because it does look as if the provision for Gypsies and Travellers is diminishing.

Then the other point I wanted to make was a particular point about the Unity project in Pembrokeshire. The Unity project in Pembrokeshire has worked very closely with the Traveller education service, based at Monkton Priory Community Primary School. This project has been held up as a beacon—a shining beacon. They’ve worked with the Traveller education service to establish trust with all the Traveller sites in the area, to encourage the children to come to school. The parents in the community have confidence in the school and in the work the Traveller education service are doing. But it has been very disappointing that the lottery-funded project, which funded three workers to work with the Traveller education service to do the outreach work, the trust building, comes to an end on the thirty-first of the month—I think that may be today—and the Pembrokeshire local authority has not taken on the project as it was highly expected that they would do.

So, this means that we have a situation where a project that’s been held up throughout Wales—the work with Gypsies and Travellers—is really at a stage where we fear it may deteriorate. I can’t emphasise too much how successful that project has been. It’s fairly unusual for Gypsy and Traveller children to move on and get degrees, and there are three young women who’ve actually got degrees through going through that service. Many have got employment in the area, and altogether it has been very successful. So, I wanted to draw this to the attention of the Minister. There has been intense lobbying by the young people themselves down there, of the local authority, to try to urge them to change their minds and really support what has been such a successful project, and it’s by the work of those three workers that young people have been able to come here, young Gypsy/Traveller men and women, and make their contribution to the cross-party group. Indeed, they were here last week saying how bitterly upset they are, and they are lobbying the councillors. So, I will end on asking the Minister if it’s possible he could comment on one of our really successful Welsh projects and see whether anything can be done to save that.

I think we live in a very unequal Wales. I’m going to flag up some of the issues here. I think violence is violence, abuse is abuse, and I oppose all forms of abuse. If we look at the document in relation to domestic violence, there is no mention of men in the objectives. If you look at the figures, I think it’s one in four females are victims of domestic abuse; one in six males are also victims and the document seems to forget that.

If we look at the funding of domestic abuse support, female support is financed to the tune of millions—as it should be—yet there’s a huge gap with funding for helping men who are victims of domestic abuse. In this city, Both Parents Matter have had £4,500 in the last 12 months, and that organisation stops men killing themselves. It supports grandmothers, it supports aunties and it also supports mothers.

If you look at the publicity on domestic abuse, you never see a female perpetrator, it’s always a male playing up to the very sexist stereotype—you could even say a misandrist stereotype. If you look at the document before the Public Accounts Committee yesterday, information was provided by a female domestic abuse charity, there was nothing—nothing at all—from a male perspective. Nobody had bothered speaking to any organisation helping males in the same situation, and that is sexist.

Will the Member take an intervention?

Yes, I will.

If I could just come back on that point, during the last term, during the domestic abuse Bill, I was on the committee and the figures were there for all to see of actual domestic abuse perpetrators. The statistics were there. We did acknowledge that there are male victims, but, certainly in Wales, the figures are quite categorically there, in fact, that women are subjected to domestic abuse in a much larger proportion.

There is a larger proportion, but if you look at the Home Office figures, it’s fairly clear there’s a large percentage of men, albeit a minority—I concede that. But also, one issue in south Wales, if you’re a male, is it’s very difficult to persuade the police to accept a complaint. I’ve stood next to people and complaints have not been accepted.

In terms of the victims, when they go for help, males are screened. Females are not screened. I’ll give you an example. The Live Fear Free helpline will screen males as perpetrators and they won’t screen females.

There’s discrimination in housing. If you’re a non-resident parent—usually male, but not always nowadays—you will only qualify for a one-bedroomed property if you have three children and you’re not the principal carer. So, be you a mother or a father, you’re stuck in a one-bedroomed property with three children and you will lose overnight contact. That is not equal. That is not equal at all. And you’re also subject to bedroom tax, which is wrong. And that is class discrimination. It’s discrimination against parents on the basis of economic income.

If you look at transgender parents, I think there needs to be legislation in Wales to protect them because there was a case yesterday where a transgender parent lost contact with the child for simply being transgender. That is discrimination and we need legislation to stop that.

I think, in Wales, we also suffer from linguistic discrimination because there are parents in this city—the capital of Wales—who cannot choose Welsh-medium education. That’s wrong. The deaf community as well, if you receive education from a tutor, there is no minimum qualification of British Sign Language for a teacher and that is wrong.

Gypsies and Travellers. One thing I’m looking forward to hopefully putting right after May is, if you go to Rover Way, and I invite anyone to go down there, the state of the place—. That is not equality. There’s not even a play area for the children and there’s no path to school. It’s a hugely dangerous road. So, that isn’t equality either.

There’s also gender discrimination and abuse of colleagues in local government. What has this Government done? We’ve got a Minister who is going to pontificate now about domestic abuse and the rights of females, and yet he has done nothing—nothing at all—to look after females in local government who are the victims of abuse, and members of his own party have acknowledged that.

If you look at the disabled, very often care plans are failing, and disabled people have to have residential care. It’s not their fault; the condition doesn’t—. They don’t have to have residential care, it’s because the care plans are failing, and residential care is more expensive.

You do need to bring your comments to an end, now.

Okay, I’ll bring my remarks to a close, and I’ll finish on racism, which I know all about. To be honest, I think from the age of four I’ve known what it’s like to appear different and to have slightly darker skin and be treated in a different way because of that. And I’m appealing now, without attacking anybody, I’m appealing for some responsibility across the whole spectrum of politics and especially from some people who see themselves on the left, because the terms ‘racist’ and ‘racism’ and ‘xenophobia’ are being abused, and they’re being thrown at everyone, and when you do that, the term loses its value, and you’re helping fascists and you’re helping those who actually are racist. I’m not blaming colleagues here, but we know what we’re talking about—you probably know what I’m talking about, and what I’m asking for from you is an end to the silence on such unacceptable use and abuse of the terms ‘racist’ and ‘xenophobe’. Diolch yn fawr.

It’s positive that we’re having this debate in Plenary today, and perhaps all the more important and prescient, given world events and what’s happening outside this Chamber. The Welsh Government’s commitment to equality and its cross-cutting approach to furthering this agenda is to be applauded, but the challenge for us all, and not solely the Welsh Government, is to ensure that these overarching objectives and principles translate into reality and everyday practice for the people they are set up to serve.

Equality, to me, is not simply a matter for the minority, it is for the majority to embrace and champion in shaping the nature of our nation, and we should believe that equality in today’s Wales is an absolute, not an add-on. I know from my experience in the trade union movement that mainstreaming equality is done largely through equality representatives and representation on branches. It makes it an everyday, accepted occurrence and it embeds a culture of understanding, fairness and respect that we’re all together in striving for the same social justice. Whether that is a fair day’s pay or eliminating discrimination in the workplace, equality of opportunity or extending rights and protections, it’s all about creating a more equal Wales and wider world.

I’m proud that it was a Labour Government that led the way in legislation that enabled me, and many others, to live my life as I am and for who I am. We’ve come a long way on equality when it comes to changing legislation and implementing guidance, but we need to make sure that this actually changes lives. We should rightly celebrate how far we have come as a country and society, but we should never become complacent and should absolutely remain vigilant. That is why it’s right that the Welsh Government reiterates its commitment to reducing the incidence of all forms of harassment and abuse, including hate crime, as outlined in objective 4 of the equality report 2015-16, and the same objective in the Welsh Government’s equality objectives for 2016-20. Indeed, we are aware that there’s been a continued increase in the reporting of hate crime in Wales, with 2,259 hate crimes recorded in Wales in 2014-15, an increase on the number recorded in 2012-13. And this probably hides the true figure as the nature of the crime means there’s probably an element—a large element—of underreporting.

We’ve taken positive steps forward to tackle hate crime in Wales, funding Victim Support Cymru to run National Hate Crime Report and Support Centre Wales, and participating in hate crime awareness every October. On National Hate Crime Awareness Week, Cabinet Secretary, I’d like to see more done with schools and communities across Wales in order to educate, break down barriers and open up access to support. Nobody is born with prejudice, and no-one should live in fear in their own community, without a safe space to turn to. And on that, there should be no hierarchy of hate, no degree of separation when it comes to discrimination and ensuring that people are able to live their lives free from fear.

And on that, we all have a duty to call out hate. I’m sure I’m not the only one here who feels, at best, uneasy at how the tone of some political debate seems to have shifted recently. What was once deemed beyond the pale some now feel it is okay to say. And this isn’t about political correctness, it’s about behaving with basic dignity and respect to each other as fellow human beings—a lesson in dignity that, in fact, the new President of the USA could do with learning. We’ve already heard a clear condemnation in this Chamber today, and the First Minister is right that President Trump’s travel plan policy is beyond any rational defence. The very real fear is that it’s just the beginning and reports began circulating last night that the White House under President Trump was considering reversing many LGBT protections.

Looking at events unfolding around us, I must confess that I’ve had my moments when I’ve wondered whether this is the right time to stick my head above the parapet but, actually, now more than ever, it’s important that we are prepared to stand up and speak out. The debate today is not only significant in terms of timing, but this Government’s commitment to equality is both imperative and of immense value, and we should not forget this.

I certainly welcome this report. The monitoring of how our public sector bodies comply with their equality duties is essential, and only this week we’ve seen Rhondda Cynon Taf council criticised for spending £80,000 on a bus station revamp, whilst omitting to make step-free access provision so that it’s available for all. This demonstrates the utmost importance of this annual debate, and how critical it is for the Welsh Government to actually work hard to ensure their equality policies are enforced across Wales.

I welcome the figures noted in relation to procurement in public sector procurement, showing that £1.1 billion invested and that £232 million went directly on salaries to Welsh citizens, £706 million with Welsh-based businesses, of which 78 per cent were SMEs, helping 1,595 disadvantaged people into employment. Additionally, £83,000 was reinvested in Wales—a commendable figure, but just 1 per cent more than 2013, so there is a spending gap there.

There are a couple of areas I would like to focus on today, and that is health and social care, refugees, and equal pay. The Welsh Government’s revised health and care standards noted in its report how services should provide high-quality, safe and reliable care, centred on the person. Further to this, our amendment today, our first one, calls on the Welsh Government

‘to clarify the progress made in relation to the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, Part 2 Code of Practice, which requires local authorities to work in partnership with people to co-produce the solutions to meet their personal well-being outcomes.’

Cabinet Secretary, as we’ve seen in the news and in our own constituencies, this is not happening consistently across Wales. People able to return home from hospital are still forced to bedblock until a suitable care package is available. At present, we have 239 people in Wales who have been waiting more than three weeks to leave hospital, to go home—64 have been waiting over three months, and 25 over six. Equality of service, care provision, treatment, and joined-up working is not happening as it should, and I ask you how you are working to address this.

The Syrian resettlement programme noted in the report is intended to help resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees across the UK. In evidence taken by our committee—the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee—there has been much criticism from mainly everybody who has given us evidence that there is now a two-tier system in Wales. We’ve heard that whilst the support given to the resettled Syrian families is the gold standard with regard to housing, through the Welsh Refugee Council and Displaced People in Action, yet it does contrast so hugely with the support available—in some cases, none—for refugees from other countries who turn up at the Welsh Refugee Council every day. In response to my recent written Assembly question, you advised that you are aiming to achieve parity. I wonder if you would go into more detail today as to how this is being undertaken and how this will actually get through to the front line and onto the ground.

Now then, the Equal Pay Act came into force in 1970, and I’ve had cases that have gone on for nine years. In one case, one lady, begrudged her payment to bring her in line with law of £800, it took her nine years until my intervention to get her that money. In response to my raising this issue, the Cabinet Secretary for local government requested the WLGA to look at equal pay in more detail, and to put pressure on local authorities to settle. There are hundreds of cases of people—women—who have not received their equal pay for the work that they have carried out, and it’s wrong. Since 2011-12, councils have spent over £5.5 million of taxpayers’ money fighting these very valued front-line workers to settling their claims. This money is owed—it belongs to them—and they have missed out on this through inequality at its worst. Cabinet Secretary, under objectives 2 and 8 of the strategic equality plan, will you seek to look into this? The Welsh Government’s assessment of the strategic plan and equality objectives did not address this in the November 2016 report.

As a scrutinising and law-making body, we have an obligation to ensure that our local authorities and all public bodies don’t just produce the strategies, but they actually run the thread of equality across every single public service that’s delivered across Wales. Thank you.

It’s really great to be able to speak in such an important debate today. I do welcome the annual report on equalities and I want to actually focus specifically on objective 4, which is hate crime. I’m doing that because we are living in a time where that is growing, and hate crime across the protected characteristics of race, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity is really what we’re talking about. I’m not going to rehearse what Hannah Blythyn has said about the under-reporting; she is absolutely right that there is evidence that, of the high number that we have, it is the case that, most often, hate crime is not reported for whatever reason that might be. But there is a statistic that says 79 per cent of those incidents that are reported are race-related hate crimes, and they have really substantive impacts on both the victims and the victims’ families. They are both physical and also psychological, and that, again, was reported by the all-Wales hate crime research project earlier this year.

It is really important that, when we are debating this today, we actually do think about the impact of hate crime as being an impact on an individual and an impact on their family, rather than just reeling off statistics. That is why the Welsh Government’s ‘Tackling Hate Crimes and Incidents: A Framework for Action’ is important, because it does aim to tackle hate crime across all the protected characteristics. It is the case, I’m pleased to see, that age has now been added, because there are, recently, reports that people are being discriminated against purely because of their age, whatever that age might be. So, we have reports of elderly people being discriminated against purely because they’re elderly people, but we are also now getting reports of young people being discriminated against because they are young people.

But there is a characteristic that I would ask you to add to that, Cabinet Secretary, and that is gender. I think, if we could add gender as a protected characteristic, we would capture an awful lot of the hate crime that has been discussed here today. By ‘gender’, we have to look at gender in all its meanings, not just being a woman—very often, if you say the word ‘gender’, people immediately think you are just talking about women. So, I would like, really, very much, to see that as an added characteristic.

There is support that is available by the hate crimes support centre, and there’s £488,000 of Welsh Government funding that has been put in as part of that framework to tackle hate crime, and I very much welcome that. I know that the centre has aimed to help 2,000 victims over the last three years. You know, again, if we think of these as not victims, but as individuals and families around them, that is a significant level of support.

But we can’t get away from the fact that, in some cases, people are subject to hate crime because of the conversation that happens in places like this. And if I have one appeal today to all of us, it is to be extremely mindful of the language that we use, because we’ve all seen what happens when the language that we use somehow gets out of control, and gets fed back into the communities that then think it’s okay to use in those communities. Trump, in my opinion, has taken that to the extreme, but, nonetheless, the fact that hate crime has gone up during the last year, in my opinion, needs close examination and close scrutiny to see if that is being aligned, in any way, to the language that we’ve seen used in the Brexit debate last year.

Can I start by thanking the Cabinet Secretary and his staff for producing this comprehensive report? There have, undoubtedly, been many achievements here in Wales during the period of the Welsh Government’s 2015-16 strategic equality plan and objectives, not least of which was the landmark legislation that the Cabinet Secretary referred to earlier on, the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015. There are many positive initiatives identified in the report that have already been covered, so I want to focus on one specific area. But, before I do, can I make brief reference to the section on our international obligations?

I’m pleased that the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance recognised the work of the Welsh Government in introducing the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 in relation to Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessments. Given what we’ve witnessed this week in the USA and Canada, coupled with the rise in hate crimes that we saw post the European referendum last year, our work in this area will undoubtedly remain a priority.

However, I want to focus particularly on the area of improving the democratic diversity and governance of local authorities. I very much welcome the work that has been done through the expert group on local government diversity. There’s no doubt that, like other parts of the UK, the lack of diversity amongst elected councillors in Wales has been an area of concern. Unfortunately, the improvements that we’ve seen in women securing senior posts in private and public sector employment in Wales has not been mirrored in representation at local council level. It’s certainly good to see an increase in the representation of both women and younger people here in the National Assembly, but disappointing to note that it’s not replicated when it comes to local councillors.

It’s understandable, therefore, that the perception of people in Wales is that councils are largely dominated by older white males, as diversity is generally not apparent. A survey of candidates in the 2012 local government elections in Wales showed that the majority were over 60, 99.5 per cent identified their ethnicity as white, 83 per cent state their religion as Christian, and only 30 per cent were female. At present, only two council leaders in Wales are women. There has, of course, been some progress when it comes to the election of women to our local authorities in Wales, but the progress is slow. A survey in 1999 showed that 19.5 per cent of councillors were women. This rose to 21.8 per cent after the 2004 elections, and, whilst there was no definitive survey for Wales following the 2008 election, research by the BBC suggested that the figure had risen to 22 per cent. Progress is, of course, always to be welcomed, but, at this rate, we will not achieve gender balance for our councils for another 35 to 40 years.

Llywydd, the highest representation of women in councils is in Swansea, which is 39 per cent, which is still well below half; six councils are below 20 per cent, including Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council—something that I will be working with the council to address in the years ahead.

Will you give way?

Indeed.

Thank you. The figures you came out with about the percentages of females on local councils: it’s a big problem. I just want to reiterate what I said earlier and maybe get your support, because what is happening in local government is that people are being treated so badly—women councillors followed around, shouted at, abused—and, unless you react well in a bear pit, then you’re not really cut out for local government with the way that it is. So, I’d appeal to you to maybe talk to your group, and let’s get something going in terms of assessing exactly how female councillors feel in Wales, because the system at the minute just completely—completely—excludes them.

Thank you. I think my contribution is more to do with how we get women involved in the first place, but I take your point about the necessity to encourage as many women as possible to come forward and to be used to the kind of rough and tumble of local authority contributions et cetera. But I think it is fair to say that political parties have a role to play in all of this. We’ve already seen significant strides towards achieving and retaining a gender balance here in the National Assembly, but I’m realistic enough to recognise that if it were not for the all-women shortlist policy operated by the Labour Party in Wales, I might not be here today. However, that positive approach by Labour to the selection of women through all-women shortlists and the twinning of constituencies for Assemblies has meant that we now represent more than 50 per cent of our group here in the Assembly, therefore reflecting the gender balance of the electorate as a whole.

But we still have some way to go in securing gender balance in our local councils, and even further to go to achieve fair representation for ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay, transgender and disabled people in our society. So, I particularly welcome the Welsh Government’s initiative set out in the report, such as the local government mentoring programme, the Diversity In Democracy publicity campaign, and the Diversity In Democracy employers scheme and the Door to Democracy fund. There are certainly real challenges to be met, but I believe that these initiatives demonstrate a Welsh Government committed to bringing about a situation where our local councils can be seen to be truly representative of all sections of Welsh society.

I call on the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children to the reply to the debate—Carl Sargeant.

Thank you, Presiding Officer, for the opportunity to respond to this debate today. Turning to the amendments first, if I may, we will be supporting amendment 1. The Welsh Government has already outlined its three-phase approach to evaluating the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, which will include assessments of eligibility of individuals requiring care and support. The approach being taken will provide information on whether the Act is achieving the aims the Welsh Government has set out, which place the individual at the centre and require local authorities to co-produce care plans with individuals to determine and achieve the specific care and support outcomes.

Llywydd, we will be opposing amendment 2, but I do recognise the sentiment of the Conservatives in this. The recently published national indicators for the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 set the framework for reporting on ‘The Wales We Want’. To introduce a new set of indicators for the strategic equality plan would be very likely to duplicate the work and would be a cause of duplication and confusion with specific departmental targets and indicators for the work that underpins the delivery of the equality objectives. So, while we recognise that, we don’t think that is necessary and we do believe this is already covered. Equality is built into our founding legislation and it influences everything we do, Llywydd. Our actions continue to be impact assessed for equality, and our policies and legislation are developed to meet the needs of people, with careful consideration placed on equality of opportunity.

If I can turn to the points raised by many Members and the contributions in today’s debate, and, first of all, the issue of Mark Isherwood. Mark Isherwood opened the debate and finished off by saying that warm words needed to be changed into action. Well, I agree with the Member, but he also has to recognise the indirect consequences of actions placed by others onto us here in Wales. I refer the Member to the UK Government in terms of benefit sanctions that are imposed on people across the UK, and, if the Member isn’t aware of that, I’d also ask the Member to perhaps have a look at the film ‘I, Daniel Blake’, which will be very vivid in terms of how that Member may then have a refreshed view.

Sian, thank you for your contribution. An interesting proposal regarding geographical strategy and how that may operate, and I’m sympathetic to the approach, but the simple facts are that two thirds of the population live in the south of Wales, and a million around the rest. We’d have to look very carefully about distribution on a needs basis, but I will take your point seriously and ask my team to have a look further on this. The well-being plans will be critical in the way that we move forward into equality moving forward.

Gareth Bennett mentioned his experience with some people recently. I think I share his point, actually—we’re not short of legislation on equality here in Wales or in the UK, but I think it’s about the way we interpret that and deliver. I think we can have all the legislation in the world, but if it doesn’t work at the front door then that’s the bit we need to concentrate on—making sure that public bodies, including Welsh Government, act upon what the legislation says.

Julie Morgan’s contribution, again, was on Gypsy/Travellers—a champion for this cause—and I’m grateful for her continued support around equality. The issue of ring-fenced funding and specific elements of that, whether that be Gypsy/Travellers or school uniforms, is one of controversy in local government, and has been for a number of years. But I will ask my colleague for local government and finance to have a conversation with him about specific issues around Gypsy/Traveller families and how they could be disadvantaged if finance, like the Member raised with me, does have the unintended consequences on the ability to deliver for this very vulnerable group.

Hannah Blythyn’s contribution was on the LGBT network, and, again, championing that. Thank you for her contribution. I know she continues to be very open about the fact that people are disadvantaged by the whole process, and her and her colleague, actually, who sits next to her, are very good companions to have in this field, which drives this project forward.

Janet—the equality of refugees. I just refer the Member to the point that I recall giving evidence to the committee about the two-tier system that the Member refers to. I don’t recognise that there’s a two-tier system, but what I do recognise is that the UK Government has many strands of refugee/asylum packages, and I have made representation to UK Ministers to say we need to streamline that so people are treated equally at the start of that process. I hope that the Member will be able to help me with that proposal.

Joyce is absolutely right, and the issue around hate crime is one that has concerned me for many years. I think the fact that it is considered a crime on the basis of being critique of the colour of a person’s skin or a person’s sexuality, but yet it isn’t an action around everyday sexism, whether that’s male or female generated, and I’ve asked my team to look into that very specifically, because I think they are under-reported crimes that happen on a daily basis, and it becomes the norm, which is not acceptable.

Dawn, thank you for your contribution in terms of the local government diversification budget. The issue for us has to be about how can we get democracy to reflect the make-up of our communities, and I know there are some great pieces of work that have gone on. I pay tribute to South Wales Police in the fact that they’re moving towards the ethnic minority groups to try and introduce them back into policing, because that reflects better the communities that they represent and it’s something that we can learn from.

I pick up the final points from Councillor McEvoy in his contribution. Some of those were just simply wrong. It concerns me that he made reference to the violence against women strategy, and made a very specific point about my commitment to the way I’ve not changed any legislation, or had an impact on the issue around violence against women. I beg to differ, but that is the Member’s opinion. I can say that two women will escape from domestic violence this week, because they will be dead. The fact is that two women a week die across England and Wales from domestic violence, and I will not stop—and I know Members in this Chamber will not stop either—until we have tackled those very issues that we have to around equality in relation to that. [Assembly Members: ‘Hear, hear’.] The Member is wrong, also, to suggest that there aren’t any projects for men, and particularly in Cardiff. We have the Dyn project, which the Member should be aware of. I remain committed to supporting all victims of domestic abuse, regardless of their gender or sexuality—

Will you give way, Minister? You’re wrong.

[Continues.]— as set out in the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015.

The Minister’s not giving way. Carry on, Minister.

The Member, of all people in this Chamber, should also reflect on his contribution today. He was right when he said abuse is abuse. Well, the Member should know very well about that in terms of his contribution in this Chamber. I would just remember that many people in this Chamber know the real Neil McEvoy, and I would just suggest that we all make sure that where there are issues of domestic violence in any of the arenas we face, that it is appropriate that we call that principle out.

Llywydd, this has been a very interesting debate today. We do continue to work on our issue around equalities, and many Members have referred to the very important processes we have in place in Wales. But it is a challenge not only for Government, but also for our third sector partners, and we have to work together to challenge this. I am grateful for the contribution made by many today and will continue to work with you in order to continue our equality strand.

The proposal is to agree amendment 1. Does any Member object? Amendment 1 is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment 1 agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

The proposal is to agree amendment 2. Does any Member object? [Objection.]. Therefore, we will go to voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.