Diolch yn fawr, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I am pleased to be opening the first Plenary debate on the report of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee. The Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act is a landmark piece of legislation that sets out a statutory framework to prevent abuse and improve support for survivors. But passing legislation isn’t enough—it has to be effectively implemented. So, our committee decided to undertake post-legislative scrutiny to look at how well this was happening with regard to this legislation. During our inquiry, we received written and oral evidence and conducted visits to hear directly from survivors. We’re grateful to all for contributing, but in particular, we want to say ‘thank you’ to those survivors who inspired us with their strength and courage in sharing their stories. For them, and for all survivors, we must get this right. We cannot turn the clock back to stop violence once it has happened. No-one should doubt the Cabinet Secretary’s commitment to address this issue head on. We welcome that all of the recommendations have been accepted, either in full or partially. However, the response to our recommendations is sometimes relatively weak and sometimes provides too little detail. Hopefully, in his response today, the Cabinet Secretary will provide reassurances that the issues we raise in our report are being addressed with the level of urgency required.

Dirprwy Lywydd, the committee shares stakeholders’ concerns about the pace and consistency of implementation. Five years have passed since the White Paper was published, and nearly two years since the Act was passed, but many key components are not in place and are not going to be in place very soon. With every day that passes we risk losing momentum and opportunities to change lives. Services are being cut, organisations are unsure about their future. We are losing time when we could be putting in place preventative measures.

I will now turn to some of our recommendations. Our first recommendation called on the Welsh Government to set out, in the forthcoming delivery plan, dates for a range of items, including statutory guidance. In the first line of the response, the Government said that there was no outstanding statutory guidance. However, elsewhere, the response states that there will be consultation on statutory commissioning guidance in July of this year. So, it would seem that there are outstanding pieces of statutory guidance. Could the Cabinet Secretary clarify that position: what remains outstanding and when will they be published? These pieces of statutory guidance are important. They are the building blocks of the legislation.

In recommendation 3, we called for Welsh Government to prioritise the publication of statutory guidance on commissioning of services. The national adviser told us that the commissioning guidance was critical to the purpose of the Act, yet the draft guidance will not be consulted on until July. In their response, the Government cite the toolkit that was launched by the Lloyds Bank Foundation and Welsh Women’s Aid in August 2016, but this was produced independently from Welsh Government and is not statutory. In a sector where commissioning is so vital to the effective delivery of services, it is frustrating that this guidance is not yet ready.

Closely linked to the issue of commissioning services is that of funding. In recommendation 5, we called for a timetable by which the advisory board will complete its work into a sustainable funding model for the specialist sector. We were told that this is a priority for Welsh Government, and we welcome this commitment. The response states that progress will be reported to the Cabinet Secretary at the advisory group in July, but the committee would like the timetable called for so that we know when this work will be completed. We also called for sufficient funding to cope with any increased demand for services. We welcomed the increase in the revenue component of the domestic abuse services grant, but would appreciate clarity from the Cabinet Secretary as to whether the £400,000 increase will meet the likely increase in demand, given that funding is static for 2017-18.

In recommendation 8, we called for clarity, as a matter of urgency, into the legal status of the forthcoming delivery plan, when it will be published and how it will be consulted on. The Government accepted this recommendation, but doesn’t provide much information on this. We are told that the legal status will be considered by the task and finish group that has been established by the advisory board to develop the plan. We are also told that the task and finish group will determine the publication date when they first meet in February 2017—this month. I would ask the Cabinet Secretary, if he is not able to clarify the legal status and outline when it will be published today, to clarify when these decisions will be made.

I would now like to move on to our findings around education. This has proved to be a controversial issue. The White Paper stated that education on healthy relationships should be mandatory in all schools, but this wasn’t included in the Bill. This issue continued to concern stakeholders such as Barnardo’s, Welsh Women’s Aid, Gwent Police and the national adviser, who wanted greater commitment on this matter. We know that the Cabinet Secretary is sympathetic to these views, as he told us that he agreed that early intervention and education is key to building healthy relationships, and that he was keen to ensure consistency. The committee still feels strongly that there must be requirements for schools to teach children about healthy relationships, or the entrenched and harmful social attitudes about abuse and sexual violence will not be prevented. There is an opportunity with the development of the new curriculum to get this right. This is overdue and would be an important stride forward. It would be good to have further reassurances from the Cabinet Secretary on this crucial matter.

Recommendation 11 calls for the Welsh Government to prepare specific regulations relating to the publication of information by local authorities on how they are exercising their functions in relation to the Act. It remains unclear as to whether the Cabinet Secretary will commit to require local authorities to begin reporting by the start of the 2017-18 academic year. Again, clarity today will be welcome.

Finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, I want to move on to the role of the national adviser. This is a critical role, but we heard that its effectiveness is potentially hampered by limited resources. It is a part-time post with one part-time member of staff to support. We recommended that the Welsh Government should review the adviser’s capacity and consider allocating further resources. Their response states that it has been discussed and considered, and they have agreed to keep it under review. I would appreciate further clarity from Welsh Government on the nature of these discussions and what sort of review is being done. We know that budgets are tight, but it may be that a small increase in resources could have a significant impact on service delivery.

Our final recommendation calls on the Welsh Government to make reference to the national adviser, her responsibilities and annual work plan in the delivery plan and any future national or local strategies. The Welsh Government stated that the task and finish group are responsible for developing the national framework, and that they will make them aware of this recommendation. We would ask that the Welsh Government takes a more proactive role in this, and that they provide a steer to the task and finish group.

In closing, Dirprwy Lywydd, I want to make clear that I know the Cabinet Secretary is committed to addressing these issues, but the committee is concerned that there appears to be a lack of urgency within Welsh Government to take the necessary steps on implementation, as outlined in the Act itself. Given the importance of this legislation, commitment must now be matched by timely and effective action.