Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, for calling me to speak in this debate. I must start off by saying that I think it is ironic that UKIP has brought forward this debate. When you think of the huge significant improvements in pay equality, protection from discrimination, childcare, parental leave, care for pregnant women and care for new mothers that membership of the European Union has brought to us, and leaving the European Union will risk all those great gains, I do think it is very ironic that UKIP have brought forward this debate today.

I wanted to use the opportunity to look at the performance of the devolved public services in this area. It has been drawn to my attention that, in some of our arm’s-length bodies, there is a lot of use of what they call ‘pool hours’— being ‘in the pool’, or ‘on pool’, as the expression is used. I understand that, at the National Museum Wales, there are at least 40 members of staff who are in the pool, which is very similar to being on a zero-hours contract. I really wanted to highlight that here, because I know the Welsh Government has tried hard to tackle this sort of issue with the guidance that it has given, but I wanted to draw attention to some of the problems that this is causing. Because staff on such contracts are not entitled to any form of sick pay, despite the majority of staff being on at least part-time hours and others being on nearly full-time hours, and I’m told there is a culture of staff feeling that they’ve got to return to work soon after an illness because they’re worried about lack of pay, and also worried about job security and being seen as unreliable. I also understand that, on accepting a pool-hours contract, staff are supposed to be told that they can apply for a formal contract after three months. But I’d like to find out whether staff are actually being told that they are able to do this after three months, and whether they are told of any vacancies that are coming up. Because it seems that in some of the arm’s-length bodies there are so few people on full-time contracts that there are concerns about not having enough staff to do particular checks. The other big issue, I think, is that staff on pool contracts receive very little in the way of training, including—if you think about how important some of the training is—fire safety training.

I think it has already been said here generally about the huge problems that there are for people who are in such uncertainty, about the stress levels, and the inability to get a mortgage. I know that the Welsh Government has issued guidance to all devolved public services in Wales that does include staff being able to request a review of their working arrangements with a view to changing their contract if they have been working regular hours, for example, which can be as little as four hours per week over a continuous period of three months. In addition, this guidance says that staff should be allocated a named line manager, should be able to take annual leave and there should be clear procedures to let staff transition into permanent roles and/or apply for permanent vacancies where opportunities exist.

So, I do think it is very important. I know the Government is committed to pursuing this agenda in devolved public services, but I think it is important to find out if bodies that are funded from the public purse are following these guidelines, and are not relying more and more on members of staff who are in the pool. I wondered if there are mechanisms for the Government to check what is happening in such bodies. I’m sure that the Minister, when she gives her contribution, will say that it is a priority that the people who are working in devolved public services are treated fairly and equitably in the workplace.

In the written statement by the Welsh Government in December, the clear expectation was stressed that non-guaranteed-hours arrangements should only be used in clearly and narrowly defined circumstances, and their use should not be open-ended. Bearing in mind that the use of non-guaranteed hours may be ongoing at some of the public bodies we fund, I wondered if there should be a proposal to bring forward the review that the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government has said he intends to carry out in 2018, about whether the guidance of the Public Services Staff Commission is being implemented.

So, I wanted to use this opportunity to highlight these issues that may be there in these devolved bodies and hope that the Government can take a look and see what progress is being made. Thank you.