Llywydd, may I ask the leader of the house, in responding on behalf of the First Minister today:

9. What plans does the First Minister have to meet with the Scottish First Minister to discuss the relationship with the European Union? OAQ(5)0496(FM)[W]

The First Minister spoke to the Scottish First Minister yesterday and continues to have regular discussions with her, both bilaterally and in meetings of the Joint Ministerial Committee and British-Irish Council.

I’m very grateful for that response, and I’m sure that the First Minister will have had an interesting conversation, as always, with the Scottish First Minister. Because there is so much in common, leader of the house, between the Scottish Government’s White Paper, ‘Scotland’s Place in Europe’, published before Christmas, and the red paper of Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government, ‘Securing Wales’ Future: Transition from the European Union to a new relationship with Europe’, does the Welsh Government see the importance, whatever the decision taken by Scotland on its constitutional future—and that’s a matter for them, of course—that there is a role for collaboration in the current negotiations within the UK and between the UK and the European Union, particularly to safeguard unfettered access to the single market for both nations?

Indeed, there is considerable common ground between our White Paper, ‘Securing Wales’ Future’ and the analysis by the Scottish Government on the impact of the UK leaving the EU. In particular, ‘Scotland's Place in Europe’ does emphasise, as we have, the economic importance of the single market, the vital contribution that migrant workers make to businesses and public services, and the critical need to respect devolution settlements and to develop new constitutional arrangements within the UK. And, of course, that's where the First Minister has taken the lead in calling for those arrangements. You will recall his call for a constitutional convention, and he did convene an extraordinary British-Irish Council summit last July to allow us to continue to discuss the implications of the referendum and then to take us forward in terms of ways in which we can work together and strengthen our voices.

Thank you, leader of the house.