The Welsh Government has been in power in Wales for 18 years. For 11 of those 18 years they have governed hand in hand with a Labour Government in Westminster. During those 18 long and wasted years, they have systematically failed to improve the lives of our most vulnerable members of society. One in five children in Wales still lives in poverty. What a shame. This is higher than in England or Scotland, and higher than the average of the United Kingdom. In spite of spending £500 million since 2001 on their much-vaunted Communities First programme, they have failed to raise prosperity levels in the most disadvantaged parts of Wales. I represent many of those communities in south-east Wales. These communities have been let down by Labour’s failure to break the cycle of poverty and deprivation. Of the United Kingdom’s 12 regions, Wales is the tenth most impoverished, and that is a shame. Despite the goal to eradicate child poverty by 2020, rates have remained stagnant. Last month, the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children admitted that Communities First, in his words, had not had the impact on overall poverty levels in these communities, which remain stubbornly high. He went on to say that a new approach is needed that deals with the root causes of poverty.

In spite of this admission of failure, we have had no clear announcement of what will replace Communities First. Instead, the current programme will continue until March 2018, and there will be 30 per cent cuts in funding. It could be that one of the reasons for the failure of Communities First is that not enough money reached front-line projects in Wales. For example, the Communities First cluster in Caerphilly, Deputy Presiding Officer, spend £375,000 on front-line projects last year. However, they spent more than £2 million on staffing. Communities First promised so much, but has delivered so little.

Education remains the best route out of poverty, but Welsh Labour has failed to provide so many of our children with the skills they need to succeed in life. The recent PISA result, which Andrew earlier mentioned, highlights the growing gap between the skills businesses need from their employees and the provision of education in Wales. More than a fifth of Welsh students lack the reading skills for functioning in the workplace. Again, this is the highest proportion of any nation in the United Kingdom. We face a skills shortage here in Wales. More than 72 per cent of Welsh businesses experienced difficulty in recruiting the right staff in 2015. Sixty-one per cent of Welsh businesses fear they will not be able to recruit enough high-skilled workers to meet demand and to grow. Employers in various industries frequently raise concerns that they struggle to find graduates with the right skill or work experience in Wales.

Deputy Presiding Officer, I came to live in Wales 47 years ago. It used to be a wonderful city, Newport, and a prosperous town. But if you look at it now, I think instead of going forward, it’s pedalling backwards in all walks of life. This is true. I know this is something—I have seen it. I know the people who are living there. Whether you look at education, housing, transport, you name it—and I can count many other areas where even our councils are struggling to fulfil—. [Interruption.] We were debating here the rubbish collection, which used to be very good every week, but not anymore—fortnightly. And there is more rubbish—[Interruption.] No, I’ve got no time. There is more rubbish on the streets now than probably for recycling. It’s frustrating. It frustrates me to see the country I chose to make my home fall further and further behind other parts of the United Kingdom and the world. The Welsh Government cannot duck its responsibility and pass blame to others on the other side of the channel, to the Westminster Government. That is totally foolish. They have had 18 years to change and to make life better in Wales, which they haven’t done. They have let Wales down, and it’s a shame. Thank you.