Can I thank Dawn Bowden for tabling this very important motion today? I think it’s really positive that this has been brought to the floor of the Senedd and that we’re all having the opportunity to discuss it. It is a very serious issue and my fear is that it will become a much higher risk here in Wales as some of the changes that we are seeing start to bite. We know that we’ve got more welfare reform that is hitting us and that we’re likely to see large groups of people, particularly those aged 18 to 21, excluded from claiming housing benefit and also restrictions on those under 35, who will only be able to claim housing benefit on a room in a shared house. I believe that this could well lead to a rise in unregistered landlords allowing vulnerable women and men to stay with them in accommodation owned by them, rent free, in exchange for sex. Because some of these people are so marginalised and vulnerable, and because this group of landlords will not be registered under Rent Smart Wales, they’re possibly going to be very difficult to find and to protect from this practice.

I think it’s also important to bear in mind that, at a time of shrinking budgets in local authorities, there’s likely to be a decline in enforcement action in this area, making it harder to seek out and find such landlords. So, we do need to be very vigilant about that as well. So, I do hope that the Welsh Government will give very serious consideration, and I, too, welcome the fact that the Presiding Office is giving us this opportunity to have an early debate on this issue. I did speak to Llamau—which, as the Cabinet Secretary will know, has a very strong track record of working with vulnerable young people and women—before this debate. I know that they’ve expressed support for this kind of measure, and I hope that the Welsh Government will go out, now, to consult with organisations working in the field to get their views on how such an initiative could work in practice. And I hope too that Dawn’s very valuable action in bringing this to the floor of the Senedd will raise the profile of this issue and warn people of the risks that are out there. Thank you very much.