May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his comprehensive statement on this independent review of support for publishing and literature in Wales? Our challenge as politicians in this place is to scrutinise what this report says, as well as what you’ve said about the report, and there is a significant challenge in that scrutiny because the report is 212 pages long and it only appeared on our computer system about two hours ago. So, with all due respect, I haven’t had an opportunity to read every word of those 212 pages yet, but that isn’t going to stop me from asking questions, I have to say.

There are a number of things here to be welcomed, and one of those things is that this is a vitally important subject. As the report says, and you quote in your final paragraph, this report is an opportunity

‘to celebrate Wales—the creative power of literature to describe, interpret and celebrate our identity. That creative power is of great value, both on a national and international stage.’

So, taking that seriously, we also have to take this particular subject seriously because, naturally, the landscape, in terms of literature and publishing, has changed significantly over the past few years. There are a number of different platforms, digital and so on, as we’ve already heard. Instead of going to the local bookshop or the library, something called ‘Amazon’ has also arisen and people buy their books from there, most often, these days. And there’s this whole business of working, if we want to work with platforms such as Amazon, which provide the majority of the books that reach our homes, these days. We also need to note, to Amazon, that we need more provision via the Welsh language in what they provide. I note in passing, if I remember rightly, that Lolfa, the publisher, has some kind of arrangement with Amazon, but the Welsh language provision is quite scant. There is that challenge with the changing landscape and it’s constantly changing.

With the public funding that is allocated, as you note, there are successes, especially with our ‘papurau bro’—these local papers that do engender interest and disseminate information to our local communities. I think of the ‘papur bro’ in Swansea, ‘Wilia’, and there’s one in Lampeter, ‘Clonc’. We might as well point to that as well, because it’s not every day that we do share the titles of our ‘papurau bro’ in the Chamber, but they have been hugely successful over the years. Of course, we are looking for a continuation of the support for those initiatives and a continuation of their success. And as we are talking about publishing and literature in Wales, I think it is a matter to be welcomed that there are more responsibilities being transferred to the Welsh Books Council. But of course, as you say, there will need to be some changes, remembering the changing landscape in terms of digital and so on.

In terms of why some changes have to take place, as you’ve noted already, there are structural changes that are going to take place between the Arts Council of Wales, Literature Wales and the Welsh Books Council, as you’ve noted.

I would like to know the timetable for that and how you are going to administer those changes, as Cabinet Secretary. But in the paragraph at the end of the second page out of four, you do note that the review has found clear evidence of genuine problems in some areas relating to setting priorities, governance, risk management, expenditure, and so on and so forth. That list goes on. So, if we’re going to have a statement on a review that the rest of us haven’t had an opportunity to read, then I would like to know more and to have more information and more detail about what exactly these problems are in structural planning, setting priorities, governance, risk management and so on and so forth, as you’ve gone into some detail with regard to describing the problem, but you haven’t given too much detail about what exactly the problem is. So, there is a challenge there, of course.

Perhaps the Cabinet Secretary will be aware that the culture committee—Suzy Davies has already mentioned this—are undertaking a review on news journalism at present and the way that communication happens in this digital age. It is a cross-cutting review with what’s happening with the culture committee, which is undertaking this current reviews, so perhaps we do need to refer to the work that is already being done in this place.

But, ultimately, as there are so many details that we haven’t had an opportunity to scrutinise, I would like to ask, on the basis of this statement today—that’s all well and good, you’ve answered questions—but I would ask for a full debate in Government time as well. Thank you.