I’d like to congratulate the Government on its plans set out here in the legislative programme for the next year. I particularly welcome the progress that we’re going to make on the 30 hours a week of free childcare offer, because I think that’ll be of huge importance to parents, and I do think that this is a very ambitious pledge, and it’s absolutely essential that we work it out in the way that is most beneficial to parents. Because, obviously, it will give the opportunity to parents to work, but it will also be good for the children as well.

So, I welcome the fact that we are having pilots and that we are trying to work out the best way to do it, because certainly I’ve had many constituents coming to me explaining some of the difficulties of linking in the foundation phase with child carers and another childcare system, and I hope that, by approaching it in this way of having pilots, that will be the best way to address it. But I don’t think we should talk down this issue. It is the best offer in the UK and will be absolutely transformational, so I do think this is a very ambitious plan, and I commend it.

I also welcome the steps on the minimum pricing of alcohol and the letting agents’ fees for tenants in the private rented sector. I was surprised that the Conservatives didn’t see this as of major importance, because, really, housing is such a crucial issue, and, if you have to pay upfront such a lot of money to get into private rented accommodation, that is a real, severe situation. That, surely, is exactly what we should be doing as a priority. So, I welcome that as well, and certainly welcome the consensual way we are moving forward on local government.

So, I think that these issues that are proposed are real issues that affect people in Wales on a day-to-day basis and they’re offering practical help for people in the way that they live. I think that is one of the reasons why Welsh Labour continues to have its positive results in its elections, because these issues are issues that are very important to people in Wales.

I’d also like to welcome the Welsh Government’s plans to consult about the law about the physical punishment of children, and I hope that this will lead to all children in Wales receiving equal protection from physical punishment in the same way as adults have this protection. I wondered if, in his final response, the First Minister might be able to give any possible timetable for the consultation over the next year, and what form the consultation would take. We did debate this issue on many occasions during the previous Assembly, but I don’t think we’ve actually had a substantial debate in this Assembly, and I think it’s worth reiterating the fact that, in all, 52 countries have introduced legislation prohibiting all physical punishment of children—that includes in the home—and Sweden was the first, nearly 38 years ago.

Among the most recent is the Republic of Ireland, which removed the defence of reasonable chastisement in December 2015, and Canada’s Government declared its intention to prohibit all physical punishment of children also in December 2015, and, in March this year, Zimbabwe has banned corporal punishment of children by parents and teachers. There’s also a private Member’s Bill currently being discussed in the Scottish Parliament, and the outgoing Scottish children’s commissioner, Tam Baillie, said in May this year that the biggest regret of his eight-year term was not repealing the defence of reasonable assault, as it is called in Scotland. He told the Herald Scotland newspaper in April that the UK was one of only five European countries that do not fully protect children from physical punishment. He said that even children who are living in Zimbabwe are better protected than those in Scotland. In May, the UK’s four children’s commissioners addressed a UN committee in Switzerland and called for the law to be changed to protect children and young people here.

So, public opinion is changing. In Northern Ireland, surveys have shown that views about physical punishment are changing, with the majority of people in Northern Ireland now supporting children being legally protected from hitting, smacking and assault. So, in conclusion, I do welcome the Welsh Government’s commitment. I look forward to the consultation period and I do feel that this is a forward, ambitious move by a forward and ambitious Government.