The next item is the 90-second statements, and the first comes from Hefin David.

Diolch, Llywydd. On Friday last week, I attended the annual service at the Welsh national mining memorial in Senghennydd, which is in the Aber Valley ward of my constituency, and I had the honour of laying a wreath at the memorial. The service is held every year on or near the anniversary of the Universal Colliery disaster of 1913—a tragic incident that claimed the lives of 440 men and boys. It was, in terms of the sheer numbers lost—and remains—the worst disaster in Welsh and British history. The Welsh national mining memorial, which stands at the site, was officially opened on the centenary of the disaster, in October 2013. Indeed, the First Minister himself attended that event to unveil the bronze sculpture of a rescue worker coming to the aid of a miner.

The idea of a Welsh national mining memorial was realised thanks, in no small part, to the tremendous efforts of the Aber Valley Heritage Group, a small band of volunteers who gave up their own time to go about collecting donations to bring this idea to fruition. The fundraising appeal received welcome match funding from the Welsh Government, as well as contributions from other sources, including the Coalfields Regeneration Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The patron of the Aber Valley Heritage Group is well-known Welsh broadcaster Roy Noble. Roy did a lot of good work during the fundraising appeal himself, and as always he was present and spoke at the annual service last Friday. Many local schoolchildren from the Aber valley were also present at Friday’s service, and it struck me how important it is that our younger generation learn about the industrial heritage of their area, and the ultimate price paid by those who ventured out one day just to do their job.

October 1917 was a month which left its mark on the world. Here in the UK, it is a 100 years since the co-operative movement first decided to give expression to its values through the parliamentary route at Westminster, by forming the Co-operative Party. That decision was taken at its congress in Swansea—fitting, given the role Wales had played in the history of the co-operative movement. Since then, devolution has given the Co-operative Party other parliaments through which to campaign for its vision of a co-operative world. Indeed, the very idea of devolution echoes so many of the values of co-operativism—of democracy, of active participation, and of community. This last weekend at our centenary conference, the First Minister spoke of the ways in which this institution, and Wales more generally, supports and nurtures the co-operative ideal.

As we celebrate our centenary we have co-operators in all parliaments of the UK, and we have a thriving Co-operative Party group at the National Assembly, of which I am proud to be chair. This fifth Assembly includes the largest number of co-op party members since devolution. Indeed, 25 per cent of Assembly Members now belong to the Co-operative Party. Through 100 years of change, the Co-operative Party has been a champion for democracy, active citizenship, mutual support, equity, community and sustainability—the principles of co-operation. And as we face the next 100 years, those principles remain as relevant as they were when the party was founded, 100 years ago.

I’d like to make a statement marking tomorrow as International Credit Union Day. ‘Not for credit, not for charity, but for service’ is a credit union motto. We often forget that the purpose of banking is not only one of business, but of social need. As we have witnessed the closure and acquisition of thousands of small retail and local banks in the last 30 to 40 years, and when we consider that the banks we do have are now fast disappearing from high streets and smaller towns, now more than ever, an alternative is needed. Along with greater education surrounding financial inclusion, which I have been privileged to work on, more needs to be done to promote credit unions as part of better financial education and tackling inequality and poverty.

In the UK, sadly, Wales does not stack up favourably to Scotland and Northern Ireland when it comes to credit union membership. This despite Wales being one of the areas of the UK facing the biggest challenges in accessing credit and people managing their money. In the first quarter of this year, Scotland counted a 0.33 million adult members, Northern Ireland counted over 0.5 million, and Wales only 66,000 members of credit unions. This needs to change.

On Friday, I was pleased to help open Celtic Credit Union’s new branch in Swansea city centre. This is the sort of development of the sector we should welcome, and I would urge all members here to get in touch with their local credit unions, support them and help to promote a more secure, financially inclusive and socially responsible alternative for the people of Wales.

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