Thank you, Presiding Officer. There has never been any dispute about our collective support for the principles of both conventions. The commitment to advancing the rights of children, young people and those with a disability is a priority I know that we all share. The Bill is drafted with children’s rights at its very core. The legal duties it contains already safeguard and promote the rights of disabled children and young people, and do so in a significant and comprehensive way.

The Government position was, and remains, that the Bill embodies the principles of the conventions and delivers a new legal framework that is truly rights-based. What has been in question during scrutiny of this Bill is whether general due-regard duties are necessary, appropriate or add value. I have given considerable thought to this issue, as has the previous Minister, during the passage of the Bill. I have reflected heavily on the strength of feeling from all sides of the Chamber, and we have responded to the views of the Children, Young People and Education Committee in particular.

In line with the former Minister’s commitment during Stage 2 scrutiny, the Government has tabled amendments to bring legislative life to the principles of the conventions. I consider that these amendments will allow us to strike a better balance and, hopefully, avoid the unintended consequences that we have been concerned about, and that, primarily, is swamping teachers in red tape.

The Government will be supporting Darren Millar’s amendments 2 and 3, but on the basis that the Government’s amendments to these amendments are also passed. We have thought carefully about the amendments tabled by Darren Millar, and I welcome the steps the Member has taken to seek to develop the amendments since Stage 2, with the duties now applying to relevant bodies rather than at an individual level. This is important, but doesn’t go far enough to mitigate the risk of unintended consequences. I have, therefore, tabled amendments to Darren’s amendments.

There are eight substantive amendments and seven additional drafting amendments, which apply only to the Welsh text. In particular, amendments 2E, 2F, 3D and 3E are all concerned with what the duties mean. Amendments 2E and 3D are to make clear that specific consideration of the conventions is not required on each occasion that a function is exercised. So, the duties would not apply directly to individual decisions regarding individual learners, minimising the bureaucracy risks that I have been concerned about. Amendments 2F and 3E enable the code to make provision about what is required by relevant bodies to discharge the duties, and that those due-regard duties, including the exception for specific consideration, are to be interpreted in accordance with the code. The intention is to make sure that the duties to have regard to the conventions will be something that is weaved into the fabric of strategic decision making by local authorities and health boards, rather than a task to be completed each time a decision is made by schools, further education institutions and individual teachers and support staff.

Amendment 26 will allow the code to make different provisions for different purposes. Amendments 2G and 3F remove school and FEI governing bodies from the list of bodies required to have due regard to the conventions. The view of the Government is that the duty should only apply to those organisations with a more strategic role in ensuring that the arrangements for children and young people with ALN are sufficient and this should happen at a strategic level. Local authorities and health boards operate on this scale and have the structure in place to more effectively carry out these duties, and the impact on front-line staff supporting children and young people in terms of increased bureaucracy is likely to be minimised.

Finally, amendment 25 amends the Bill's overview, giving prominent reference to the important new duties to have regard to the conventions introduced by Darren's amendments. It means that the Bill is clear, up front, about the importance of both conventions in the operation of the new ALN system.

As I've already said, amendments 2A to 2D and 3A to 3C are changes to the Welsh language version of Darren's amendments. All in all, I trust that Members will see that Darren's amendments 2 and 3, as amended by the amendments tabled in my name, strike an appropriate balance between the obvious desire to see prominent and explicit reference to the UN conventions made on the face of the Bill and have them considered whilst not unduly overburdening front-line practitioners, and I would urge Members in the Chamber today to support the Government's amendments within this group.