Plaid Cymru are broadly supportive of this motion today. We believe that children living with disabilities and special needs should be able to have the important and precious life experiences that any other child in our society should have. But I do feel that it is unfortunate, in a sense, that we should be considering the needs to place inclusive play and access to play opportunities for children with disabilities on a more statutory footing, because one would have hoped that, by this time, with devolution as progressed as it is, there would be widespread recognition from authorities and the wider public for the need for play opportunities to be accessible to every family and every child with a disability or special need.

We would also have hoped that with the programmes that the Welsh Government have, and I'm sure we'll hear more about them later, that there wouldn't be the uncertainty over provision and access, which exists for many families. Perhaps it would be useful for the Minister to outline what provision there is already and how they currently, or plan to, ensure uniformity of access and services across the whole of Wales when he responds. 

In my experience as an Assembly Member there is a myriad of services that people and the Welsh Government expect to be provided by local authorities, but which in reality are not, or if they are, then it varies from place to place and sometimes within an authority itself. We often hear that a Government Minister has issued guidance or is making more money available for a particular service and, often, that is welcome, but without a legal basis and requirement for an authority to act, particularly when money is difficult to find, constituents come to us with complaints that they are simply unable to do things that should be guaranteed.

We see this with things beyond play. I'm currently working with young carers—and I have a meeting with the Minister tomorrow—who have told me that, for example, young carers assessments are written within the legislation, they should be happening, they should be enacted, but they are not in many, many areas. So, if there is going to be this new duty on local authorities, as described by Vikki Howells, what will this actually mean in practice, and what will change on the ground? I think that's key to any new legislation. 

I was thinking perhaps it might have been to do with play in more general terms. So, I was going to go on to say about a situation in my area, which the Minister is aware of, with the Action for Children playgroup in Neath Port Talbot, where people felt they were left in the dark about the changes there and the potential downgrading of some of those services. I think it's still pertinent here, because, of course, many of those children who are accessing those services will be those with autism, and if there is specific equipment within that playgroup that they will have, via Action for Children, then we need to make sure that they have access to that equipment whatever provider it is in the future. This is just one anecdotal example, but it is an example of concerns that people raise with us all the time.

I'm sympathetic to calling for new legislation in this regard, because I think that local authorities need to do more, but again it comes back to this lifelong discussion that we have about what local authorities have discretion to do, or not do, and the flexibility that they have. And if there is going to be a statutory obligation on local authorities to do this, then we have to actually make sure they do it and do it well.