I welcome Plaid Cymru's debate on young people and communities in Wales, and, in particular, I welcome the emphasis on tackling the outward migration of young people from our communities to other parts of Wales, or to the UK, or to the rest of the world. Immigration is one factor affecting the demographics of our society, but emigration is where a devolved Government can make more of a difference, through housing policy, through higher education policy, and a whole range of policy levers mentioned in the Plaid Cymru motion available this afternoon.

It's important to begin by recognising the right of young people to live, to work, to travel and to study across a wide range of territories. At no point do we want to seek to limit young people's wider horizons. But we want the retention of young people to be recognised as a goal for public policy. For those who have moved away, we want to incentivise them to return to Wales, and, for those who have moved within Wales, we want to ensure that job opportunities are available as evenly as possible, right throughout the country. So, two main goals of public policy should be to retain a higher number of young people in Wales nationally, and to ensure a healthy distribution of young people across the country, with particular attention to rural and semi-urban areas.

I'd like to mention the specific situation in the former coalfield. Looking at the statistics, the local authorities in the former south Wales coalfield have usually experienced a net loss of 15 to 29-year-olds over each of the past five years. Rhondda Cynon Taf has occasionally experienced a small net inflow of 15 to 29-year-olds, but not often. In Blaenau Gwent, in Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Neath Port Talbot, there is a consistent net loss of 15 to 29-year-olds. We know that young people will travel to bigger cities for work or to study, but these numbers, which include people in their late 20s, could look far healthier if we were able to provide more job opportunities closer to people's home communities. The location of young adults shouldn't simply be left to the market to decide. The market is clearly failing, and when the market fails, there should be Government intervention in the form of incentives and opportunities to ensure that we have vibrant communities in place of declining communities.

So, why does Plaid Cymru believe this? Why does it matter where people live and work? Young people, especially young adults, contribute to the resilience of communities. They are a barometer as to how viable a community is. They contribute to population growth, either by themselves or as families, which sustains services like schools, GP surgeries, shops, pubs and so on. Everyone in this Chamber who represents a former industrial-type community will know that we have seen a number of those services wither away as our population growth has stagnated.

Llywydd, I would like to see changes to the planning system that enable affordable housing to be developed, targeted specifically at young people. I would like to see public sector jobs located in areas that need a helping hand to stimulate other economic activity. I would also urge the Government to improve the digital infrastructure so that people can work closer to home and can start businesses within their own communities.

I don't think the amendments from the Government, or from the other opposition parties, go far enough. Mentioning incentives that have already happened won't make a difference. Mentioning Governments from a decade ago won't make any difference. We need new ideas and I urge this Assembly this afternoon to endorse Plaid Cymru's ideas in this motion today.