5. Will you make a statement on the gender review that is currently being conducted by the Welsh Government? OAQ52107

The review, which is being led by myself, will help ensure that gender equality is placed at the heart of Welsh Government policy making and delivery, and that Wales becomes the safest place for women in Europe.

I welcome the review, of course, as long as the outputs are clear and that it will lead to an improvement in equality. In announcing the review in a speech in Oxford, the First Minister said, as you have also done, that he wants Wales to be the safest place for women in Europe. Again, I agree entirely, but turning those words into a reality will require commitment and firm political will. At the moment, the gender equality agenda is part of the range of responsibilities that you have as leader of the house. What's your view on having a Minister who could focus entirely on promoting equality for women?

Well, it's an interesting thought. I think it has pros and cons that are very well rehearsed and the Llywydd probably won't permit me to take an hour's speech on the pros and cons. But what is essential, of course, is that any Minister with responsibility puts it at front and centre of what they spend their time doing. The reason for the rapid review is to ensure that we haven't missed anything out; that there are no gaps and that we don't have any unintended consequences; but also that all of our policies are aimed in the same direction at the same time.

I'm very much looking forward to receiving the first report in June. We have a number of stakeholder events and I have a number of meetings with various influential women, survivors, bystanders and people who use our services, and so on, across Wales to gather as many opinions as possible while we look at focusing all our efforts on achieving equality somewhat faster than I think we would if we'd just gone along as we were in the first place.

Leader of the house, you told me in questions last week that the gender review will include the pay gap across all public sector organisations. As just one of the top-50 companies in Wales has a female chief executive—that's the Royal Mint—I'd be keen to understand how private companies that used to be in public ownership, or at least have strong public sector connections, are being included in your review. How do you envisage the review helping to persuade large private companies of the type that are currently under the purview of Welsh language standards, for example, to reduce their gender pay gap?

One of the things that we're looking at in terms of the economic action plan, the fair work agenda and our procurement policies is to see what levers we have to ensure that those goals are goals that are striven for in the private sector as well as in the public sector. I do think it's important for us to get our own house in order first, as well, but we are very much hoping, both by soft influence and by direct leverage using our funding, which a large number of private sector organisations in Wales receive, to be able to shift that agenda rather faster than it currently appears to be shifting.

Leader of the house, yesterday, I welcomed a student pilgrimage from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David; they'd walked from Merthyr to Pontypridd and down to Cardiff. They had banners with the suffragette message, 'Deeds not words', and in fact, the students were mainly from the College of Art in Swansea—I think that's in Mike Hedges's constituency—and they presented me with their pilgrimage manifesto. They also sang 'Bread and Roses', which was very moving, on the Senedd steps. But what they want is equality of opportunity; free childcare; job security for women on maternity leave; to continue the fight for equal pay; a commitment to diversity of representation in public organisations; and a commitment to supporting cohesion in communities through creative initiatives. So, leader of the house, I'm sure you will agree that this manifesto accords with the objectives of the gender review. Will you ensure that the voices of these students are heard and welcomed?

Very much so. Actually, it's in my constituency and I was very sad not to be able to—.

Apologies.

I did actually make my best effort to get there, but it wasn't sufficient and, sadly, I missed them, so I was very disappointed. I'm very pleased that you were able to see them there. They're an inspirational group of young women and I absolutely concur with their agenda. Would that we could do it faster.