Can we move on to item 7, if everybody—? Okay. Item 7, then, is the Member debate under Standing Order 11.21 on period poverty and stigma. I call on Jane Hutt to move the motion.

Motion NDM6695 Jane Hutt, Jenny Rathbone

Supported by David Rees, Dawn Bowden, Jack Sargeant, Jayne Bryant, John Griffiths, Julie Morgan, Leanne Wood, Mick Antoniw, Mike Hedges, Siân Gwenllian, Simon Thomas, Vikki Howells

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

1. Notes the research by Plan International UK on Period Poverty and Stigma, which estimates that 1 in 10 girls in the UK has been unable to afford sanitary wear.

2. Welcomes the action by Welsh organisations including Periods in Poverty, Wings Cymru, The Red Box Project, Trussell Trust, and others to tackle this issue.

3. Notes the final report from Rhondda Cynon Taff Council Scrutiny Working Group established to deal with free sanitary provisions in schools.

4. Calls on the Welsh Government to:

a) consider current and emerging research on the potential impact of period poverty and stigma, on learning;

b) consider calls to improve education on the subject and to provide free access to sanitary items in education institutions; and

c) identify ways to make sanitary products available for Welsh food banks.

Motion moved.

I'd like to thank Jenny Rathbone—

Can we have some quiet, please? Thank you.

I'd like to thank Jenny Rathbone for co-submitting this motion, and my colleagues across the Chamber who have supported it. Period poverty is when women and girls struggle to pay for essential sanitary products on a monthly basis with significant impacts on their hygiene, health and well-being.

Findings from the charity Plan International UK indicate that one in 10 girls has been unable to afford sanitary products. One in seven girls has had to ask to borrow sanitary wear from a friend due to affordability issues, and more than one in 10 girls have had to improvise sanitary wear due to affordability issues. The growing public and political interest in this issue has revealed the shocking fact that for too many women and girls, basic feminine hygiene products are now unaffordable.

We have anecdotal evidence of mothers going without sanitary items in order to buy them for their daughters instead; of women who are homeless being forced to improvise with dirty rags, socks and even newspaper; of girls from low-income families missing school when they have their periods because of the challenge of managing them away from home without adequate sanitary protection.

We've also heard from the Trussell Trust that revealed last week that it saw a record increase in food bank figures for 2017-18, and that more and more women are struggling to afford basic sanitary products and are relying on donations, with some choosing to sacrifice sanitary products for themselves in order to put food on the table.

But there are serious physical and mental health impacts for women who are not able to manage their periods hygienically every month. From infections that can be caused by being forced to survive on just one or two tampons to feeling trapped indoors in order to be near a toilet, and of feeling too embarrassed and ashamed to ask for help.

Period poverty is a very private struggle and a hidden consequence of austerity that has only recently hit public consciousness. We must expose it as a health, hygiene and inequality issue too. But I also want this debate to acknowledge that we have a clear responsibility to women and girls in Wales to develop period dignity as part of our commitment to gender equality.

Unfortunately, there is stigma attached to menstruation, despite it being a natural and important process. It's unbelievable that periods have been, and remain, a taboo issue. Indeed, older generations often referred to menstruation as 'the curse'. Even today, we euphemise and belittle periods; we talk about 'being on' so that as well as not being able to afford sanitary items, women and girls can feel too embarrassed or ashamed to say they're menstruating.

This is extremely difficult for girls and young women, and it starts in primary school and through to secondary school. So, I think it is important that as well as talking about period poverty, we also talk and use the opportunity to talk about and address period dignity. The enlightening report from Rhondda Cynon Taf council's scrutiny working group, which was established to deal with free sanitary provision in schools, highlighted some of the concerns raised by schoolgirls about period dignity and stigma, with some of them saying, and I quote:

'Boys make fun of us if they see us going to the toilet with our bags—it’s embarrassing'.

'I would rather go home' than ask a teacher for a sanitary product, especially a male teacher. 'Boys mature later', menstruation needs

'to be put into perspective as they are going to be future partners, fathers, employers and the stigma needs to be taken out. They need to realise that it’s a normal bodily function and the impact it can have on females'.

This is why the motion today asks the Welsh Government to consider calls to improve public awareness and education on menstrual health and wellbeing, addressing the stigma that's still attached to menstruation and opening up a natural and national conversation about periods.

I do, however, very much welcome the Welsh Government's recent response to period poverty, with the announcement that local authorities will receive £440,000 over the next two years to tackle period poverty in their communities by providing feminine hygiene products to those women and girls most in need, and this can be through community groups, schools or food banks. And, most importantly, £700,000 of capital funding will be available to improve facilities and equipment in schools. It's particularly encouraging to note that this funding will be used in primary schools as well as secondary schools. This is in acknowledgement of research that shows that more girls are starting their periods at a younger age, and some primary schools can lack the facilities that they need.

At this point, I would like to praise the efforts of the local Labour women's forum and councillors in the Vale of Glamorgan, who've been working hard since last year to raise awareness of period poverty and make sure the issue of free sanitary provision in primary and secondary schools in the Vale of Glamorgan has been on the council's agenda. Councillor Margaret Wilkinson said: 

'This is a poverty issue. This is a hidden, quiet problem. Girls don't want to talk about it.'

Councillor Jayne Norman from Llantwit First said: 

'Menstruation affects every woman. We have no choice in the matter.... For too many young women and girls, admitting that they are even having their period is embarrassing enough, without having to confess that their family cannot afford to buy them the sanitary protection they need. The protection which allows them the right of dignity and wellbeing.'

I would also like to praise the excellent work of Welsh organisations such as Periods in Poverty, Wings Cymru, The Red Box Project, the Trussell Trust and many others, which I'm sure we'll hear about this afternoon, to raise awareness of and help tackle this issue.

Silence prevents progress and I'm so glad that we're breaking the taboo and it's good to see so many staying in the Chamber this afternoon to share and take on board this issue, to tackle the invisible scandal of period poverty and lack of period dignity by being part of this debate in the Assembly today, and I look forward to hearing Members' contributions. Thank you.

Suzy Davies took the Chair.

Poverty is a feminist issue. When young women miss school because they can't afford sanitary products, it's poverty. When women have to use toilet paper, old clothes, or often nothing at all, in place of pads and tampons when they menstruate, it's poverty. When women have to make the choice between buying sanitary products, clothes, bus fare or food, it's poverty. Yes, poverty is a feminist issue and it disproportionately affects women and girls.

In Wales, women make up the majority of part-time and low-paid workers and are the most likely to be affected by cruel cuts to welfare. It's a cause of national shame that there are women in Wales who are unable to afford to buy the sanitary supplies that they need. I was pleased when the £1 million grant provided by the Welsh Government was announced, because that will offer some level of funding to alleviate the symptoms of period poverty. But it isn't enough.

Broken down, the £1 million grant offers every local authority in Wales approximately £22,000 over the course of two years to purchase and distribute sanitary products. However, Rhondda Cynon Taf council alone would require £70,000 in just one year to buy and dispense the sanitary products. If we are to be serious about tackling the issue of period poverty, then we must go further than a short-term Band-Aid solution—we must look to tackling the root cause of the problem head on, and that means tackling poverty.

The Welsh Government must put in place real measures to eradicate poverty in Wales, and that begins with the devolution of welfare administration. It must also implement a coherent, long-term strategy that has been properly budgeted and which will include securing consistent, universal provision of sanitary items throughout Wales. The issue of period poverty is not without stigma and taboo. We need to rid the shame that is associated with menstruating and educate everyone openly and honestly about the topic. We should be as comfortable talking about providing sanitary products as we are about talking about providing toilet paper.

The Welsh Government has a responsibility to fully implement the recommendations of 'The Future of the Sex and Relationships Education Curriculum in Wales' report by the sex and relationships expert panel to ensure that all schools in Wales provide high-quality, inclusive sex and relationships education.

I must also point out that this is not an original Labour initiative. It was Plaid Cymru who forced this issue on to the agenda, and when councillors in my area forced a vote on a period poverty fund, Labour chose to oppose. But their tenacious attitude has kept this campaign alive, and that's why I want to pay tribute to the formidable Plaid Cymru women councillors on Rhondda Cynon Taf, who, after a long, hard-fought campaign under the leadership of young councillor Elyn Stephens, ensured free sanitary product provisions for all secondary school pupils throughout Rhondda Cynon Taf. The councils of Merthyr Tydfil, the Vale of Glamorgan and Newport have all presented motions following Rhondda Cynon Taf's example, demonstrating that there is an organic movement towards providing universal sanitary provision, with young women at the forefront.

Menstrual care is a healthcare issue, and healthcare is a human right. For the sake of equality, sanitary products and access to comprehensive sex and relationships education must be accessible to everyone in Wales. Universal provision is a crucial cog in the mechanisms of achieving an equal society. Wales has the power and the potential to lead by example, not only in eradicating poverty, but in creating a country that is equal.

I'd like to thank Jane and Jenny for bringing forward this important debate today. I support the Members' efforts to highlight the issue, and fully support the motion before us today. Due to a quirk of our biology, half the population face a monthly challenge. Due to poverty, for many young girls, that challenge becomes a struggle. Far too many young girls are missing school because they can't afford sanitary products. Far too many young girls are forced to go to extraordinary lengths to improvise sanitary products. It's hard to believe that this is happening in 2018.

I welcome the moneys put up by the Welsh Government to distribute sanitary products to community groups, schools and food banks, but we do need to go further. Girls shouldn't face monthly exclusion from school because they can't afford to have a period. We have to make sanitary products freely available in our schools. We also have to put an end to policies that restrict girls' access to the toilets, notably during lesson time, and an end to a culture in which girls are too embarrassed to talk to school staff when they need to. To quote Plan International:

'Girls' periods are a fact of life and schools, as well as wider society, still need to adapt to that fact.'

We also have to make sanitary products cheaper for every one of us. I urge the UK Government, now that we are leaving the EU and free to set our own value added tax rules, to abolish the tampon tax. Sanitary products are a monthly essential, and should not be subjected to VAT. I expect the Chancellor of the Exchequer to abolish VAT on sanitary products on 29 March next year. Until then, they need to work with the product manufacturers to make the products more affordable. One of the largest manufacturers, Procter & Gamble, gave a pack of Always Ultra to a UK school for every pack sold during March and April. I would like all the manufacturers to emulate this scheme year-round.

While we're talking about the manufacturers, I think they need to move away from using plastic in their products. I was shocked to learn yesterday that 90 per cent of a sanitary pad is plastic, containing as much as four supermarket carrier bags. We need to eliminate this source of single-use plastic and look for an alternative replacement.

But, back on topic, I would like also to thank the hard-working charities that are doing their bit to end period poverty. Jane and Jenny have mentioned a few, but I would like to mention Matthew's House in Swansea, which operate The Homeless Period Swansea. They give homeless women access to sanitary products by distributing dignity packs, which contain the sanitary products, wet wipes and tissues, underwear and socks, deodorant and lip balm. In their own words, they deliver

'hope (in care package form) to the most vulnerable of Swansea', which is within my region. 

Menstruation is a natural process that shouldn't put women and girls at a disadvantage. Charities are doing their bit to level the playing field. We need to do ours, and I urge colleagues to support this motion. Thank you.

It's a pleasure to rise today to speak in support of the motion. This is really important, touching on how we ensure the dignity of girls and young women in Welsh schools.

Plan International UK’s data shows how far too many young women struggle to meet the cost of sanitary wear. The charity has also shown the terrible impact of this too. Nearly half of girls surveyed missed an entire day of school because of their period. Sixty-four per cent miss physical education lessons, and girls and young women are having to lie because of embarrassment.

This is an issue I encountered first hand, holding a pastoral role in a secondary school. It's just not right that girls and young women are being put in this position. Moreover, many of those affected lack access to proper information about what is going on to their bodies. One in seven admitted they did not know what was happening when they started their period, and more than a quarter reported they didn't know what to do when they started their period. This is shocking, and I'm glad that the motion also addresses this issue of education.

I want to focus on what is going on in my own local authority of Rhondda Cynon Taf. As Members will know, RCT will be the first local authority in Wales to take action to tackle period poverty. As councillor Joy Rosser, cabinet member for education said, this is a groundbreaking move. I'm glad that this is also recognised in the motion.

I would like to pay tribute to the cross-party spirit in which this important policy has been developed in RCT. It is good to have seen all parties working together to improve conditions for girls and young women. But what does RCT’s work involve? Firstly, I'm glad that the working party who considered the council’s response took, as their starting point, the thoughts and experiences of female learners from across the county. As the working party noted, participation of the pupils throughout the review is paramount in raising the profile of the provision of sanitary provision within the schools. It's also about raising awareness, of demystifying and, hopefully, removing the sense of embarrassment.

So, I just want to pick out a few important points from their research. Fifty-two per cent of female secondary school pupils said they were aware that free sanitary products were available to them from their school. A majority said that they knew how to access these, and were happy with what was available. But, when asked if their periods had had an impact on their attendance, 46 per cent said that this had caused them to miss school. Although in line with Plan’s data, this could actually be the tip of the iceberg, as not all of the respondents had actually started their periods. Sixty-two per cent of respondents said that having a period impacted on their performance in secondary school. And, finally, whilst over half of pupils received information on periods during primary schooling, six out of 10 said that their secondary school didn't provide follow-up education around this. In contrast, though, 100 per cent of secondary schools who responded said that they felt that they offered appropriate classes to their pupils. I don’t think this is a case of one group being right and the other being wrong. I think it highlights a difference of perception and shows that schools perhaps need to look to adopt alternative methods to make sure that girls and young women know what support is out there.

I also want to pick out two further points from the research. A small number of secondary schools said that they already allocated a limited budget for purchasing sanitary products, but the vast majority did not. Typically, instead, they relied on staff purchasing the items, the use of petty cash, or also freebies that were left after the school nurse had visited to discuss puberty. Schools do inform pupils about the availability of these products in a variety of ways, ranging from discreet conversations to class discussions at transition and in year 7 personal and social education lessons. However, it is clear that there is not currently a consistent approach across the local authority, and I'm sure that that is echoed across Wales too. 

For the reminder of my time, I just want to look at what RCT is actually proposing as a solution. It will now be mandatory within my local authority for all schools with girls aged nine and above to provide a range of free sanitary products, which can be accessed—and I think this is crucial—independently at the toilet blocks. Resources and signage will be developed to raise awareness among learners, staff, parents and carers. Action will also be taken to improve the quality of PSE provision and there will be work with teachers to eliminate embarrassment or stigma. I know the Welsh Government has also taken decisive action, as other Members have already said, to support councils to ensure that projects like this are funded. So, I am very happy to support this motion today.

I call on the leader of the house, Julie James. 

I'm also delighted that this debate has been brought forward and that it's so cross-party across the Chamber. It's really great to see this essential matter get such publicity and backing from right across the Chamber, indeed. It is—I'm just going to repeat it because it's worth repeating—completely unacceptable that there are women and girls in Wales who are unable to go about their usual daily activities because they cannot afford to buy essential feminine hygiene products when they need them. It absolutely stands to reason that people who turn to food banks, because they can't afford to feed their family, therefore also can't afford other essentials. And it is, as many Members—I think all Members—have said, completely atrocious for people to have to make a choice between food and dignity. 

Many Members have also mentioned the research undertaken by Plan International, which gives an idea how widespread the problem is in the UK. Rhondda Cynon Taf has also been mentioned by a number of Members, and their research has been extremely useful in shining a light on the inadequate toilet and washing facilities for girls, and in coming up with some innovative solutions that they've put forward. I'm afraid to have to admit this in public—but I think it's worth admitting, and I hope Leanne Wood will help me out here—but I sat on a panel with the excellent young councillor, whose name has totally gone out of my head—

Elyn Stephens. 

Elyn Stephens. Thank you very much. During International Women's Day, she spoke fervently about the struggle to get this agenda forward and why she was so passionate about it. She was very impressive in doing so and I was very privileged to hear her. It's a testimony to the councillors in Rhondda Cynon Taf that they persisted in getting this agenda moved up. She was very inspirational in talking about it, and certainly well worth listening to, and I'm going to have the privilege of meeting her to talk further about what we can do as a Government in two weeks' time. So, I'm very much looking forward to doing that. She did speak a great deal not just about period poverty, but, as many Members in the Chamber have talked about, about period dignity and the need for education and the need for knowledge, and how both education and knowledge are essential in order to maintain dignity, as well as to have the money necessary to have essentials in your life. And so, we very much want to work across those pieces in the Welsh Government, in order to get all of that—both period poverty and period dignity—into our policy on this matter. 

As many Members have already mentioned, we've put a fund together very rapidly of £700,000 capital grant funding, and I'm delighted to say that all 22 local authorities have taken up the offer of that grant funding. The round of funding is being used to make necessary improvements to school toilet facilities where they are not adequately set up to meet the needs of pupils. And I'd just like to highlight, as other Members have also done, that that includes primary schools, where often the toilet blocks are not adequate for that. It could mean the provision of disposal bins or changes to toilet cubicles.

Other rounds of funding totalling £440,000 for this financial year and next year are also being offered to complement the grant. We have several local authorities that have already taken up the offer of the first year's funding, and we're working with all of them to make sure that we spread that right across Wales. These will be used to provide feminine hygiene products through local authorities' networks, and in partnership with local third sector organisations. Basically, our aim is to make sanitary products available for those who cannot afford them. Food banks are an important outlet, and I think Jane Hutt mentioned specific food banks in her area as well. But there are other potential outlets, such as homeless shelters and women's refuges, for example. I know Caroline Jones mentioned one that's in my constituency that's very good in terms of the packs that they put together—care packs they're called. It's very interesting, because it's not just about sanitary protection, actually. They provide washing and wipe facilities and so on.

That brings me on to the next thing that we've asked local authorities to consider, which is we've asked them to consider providing reusable products or environmentally friendly products, because as several Members pointed out, sanitary protection can be very hard to recycle, actually, and can cause other ecologically unacceptable problems, and we want to be able to tackle some of those at the same time. So, I think local authorities efforts are to be applauded. I do think that there are further actions necessary, though, and they are outside the education system as well. I think at this point it is worth mentioning, as many people have mentioned it, that the Cabinet Secretary is going to be making a statement on the sex and healthy relationships report later on this month, in a few weeks' time.

So, in terms of future actions, we've got officials working across Welsh Government to explore further options, including provision through sexual health services and community partnerships. We're also considering options for distribution via programmes that target low-income families, such as Flying Start and Families First. We also have a series of regular meetings with colleagues in the Scottish and UK Governments, so we can learn from one another's actions and offer support on new policies to tackle both period poverty and period dignity. And, as Members will all know, the First Minister has asked me to undertake a rapid review of our gender and equality policies to bring in a new impetus to our work in this area, and this will certainly include a review of the period poverty and dignity issue that Members all raise, and has already been raised by stakeholders in our initial stakeholder engagements.

In terms of education, the Welsh Government is committed to ensuring children and young people reach their full potential, regardless of background and circumstances, and this includes helping learners to overcome barriers to learning created by social and economic circumstances. So, schools have well-understood arrangements in place to support learner well-being. Pupils ought to know where to go and, as Vikki Howells pointed out, it's essential that that communication is in the school, so they know who to speak to if they need sanitary products while they're in school, whilst maintaining dignity. Adolescent girls in particular can be very sensitive with these matters. Looking forward, these issues are going to be covered under the new curriculum, which will consider how the school environment supports the social, emotional, spiritual and physical health and well-being of pupils, and will be instrumental in supporting one of the main aims of the new curriculum and assisting our children to become healthy, confident individuals. 

In terms of health, period poverty, as many Members have also pointed out, is also a health matter. Period poverty is due to be discussed at the next meeting of the sexual health programme board, because it's vital that all girls and women have access to the sanitary products they need, especially if they have health problems as well. Effective menstrual hygiene is vital to the health, well-being, dignity, empowerment, mobility and productivity of women and girls and, therefore, it's an essential plank of this Government's action in terms of gender equality throughout Wales.

We'll continue to keep abreast of emerging research to inform the decisions we make and ensure that the actions we take support as many people as possible in Wales. I'm keen to know more about how low-income families in Wales are affected. So, research into the scale of period poverty across foodbank users, including the Trussell Trust, is planned for the coming months. Officials are also looking at options to work with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, who manage the UK Government's tampon tax fund, to ensure that we maximise the benefit from that fund for Wales. 

So, I think there is a range of issues, but I'm very grateful to Members for bringing this matter forward so that we can discuss it fully. I also want to say that I'd welcome very much any other ideas that Members want to bring forward as part of the review or in any other way, so that we can consider how we could best support those ideas. Diolch.

I call on Siân Gwenllian to reply to the debate. 

Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure for me to close this debate. I’m very grateful to Jane Hutt for asking me to do so. Jane started by talking about the stigma related to period poverty, as well as the affordability of hygiene and sanitary products, and of course the motion talks about improving awareness and education with regard to periods, and breaking that taboo. I think the fact that we’re discussing this issue in the Chamber today does start us along that journey of breaking the taboo and challenging the taboo. Leanne doesn’t remember us discussing this in the Chamber before. I haven’t been here that long, but I take it we’ve not had this kind of discussion until now, so we are in the process of challenging the taboo, in discussing the issue as we are today.

Leanne reminded us that a lack of sanitary products in schools, and the fact that girls are finding it difficult to buy these products, is a sign of poverty and that poverty is a feminist issue. We need to get to the root of that issue, and tackle that issue and to tackle poverty as part of that. That’s why we need a holistic strategy to tackle poverty. Leanne also talked about the importance of education and healthy relationships education. This is something that Plaid Cymru has been discussing for so many years, I believe—the importance of that education. And I’m very pleased to hear, this afternoon, from the leader of the house, that there will be a statement on that issue in the coming months, so we look forward to that.

Caroline reinforced the argument, and I agree that it’s difficult to believe that period poverty is happening in 2018. Vikki Howells talked about the research group in Rhondda Cynon Taf, and I would also like to refer to the work of that task group, and also to thank councillor Elyn Stephens and the Plaid Cymru group on Rhondda Cynon Taf council for leading this work throughout Wales from the very beginning. Three years ago, Elyn put forward a motion to the Plaid Cymru conference, after discussing the issue with Plaid Ifanc, while she was a member of it. Now, Elyn herself had suffered period poverty, after being brought up with her two sisters by her mother, who was a single parent, who was dependent on disability benefit to support her family. Elyn said, ‘We would face the choice of buying food, heating the house, buying clothes or sanitary products, and it was the latter of those that lost out every time.' 

After Elyn was elected as a councillor in May of last year, she tried to get a handle on the issue of getting sanitary products free of charge in schools in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Now, the motion that was put forward at the council wasn’t passed the first time, and indeed she has told me that, that evening, she received messages from fellow councillors telling her that she hadn’t done enough research and that people must be able to afford 50p for a tampon, and that’s the kind of attitude that she came across initially. But she continued, and the council did refer the issue to the scrutiny committee in order for it to undertake some further research. Four Plaid Cymru councillors did this work, sending out questionnaires to young women in schools across the region. Vikki Howells has talked about some of the results of that research. Things like this were being said by the women who took part in the survey: ‘Periods are never discussed in schools’, ‘They don’t tell us that we have a right to have sanitary products unless there’s an accident’, and that they didn’t feel comfortable asking male teachers if they could have products of that kind. 

Would you also agree that what we need to do is look at sustainable solutions? This isn't just about tackling poverty and tackling dignity. When you look at the amount of tampons that are dumped down the sewage system every year and the absolute unsustainability of this, we have to also look at educating girls about their bodies and how they function and how to insert a Mooncup, because a Mooncup costs somewhere between £15 to £20 and will last you for many years. That is a really important emphasis I want to place on this debate, because if we rush to produce more sanitary bins and we rush to redesign toilets in schools, we need to take account of the possibility that in the future, girls will be much more relaxed and conversant with how their bodies function and therefore will be able to use Mooncups, which means that they don't have to go to the toilet every four hours, they don't have to have the possible risk of toxic shock syndrome that you can get from tampons, and it also means that they're not having to shell out all this money to the companies that are producing these products, which charge an awful lot more than they cost to produce. So, I'd just like to raise that and ensure that we bear that in mind in the way we're going to take forward this debate.

I’m sure that we would all agree with the principle that you’ve just put forward. It’s a matter, perhaps, of offering the choice at present, and educating more young women about the advantages of the more environmentally friendly methods that you’re talking about. But I think, at present, it is important that the choice is there, and that’s why I do welcome the £1 million that has been announced by this Government. But I do agree with you: yes, we need to open this discussion out, and to discuss more than what we’re talking about here. There is a need to open it out even further still, isn't there? We need to see it in the context of tackling poverty, but also in the context of equality, or the lack of equality facing women in Wales today. It’s symptomatic of that—that we haven't been discussing the issue until now in this place.

I’m pleased, if truth be told, that it’s women who have been discussing the issue here today. Perhaps that tells us something. It does tell you one thing: when there are enough women in positions of power and where decisions are made, then issues that are important for women—women outside of this place, women in general—are discussed. And that’s why I’m in favour of ensuring that we have parity of female representation here, but also in county councils and across the public sector, so that important issues like this are given due consideration.  

Just to draw your attention—. We launched this morning the manifesto for equality for women and girls in Wales. It’s a manifesto that’s been put together, on a joint basis, by four important groups in Wales that are working towards equality. I was very pleased to be able to sponsor that event today. So, we do need to remember to place what we’ve been discussing today in that wider context, and I very much hope that we will be moving on with this agenda in general, as an Assembly, and that you as a Government will be leading the way. Thank you to everyone who has taken part.

Thank you very much. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No. The motion is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.