Diolch, Llywydd. I very much welcome the opportunity to respond to this debate, and I thank Members for their very thoughtful contributions. I wholeheartedly support the intent of the debate, and I'm determined to do all I can to increase the use of electric vehicles in Wales. We know the future of petrol and diesel vehicles is limited, with the UK Government announcing its intention to ban them by 2040. In the meantime, the automotive industry is already rising to the challenge. Volvo, for example, has announced that all new models it launches from 2019 will be partially or completely battery powered.

If we are to realise our ambitions for decarbonisation, we must ensure we make adequate provision for electric vehicle charging. However, I'm not convinced the proposals for legislation that we have heard today are the most appropriate way forward. My colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport has already embedded decarbonisation in the economic action plan and made a commitment of £2 million funding to help improve publicly accessible charging infrastructure, and my approach to changes to the planning system complements this. Clearly, the planning system must be an enabler rather than an obstacle in the take-up of electric vehicles, so we must address the issue now. We need a concerted and joined-up approach to ensure the adequate provision of charging facilities.

I'd just like to briefly outline what we're already doing. National planning policy needs to give a clear steer about the importance of charging facilities. The current 'Planning Policy Wales' consultation includes a requirement for a minimum of 10 per cent of new non-residential car parking spaces to have charging points, and we're the first in the UK to do this. Before the end of this month, I'll be publishing a consultation on new permitted development rights, and this will include the introduction of permitted development rights for the installation of electric vehicle charging points in homes and businesses. Finally, changes to the energy performance of buildings directive will set out charging point infrastructure requirements for all new residential and non-residential developments, and this directive must be transposed by 2020.

I want to assure Members that I will consider imposing more stringent standards through planning or building regulations if the directive does not meet our ambitions. Alongside these policy changes, I'm already having discussions with National Grid—I think Simon Thomas raised a very important point about the ability of the national grid to support our plans for electric vehicle charging points—and also having discussions with the UK Government. Several Members said we need to be more imaginative, we need to take the initiative, and I absolutely agree; we need to make sure that Wales is well placed to take advantage of electric vehicles. So, the changes I've outlined today are only the start of the process, and as the technology develops, we need to ensure Wales is at the forefront of these developments.