Thank you for the statement. Today's statement, of course, confirms what was reported in the press following the WLGA conference in Llandudno, which, of course, is that you are giving up on your plans to force council mergers—for the time being, at least. So, thank you for making the statement in the Chamber, which is the appropriate place for announcing important policy changes.

The Green Paper was deficient in that there was no cost analysis carried out. Your summary of the responses to the consultation on the Green Paper states that a third of the respondents had commented on the financial case. It was suggested that that case hadn't been made and that the costs in the Green Paper weren't complete, that people believed that the costs of merger would be higher than anticipated, or that the savings anticipated had already been made by local authorities. This is the argument that I've put forward consistently over the past few weeks, and one that I heard regularly from council leaders across Wales.

I have to say that I never understood the purpose of the change of direction from the regionalisation approach of your predecessor. Through introducing the Green Paper, valuable time was wasted, and uncertainty was created that was unnecessary. Therefore, we have taken a step backwards once again, and you are looking to create legislation around enabling voluntary mergers. But, as far as I can see, there are only two councils that are willing to consider that, and they are Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. But, even there, there is disagreement on the timetable, with Swansea wanting to merge swiftly whilst Neath Port Talbot sees some merit in merging with Swansea by 2026. So, it is clear that councils aren't willing to merge voluntarily. So, my first question is this: how confident are you that any councils would be willing to undergo a voluntary merger as a result of this legislation?

Now, as the legislation won't bring any radical proposals forward in terms of reorganising councils, perhaps we should turn our sights to other aspects of the new legislation, and try and see to what positive end we can turn this new Bill. Now, perhaps there may be opportunities in creating provisions for electoral reform. I know that you, like me, support proportional voting as a way of bringing life to elections and enhancing participation. Your predecessor mentioned introducing proportional voting to local government elections, but it wasn't to be mandatory. Now, for me, this should happen across Wales so that there is no postcode lottery created. If it isn't made mandatory across councils in Wales, then there's a risk that it won't happen at all. So, my second question is this: will you introduce proportional voting that will be mandatory for local government elections as part of this legislation?

The new legislation could also start to tackle the lack of diversity in local government. At the moment only 20 per cent of Welsh councillors are female, and we need far-reaching changes if the desire of the First Minister for a feminist Wales is to be made a reality. The Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee has started an inquiry into this, looking specifically at how we can overcome some of the barriers that exist. Why don't you also think about means of generating change through this new legislation—introducing quotas, for example, or allowing job sharing among councillors?

So, to conclude, will you commit to introducing electoral changes as part of this new Bill that will create a more diverse and equal local government? Thank you.