Diolch, Llywydd. I’m very pleased to open today’s debate on our committee report. I would like to start by thanking all those who contributed to our inquiry, either by giving written or oral evidence, but in particular those people who participated in our focus groups. Hearing from them about the challenges of insecure work, low pay and accessing the welfare system really focused our minds and directly influenced our conclusions. Inequality causes great damage to our communities in so many ways, reducing quality of life for everyone, including those who are relatively prosperous. This is increasingly evidenced and acknowledged, and awareness has been raised by publications such as the book The Spirit Level. Wales has particular challenges to improve standards of living, and this report is one strand of the committee's work to help tackle inequality and poverty. We make 23 recommendations in total on a wide range of issues, from the Government’s economic strategy to quality of work and welfare. The Welsh Government accepted six recommendations, accepted 15 in principle and rejected two. 

The response is disappointing in places. In particular, there is a lack of detail or meaningful engagement with the recommendations and the evidence underpinning them. In some areas, Welsh Government feels unable to commit to certain recommendations until the ongoing procurement review is completed. I would ask that the Cabinet Secretary agrees to come back to the committee following the publication of that review with a more detailed response to recommendations 14, 15 and 16 on procurement. There is also the ongoing activity on fair work, which is reflected in the Government's position. Recommendations 18, 20, 21 and 22 are, in effect, passed to the fair work commission for consideration. These recommendations relate to reducing the use of zero-hours contracts, increasing the use of the voluntary living wage and reducing the gender pay gap. As these are all matters that could have a direct impact on the levels of take-home pay for people at the sharp end of the labour market, it is concerning that decisions have been deferred until next year. We will continue to monitor the response to these recommendations and the progress of the fair work commission. As with procurement, we would expect to get detailed responses to our recommendations from Welsh Government once the commission has reported.

Llywydd, throughout our work, there were a number of key policy announcements by Welsh Government that we took into account, in particular the publication of the economic action plan and the employability plan. While broadly welcoming the shift in approach, we shared the concerns from stakeholders that both plans lack clear actions, deadlines and indicators against which performance can be measured. We therefore made recommendation 2, which calls for a single, joined-up implementation plan detailing how the economic action plan and the employability plan will be delivered. The Welsh Government accepted this in principle, stating that it will continue to consider the optimal mechanisms for managing and reporting on delivering, and will publish a progress report on the employability plan in September. It also cites the well-being indicators as a mechanism to ensure consistent measuring. We do not feel that this goes far enough. We are concerned that there is a risk that the good intentions in both these important plans may not be realised without setting clear timescales, deliverables and milestones. It also makes it very difficult for us as Assembly Members to scrutinise the effectiveness of the plans. I would like to receive greater clarity on why this recommendation was not fully accepted.