Thank you very much. Llyr Gruffydd, as a member of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, as my predecessor, scrutinised this Bill in detail, and I, as a current member of the committee, have had an opportunity to scrutinise it also. We, as Plaid Cymru, tabled a number of amendments in order to seek to make the Bill more meaningful, but we were very disappointed that those were rejected. We are of the view that the Bill discriminates against some of Wales’s poorest children. Children whose parents aren’t in work don’t qualify for 30 hours of free childcare, and the children of parents in education and training don't qualify either. And the aim of our amendments was to include children from those families in this provision. I believe that omitting them does discriminate against them and that that is unfair, it is wrong and counterproductive.

Evidence demonstrates that giving the best start in life to young children is crucial to their development, and attending care placements of high quality is one of the best ways of giving that best start to children from poor families. I am aware that there are other schemes available, but those schemes are non-statutory. Some rely on your postcode rather than need, and there is confusion and lack of awareness about the nature and availability of this provision. There has been an opportunity lost to include an important cohort in legislation—an opportunity that would have meant that we wouldn’t have needed to have parents who are seeking work or are in training and education find their way through the whole plethora of schemes available, and that everyone would be able to access childcare under simple legislation that would include all. We therefore believe that the Bill is deficient as a piece of legislation and is contrary to the principles of equality and the principles of the well-being of future generations Act, and we will therefore vote against the legislation today.