Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Apprenticeships are, without a doubt, a proven way to drive productivity, prosperity and to build communities that are more resilient. And by building a more responsive apprenticeship system, there is no doubt that we can better respond to industry changes, and that's what I'm determined to do. I know that's also what Mike Hedges, Jack Sargeant and Joyce Watson are determined to do as well. I recall when I was last responsible for the skills portfolio, working to get the hairdressing trade better regulated, and the threat by Mike Hedges to become a hairdresser, I think it was on Tuesday, clearly demonstrates why regulatory control is still very much needed, not just in that sector, but in the other disciplines that Mike rightly identified.

There's no doubt that skills are inextricably linked to the ability to carry out work properly, effectively and efficiently, and as Jack Sargeant said, apprenticeships offer the best means of acquiring key skills. Demand for apprenticeships is changing, as employers seek skills at higher levels, and young people looking towards apprenticeships as an alternative pathway to full-time undergraduate learning.

The apprenticeship programme was never intended to be a programme to be used to fill every possible skills gap in the marketplace. We need to look forward whilst also reflecting on best practice in apprenticeship programmes and delivery. We need to refocus our efforts on skilled technical trades. This will support our aims of securing parity of esteem for vocational education and training, to enhance quality and improve the outcomes for the economy and for the people that we serve. And we want the programme to ensure that apprenticeships support young people, and our focus will be to improve our offer across a range of technical and professional areas, particularly science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and the higher level training will feature more within the programme.

Core to our approach across the apprenticeship programme has been the establishment of the Wales apprenticeship advisory board. This board is an employer-led organisation, chaired by the Confederation of British Industry, and includes large employers as well as SMEs. It provides strategic input, robust challenge on skills content, and advice on the scope and range of apprenticeship frameworks. Our primary focus continues to be apprenticeships at level 3 and above, where returns are significantly higher and reflect good practice in other European countries. We are particularly prioritising the expansion of higher apprenticeships in STEM and technical subjects to create the next new generation of professionals to drive innovative practices, to create new products and to boost productivity levels.

I am delighted to say that in the last year, Dirprwy Lywydd, higher level apprenticeships accounted for 16 per cent of all starts. Last year, we introduced degree apprenticeships and delivery will initially be focused on degree-level skills gaps that have been identified by the regional skills partnerships in digital and advanced engineering.

To manage emerging and latent demand, we have been working with employers under skills clusters in areas such as health, forestry and engineering, and again, digital. In particular, we are driving service improvements in public sectors, working with local authorities, with health service and other public bodies. And to complement this, we're working closely with the Federation of Small Businesses to understand how we can cluster delivery around certain sectors so that small and medium-sized enterprises can better access the programme.

Furthermore, we are creating better jobs closer to home through extending and expanding shared apprenticeships in the Valleys taskforce area to support SMEs and micro businesses in accessing training. We are encouraging SMEs to use apprenticeships by offering an incentive of up to £3,500 to recruit a young person, where the SME is new to the apprenticeship system. All of this is aimed at creating a culture in Wales where recruiting an apprentice becomes the norm.

For young people, getting the right apprenticeship can be genuinely life changing. We are opening up apprenticeships through improving the visibility of what is on offer, and this year, we'll be launching a new IT platform with a range of functions designed to make the apprenticeship journey clearer and far more user friendly. Of course, our headline commitment is 100,000 apprenticeships in this Assembly term—a target we are not only on course to meet, but to exceed. But this isn't just about quality; it's about quantity and it's about ensuring that we get as many young people into apprenticeship frameworks as possible. Those frameworks cannot be compromised by people entering economic activities that will undermine skilled trades, as all of the speakers today have identified. And this is something that the Welsh Government continues to work to prevent.

In the first half of this Assembly term, we have strengthened the relevance, the quality and the effectiveness of our apprenticeship offer. And we all know that the pressures on Wales will increase in the coming years. The age of automation, Brexit and emerging new technologies all demand that we have a resilient training system, and delivering high-quality apprenticeships will help us meet these challenges. Diolch.