Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's my pleasure to present the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill to the National Assembly for Wales for its approval. I hope, indeed, that Members will support the Bill this afternoon because the Bill will strengthen the ombudsman’s role in order to protect the most vulnerable in our society, improve social justice, and, of course, drive improvements in public services and complaints handling.

Now, today marks the culmination of a process that began back in 2015, when the Finance Committee of the fourth Assembly, chaired by Jocelyn Davies, conducted an inquiry to consider extending the ombudsman’s powers. On behalf of both the fourth and fifth Assembly Finance Committees, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the various consultations that have helped inform and shape the Bill today.

I would also like to thank Members for the constructive and collaborative approach to this legislation, and this is the first Bill to be taken through the Assembly by a committee. That was based on our shared desire to ensure that the most vulnerable individuals, who are often most reliant on our public services, feel confident complaining to the ombudsman and that they have the right to a fair response to their complaint.

And, I am grateful to the Assembly committees that have been responsible for scrutinising the Bill, namely the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee and, especially, the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee and its Chair, John Griffiths. Now, this Bill has been improved as a result of that scrutiny. For example, the Bill now ensures that the ombudsman is required to consult specified persons, such as commissioners, when carrying out own-initiative investigations, and the Bill now requires the ombudsman to maintain a register of all the complaints received. The Bill also strengthens the Welsh language duties and responsibilities placed on the ombudsman.

At Stage 2, the Members expressed concerns about the accountability of the ombudsman for the future. Before today's vote, I would like to assure Members that I have had initial discussions with the Chairs of the Public Accounts Committee and the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee with regard to the oversight arrangements of the Assembly, and how they can be strengthened in future through our responsibilities for appointing the ombudsman, scrutinising the annual report and accounts of the ombudsman and, of course, the duty to review the implementation of the Act.

Now, the next steps in terms of the Bill's implementation, of course, include receiving Royal Assent, commencement by Welsh Ministers, working with the ombudsman to ensure that he has consulted widely before the provisions come into force. It's also a requirement that the Secretary of State makes the necessary consequential amendments to UK Parliament Acts, and this is with regard to the ombudsman's work on a joint basis with the ombudsmen in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and some provisions with regard to the general data protection regulation—the GDPR— which is, of course, beyond the competence of this Assembly. And while some practical issues are to be worked through, the Secretary of State's office has noted that it is willing to deal with the necessary consequential legislation, and that is, of course, to be welcomed very much.

Now, it has been a long journey to reach Stage 4 as we have arrived at today, and I ask Assembly Members to support the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill.