I'd like to start by commending the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee for what I think is a really interesting piece of work. I followed this inquiry closely, and I want to focus on a couple of recommendations today. This is an issue that is really close to my heart. It's close to my heart as a parent, it's close to my heart as a former teacher and also as a former play scheme worker, and as someone who has campaigned around improving opportunities for children and young people's physical activity since I was elected.

Moreover, I'm keen to see a whole-Government approach to this issue, which I hope I can explore in my contribution today, starting with recommendations 3 and 4, which recommend a family orientated approach and which call for Sport Wales and Public Health Wales to develop an appropriate programme. I think this is really important, offering a means by which improving the health of children and young people could serve as a catalyst for well-being in the whole family. I know that, in the Welsh Government response, there's a reference to the Wales physical activity partnership, which could improve physical activity levels. I'd also like to see feed-in from initiatives such as the Valleys taskforce with regard to the Valleys regional park concept as well. In areas like mine, this could be a really low-cost accessible way of getting people out and about, enjoying the non-urban environments that are quite literally on people's doorsteps.

I've spoken before—I think it was in my very first short debate back in 2016—about what is called a 'nature deficit disorder'. This is based on research showing that just 13 per cent of Welsh children considered themselves to have a close connection to the natural world. I think that's staggering. It's a lower figure than Scotland, Northern Ireland or, indeed, even London. Similarly, as an industrial history devotee, I think there are opportunities here linked to our industrial heritage. I've mentioned in this Chamber before previously my passion for the Abernant tunnel, which links Cwmbach in my constituency with Merthyr Tydfil. If reopened, that could be a real draw as an active travel route, and I know that there are many other similar schemes that could have the same positive effects.

Recommendation 11 is another really useful tool. Allowing wider access to school facilities, especially newly renovated ones under twenty-first century schools, just makes common sense. I'm pleased that recently I was able to work with RCT council to meet requests from a local community for children to be able to play on a brand-new MUGA—that's a multi-use games area, for those who are not in the know—at a primary school in Cwmbach. It just makes sense that we should open up these areas outside of school hours for the community to benefit from.

I'd like to go beyond this and flag up also my previous proposal for an inclusive play Bill. This would have ensured play opportunities meet the needs of all children and young people in the community, and I think it's important that this remains a priority.

Disability Sport Wales, in their evidence, which is cited throughout the report, powerfully made the case for really digging down and integrating inclusivity into governmental responses. In a similar vein, I hope to be meeting with the Deputy Minister for health in the very near future to discuss inclusive play and I look forward to hearing how work on various responses is progressing.

Recommendation 16, on the pupil development grant, is also, I think, very important too. Based on Public Health Wales figures, one in four 11 to 16-year-olds in the Cwm Taf area are obese, as are nearly 15 per cent of four to five-year-olds. These are the highest figures in Wales, and they are simply not acceptable. When there are clear links between deprivation and obesity, it is so important that we use levers like the PDG to try and make amends to this issue.

I accept the Welsh Government response that there are already some good examples of this out there, but I'd like to see more work on this point. Similarly, I'd like to see progress on the possibility of bringing in a soft drinks levy—recommendation 20. We know, in Wales, sugar intake is three times higher than the recommended value for teenagers aged 11 to 16, and with this week being Diabetes Week, there could be clear benefits here.

To close, I’d just like to reflect on recommendation 19, which relates to section 106 and accessible recreational facilities with new housing developments. Persimmon recently built a shiny new estate in my constituency, and their glossy brochure showed a play area at the heart of the estate. Five years later, there is no play area, only a dumping ground for the developer, and each school holiday I get residents asking me about when that play area's going to be opened, only to be met with further obfuscation and delay. This is an issue that we touched on recently in the economy committee, in our investigation into local house builders. There's definitely a reluctance from local authorities to take on open spaces now as a consequence of austerity, and I think this is something that we need to look at in the future.