Deputy Llywydd, today, I'm pleased to outline a route-map for kindness in policy making as part of my commitment to campaign for kinder communities across Wales, and, in doing so, I recognise with a sense of obligation the need to tackle the biggest injustice and issue of all, in that life is not a level playing field. For me, kinder communities begins by recognising that empathy must be central to what we do. It means having the ability to see the world from points of view that aren't always our own. It must be our foundation and our grounding. It also means being upfront, honest and transparent as individuals and as Governments, so, if we do fail on certain things, people know that we did try our best. And it means recognising that our own economics have for far too long been unequal and the consequences extremely harsh. We've seen a growing sense of isolation, dislocation, insecurity and the erosion of hope, the growth of unkind communities. So, to deal with these issues, we can either beat the fire with fire, using unkind solutions for unkind situations, which will only lead to greater environments of blame and pain, or we can acknowledge the problems we have and seek to fix them with new solutions, kinder solutions.

It's why earlier this year I was very pleased to meet with the Carnegie Trust. They recognise, as many of us do here, that there are things that matter to us all: the places we live, our sense of identity and belonging, the people we live with, love and care for, and the way we're looked after, treated and supported when we're most in need. All of those things are linked to what people expect from the Welsh Government and from other Governments across the globe. [Interruption.] That's my Apple watch going off during the debate. [Laughter.] Policies to deal with those things must all be about emotions. They're concerned with our homes and communities, our economy and livelihood, the education of our children and the care of those in ill health. They should engage with our humanity and our vulnerability, require trust and sharing, and therefore always and everywhere engage an emotional response from the Government.

The work the Carnegie Trust is doing is particularly interesting and important because it's making us think more about kindness and well-being in our everyday actions as parliamentarians and Governments. Over the last 12 months in particular, they've been co-ordinating a kindness innovation network with people from across Scotland as well as North Ayrshire Council, and that's to encourage kindness through the local authority area. Their recently published report, 'The Practice of Kindness', is a must-read on how we build practical learning and what it might take to encourage kindness in our communities. Their extensive report delves deeper into why this is so difficult, framing kindness as something that is radical, because the Carnegie Trust rightly say we must be

'Radical in the sense that kindness is something to be discussed in the context of poverty and austerity, not as a distraction or even as mitigation, but integral to decision making. And radical in the sense that kindness demands rethinking the way that things are run and managed.'

When the Carnegie Trust quantified kindness here in Wales, they found that most people experience kindness in their communities and reciprocate this in their behaviours. Fewer people feel strongly about this, but still most people strongly agree that they make time to speak to their neighbours and that they can rely on someone in their neighbourhood for practical help or to keep an eye on their home if they were away. There's a similar picture with respect to public services. More than 85 per cent generally agree that people are treated with kindness by the police, social care workers and public transport workers. Less often and less than a third feel strongly about this. So, Deputy Llywydd, how do we make the public feel strongly about this issue and, perhaps most importantly, how do we here in this Chamber embed kindness into our work when we make policy, evaluate its impact and think about equality improvement? Because, as part of this journey, I want external organisations, charities, businesses, the third sector, and others, to work with us. It is important to encourage them on the journey, because the scale of our challenge demands rethinking the systems and structures that have dominated the way we work for decades. Now, despite this, as the Carnegie Trust have outlined, there are things that can be done at an organisational level to make kindness real practically, and particularly around management, leadership, procurement and commissioning.

Now, if we agree that to deal with these issues means linking kindness to well-being, then we must also recognise the role of the future generations Act and the role that that will play in creating these kinder communities we want. We need to go further when making policy announcements and legislation, to talk openly about the Act and its well-being goals. We should include kindness and well-being goals on the face of Bills, in our manifestos—from across political parties—and at the heart of programmes for governments in the future and governments now. The role of kindness in public policy making has a particular urgency as we enter the next generation of green and digital revolution. What is now considered the norm in digital technology and artificial intelligence has already transformed our experiences, in banking, retail, and communications. But as we look to go even further with that change—and, personally, I must say I'm very in favour of that change—we also need to ensure we shape the future developments around people's needs, and emotional needs.

Now, this is a direct challenge to those, including the powerful, in our economy and in political life, and some still cannot imagine that kindness works as a political strategy. Deputy Llywydd, once again, I say to them, 'You are wrong'. In the chaotic times in which we live, often the best solution is to step back and think. What's the simple outcome we want? Peace, prosperity, fairness, jobs, wealth or opportunities? For me, all our ambitions can be enshrined into one concept, which we now must all pursue, and we now must lead on here in Wales. As I said at the start, Deputy Llywydd, we do now need to take the words into serious actions. And that one concept is kindness. Diolch.