Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. If I can just start by just saying that I made a joke or light-hearted comment in my initial speech about the grief that I get at home from my son on the Welsh bac, which—I'm not sure the joke actually landed terribly well in the Chamber. [Laughter.] But that was very much how I approached the inquiry, from a position actually of being very concerned about the Welsh bac and feeling quite negative about it as a parent. But I do have to say that the evidence we took did not bear that out, really.

One of the most powerful things for me was when we did go out to the schools and talked to the young people directly. I went to Crickhowell High—other Members went to other places—and what I was very struck with at Crickhowell High was that none of those young people said that they wanted the bac to be scrapped, they all had helpful and meaningful things to say—and I will acknowledge that obviously there were different views elsewhere, but I think that what was clear in Crickhowell High was that there is excellent leadership of the Welsh bac in Crickhowell High. There is a dedicated member of staff who is clearly passionately enthusiastic about the qualification and you could see the benefits that that brought for the pupils. But the problem is that we don't have that everywhere. And that is what the report is about—trying to deliver some consistency. So, I think that is a really key message of the report. We accept that there is benefit to this qualification but there is more work that needs to be done in how that is effectively delivered across Wales and I'm pleased that the Government has accepted the recommendations in the way that the Minister has. 

If I can just pick up on some individual contributions, Suzy Davies talked about hearing directly from the young people and, indeed, as she said, there were varied views, and I hope that in the report that we've produced we've tried to pick up on recommendations that address the various concerns that were raised by young people around consistency, around things like the compulsory nature of the Welsh baccalaureate. Hefin David, when you spoke you talked about the tension that exists between giving that freedom to education professionals and ensuring that there is consistent delivery. That is undoubtedly a challenge across the whole curriculum going forward, but I hope that the recommendations we have made around improving ITE, continuing professional development in relation to the Welsh bac, and generally the guidance, setting out more clearly what is expected, will help in delivering that. 

Can I thank Mark Reckless for his very thoughtful contribution to this debate? As you say, you started out with the committee when we launched this inquiry. We didn't actually specifically take evidence on the direct comparator with England, so I won't specifically comment on that, but I would thank you for your recognition about the skills challenge certificate, because that was a theme that came out in the evidence of the young people that I spoke to, that they felt it was a useful thing to undertake and also felt that universities were quite attracted by that mode of study, really, as a more independent way of learning.

I do accept, of course, that there is more that needs to be done in terms of explaining the qualification. It wasn't our role really as a committee to try and set that out in detail in the report; we were focused on trying to make recommendations to improve the implementation, and, as you know, we made key recommendations about improving the understanding of everyone, really—parents, pupils and professionals involved in delivering the qualification, but also, very importantly, universities and businesses. And I thank you as well for highlighting the fact that the Minister has clarified, again, that the Welsh bac is not compulsory at post-16. That is very helpful, because as a committee, we felt very clearly that the individual best interests of the young person should be paramount. 

If I can turn now to Michelle Brown's contribution—[Interruption.] Well, yes. It was quite negative, really, and I have to say—and I repeat—that I came to this inquiry feeling very sceptical—. It would be nice if you listened, Michelle, to the response, having spoken in the debate. Having come to the inquiry feeling very negative about the Welsh bac, the evidence that we took did not bear that out, and this is work in progress. I also didn't recognise what Michelle Brown said about there being no demand for the qualification, because that is clear from talking to young people, some of whom told us that they only got into universities because they had the Welsh bac, because they perhaps weren't as well suited to doing three A-levels, so they were doing two A-levels and the Welsh bac. So I think that we need to build on the positives in the inquiry. 

Janet, again, you were very concerned about the Welsh baccalaureate and, of course, both Welsh Conservative Members signed up to this report when we published the report, and it was an evidence-based report, so from that point of view, I am a little bit disappointed, really, that you've come to the conclusion that you have, having signed up.