Thank you very much. There's no doubt that the childcare funding legislation was very contentious from the outset, for the reason that it didn't include every child. Children whose parents were in education or training or who were unemployed didn't qualify. Therefore, Plaid Cymru voted against the legislation. We felt that it was entirely unfair that families earning up to £200,000 per annum could access free childcare whilst our poorest children living in workless households are being excluded from the clear benefits that will emerge from early years education and childcare. But the Minister at the time was determined to proceed with a proposal that was entirely deficient, despite the concerns of the children's commissioner and children's organisations, the concerns of the Children, Young People and Education Committee, and the concerns of Plaid Cymru, which were voiced time and again in this Chamber.

Therefore, the Government in the summer did announce that it had made a u-turn, and I am pleased that at last this Government has recognised that it made an utter Horlicks of its first attempt to introduce its first free 30-hour childcare offer. But your statement today does concern me. You are now considering expanding the offer to support parents in education and training, and I agree entirely with that. But unfortunately you're not going far enough, because you are considering expanding it to parents who are on the point of returning to work. So, even under your revised plan, there will be some children who still will not be eligible for this childcare, including some of the children in greatest need in Wales. This is a mistake. Plaid Cymru in Government would offer this opportunity for all children to benefit from free childcare.

Can you explain, therefore, what your definition is of parents on the point of returning to work? Can you explain why you're not going to include every child in reforming this offer? Why aren't you going to include households where parents are unemployed? Why are you discriminating against some children? Doesn't every child deserve the best possible start in life? I very much hope that you can explain the rationale behind your new proposal.

As you are suspending the work with the Treasury, will you explain what's changed, therefore, in terms of the views of local government? Have you sought the views of the Welsh Local Government Association on the implications of this u-turn? Do they now believe, to the contrary of what they believed when the legislation was going through this Senedd, that the system isn't too complex and bureaucratic, and that they are content to administer it? I don't know what has changed between the time when the legislation went through and this current period.

You state that you are delighted that the pilot period has been so successful and I do hear that very many families in my area are taking advantage of this scheme. But, I'm also aware that this is creating some funding problems for councils, and I do understand that additional funding has been allocated to some county councils, but that that is far from being sufficient to meet the demand. So, can you explain how you intend to close the gap between demand and the funding that's currently available, please?