Thank you, diolch, acting Presiding Officer. And thank you very much for the opportunity to update the Assembly on the progress in delivering our childcare offer for Wales. 

Members will be aware that, when this Government was elected, one of the key commitments we made was to provide 30 hours of early education and childcare to the working parents of three and four-year-olds across Wales for 48 weeks per year. And, in developing this offer, many of the families we've talked to have told us about the pressures that they face over meeting ever-increasing household costs, particularly during this period of austerity. For these families, the costs of childcare directly affect whether or not the parents, and particularly the mothers, can work and, if they can, where they work and what sorts of jobs they can take; it depends on them being able to get childcare.