Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Welsh Government is committed to providing the NHS workforce that we need to ensure the best outcomes for people receiving care. We are achieving this with increased training places, encouraging young people to take up a health professional career, and supporting recruitment through our successful 'Train. Work. Live.' marketing campaign. The 'Train. Work. Live.' campaign is continuing to market NHS Wales healthcare careers alongside the lifestyle opportunities available in Wales. That's been marketed both within the UK and, of course, internationally.

What started as a campaign focused on promoting the benefits of working in general practice in Wales has, over the last three years, expanded to include a range of other key professions—nursing, psychiatry, pharmacy and most recently midwifery. The campaign is creating a positive view of Wales and what we can offer to healthcare professionals. This year I personally attended the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives conferences, seeing first-hand the positive response to our presence at these major events and the interest that that generated. Next year 'Train. Work. Live.' will showcase at the RCN and the RCM events as part of the international year of the nurse and midwife. With the RCM event, it will take place for the first time here in Wales. The campaign has also been key to establishing links with healthcare systems outside of the UK, and work is under way to develop a co-ordinated approach to international recruitment for nurses.

General practitioner training has remained a key focus for the campaign. Following the considerable success in filling places since 2016, I agreed an increased baseline allocation from 136 to 160 places, starting this autumn. This reinforces this Government’s commitment to delivering the workforce we need following record levels of doctors choosing Wales for their GP training.

This year we achieved the highest fill rate ever, filling 186 places from the allocation of 160, surpassing even that increased new allocation, with every training scheme across Wales filling to capacity, including those historically hard to recruit to areas. This includes, for example, the Pembrokeshire scheme, which had a zero fill rate as recently as 2016. This year, following all rounds of recruitment, Pembrokeshire now has filled seven places. The three north Wales schemes filled 28 places from their initial target allocation of 22 places.

Health Education and Improvement Wales is continuing work to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to support an increased number of GP trainees, with a view to a further expansion of the training schemes over the next two years. The sustained improvement in the recruitment position has been achieved by setting realistic targets about what can be delivered and extending our ambition incrementally as the system developed the capacity to deliver those additional numbers.

The campaign has also promoted other medical specialities that have seen increases in their fill rates. The fill rate for core psychiatry training has increased from just 33 per cent to 100 per cent in two years. That is another positive outcome. Despite the ongoing difficult financial climate, we continue to invest in the long-term sustainability of our NHS workforce, which continues to grow year on year.

For the sixth consecutive year, funding to support health professional education and training in Wales will increase. I made the decision to invest £127.8 million in 2020-1. That equates to a 13 per cent annual increase, with an extra £16.4 million for education and training programmes for healthcare professionals here in Wales. That includes £1.4 million for 47 additional medical postgraduate training places. That means that, since 2014, nurse training places have increased by 89 per cent, midwifery training places have increased by 71 per cent, physiotherapist training places have increased by 71 per cent as well, and radiography training places have increased by 57 per cent.

This is a record level of funding and will support the highest ever number of training opportunities in Wales. It increases the capacity of our workforce to help the NHS respond to the challenges facing it now and in the future. I am proud of this Government's record on investment. In the teeth of a decade of austerity, the NHS has more people working in it than at any time in its history, all aimed at prevention and care for people across each and every community here in Wales.

In addition to recruitment and training, retaining the existing workforce is key to securing a skilled and sustainable workforce. That is why the well-being of staff was central to our vision set out in 'A Healthier Wales' and will be part of the workforce strategy being jointly developed by Health Education and Improvement Wales and Social Care Wales.

I was pleased to announce last week the extension of the NHS Wales bursary until 2023. The bursary will be available for an additional two cohorts for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years. It will be available to nurses and midwives, but, unlike Scotland, we will continue to provide the bursary to allied health professionals too. This announcement provides clarity on bursary arrangements for the next three academic years to both students and providers.

It is essential that we engage our next generation of healthcare professionals at all stages in their education. The supporting medical careers programme aims to increase the number of successful applications from Welsh speakers to medical schools in Wales, and I have extended this for a further year. Following the success of the 2018 programme, I agreed the scheme would run for a second year in 2019. Of the 60 students who attended the programme in 2018, 43 enrolled on health-related courses in Wales—28 to medicine and 15 to non-medical courses.

In addition to this, I have agreed a further one-year extension to the widening access to GP practice through work experience programme. The programme, which is now in its fourth year, is aiming to give year 12 students an opportunity to see the work involved in general practice. To date, over 200 students from across Wales have successfully taken part in the programme.

This year, we've also have introduced three key tools to inform a more holistic approach and support effective workforce planning in primary care: an all-Wales register for locum GPs, a national workforce reporting system to capture staff information in general practice, and a streamlined website for GP practices to manage and advertise vacancies.

Work is also continuing through the strategic programme for primary care to identify future priority areas for the 'Train. Work. Live.' campaign, including allied health professionals, who are of course a key part of the workforce. The allied health professions framework, 'Looking Forward Together', was launched at the national primary care conference on 7 November. The framework was developed collaboratively with members of the professions and a number of stakeholders.

The purpose of the framework is to ensure that citizens achieve outcomes that matter to them and experience the highest quality of care and treatment at all times. It provides a clear direction for transforming the way in which allied health professionals are used and accessed. In particular, it will help support the shift of allied health professionals into directly accessible primary and community care based services. This is consistent in delivering our national vision to provide care closer to home, to improve population health and well-being, and to maximise recovery that enables people to live as independently as possible for as long as possible.

The framework is supported by an action plan to drive change. One of the actions already implemented is the appointment of a national allied health professionals lead for primary care in the strategic programme for our primary care team. I look forward to taking questions today, and, of course, in the future.