Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I thank all the Members who've contributed today, with a wide range of different and many thoughtful contributions to this wide-ranging debate and discussion? We talked quite a bit today about supporting both our people and our places and the importance of supporting and enabling that sense of pride in place in our communities, and that actually investing in communities is not just about the economic benefits but those broader benefits bringing communities together and increasing cohesive communities.

This Welsh Government wants our communities and towns to have a fantastic future as well as a great past with the many historic towns we can boast of in Wales. And we have recognised, and people have recognised in this debate today, that the role and purpose of our towns are changing and we need to rise to that challenge to reimagine and reinvent our communities and town centres.

That's why this Government is providing significant regeneration support to over 50 towns and communities across Wales, which is unlocking £800 million of investment between 2014 and 2022. Whether it's old chapels or neglected town halls, decaying cinemas or now defunct bingo halls, whether it's struggling high streets or derelict properties, our investment is helping to breathe new life into them. That may be as offices or enterprise hubs, community or care hubs or events-based and leisure facilities, improved retail offers and even new homes. And we've heard from Huw Irranca-Davies about what's happening with Maesteg town hall as well. So, we're helping communities to repurpose their town centres and buildings for the challenges of the twenty-first century.

The original motion somewhat implies that seaside and market towns aren't currently benefiting from this investment when many of them are indeed. In north Wales, Colwyn Bay is getting over £3 million of regeneration investment to transform town-centre buildings and bring vacant commercial floor space back into use. It's something I've seen for myself first-hand and the difference that that is making to footfall within the town as well. And just along the coast—huge investment in Rhyl. It includes redeveloping vast swathes of rundown property in the heart of town and repurposing the promenade, with much more in the pipeline, and I'm not just saying that because the Deputy Presiding Officer is in the chair. [Interruption.] [Laughter.] Worth a try. In Barry we are supporting the development of the Goods Shed building, bringing along with it 120 jobs, work and community space and a food and leisure offer. We're also providing nearly £1 million to improve commercial and retail space and to convert space within commercial properties into residential use and a £1 million loan fund under supporting town-centre social housing projects.

Turning briefly to market towns and a few examples: in Haverfordwest, we have given in principle support for a £3 million plus project to renovate and convert the Ocky White department store into a food emporium, and in addition a £2.75 million loan, providing 23 residential units, a youth enterprise and commercial trading area and refurbishing a multistorey car park to increase town-centre footfall.

In mid Wales, six market towns are benefiting from £2.14 million to improve town-centre properties and bring vacant properties back into use. And Lampeter and Newtown have also secured funding for projects, with a combined value of £5 million. And in Lampeter, the redeveloped Canolfan Dulais will provide community services alongside a care-focused enterprise centre and will support town-centre footfall and employment. Seaside towns can also access our coastal communities fund, which has provided £16 million to coastal areas since 2011.

We've talked about different funds today and I think one of the things that we have—. I wouldn't say we have enough money, but I think we have enough funds and, in fact, we have probably too many. And I'm more interested in actually how we can consolidate ones rather than creating new ones and maximising the impact that they have in towns and communities the length and breadth of the country.

We're providing lots of support, but years of austerity and an impact on our finances mean that we unfortunately cannot intervene everywhere. So, we want to help empower communities to take the lead.

The recent Carnegie UK Trust report 'Turnaround Towns UK' highlights Cardigan's shift from a failing market town to an example of best practice in using both its physical and historical assets. Cardigan has benefited from our support but demonstrates too the importance of empowered local leaders who know their towns and are key in driving change. They're also embracing digital technology to help drive this all forward.

The Government is committing support and engaging with our communities, as demonstrated by our Valleys taskforce, which has worked with communities to develop plans and ideas that help tackle the challenges faced by the communities but also celebrate and build on their strength. I'm keen as we move forward to look at how we actually better empower communities to be part of this, and involve town and community councils and other community organisations.

We're working to develop new approaches to support our communities through Brexit and beyond, building on experiences such as the LEADER approach and drawing on the rural development programme. Communities will have a say in how future regional investment is targeted within their local areas.

The UK Government's tax and welfare regime and years of austerity have had a huge impact on poverty rates in Wales. This Government has taken a cross-Government approach to tackling poverty and our economic action plan and programmes such as Flying Start, Communities for Work and the pupil development grant and Families First are vital in narrowing the gap between our most deprived and thriving areas.

This Government is strongly committed to supporting and to backing our towns and communities to not just survive but to thrive. We are certainly not complacent and we can always build on what we are already doing. I intend to say more on this in the coming weeks in this Chamber on how we support our communities to move forward to have a fantastic future as well as a great past.