Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm happy to move the motion before the Assembly today for Stage 4 of the National Health Service (Indemnities) (Wales) Bill that I laid on 14 October 2019. Since the Bill was laid, it has progressed successfully through stages in the Senedd's legislation process, albeit on a truncated timetable, we have discussed both at committee and in here. I'm most grateful to Business Committee for agreeing to this, and to the Llywydd for agreeing for Stage 4 to proceed immediately from Stage 3. I want to thank the Chairs, members and the staff of the Finance Committee, Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, and of course the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee for their consideration, scrutiny and reports regarding the Bill and the supporting explanatory memoranda and regulatory impact assessment. I'm grateful to all of our stakeholders who've been able to contribute to this legislative process by providing evidence in person and in writing, in particular to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. The positive discussions with Members, including the technical briefing sessions offered, together with public evidence sessions from stakeholders, have ensured that the Bill has had real scrutiny despite the expedited nature of the Bill.

I do of course want to thank Members for agreeing that the Bill does not need to change. The Bill is short and discrete. It amends only section 30 of the NHS (Wales) Act 2006 in relation to schemes for meeting losses and liabilities of certain health service bodies, to confer a new power on Welsh Ministers to establish direct indemnity schemes by regulation. This will provide the enabling power to make regulations establishing an existing liabilities scheme to cover the liabilities of GPs for clinical negligence claims that have been reported or incurred but not reported, before 1 April 2019.

The future liabilities scheme has already been established and is operating successfully. It covers claims for clinical negligence arising from 1 April 2019. Both the future liabilities scheme and the existing liabilities scheme are aligned, wherever possible, with the arrangements introduced in England. This will ensure that GPs in Wales are not disadvantaged in comparison to their colleagues in England, that there is no negative impact on GP recruitment and retention and no interruption of the cross-border flow of GPs.

Members will also be aware that I've agreed to provide, from April 2021, an annual report to go to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. That report will cover the technical operation of the future liabilities scheme and the existing liabilities scheme. It will be informed by GPs and other key stakeholders, including medical defence organisations, NHS Wales and the NHS Wales shared services partnership, legal and risk services, which operate the future liabilities scheme and will now take over claims handling of the exiting liabilities scheme in line with the ELS arrangements between the Welsh Government and medical defence organisations. The annual report will also outline the ELS arrangements agreed between Welsh Government and medical defence organisations and the way that that the scheme has been operationalised, together with the financial impact of the ELS arrangements, subject to adhering to any confidentiality agreements.

In the Bill's general principles debate on 19 November, all Members present at the time supported and agreed on the need for this Bill. I hope that across the Chamber, we will continue to provide that same unanimous support to take the Bill to full enactment.