7. Debate: The Programme for Government Annual Report and Legislative Programme

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:05 pm on 11 February 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 6:05, 11 February 2020

I think it's been a very interesting set of contributions and I thank all Members for them. I began my own introduction to the debate in focusing on the cross-cutting themes that lie behind this year's annual report, an effort to try to reach out beyond the portfolio way in which we generally report matters to the floor of the Assembly, and to demonstrate the way in which action across the Government is brought together to try and make a difference.

Many contributions in the debate focused in the same way. Rhianon Passmore focused on early years, which is one of our cross-cutting themes. She's absolutely right; the childcare offer is very widely appreciated. It's great to see more than half the children eligible now taking it up. It's 85 per cent of children in Powys, it's over 75 per cent of children across north Wales, and it's great to see take-up of that level. It's great as well to see the impact of bilingual education very early in a child's life, with a real growth in the number of nurseries offering bilingual placements through the childcare offer and strong reports from providers that the way it's being designed and delivered through the Welsh Government is helping them to feel confident that their businesses have a long-term future, and therefore they themselves are willing to invest in creating that wider range of services.

Rhianon referred to the apprenticeships as well, and last week was Apprenticeship Week. I had a really uplifting visit to the Welsh Rugby Union to see their apprenticeship programme in operation; young women and young men as part of that apprenticeship programme—and it's very competitive to get onto it—were making a real difference in their lives. There they were, young women, teaching 40 young women from the Muslim community in Cardiff to play wheelchair rugby. It was both an enormously multicultural occasion but also one that demonstrated the worth of that apprenticeship programme in the lives of the young people taking it up.

Jenny referred to the foundational economy as well, and this report demonstrates the actions we're taking as a Welsh Government to recognise the importance of what's sometimes called the mundane economy, the everyday economy, the economy that can't be moved somewhere else around the globe, to communities right across Wales.

I wanted to agree with what Mick Antoniw said about the importance of partnership, because as I said in my introduction, the things that the Welsh Government can do will always be more effective when we do them alongside others. Whether that is through Transport for Wales or with local authorities, the impact in Pontypridd is so palpable when you go there. And it captures the imagination of the private sector as well. I visited Pontypridd market with the Member for Pontypridd and saw the enormous enthusiasm from small stallholders there to make their contribution to the future of Pontypridd; a place that they could see had a future, and a successful future in front of it. We want to make sure that all the jobs we create here in Wales contribute to our fair work agenda, and that's why the social partnership Act is so important, because it puts fair work, procurement and an ethical approach to the way we spend our money and create opportunity in Wales at the heart of what we will do.

Nick Ramsay focused on two things, on stigma and mental health, and I agree entirely with what he said there, because that is a completely cross-Government responsibility. All Ministers, indeed all Members of the Assembly, I think, have a responsibility to do the things we can do to make sure that we go on eroding that sense of stigma that comes with mental health challenges for some people. I did just want to say to Nick Ramsay that mainstreaming decarbonisation and biodiversity was at the very heart of our budget process this year. I'm not saying it's perfect, I'm not saying that we don't need to do more, but from the very beginning there was a Cabinet Member responsible for making sure that, in every budget discussion, every Minister had to give an account of how they were making their budget and their responsibilities contribute to the decarbonisation and biodiversity ambitions of the Government.

Turning to what Adam Price said in opening contributions to the debate, we'll vote for the first Plaid Cymru amendment, because I think the way you set out the annual report makes a real effort to demonstrate how the commitments I made in the leadership election for the Labour Party build on and extend our 2016 manifesto. I do hope we'll make a start on the community bank in this Assembly term. The clean air White Paper is a clear demonstration of our intention to legislate for a clean air Act.

Paul Davies also focused on the climate change emergency. There's £140 million in this budget. There are tough things we have to do, and agricultural pollution and tackling it will be one of them. If we are genuinely serious about the climate emergency, we have to be prepared to act where it causes challenges to us, as well as where it is easy—[Interruption.] Of course.