The following amendments have been selected: amendments 1 and 2 in the name of Siân Gwenllian.

Item 7 on the agenda this afternoon is the debate on the programme for government annual report and legislative programme, and I call on the First Minister to move the motion. Mark Drakeford.

Motion NDM7265 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales, in accordance with Standing Order 11.21(ii):

Notes:

a) the Welsh Government Annual Report 2019;

b) the legislative programme.

Motion moved.

Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. At the end of January, the Welsh Government published its annual report for 2019, which notes the progress made towards improving the well-being of people throughout the whole of Wales. Many of the decisions taken by Government cut across individual ministerial portfolios, and the report reflects the particular attention we've given to the responsibilities relating to the whole Government over the past 12 months. And that effort, Dirprwy Lywydd, goes beyond Government, because we make the most sustainable progress when Government and public services work together, by collaborating and including people who understand problems on the ground, and integrating services in order to provide the most benefits possible to our people.

I'd like to look first of all this afternoon at those overarching issues. In terms of the early years, we continue to shape and improve the lives of all children in Wales. Over 36,000 children are now using the Flying Start programme, which focuses on early intervention and prevention, working with whole families in order to prevent problems from getting worse, and bringing services together in order to improve the opportunities available for children.

There is a responsibility on the whole of Government to ensure that more affordable homes of high quality are available. We are still on track to provide 20,000 affordable homes during this term, and councils are building homes once again. As we have heard in the previous statement, some people do need intensive assistance to break the cycle of homelessness and rough-sleeping, and there are seven new projects in the Housing First programme that are identified in this annual report. They do exactly that: they break that cycle and offer a safer future to those people who have a history of regular rough-sleeping.

Reducing the impacts of poverty is a priority for all Ministers, as is clear in this year’s draft budget. We have increased our pupil development grant to £5 million, we have extended our support for period dignity by providing free sanitary products for all schools in Wales, and we have enhanced access to free school meals in order to reduce the impacts of universal credit.

Fair work that is rewarding is still the best way of coming out of poverty, and it is crucial for any prosperous nation. The apprenticeships provide a route to qualification and provide a means for everyone to enhance their skills. We are on track to deliver our commitment for 100,000 apprenticeships of all ages.

This Chamber has argued for some time that identifying and dealing with mental health issues is more than just a health matter. In 2019 and 2020, we increased the mental health budget to £679 million, and we are taking mental health way beyond simply health services—in the workplace, through our whole-school approach, and in talking strategies.

In social care, we increased the funding that can be retained before people have to pay for residential care to £50,000, which is the highest level in the UK. We did that two years earlier than the original proposal.

Wales is leading the world in recycling rates, but we need to do more by moving towards a more circular economy and contributing as much as we can to decarbonisation. Already, half of our electricity comes from renewable sources, and we are establishing a marine energy sector that is world leading. Our activity in promoting sustainable means of land management contributes towards biodiversity in our nation, and to safeguarding the excellent environmental assets that we are fortunate to hold.

And, finally, in terms of these all-Government priorities, we are drawing everything that we do together in order to restore biodiversity the length and breadth of Wales, by promoting sustainable farming, of course, but doing all of those little things too, along roadsides and verges, in creating schools and colleges for the twenty-first century and in using health service land to restore species.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

Llywydd, all those essential areas are reflected in our budget and in the radical legislative programme, which continues to create real and far-reaching changes in the lives of the people of Wales. Over the period of this report, we have legislated for a minimum unit price for alcohol to tackle the health risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption, a major cause of death and illness in Wales. We have implemented the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Act 2018 to safeguard our stock of affordable social housing. We have passed the Children (Abolition of Defence of Reasonable Punishment) (Wales) Bill, bringing to an end the physical punishment of children in Wales and completing a journey that has lasted for almost the whole of the devolution period; and the Government supported the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 onto the statute book.

And we've put in the work over the last 12 months to prepare for the year ahead, making buses run for people, not profit; introducing our curriculum Bill this year, to ensure that what is taught in our schools is as outstanding as the buildings created by the twenty-first century schools programme; taking forward the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill to widen the franchise in Wales, to strengthen the powers and responsibilities of local government in the vital work they do in communities right across Wales. Only yesterday, Llywydd, we introduced the Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Bill, which aims to provide greater security for people who rent their homes in Wales, particularly those who live in the private rented sector, adding to the repertoire of legislation that this Senedd has passed in the housing field over the last decade.

All of this has been done, Llywydd, in the context of Brexit, which has meant that our legislative programme included an unprecedented volume of legislation, including more than 150 statutory instruments needed to correct the statute book against the possibility that the UK would have left the European Union by 29 March 2019. Could I just, for a moment, pay tribute to all those members, both of your staff, of those who have worked within the Welsh Government, and to Members on the floor of this Assembly as well, for everything that was done during the last 12 months to put that statute book into that good functioning order? 

Finally, Llywydd, this annual report is a record of promises made and promises kept. We promised a more prosperous Wales and the unemployment in Wales fell to 3 per cent in the three months to November 2019—the lowest rate since records began. We are making sure that all of this work is fair and rewarding, and we are committed to putting our social partnership approach onto the statute book in the year ahead. We promised a fairer Wales, and our new treatment fund is helping people access the medicines they need—228 new medicines in this Senedd term being made available faster and everywhere across Wales. We've rolled out our childcare offer a year earlier than planned, providing 30 hours a week of free early education and childcare—the equivalent of £135 every week in parents' pockets. And finally, we've promised a greener Wales. As the first country in the United Kingdom to declare a climate emergency, we have published our low-carbon delivery plan, 100 policies and proposals for reducing our carbon emissions, we have planted more than 10 million trees since 2014, and our national forest will build on this further and act as a symbol of national pride.

For all of these reasons, Llywydd, I recommend the annual report to the floor of the Senedd and look forward to the debate on it this afternoon.

I have selected the two amendments to the motion, and I call on Adam Price to move the two amendments tabled in the name of Siân Gwenllian. Adam Price.

Amendment 1—Siân Gwenllian

Add as new point at end of motion:

Calls on the Welsh Government to provide clarity on the extent to which the pledges contained in the First Minister’s manifesto for Welsh Labour leader now form an official part of the government’s national strategy, Prosperity for All.

Amendment 2—Siân Gwenllian

Add as new point at end of motion:

Calls for a clear and streamlined set of indicators by which the Welsh Government can be held to account.

Amendments 1 and 2 moved.

Thank you, Llywydd. It would be churlish not to recognise the successes of the Government, which are set out in the annual report, and, of course, where there is room for agreement for the benefit of the people of Wales, even as opposition parties, it’s important to do that. That’s why we as a party gave our support last summer to some of the measures in the legislative statement. But we must be careful not to let the commendable blind us to the flaws and the need for transformational change. And, for us, that is the most obvious weakness in the Government’s strategy.

The amendments focus on two main issues: the relationship between the manifesto commitments in the personal manifesto of the First Minister and the programme for government, and, secondly, the need for a limited number of indicators in order to have transparency and the ability to hold the Government to account effectively, not just in terms of the opposition parties, but also in terms of citizens.

The document does represent the first opportunity for us to see clearly where the First Minister’s priorities lie and that is to be welcomed in terms of the clarity that it provides. But I think that this question in terms of the relationship between the commitments that the First Minister had set out during his campaign for the leadership of the Labour Party and the programme for government is one that needs to be clarified more by him. It’s a small thing, perhaps, but in terms of the language that’s used—that is, the document talks of a manifesto commitment of the leadership of the First Minister of Wales, but it was a manifesto for the Labour leadership. That’s what it was.

Now, shortly after the Labour leadership contest was over, a copy of the First Minister's manifesto proved more elusive than the Llandeilo bypass, but thankfully there are copies available, I believe, in the Senedd library. But there are some important outstanding questions that I think need answering on the relationship between that document and the programme for government. The central one is: have all the commitments in that manifesto now been incorporated into the Government's programme, or are there exceptions? Have some been incorporated and others left out? I think that's absolutely essential in terms of how we hold the First Minister to account on the promises, as he referred, that have been made. For example, in relation to the community bank there is a column, isn't there, in the annual report that refers to—? I think the First Minister's manifesto has just arrived, actually. [Laughter.] There we are; a moment of drama. It is still available, from all good bookshops, I'm sure. I read it regularly.

There's a reference I believe—and the First Minister can correct me if I'm wrong—to establishing a community bank in this Assembly term. The annual report now on the programme for government, I believe, talks of discussion with stakeholders with no firm commitment on a timetable for delivery. There is a reference to a new data unit working in partnership with Welsh universities and the public services to use data analysis to improve performance. I think we can all put that in the column of good things, but in the manifesto, the language seems harder in terms of the promise than the language that is now in the programme for government, which talks about it being at the business case stage. There was a commitment to develop a clean air Act. Well, that's certainly been delayed, hasn't it? So, I think we need to know what is the status of all the promises that were made in the First Minister's manifesto? Have they all now been adopted as Government policy? 

Finally, in terms of the second amendment, it is a confusing picture because we had 'Taking Wales Forward' as the initial programme for government. Then we had, a year later, 'Prosperity for All'. We now have an amended programme for government that incorporated some, at least, of the First Minister's personal promises. We have seven well-being objectives, 12 well-being aims, 46 national indicators, more than 150 different measures in this document in terms of the annual report. A lot of reporting, but not enough accountability, because openness is one thing but transparency and an ability to have true accountability I think requires a streamlining here. There are even key performance indicators being developed by the civil service of the Welsh Government separately. And as the auditor general has said himself, you need to align budgets' activity with indicators and outcome measures. At the moment, I think it's difficult for anyone to have a real grasp of whether the Welsh Government is making a difference. 

I'm pleased to take part in this afternoon's debate. Now, the 'Welsh Government Annual Report 2019' gives us a focus towards creating a more prosperous, equal and greener Wales, and whilst there has been some progress on each of these fronts, we on this side of the Chamber hold deep reservations that outcomes against some of the Welsh Government's actions show that Wales is far from where we should be. As the First Minister said earlier, whilst Wales was the first country in the UK to declare a climate change emergency, there's still a great deal of work that needs to be done in this area. 

This view was, indeed, echoed by the Assembly's Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee, who recently said that whilst the Minister told the committee that the 2020-21 budget would provide an opportunity for the Welsh Government to back its declaration of a climate emergency with action and associated funding, the reality couldn't be further from the truth. Indeed, the committee said, and I quote:

'On this basis, we expected a transformative and radical budget. We have not seen evidence of this. We are disappointed to conclude that this draft budget constitutes "business as usual".'

Similarly, the Welsh Government are keen to highlight its transport achievements in the annual report, and whilst the Government may feel that the continuing upgrade to the A465 Heads of the Valleys road is something to celebrate, it simply isn't the case. It's an undeniable fact that an eye-watering amount of money has been spent on that piece of road and continues to be spent on this road, and the Welsh Government has still yet to justify the value for money to the taxpayer, as well as handle the frustrating impact that the delays have had on local residents.

Now, the annual report also highlights the importance of high-quality, accessible health and social care services, and yet you only have to look at the current state of services being delivered in north Wales via a health board that's been under the Welsh Government's direct control for nearly five years to see that things are far from perfect. Just 66.8 per cent of patients are being seen within the critical four-hour period. There are serious failings in the delivery of mental health services, and the health board is set to post a deficit of £35 million in this financial year. And yet there's nothing in this document that recognises those challenges and explains what the Welsh Government is going to do about them.

Now, the Welsh Government make it clear that mental health remains a key priority by highlighting the fact that perinatal mental health teams have been established at each health board. However, as Members will be aware, the only in-patient mental health support available to mothers in Wales is in England, and so without a mother and baby unit here, women in Wales with acute mental health issues are either being admitted to psychiatric facilities without their child, or being sent to units that are miles and miles away. The Chair of the Assembly's Children, Young People and Education Committee has rightly said that the situation needs to change urgently, and so it's unfair for the Welsh Government to say that it's prioritising mental health support when actions that's desperately needed isn't taking place.

Llywydd, there are of course some achievements that have been delivered this year. For example, I'm pleased to read that the employment rate of disabled people in Wales increased to 49.2 per cent in the year ending September 2019, and that over the same period the gap between the employment rate of disabled people and non-disabled people in Wales narrowed by more than two percentage points, and that is good news.

The Welsh Government is also right to highlight that from April 2019 Welsh rates of income tax were introduced, giving us a say over a proportion of income tax to be paid in Wales. However, there seems to be absolutely nothing in the taxation section of the document of the Welsh Government's plans to increase its tax-raising powers further—nothing about the plans for a vacant land tax, the social care tax, or a local tourism tax. Of course, we on this side of the Chamber fundamentally disagree with the Welsh Government's approach to taxation, and we remain committed to delivering a low tax economy for Wales.

Llywydd, if I could now turn to the Welsh Government's legislative programme, we on this side of the Chamber will do all that we can to constructively work with the Welsh Government to ensure that any legislation passed is as effective as possible, and delivers value for money. This Assembly in particular, however, has highlighted the Welsh Government's refusal to do more to support legislative campaigns from other parties, and it won't surprise Members that I very much regret that my autism Bill was not taken forward. Similarly, I've also called, for several years now, for legislation to come forward to protect Wales's war memorials, and, despite warm words from several Ministers, very little has actually been done. However, I do accept that there is some important legislation taking place over the next 12 months. For example, the wild animals and circuses Bill is working its way through the Assembly, which will be a much needed and important step forward for Wales's animal welfare agenda.

Therefore, in closing, Llywydd, whilst the intention to create a more prosperous, equal and greener Wales may be admirable, the Welsh Government still has a long way to go, and my colleagues and I will continue to constructively engage with the Government, where we can, to see Wales flourish for the future. Thank you.

First Minister, one of the matters that you refer to in the report is the vibrant and resilient communities. And I would like to congratulate Welsh Government in respect of the transformation Welsh Government policies have had, working in partnership with Rhondda Cynon Taf council, in respect of Pontypridd. It is a town that has a buzz to it now as a result of funding from Welsh Government that enabled the council, for example, to then purchase the freehold. You look at the town now and you see the development of the Taff precinct that is taking place. That is a town that is transforming itself, increasing prosperity. And when you look also at what is happening in terms of Transport for Wales there, within that, the investment there that is taking place, it is absolutely phenomenal—jobs being created, the station being modernised, leisure, the whole ethos of the town, and that is a result, actually, of that partnership that has taken place. And I very much welcome that, and see that as potentially a model. And the movement of Transport for Wales to not go into Cardiff, but to base itself out towards the Valleys, has been absolutely fundamental in that shift. And, hopefully, the benefit of that will be not only for the Pontypridd area, but more broadly as well. 

Can I also say that when you take that in conjunction with the way in which the partnership over twenty-first century schools, the education facilities—? I was talking with the leader of the council only the other day, and he was telling us that, over the 10-year period, they were able to use the way in which Welsh Government has funded—used the borrowing capacity of the council, and assisted with the funding of that—. They will have invested £0.75 billion in new schools, transforming the educational framework and structure for our children in a way that, in England, counties can only look over the border at with jealousy. 

But can I say the one area that really excites me within there is the reference to the social partnership Act? Because we have the highest levels of employment we have had for a long, long time—for generations. But we also have the highest levels of in-work poverty, and, of course, we have the consequences of broader economic policies. Wales Trades Union Congress report that, from 2018 to 2019, the number of zero-hours contracts jumped by 35 per cent in one year, from 37,000 to 50,000—important because it means that people in those zero-hours contracts have no security. They can't hold down mortgages; they can't plan for their future. They are one of the most cruel developments that have taken place over the years. And if we look also then at the Office for National Statistics, 23 per cent of our people are in work, but in in-work poverty, where work is no longer the route out of poverty. And if we also then look at the bogus self-employment, which is really a method for employers for tax abuse and a way of avoiding job protections and job security for workers. The fact that we have such high levels of employment is obviously very, very good, but we now have to address the ethical standards and the social standards of employment.

So, a social partnership Act, which has been called for by the Wales TUC—and I'm very pleased with the commitment, First Minister, the Welsh Government has given to that—has the opportunity to transform the status of employment by using our £6 billion of procurement to go to companies who will actually, instead of competing on a downward spiral of employment and social standards, start looking at competing actually in the quality of the standards, offering decent pay, collective bargaining, recognition of trade unions, and all the environment, health and safety and social aspects that we would expect from a twenty-first century society and a twenty-first century employer, and, to go with that, the need to obviously monitor and to enforce and to build on the codes that have already been developed by Welsh Government. I wonder, First Minister, if you could perhaps outline a little bit more about the plans for that, the potential timetable for when we might actually start seeing the draft Bill. I know there's been a consultation, but this I see as one of the most groundbreaking and exciting pieces of legislation, which Wales can lead on in the rest of the UK.

I'll keep my comments brief, as I really just wanted to speak primarily with my public accounts Chair hat on, and specifically, looking through the amendments, Plaid Cymru's amendment 2 calls for

'a clear and streamlined set of indicators by which the Welsh Government can be held to account', a good amendment, certainly pointing things in the right direction. This is pretty much the thrust of the Public Accounts Committee's work on our scrutiny of accounts earlier this year and last year. I know Adam Price was a member of the committee during that time, so will remember the points that came forward in evidence. The report on those accounts isn't out yet—I think it's going to be out just before Easter—so that's something for us to return to at a future point, and to take the information that we had from witnesses to the Public Accounts Committee and the amendment that Plaid Cymru have brought forward today and see if we can find some consensual way forward there that really does deliver a more effective scrutiny of accounts in the future. I think that would be in the interest of all parties in this Chamber.

Beyond that, as for some of the other comments that the First Minister made at the start, certain elements—as I'm sure you'll be aware, First Minister—we will agree with on these benches, other elements we will not agree with. I'd certainly welcome the continuing emphasis on mental health, and you made some very valid comments regarding the need to dismiss some of the stigma surrounding this area. I think a lot of work has been done in this area over recent years. I know a number of Assembly Members have spoken with passion about their experiences of mental health over the last few years, and I think that progress has been made. But I certainly take on board your comments that we need to go further, and mental health issues do need to be seen really on a par with physical health.

Finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, the First Minister didn't—. I mentioned this to the—. It was in one of the speeches last week. I think it was possibly in the budget speech, actually—the budget debate last week—and I was looking at the clock, and I think you mentioned the climate emergency some 10 minutes into your speech, First Minister, so it was there, and you mentioned the greening of the budget as well. I do have concerns that, whilst we talk about the green budget—which is certainly to be welcomed, and I think will be in the interests of all of us here and of future generations for Wales—I do feel that it is still not being mainstreamed in the way that it should be, and that for a green budget to really work effectively, then from that early point in the budget-setting process and the scrutinising process, that green budget needs to be centre stage. And, yes, you're right to say that the climate emergency really does need some very drastic action. So, I hope that, in future, with future budgets, we can see those green elements looked at in far more detail far earlier on. You've got a fantastic policy of planting—I think it was 1 million trees. I know that there's tree planting going on here in Wales. I know that there's support for tree planting in Africa as well. I think that that's a great policy. But that alone is not enough. We need to see, yes, the improvement of our natural environment, but we also need to see all portfolios within the Government really embracing that climate change and that green agenda, to make sure that future generations of Wales really can receive from us a planet that is in a state that they and their children can live on and benefit from in the future.

It is right to outline the context of 10 years of funding cuts up to this point from Westminster, but I welcome strongly today's annual report, and I'd like to focus my contribution predominantly on two areas—education and early years, and the economy.

Last Friday, I was holding my constituency surgery in Markham institute, a building we shared with the thriving Markham playgroup. And I was chatting to the staff member at the playgroup, and it was really lovely and fantastic to hear first hand about the real, positive impact the Welsh Government's childcare offer has been having over the last year—not just educationally for the children, but for the families, the workplace and obviously employment, and, ultimately, productivity for Wales. This policy helps to give children a positive start in life. It is widely appreciated. It helps parents by supporting them, getting them back to work, and I believe that has been absolutely transformational for many. And I'm delighted that over 50 per cent of those eligible are now taking up the offer, which has been made available across all local authorities in Wales since April 2019. And Caerphilly County Borough Council has been at the forefront of administering this initiative. As fantastic as this has been, and has been taken up locally, I would also welcome greatly further steps from the Welsh Government to increase the numbers of families making use of this offer pan-Wales.

I'm also proud that 20,000 learners have benefited from education maintenance allowance in Wales—unlike in England—and 36,000 children have been supported by Flying Start in 2019. These are transformational policies to those participating, and all while the Tory Government in Westminster has cut back and ended support on many of these projects, including Sure Start. Here in Wales, we have worked to protect and nurture these schemes, as they most support those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and that is because we believe in doing so.

With regard to the economy, one of the major promises Welsh Labour made ahead of the 2016 election was a promise to deliver 100,000 new apprenticeships. I am delighted that we are on course to deliver this pledge by 2021. We must ensure that our apprenticeships are constantly developing, though, to respond to the needs of the Welsh economy, and remain all-age apprenticeships. So, First Minister, I would like to ask how, in the years ahead, the Welsh Government will continue to adapt these high-quality, all-age apprenticeships to ensure that they are responding to the needs of our economy.

Finally, I welcome the figures that employment rates remain high, whilst unemployment is at a record low. This is very welcome news, and demonstrates the success of the Welsh Government in supporting our economy. But, as Mick Antoniw has mentioned, with the denial and roll-back of working tax credits and child benefits and overall welfare cuts, in-work poverty is real. So, after 10 years of UK non-infrastructural funding, at a loss of £1 billion in rail alone, our railway services now, over the coming years, are at the start of a transformational journey by the brand-new, shiny Transport for Wales. Improvements to our rail links are critical and vital to supporting our economy, and will be a particular boost to the Valleys constituencies like mine, with future services to Newport. The Valleys lines were built to transport the coal from our Valleys, which produced so much of our nation's wealth. In ensuring there is prosperity for all, we must ensure that our Valleys communities remain at the centre of our Welsh economic priorities. And I know this radical and transformational Labour Government will deliver what it promises.

I think it's very important to reflect on what has been done, and also some of the challenges ahead. One of the key priorities of the Government is decarbonisation, and rightly so, given that we were the first Government to declare a climate emergency. However, we have to recognise—and we all do recognise, I'm sure—that we have a lot more work to do on eradicating fuel poverty, which is a key challenge for us, to ensure that everybody is living in a warm home, not just in terms of the social justice that that generates, but also as a way of reducing the amount of energy that we need to use. I think it's a really major achievement that we've managed to move from 19 per cent of our energy being generated from renewables back in 2014 to 50 per cent renewables four years later, and hopefully even more in the most recent period. I don't think there's any reason why we can't move to being 100 per cent renewable in the future, simply because we are blessed with generous supplies of wind and tidal energy, as well as solar and ground source and air source heat pumps. Through our innovative homes programme, we've been able to demonstrate that we in Wales have the skills to build the sort of homes that are needed for the future. That means there'll be less energy required to heat our homes and more, then, available in the way of renewable energy to substitute for fossil fuels in the way we move around, in our cars and buses. But we also have the opportunity to move to hydrogen from renewables, as long as we keep going with the progress that we're already making on moving towards full, 100 per cent renewable energy provision. 

We are very proud of our record of being the third or fourth best recycler in the world, but the circular economy demonstrates that we can move even further. It is unacceptable that one third of all food is thrown away, particularly in the context of too many children not getting the nourishing meals they need to grow into healthy adults. We need to ensure that the food that we are serving up in the public sector with public money is, as far as possible, locally produced and helping to keep people well. The focus on precision agriculture is one of the ways in which we can do that. If you go to the Cardiff Sunday market, you can buy pea shoots and broccoli shoots sold by a local company, and this is food that is very high in nourishment and therefore very useful for serving up in our hospitals, where patients may not have a great appetite. We need to ensure that what they do eat is helping to make them better. The £4.5 million dedicated to the foundational economy challenge fund is helping to stimulate those local jobs with these new ways of doing things. 

Amendment 1 calls for clarity on the relationship between the First Minister's pledges when he was campaigning to be the Welsh leader and how well they've been embraced into the Government's programme. One of them is on the need for a national forest. One million trees is a really important contribution to decarbonisation, and when scrutinising the climate change, environment and rural affairs budget, it was clear that the national forest is an integral part of that budget and provides lots of exciting opportunities to ensure that there are proper green belts between, for example, Cardiff and Caerphilly and Cardiff and Newport, to prevent it simply becoming one huge urban sprawl. A national forest between these three cities will ensure that that is forever. 

I think that one of the massive achievements of this Government has been the new curriculum. The Welsh Government has had the courage of its convictions in facing down some of the vested interests with out-of-date concepts to ensure that we are going to ensure that every child is going to have relationship and sexuality education, to ensure that they understand how their body works and what are appropriate relationships. I think that the small amount of money we've put into period dignity has ensured that every child is able to attend school, not just those who can afford to buy these products. 

I could go on, but I've run out of time, but I think it's very important to understand what our achievements are but that we need to continue to be radical in our approach because of the climate change context that we're operating in. 

I call on the First Minister to reply to the debate—Mark Drakeford. 

Thank you, Llywydd. May I just say thank you to everyone who has contributed to this debate in such a constructive manner?

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. 

You refer to the climate change emergency. Of course, one of the things that's been pointed out about your Government's actions to date on this is the fact that you're giving significant subsidies, effectively, to Cardiff Airport via loans and keeping that place afloat, but of course, air transport is the most polluting form of transport. So, how does that match up with your Government's actions?

It matches up with our ambitions just as his Government's expansion of Heathrow matches the Prime Minister's claims to be serious about climate change as well. The UK Committee on Climate Change is clear: they don't think that air travel is going to end as part of the climate emergency. As I explained in answering questions earlier this afternoon, our ambitions for Cardiff Airport are to attract flights to Cardiff that currently take place elsewhere and cut down on the carbon impact of people having to travel outside Wales to catch flights that could be provided by our national airport here in Wales. 

I'm very close to ending, Llywydd, thank you. I wanted to make a particular reference to Paul Davies's question about perinatal in-patient mental health and to let him know that the additional capital that the health Minister announced recently will lead to an in-patient unit in Tonna Hospital that will be co-located with the community perinatal mental health service to which he referred. That promise will be delivered by this Government. 

Indeed, Paul Davies said that the ambitions of this Government for a prosperous, more equal and greener Wales were admirable; Llywydd, on that, I agree with Paul. I hope you all will as well and vote for the motion this afternoon. 

The proposal is to agree amendment 1. Does any Member object? Amendment 1 is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Amendment agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

The proposal is that amendment 2 be agreed. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I will therefore defer voting until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.