I'm pleased to speak in this debate in my capacity as Chair of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee. I do believe that the commission's 'Impact Report' lists a wide range of activities across almost all areas of devolved responsibility, and so is very much a matter for important and significant debate here. Of course, the commission acts as an important source of expertise, both for the Assembly and, indeed, for the Government.

One of the big achievements of this reporting period was the publication of 'Is Wales Fairer?' in 2018, and I do believe that's a comprehensive and, indeed, illuminating report, setting out both the challenges we face in making Wales more equal and fair, and also in terms of the set of 42 broad recommendations that could help deliver real and lasting change if implemented.

In fact, much of those recommendations chime with our committee's findings, and in particular I would like to highlight those relating to protecting equality and human rights post Brexit: improving data collection on homelessness; encouraging more employers in Wales, including the Welsh Government, to offer flexible working from day one; addressing pregnancy and maternity discrimination; improving the public sector equality duties; ensuring full implementation of the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015; and minimisation of barriers to ensure that the broadest range of people take part in Welsh political life.

We are currently, as a committee, following up these issues in our current scrutiny work—or we will be looking to do so during the final months of the Assembly. And I would, Dirprwy Lywydd, like to ask the Deputy Minister if she can outline whether recommendation 25, which calls for the Welsh Government to set achievable and binding targets for poverty reduction and to report on progress annually, will be implemented; and, if so, when these targets will be set.

Moving on to other areas of the commission's work over the reporting period, our committee has benefited from their expertise in our work, in particular: when they gave evidence to our inquiry into parenting, employment and maternity in July 2018; and as part of our joint work alongside the Finance and Children, Young People and Education Committees in November 2018, when we looked at the effectiveness of Welsh Government budget impact assessments; and their work on the cumulative impact of tax and welfare reforms on public spending, which was very much informative in terms of our consideration of the possible devolution of those benefits.

In addition to that, our committee has been directly influenced by the 'Impact Report' and its indications in terms of the breadth of the commission's work. That, of course—in terms of our understanding and appreciation of their work—very much includes the way that they've supported individual legal cases on important issues, such as access to education and adapting homes in the rental sector. And, of course, their report is also important in terms of highlighting their goals for 2019 to 2022, all of which we can agree are important and commendable objectives: ensuring that people's life chances aren't held back by barriers in their way; making sure we have strong foundations on which to build a more equal and rights-respecting society; and to protect the rights of people in the most vulnerable situations.

So, given all of that very important and significant work, Dirprwy Lywydd, I look forward to seeing how these goals are met through the commission's work in the coming year. And, in closing, I would like to commend the 'Impact Report' to the Assembly and that very important work that the commission continues to do.