The next item is the statement by the First Minister on coronavirus and I call on the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, to make his statement.

In this statement, I will provide information to Members about the steps that we have taken in response to the coronavirus crisis since the Senedd last met.

In one week, the Welsh Government has put in place a number of measures to prevent people from gathering together, thereby slowing the spread of the virus. Simultaneously, we have been working hard across Government to help people and businesses in facing fundamental changes that are affecting all parts of our society. We are doing everything possible to support our health service and all public services supporting people. These changes are difficult, but they are essential. They will save lives.

Llywydd, the spread of coronavirus in Wales continues to accelerate. The last week has seen a significant increase in the number of people requiring hospital treatment and a further increase in the number of deaths associated with the disease. Yet it is an inescapable fact that we still stand at the foothills of the mountain that faces us. The measures put in place over the past two weeks will slow the pace of the virus, but that effect will not be felt immediately. The number of people who will be affected and the number of deaths will grow further. The key thing remains that everything we do together to slow down and then reverse that trend will save lives. Today I will focus on those matters not covered in the statements to be made by my colleagues Vaughan Gething and Ken Skates.

Llywydd, in Wales, the Cabinet COVID group meets each Wednesday morning. It receives reports of the latest developments from the chief medical officer, the chief executive of NHS Wales, the emergency co-ordinating centre and the Welsh Local Government Association. In recognition of the uniquely serious position we face, I have invited the leaders of the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru to join that group. I'm very grateful to both Paul Davies and Adam Price for accepting that invitation. 

Cross-administration working has, this week, also resulted in a formal agreement through the military assistance to civilian authorities mechanism for logistic planning support to be provided in Wales. As a result, armed forces assistance is now available to our emergency co-ordinating centre and to public services in their efforts to combat the disease. I'm very grateful for the speed and scale of assistance from the military that is now being afforded.

Llywydd, when we last met, the Senedd provided legislative consent to the emergency Coronavirus Bill. It has since completed its passage through the Houses of Parliament and received Royal Assent on 25 March. We drew attention in our legislative consent memorandum to amendments that we anticipated would be laid. I can confirm that these amendments were included in the final Bill. 

On Sunday last, on the advice of the chief medical officer that coronavirus represents a serious and imminent threat to public health in Wales, I made a formal declaration to that effect in order to trigger powers under Schedule 22 of the Coronavirus Act. Those powers allow directions to be issued to restrict events, gatherings and the location of people and the use of powers to close premises or limit access by directions. The making of a direction does not require the use of its powers, but it ensures that, if the need arises to do so, we will already have taken the preliminary steps required to enable that to take place. I have made the declaration on that precautionary basis. 

Llywydd, the powers of the Act allow normal decision-making systems to be adapted to meet the current circumstances. On Friday of last week, I approved the practice direction, since issued jointly by the president of Welsh Tribunals and the president of the Mental Health Review Tribunal for Wales. A practice direction allows that tribunal to continue its work even when it is not possible to hold face-to-face hearings or where there is a shortage of available members. Over the past week, regulations have been passed in Wales to give legal force to decisions made to close holiday and camping sites, public rights of way and access to land. We have also given full effect to the full measures announced on Monday, 23 March.

Across the Welsh Government, my colleagues continue to take the decisions and to provide the advice necessary to assist our fellow citizens at this most difficult of times. On 26 March, Eluned Morgan wrote to all Members outlining the actions taken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to assist UK nationals still abroad. We continue to highlight the cases of Welsh citizens in such challenging circumstances.

On Friday of last week, Julie Morgan issued new guidance to those providing Families First and Flying Start services during the pandemic. Even in the circumstances we face, our aim remains to support those at greatest risk and vulnerability through whatever safe means can be deployed. Also on Friday, Jane Hutt announced new funding to support volunteers and third sector groups. That includes £24 million for Wales's voluntary sector and £50 million for a direct delivery food scheme in Wales for Wales's most vulnerable people. COVID-19 volunteer numbers have passed 30,000 in Wales and I'm immensely grateful to the Wales Council for Voluntary Action and the county voluntary councils for everything they are doing in their partnership with our local authorities to match together the huge upswell of volunteers with the tasks that need to be carried out.

In relation to education, since the decision to close schools and cancel this summer's examinations, we have worked quickly to provide information students may need. Last week, Kirsty Williams announced that year 10 and 12 students, who were due to sit examinations this summer, will not be required to sit those examinations at a later date and that their full qualifications will be provided in 2021. Over 800 schools across Wales have remained open to support our most vulnerable learners and the children of critical workers. I thank school staff for the work they have done so far and for the fact that the majority of these schools will remain open over the Easter holidays. 

Llywydd, the demands being made of our public services, businesses and Welsh citizens are enormous. The common task on which we are all engaged, however, is to save lives. We publish figures every day now of deaths from coronavirus in Wales, but each one of those figures is somebody's son or daughter, somebody's parent or grandparent. It is to reduce that loss and that suffering that we are all asked to do what we do, and the Welsh Government remains fully and single-mindedly focused on that task.

[Inaudible.]—join the COVID-19 core group this morning. As I said in accepting the invitation, I'm of course happy to take part in these discussions but, as I'm sure you'll understand, should they interfere with the scrutiny of the Government's work then I'll have to reconsider my role in attending them. 

Now, last week, I asked you about the Welsh Government's efforts to reprioritise its finances and publish an emergency budget demonstrating what financial changes had been made in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. You did indicate that the Welsh Government would be publishing a supplementary budget and that Ministers are undertaking an analysis of their portfolios to ascertain where spending could be diverted to the coronavirus response. 

Now, the Welsh Government's £1.1 billion announcement earlier this week only consists of 25 per cent of its own money, as the rest is from European funding and the UK Treasury, and so, in order to convince the people of Wales that the Welsh Government is genuinely reprioritising its finance in response to this outbreak, we need to see something more than just 'business as usual'. 

As I've also said before, it's also crucial that, where it can, the Welsh Government redistributes its funding to third sector organisations so that those responding to the outbreak are actually at the front of the queue when it comes to receiving Government funding. Therefore, First Minister, can you tell us when the Welsh Government will be coming forward with the supplementary budget? 

Can I just check that Paul Davies hasn't completed his questioning?

Sorry. Can you hear me now? 

Yes, I can. 

Ah, right. Right. So, as I was saying, First Minister, can you therefore tell us when you'll be bringing forward this supplementary budget? Have Ministers undertaken those financial reviews of their portfolios to ascertain where funding could be better prioritised? And, in relation to third sector grant funding, can you confirm that the current allocations of funding, which you referred to in your statement this afternoon, are actually being prioritised to reflect the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, so that those schemes that are delivering vital support and services are actually receiving the appropriate resources to carry out their work? 

I thank Paul Davies for those questions and thank him for joining the coronavirus Cabinet group this morning. My hope is that by having the most recent information available that will assist in the scrutiny of the Government's actions, and I'm very happy to remain in dialogue with the leader of the opposition about how that forum can operate in the way both he and I would like it to continue. 

He is right to say that the Welsh Government has embarked all last week on a series of reviews of existing budgets. I don't myself think it is fair to describe £1.1 billion freed up from other commitments as 'business as usual'. It has involved difficult decisions right across the Government, and that is an exercise that I have warned my Cabinet colleagues we will have to repeat a number of times during the coronavirus crisis.

Last week, we focused on revenue in order to release as much revenue as we could for coronavirus purposes. We will carry out a parallel exercise in relation to capital expenditure across the Welsh Government. Again, the aim being to release capital from programmes that can now not go ahead in the way originally planned, and to be able to reapply that resource to meet the challenges that we face.

The Minister for Finance and Trefnydd intends to complete these first rounds of discussions over the next couple of weeks, and then we will be able to advise the Business Committee on the timetable that we hope to follow in relation to returning to the Assembly to regularise these matters through a first supplementary budget.

Members will have seen, as I said, that £24 million has already been identified for the voluntary and third sector. That is absolutely in recognition of the part that they are playing, as Paul Davies said, in moving to the forefront of the response being made across Wales to the coronavirus outbreak, both the voluntary effort by releasing people for new duties and by strengthening the response they're able to make at community level, and we intend to go on supporting that sector in that work.

First Minister, alongside reprioritising the Government's finances, it's absolutely critical that the Government urgently addresses how it best supports and protects the most vulnerable in Wales from the threat of coronavirus. I know your statement refers to support for vulnerable people, and I'm pleased that some progress is being made, but can you tell us what work the Welsh Government has done to allow people to register themselves for additional support in Wales, and how that scheme is being promoted, so that anyone who feels that they need additional support can notify the proper authorities?

Now, there are also concerns that the coronavirus outbreak may lead to a domestic abuse pandemic according to the founder of the Stand up to Domestic Abuse organisation. I understand that the Welsh Government is looking at this, but could you tell us a bit more about the messaging and public campaigning the Welsh Government is considering to highlight the support available to those living with domestic abuse during this period, and what lessons have been learnt by the way other countries across the world are tackling domestic abuse at this time?

Two weeks ago, I asked you about the steps the Welsh Government is taking to ensure that those people who are now self-isolating are able to get the essential items that they need on a regular basis, and you said that Government Ministers were working closely with local authority colleagues and colleagues in the third sector. It’s also vital that more is done to encourage volunteers to come forward and help support the NHS and other bodies to carry out their work, as well as playing an important role in terms of delivering vital supplies in the community. As I understand it, the number of volunteers per head of the population is lower than that in England, and whilst there has been some confusion, it's more important than ever that efforts are made to increase the numbers here in Wales.

Therefore, can you tell us what urgent discussion the Welsh Government has had with local authorities across Wales to ascertain the number of people who are at risk of not getting the essential supplies that they actually need? And what further measures is the Welsh Government taking to help increase the number of volunteers across Wales to ensure that they can help both to support the NHS and help the delivery of essential supplies to those who actually need them?

Again, I thank Paul Davies for those. On domestic violence, he is right, of course, that the sobering evidence from other places that have been in the coronavirus crisis earlier then us is that, when people are confined to their own homes, home is not a place of safety for everybody and, for some people, it is a place where real risks are posed to them. My colleague Jane Hutt has published new advice and guidance today to the sector demonstrating how we can improve the responsiveness of services that are already there, and to try to tailor them to the circumstances people now face.

I know that our colleagues in the police service are particularly alert to all of this. I was discussing this with a chief constable earlier this morning about the measures they are putting in place to try and make sure that, where crimes are committed—and an act of violence in the home is a crime—the police will treat it in exactly that way and respond in the way that we would expect.

It is a challenge, as Members will recognise, when people are confined to their homes, for good reasons of coronavirus, some of the ways in which they can alert others to things that are happening in their lives are longer available to them, and we are looking to see what has happened elsewhere to see if there any lessons we can learn in continuing to make the services we already have on the ground as effective as they can be in these difficult circumstances.

I wanted to take the question about the vulnerable and the self-isolating together, because it is really important to be clear that there are two different categories of people here. There are the 81,000 people who have been written to by the chief medical officer to say that their health condition is so significant that they should remain at home for 12 to 16 weeks, and that they should not go out at all and that they should be genuinely isolated from others who might otherwise bring harm to them.

Those are the people that we are offering a doorstep delivery of food to, where they don't have any other way in which food can be brought to them. The majority of those people will already have families and friends, and are likely to be users of existing services, and will be able to rely on those networks to assist them. But for those who can't, we've put in place a mechanism where we can take to people's doors—where that is the right thing to do—food that will be able to see them through the weeks ahead. That mechanism doesn't suit everybody. Some people are too vulnerable even to be able to pick up the box of food from their doorstep. In those circumstances, we are arranging through our local authority colleagues for food to be taken from their centres by volunteers out to people who need a service in a different sort of way.

There is of course a much larger group of people who are vulnerable: people aged over 70, women who are pregnant, people with pre-existing conditions, and so on. They are not required to remain at home in the same exclusive way. Many of those are people who will be able to make a visit themselves to the shop to get food supplies, but we are working with supermarkets to see how, in the services that they provide, the home delivery services, we may be able to identify people in that group as well, when we have finished dealing with the safeguarding group, to give them some priority for home delivery services. There are some data challenges in making people's personal information available to supermarkets in that way, but solutions to that are being devised.

As far as volunteers are concerned, of course, we started from a much higher base in Wales. Wales has always had a higher and healthier number of volunteers than other parts of the United Kingdom. We have 30,000 extra people who've come forward in the coronavirus crisis. They're coming through the WCVA, they're coming through the voluntary councils, and then there's a brokerage job to be done to make sure that their offers of help are matched with those who need it. Of course, we are keen for more people to come forward, because as the disease progresses, even people who have volunteered—numbers of those people will themselves find themselves not able to carry out those volunteering duties. So, the best advice to people who want to volunteer in Wales is to go to the WCVA site. It's a very simple process: you can register your willingness to help, and you will be matched in your locality with people who need that help.

May I start by extending my sincere sympathies to those who have lost family members and friends over the past few weeks, and extend my best wishes to those who are ill at the moment, and thank everybody who is caring for us all during this very difficult period? May I also thank you, First Minister, for extending the invitation to me to join the national COVID group that you made reference to in your statement?

If I could start by asking some questions around testing? Can the First Minister confirm that—the company involved in the deal that collapsed recently, Roche—contrary to what that company, at least, is claiming, there was a confirmed written agreement with the Welsh Government to deliver 5,000 tests a day? Is it your understanding that the catalyst for the deal collapsing may have been a similar deal with Public Health England? If that is the case, what confidence do you have in Public Health England—which has achieved, I believe, a lower level of testing so far than Wales, pro rata—in their procuring now on our behalf? Will we still be independently sourcing our own capacity in terms of testing, in addition to anything done on a co-ordinated, four-nation basis? Has the Government, for example, approached the Welsh universities, or have the Welsh universities approached the Government, to see whether their laboratory capacity could be used to increase testing levels in Wales?

On PPE, can you confirm that the emergency helpline that you've created for people with concerns about access to PPE will be made publicly available for individual care workers and nurses and other staff, as it is in England? Local authorities that have concerns about the supply of PPE, I am told, are being advised currently not to procure their own stocks of PPE. Can you confirm, nevertheless, that they are free to do so, should they wish? In the case of care workers going into people's homes, should they not be advised to wear PPE as a matter of course to protect themselves, but also to prevent transmission to the elderly and other vulnerable groups?

Finally, First Minister, on construction, the Scottish Government have issued instructions for all non-essential construction to cease at this time. You have the power to do the same here in Wales, why haven't you? 

May I say, first of all, that I agree with what Adam Price said when he was sympathising with those people who have lost loved ones as a result of coronavirus? We are all, today, thinking about the former Assembly Member Bill Powell and his family too.

Vaughan Gething will deal in more detail with matters to do with the health service, Llywydd, but as far as testing is concerned can I say I think a co-ordinated approach across the four nations of the United Kingdom is a sensible approach here? We don't want to be competing with one another for scarce resources. Adam Price is right to say that we've had a higher level of testing in Wales than across our border in recent times. But, working together with colleagues in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England gives us some resilience in the system. It doesn't preclude us from looking for supplies of our own, but this is very competitive, as Members will understand. Working together is, I think, in the interest of Wales and of our friends and colleagues in other parts of the United Kingdom as well.

As far as PPE is concerned, local authorities can certainly secure supplies of their own if that's what they think they want to do. But, again, they wouldn't want to find themselves competing against one another in a marketplace, because that will certainly drive the market in the direction of the suppliers rather than the people who need it.

I don't think we plan, at the moment, to make that number a public number. The course of action for somebody in the health or social care service who has concerns about PPE is for that to be reported through their organisation and for the organisation to use that number. If the number were to be made available for everybody, then I think the risk is that it would get in the way of getting PPE to the places where it is most needed, rather than the system we have, where people who can perceive blockages at the ground level report that through their organisation, and the organisation then solves the problem by being in contact through the line.

In relation to construction, my understanding is the Scottish Government has issued guidance. It's not an instruction; it is guidance. We were in discussions with the Scottish Government on this yesterday and we'll be in discussions with them again tomorrow. I think the thing that we are wrestling with is to find a way of bearing down on construction sites where practice is not safe, where people are not separated by 2m, while at the same time making sure that we don't get in the way of essential construction work that we need for public purposes: the Grange University Hospital development; the work going on in Carmarthenshire in relation to leisure centre preparation; the work going on in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Conwy to respond to people flooded out of their homes; and to make sure that work is done to prevent flooding later in the year. Finding a legal way of identifying the things we want to continue and the things we don't want to continue has been challenging—we're discussing it with the Scottish Government to find whether we can act together on that matter. 

Whenever something is clouded in secrecy, obviously that makes scrutiny and accountability more difficult and it also erodes, I think, public trust if you don’t get full transparency. So, given that the Government chose to tell us about the deal collapsing with this supplier, can I just ask the First Minister, again, if you're prepared to confirm if the company is Roche, and if it isn't Roche who else it is? And, specifically, can you address this suggestion that I've heard from several sources inside Wales, several sources outside of Wales, that one of the reasons that the deal with the Welsh Government collapsed was because of a parallel deal with Public Health England? Now, either that is true or it isn't true, and it's causing a lot of anxiety and some anger in some places. If it isn't true, dispel that now, First Minister, by saying so, or at least tell us what you know as to why this deal collapsed.

Llywydd, we have a deal; we believed that the deal was one that we had—. I'm sorry, I'm being told that you didn't hear the beginning of that. So, we did have a deal; it was a deal that we had; it was with Roche. We believe that it was a deal that ought to have been honoured. We now have access to a supply of tests from a consortium of suppliers that will give us a considerable uplift in testing here in Wales. Truthfully, what I believe patients are interested in is that testing will be available, that staff can be tested and go back to work, and some of the detail of how that came about is not, I think, uppermost in the minds of people who need that testing. They want to know it’s there and is going to be available, and available in greater numbers, and we can be confident of that.

Thank you for your statement, First Minister, and my condolences also to all those who've lost loved ones to this terrible disease. The news also that a 13-year-old boy with no apparent underlying health issues has become the youngest victim of this disease drives home the very seriousness of this pandemic. We see, on a daily basis, how quickly the situation changes, and, indeed, since your last update to the Siambr the number of people infected globally has doubled. Here in Wales, despite stringent measures, the disease continues to spread widely. I am grateful for the work being done by your Government to keep us all safe, and for providing us and our constituents with regular updates.

So, First Minister, our NHS staff on the front line in the fight against COVID-19 quite rightly deserve our heartfelt thanks, and once we emerge from this crisis, we must explore options to reward them for their selflessness in protecting us and saving lives. However, NHS staff are not the only ones deserving our praise and support. Staff in care homes are also on the front line, and they too are experiencing shortages in PPE. It has also been broadcast this morning that the care homes are now not able to have deliveries for the people in those care homes, which, again, puts staff outside, shopping and exposing them to COVID-19. So, First Minister, what assurances can you give the social care sector that they will receive the PPE necessary to support staff? And, in terms of recognition, I welcome the fact NHS staff are to receive free travel on public transport. First Minister, does this also extend to social care staff?

In addition to health and social care staff, we have to recognise the efforts made by police officers, firefighters, prison staff, and also those volunteering their services to the entire public sector. But it's not just the public sector; across the private sector, all the stops are being pulled out to ensure we have access to life's essentials. So, unfortunately, despite their best efforts, not everyone can access these supermarket deliveries, as I've highlighted.

And I've been contacted by a number of constituents who have not been deemed extremely vulnerable by NHS Wales, and yet, due to various disabilities, are unable to physically go shopping. So, prior to this outbreak, these constituents have totally depended upon supermarket deliveries. So, now that delivery slots are being reserved by constituents, my constituents face a stark choice between starving or playing Russian roulette with an extremely infectious virus. First Minister, what discussion have you had with the UK Government? I note that you have had a discussion with the UK Government on military personnel, but I'm asking does that extend to deliveries to people such as these? The longer this outbreak continues, the greater impact it will have on our most vulnerable in society.

What assessment has been made of the efficacy of current control measures, and does the modelling the Welsh Government are relying upon make any assessment of whether shorter, more stringent controls may be better than longer term, more lax controls?

And finally, First Minister, we are entering the most critical phase of this outbreak, which is putting tremendous stresses upon all involved in protecting the public. However, we must ensure we are forward planning, not just reacting to events as they unfold. First Minister, can you outline the actions being taken by the Welsh Government to undertake contact tracing once we have sufficient testing capacity within the system? NHS England are believed to be working on an app to aid with contact tracing. The app would track locations and contacts and enable immediate alerting, should someone you have been in contact with develop COVID-19. First Minister, what role is the Welsh Government playing in the planning of this phase, and what actions are you taking to ensure such moves do not infringe upon our civil liberties?

Thank you once again, First Minister, and if we all heed the medical advice, we should defeat this disease sooner much rather than later. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr.

Diolch yn fawr. Thank you to Caroline Jones for those questions; I'll try and deal with them as rapidly as I can. As far as PPE for care staff is concerned, they are part of the supply arrangements for PPE, and a significant amount of PPE was released to care homes in Wales on Monday and on Tuesday of this week—a pack of PPE going directly to every residential care home in Wales. Where care homes are struggling in terms of access to food, then Menter a Busnes, an advice organisation we have in Wales, is contacting care homes to provide them with assistance in that area.

Free travel on public transport does not extend as far as social care staff, and that's for practical reasons only, in that the difficulties of identifying people as they get on a bus, and the responsibility that would put on the bus driver to be making those sorts of decisions, were felt, in discussions with the sector, to be over-onerous and we weren't able to do that.

As far as deliveries for people who are not being shielded but are nevertheless vulnerable is concerned, I certainly hope it's not the sort of choice that Caroline Jones suggested, and people who are in that position are advised to contact the hub of their local authority, because it's exactly the sort of thing that we hope the volunteers that we have identified might be able to assist with.

As far as the modelling is concerned, then, yes, the modelling certainly does have a capacity to contrast the impact of different lengths of period over which constraints on people's normal lives would need to be put in place. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies meets regularly—it will be meeting again this week—to look at those models and to give us advice.

On contact tracing, the dilemma's exactly the one that Caroline Jones pointed to at the end of her contribution, which is that we want contact tracing to be available, but we don't want to do it in the way that it's been done in some other countries, where it's obligatory, and your movements and your personal conduct are collected by the state and used in that way. It would have to be available to people who chose to contribute their data in that way, and then to make use of it for their own safety. But, the decision about it at this point, in the sort of society we are and want to be, would rest with the person who owns the data; that's to say you, me and each one of us individually, rather than being done on a compulsory basis, organised through Government.

Can I just start by placing on record my heartfelt thanks to the NHS staff in the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board area and the local authority staff? Members will have seen that we have been very much at the epicentre of the outbreak in Wales, and I am really grateful to everyone, and I include people like our shop workers, who are supporting everybody within the community.

I've got a few questions for the First Minister, the first was on the issue of access to online shopping. As the First Minister knows, this has been raised with me many times by constituents because of the decision to go ahead on an England-only basis with a registration scheme for vulnerable shoppers. I hear what you said in answer to Paul Davies about the steps that are being taken to resolve this. I think it is vital it's resolved, because, as helpful as food parcels are, many people will simply want to do their online shopping. So, are you able to provide some kind of timescale for when you expect there to be a similar system in place in Wales to that which is currently in place in England?

I'd like to just clarify—you've referred to the local authority hubs—if there are people who aren't in the extremely vulnerable group, but who cannot, for some reason, find somebody to help with shopping and maybe they're inside with symptoms or whatever, is it your expectation that local authorities will provide assistance to those people if they're not on the list for food parcels?

And then, I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about vulnerable children and young people. I'm talking about vulnerable children and young people in the wider sense, whether they are in school, whether they are vulnerable because of safeguarding issues or health problems. I'd like to ask what steps you are taking to ensure that the needs of vulnerable children are being closely monitored throughout this process. We know that for some children home is not a refuge, and we need to make sure that these children don't slip through the net.

And then my final question to the First Minister relates to the excellent work that's ongoing to support the families of key workers and some of our vulnerable children in a school setting. I do, again, thank all of the people who are helping with that. Can I just ask the First Minister for some assurances about how sustainable those arrangements are going to be, going forward, especially as we reach the peak of this epidemic? Thank you.

[Inaudible.]—about our colleagues in Gwent in the health service and the wider public services there for everything they are doing, and they are at the forefront of the epidemic in Wales. We think very much of them.

In relation to online shopping, we are in discussions with supermarkets. Lesley Griffiths, my colleague, has had discussions with them this week and we go on doing that. The first port of call has to be to make sure that shielded individuals who cannot and should not leave their own homes for an extended period come first. Where there are people outside that group who are in a similar sort of position, they've got no family or friends or other networks they can rely on, then using the local authority hub as a clearing house to put volunteers in touch with them is the next step for them.

Can I echo what Lynne Neagle has said about vulnerable children? Vulnerability, as she said, is on a very wide spectrum, from some very sinister and very awful attempts by people who are just out to exploit children to use this emergency as a way of perpetrating their ways of behaving, through to children whose families just struggle to look after them in the way that they themselves would like to do. So, I said in my statement that Julie Morgan has been in discussion with and issued fresh guidance to Flying Start and Families First services to make sure that we use all the different safe means that we can to make sure that those families continue to get a service, even in these most difficult of times.

School does remain a place where vulnerable children are able to get help. As Lynne, I know, will recall, there was a fear over one weekend that large numbers of children would present themselves at school, and in fact it's about 1 per cent of the school population who are in school today. Now, the other side of Easter, we have to prepare for what might be a different set of circumstances, where more people are ill and more people need to rely on that service. That's why we're in discussions with the teacher unions and with local authorities—hugely appreciative of the efforts they're already making, but to be prepared for the way that service may need to be adapted the other side of Easter if we are facing even more challenging circumstances. 

I've already extended the time for this statement, but I will call another couple of speakers. If I can have succinct questions and answers, that would be useful. Just to give reassurance to everybody, everybody present in the Plenary will be called at one point during the afternoon, though not necessarily for all the statements that they've requested to speak in. Angela Burns.

Diolch, Llywydd. Good afternoon, First Minister. I've just got a couple of quick questions to ask you on your statement. You of course talk about the Coronavirus Act and various Schedules to it being enacted, namely 8, 15, 10, various parts. Could you just enlighten us as to how you're disseminating that through local authorities and through other appropriate bodies and ensuring that the new provisions of the Act are appropriately applied at the correct time and in the correct manner, neither too heavy handed, but doing what we need to be done, and how you're getting that out? 

I was very grateful for your intervention for west Wales in particular, but I know north Wales had a problem with camping and caravanning sites and the issues that happened with the bank holiday weekend. Could you outline if you have any tools in your armoury to be able to tackle self-catering cottages, because there are still an enormous amount of holiday lets, particularly in west Wales, where we are seeing people still coming down for holidays or to self-isolate?

My third and final question is: now that you've seen the whole lot in the round and you look across all the portfolio holders, the work that they're doing, are you able to give us an indication of where you believe Wales may still be overexposed, either in terms of lack of facilities, lack of equipment, lack of staff—are there any particular areas where you have specific concerns?

And, First Minister, at the end of your statement you very rightly reminded us all that every loss of life is a family that's broken and hearts that are broken, and I wanted to share with you as well and join with you in offering my condolences. My thoughts are also with all those who are ill, and grateful, grateful thanks to everybody who has come together, from the people we immediately think of, who are our NHS and our social care staff, but all the way through to the unsung heroes, the communities that have pulled together, the emergency services, the delivery drivers, the shelf stackers, the people who just keep the lights on. May God bless them, and I salute each and every one of them. 

Llywydd, I thank Angela Burns for that, and particularly what she said at the end. I was very conscious in my statement that we use a lot of figures, don't we? We're always asking about percentages of this and numbers of that, and we track the figures every day, but, when it comes to people who are at the very worst end of coronavirus, every one of those is somebody who mattered hugely to somebody else, and we really mustn't lose sight of that human cost as we continue to grapple with all the challenges that the disease poses to us. 

On the Act, Angela Burns is right; it gives different sorts of powers to different types of authorities—the Welsh Government has powers, local authorities have powers, the police, of course, have enforcement powers, and I've had discussions this morning with the lead chief constable for Wales in this area, and I want absolutely to support the way in which police forces in Wales are using their powers. They use them to educate and to persuade, and it's only when those things don't work that they move to using their enforcement powers. But, where enforcement is necessary, then, equally, I fully support our police service in using those powers. The vast bulk of our fellow citizens respond fantastically to what is required of us. When there are a few who don't and put others in danger, then we rely on our police services to keep the rest of us safe, and I'm very keen indeed to make sure they know that they have the support of the Welsh Government in the very difficult job they do. 

Part of that, of course, has been around self-catering accommodation, and I asked for specific reports over the weekend, both from North Wales Police and through Dyfed-Powys, as to whether or not the police service believed that there was a further influx of people into those areas. On the whole, their view is that the numbers are low, that they were turning some people back. And let's be very clear with people: a journey to a self-catering accommodation is not an essential journey and therefore people ought not to be making it. There is a different issue with people who are already there and what course of action they should take, but no new people should be thinking that this is a good weekend to go and visit north or west Wales; that's not the way that we will get a grip of the virus. 

In relation to Angela Burns's final question, I think the things that worry us are the things that worry the rest of the United Kingdom: levels of illness and self-isolation amongst key staff and whether we can manage to get as many of those people back into the front line as possible; whether we have the supply of ventilators that we might need at the point when there is the most urgent need for them. As we use our stocks of PPE—it's a finite stock; how fast are we going to be able to replenish it so we've got more there for the future? I don't think those are Welsh vulnerabilities. We've said many times, haven't we, that the Assembly was created for Welsh solutions for Welsh problems, and coronavirus is not a Welsh problem; it's a global problem. In our context, it's a UK problem, and the things that we face are the things that are commonly faced across our wider country. 

Can I concur and agree with Angela Burns? I think Angela said it all for all of us: we all feel the same way, both thanks for the people who work and also condolences for those who are losing loved ones.

I'll be very succinct, because I hope to come in on other questions to other Ministers. First, free school meals, First Minister. I asked last week about free school meals, because there are a lot of individuals who are now finding themselves in difficult circumstances, and they were originally—or perhaps their children weren't on free school meals originally, but, because of the situation, they've now lost work, they've become unemployed, and therefore they'll now be in a situation where their children may be entitled to free school meals. But it's not yet clear as to who will authorise that situation. Can you confirm whether it will the headmasters who will have the authority to identify children for free school meals in set circumstances, so that no-one goes without? Those children are in families who find themselves in difficult situations now as a consequence of losing work, unemployment and lack of funding, because they may not be on 80 per cent of wages. I have a constituent who started work on 6 March, having given up his previous job on 3 March. Because he wasn't in his current employment on 28 February, he's not entitled to 80 per cent furlough. So, we have various situations as a consequence. We need to know who's going to have the authority to look at free school meals and authorising that.

In relation to the situation on furloughs, what discussions are you having with the Treasury to make sure that no-one falls through that gap? Because there are going to be individuals, through your package announced this week on the self-employed as well, but there are people who may have started self-employment in the last 12 months that will now fall through the gap and are looking for how do they get income—people, like electricians, who do jobs in houses that now can't go into those houses to do that work. So, how are we having discussions with the Treasury to cover the ones who fall through the gaps that are still there and, as such, will be finding themselves in difficult financial situations? I have very many constituents in that area.

And, finally, I'll ask a question of you on the steelworks—it's a major industry, among many other major industries in Wales—and the supply chain to the steelworks. We cannot afford to have the blast furnaces shut down because, once they shut down, the heavy end will probably not restart, and that's a huge blow to our industry. What's the Welsh Government doing to ensure that industries like the steelworks are able to sustain this difficult period to ensure that, when we come out of this, they and their supply chains will still be operational and viable so that the economies of those local areas can continue to grow? 

Well, Llywydd, I thank David Rees for all of those questions. On free school meals, he is right, it is an entitlement, and my view is that local authorities should simply use the normal routes. Children become entitled to free school meals all the time in normal circumstances during the year, and each local authority will have a process for those children's circumstances being verified and then entitlement delivered, and they should just use the normal ways in which they would treat any other child in any other circumstances. 

As far as keeping the Treasury informed of the way in which the help they've announced so far is being delivered on the ground, there are a series of opportunities to do that. There are sub-committees of COBRA that meet every day. I attended one yesterday, and part of that meeting was an opportunity for people to feed back on the way in which the schemes the Treasury has announced are working out on the ground and where there are gaps emerging. That is not to give a guarantee for a moment that the Treasury will respond to all of that, but David Rees's question was, 'What are we doing to make sure they know about them?', and we are using the different opportunities we have, and information from Assembly Members is particularly valuable to us in being able to make that part of the feedback exercise. 

Of course, as the local Member for Aberavon, it's completely understandable that David would want to highlight the plight of the steel industry. Welsh Government officials are in constant dialogue with Tata around the blast furnace, around the challenges that the company is facing, and my colleague Ken Skates is due to speak with senior executives from Tata on Monday of next week. By keeping in as close touch as we can with the company, making sure that they know the different sources of help that are available to them, but also the challenges that they are facing, we will want to do what we always want to do as a Government, which is to support our steel industry in Wales.

I thank the First Minister for his statement and responses this afternoon.