I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in the evidence sessions that have led to this report, and, like other Members, I'm very grateful for the evidence that we've received. I think we must be fair and say—. At the beginning of my contribution, I want to say that the emergency response that the Welsh Government has taken was broadly welcomed by most of our witnesses. Of course, things aren't perfect; there was an acknowledgement that there were gaps, and I think the Minister understands that himself. But there was a sense that there had been some real co-operation with the sector and with social partners and that this had been something of a—to use a bit of a cliché—team Wales effort. But, I know that the Minister understands that there is a lot more to do, and our evidence proves that. 

I want today, Dirprwy Lywydd, to make some general comments in response to the three reports and then to highlight some particular things in the areas of skills. We know—the evidence was really clear to us—that there are going to be some businesses that will require longer term support. Those might include some transport providers, they will certainly include some hospitality businesses, that may not be able to partially open or may not be able to open profitably. They will certainly include businesses in the culture sector, things like cinemas and theatres where, again, even if social distancing allows them to open, they can't open and make any money, and that will apply to some other tourist attractions too.

It's really important for these businesses—they acknowledge that they've received, many of them, short-term support—to know now what the longer term plans are so that they can plan. And I'm sure that none of us in this Senedd would want to lose some of those crucial parts of our tourism and hospitality infrastructure that will be so important for our economy as we recover. 

We acknowledge, of course, that some of that support should come from the UK Government, and I want to ask the Minister again today about what progress he's had in asking for more flexible furlough support for some of those businesses that might not otherwise survive, that can't open, and particularly whether he can raise again the issue of those people who were changing jobs at the time. If there are to be changes to the furlough scheme, that would be the time to give some kind of recompense to the new-start furlough citizens who just were so unfortunate to be changing jobs at that time. 

Looking further at hospitality businesses, we have, of course, supported Welsh Government's cautious approach to lifting the lockdown. We feel that it's the right thing to do. From the point of view of businesses, it would, of course, have been catastrophic to lift the lockdown too quickly and then see a spike and lead to another lockdown again. But I hope that the Minister understands that it's very difficult for some of the business owners that have been talking to me in recent days to see that McDonald's is open and people are eating their meals in the McDonald's car park and sometimes leaving a hideous mess afterwards, but good-quality local Welsh hospitality businesses have yet to be able to take advantage of those opportunities that some outside opening may be able to provide. 

I know that the Minister is aware that local authorities are looking at how they might facilitate this with road closures, with extensions of pavements. I've been speaking, for example, to Ceredigion council. There is, of course, a complex pattern around licensing and around planning, and I want to ask the Minister today to commit to working closely with local authorities so that we can open up some of those spaces, while of course acknowledging the points that the First Minister made earlier—that that has to be done in such a way that doesn't, for example, negatively impact on people who are blind and partially sighted.

If I might briefly turn, then, Dirprwy Lywydd, to some of the points in the skills report specifically. Russell George has already referred to our recommendation around health and care apprentices. What those people, many of them young people, have done in the last few months is nothing short of extraordinary, and we do want to ask the Welsh Government to be aware of the need to protect their welfare and to ensure that they are given the support they need to get over what might, for some of them, have been complex and traumatic.

Recommendations 3 and 4 of the skills report that focus on work experience and youth unemployment are incredibly important. Those of us who are old enough to remember what happened to the Welsh economy in the 1980s will remember that there was a whole lost generation in many of our communities, who, having had a year or 18 months out of work, never really recovered, never made up that economic gap. We must not allow that to happen to those individuals, but we also cannot afford, as a nation, to waste those talents. That's therefore incredibly important that Welsh Government come forward with some really far-reaching schemes to address those issues.

Our recommendation 8 asks the Welsh Government to link up the skills agenda to economic development, to business support, and to business improvement, and, of course, crucially, to the fair work agenda. This is what needs to change now. The Welsh Government has done, I think, on the whole, a pretty good job in terms of emergency response, but now we have to, as the Minister often says, build back better, and that means building up in a joined-up manner.

I would say, Dirprwy Lywydd, that this crisis has shown us who we actually need when it comes to our workforce. We need carers, we've needed shop workers, we've needed delivery drivers, we've needed healthcare staff. Much of this, of course, work that tends to be done by women. Now, we've tended, in the past, to refer to those people as 'low skilled', and I don't know if anybody else in this Chamber has had the opportunity of looking after a sick or disabled relative themselves, but I can certainly tell you that the people—on the whole, women—who do that work are anything other than low skilled, having tried to do it myself to support family members. We need to change—