Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. I wanted to take the opportunity to update members on the £90 million transforming towns package announced in January and the written statement issued shortly before summer recess on support for our town centres to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

A sense of pride in place is at the heart of communities right across the country. Places for leisure, living, working and learning. Towns that match the needs of today whilst remaining rooted to their proud heritage. The pandemic has neither changed our commitment nor our ambition. If anything, it has reinforced and reignited it. But it has changed the circumstances and accelerated well-established trends like the growth of online sales and pressure on the retail sector.

We've also witnessed more positive changes, with a new appreciation of the green spaces and nature on our doorstep and reduced traffic, congestion and, consequently, emissions, alongside a shift towards shopping local and the rise in popularity of outdoor markets. We must lock in these positive changes. Creating green and clean communities, with improvements like the greening of public space, addressing drainage and improving air quality, is central to shaping the town centres of tomorrow.

The transforming towns green infrastructure support is enabling us to put this aspiration into action today, with 20 projects worth a total value of £9 million, like the scheme in Newtown that will redirect rainfall from high-street buildings and car parks through sustainable drainage systems and create rain gardens and landscaped areas.

The COVID-19 pandemic makes it even more important for us to put our transforming towns agenda into action now, and we are putting it into action, enabling town-centre adaptations to support current circumstances but that at the same time could offer an insight into different ways of driving footfall in the future—from outdoor seating, shelter and heating for cafes and pubs, and outdoor waiting areas for salons in Monmouthshire, to social distancing signage and adaptations in 10 Anglesey towns, to providing lighting and power for outdoor markets in Neath Port Talbot. Swansea local authority alone has received over 200 expressions of interest and has been, in their words, overwhelmed by the relief and positive feedback from local independent businesses.

The Vale of Glamorgan is targeting accessibility, active travel and green infrastructure with new cycle racks, storage, planters, seating, footway widening to create space for businesses, lighting improvements and moveable stalls. The focus is on Barry, Cowbridge, Llantwit Major and Penarth, linking with a marketing campaign, financed by our transforming towns revenue funding to aid the recovery of those town centres.

This revenue funding is being put to use by local authorities to market town centres, dial-up digital solutions, improve appearances and tackle empty properties.

We know that long-standing empty properties are a blight on our communities. That's why I've brought in an additional £15.2 million fund to ramp up enforcement and have provided a further £10 million in loan funding to support businesses to revitalise empty properties. Applications are now in for the loan funding from local authorities and the money will be allocated shortly. 

Supporting and securing the future of our towns in a way that brings benefits for our people, our places and our planet is a cross-Government priority. Whether it's the local sustainable transport fund promoting active travel solutions, support for major tourism initiatives, investment in landmark heritage projects, funding for community projects, or the local places for nature grants, towns across Wales are benefiting from cross-Government intervention.

COVID-19 means that we must be even more determined about putting into practice our town-centre-first principle, working collaboratively and in partnership both within and outside of Government. It will require a new way of working at the centre of Government. My colleagues in Welsh Government have agreed that town-centre first will be the lens through which every new idea will be considered. That is requiring new ways of working within Welsh Government and with our partners to ensure that we spot the creative opportunities to bring new economic opportunity and vibrancy back to the centre of our communities.

As well as boosting footfall and employment, town-centre locations bring environmental benefits, with opportunities for green infrastructure, both in terms of public spaces and places for reuse and repair, and co-location, reducing the reliance on long commutes and car journeys.

This Government has made clear its commitment to enabling people to work closer to home, working in a way that could improve both livelihoods and lifestyles. Co-working spaces or hubs co-located within town centres support regeneration and economic activity and underpins our town-centre-first approach. 

Over the years, as the way in which we work and live has changed, so has the way we use our town centres. To help us rise to the challenge of this change and recognising that it is not Government alone that has all the answers or a role to play, I have established the ministerial town-centre action group, with external expertise, supported by multidisciplinary regional action groups to identify and prioritise actions that will bolster our town centres in the short and long term. 

Community engagement and empowerment is central to this. This is not just about places but the people that make them, and it is only right that they shape their future. The action group will be prioritising this issue and we're also conducting a communications campaign to engage local businesses and communities and link with local authorities' marketing of their town centres.

We are all in no doubt that town centres across the UK face challenges. Here in Wales, supporting them through COVID-19 and into the future remains a priority for this Government. Our towns matter; they matter to me and they matter to people throughout Wales. They're not just centres of business and trade, important though that is, they are places that matter to us on a much more intrinsic level, places that are part of who we are and where we're from. Places that we all want to see not simply get by but come back better, reaffirming our pride in place to bring benefits for our local communities, economy and environment.