Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. I, too, would like to begin by thanking the committee for their very hard work. This has been an extremely difficult year, and as everyone has pointed out, COVID-19 has absolutely disrupted our processes and taken priority in all of our workloads. But in a time of unprecedented uncertainty where we have all be strained, the committee has produced a very comprehensive report and I'd like to pay particular tribute to the Chair of the committee, Dawn Bowden, for her commitment and hard work in this regard.

The reforms that we are talking about are, of course, already under way. The 2021 Senedd elections will be, for the first time in Wales, ones where 16 and 17-year-olds as well as qualifying foreign citizens will be able to play a full part in our democracy. The committee has outlined a number of recommendations to help the Senedd be a more diverse Parliament and better representative of the people it serves. Many of those recommendations are for the next Senedd to consider, but the committee has also identified a few more immediate issues, and today, acting Presiding Officer, in the interest of time, I'll confine my remarks to those.

I particularly welcome the committee's recommendations on enabling disabled people to stand for election. We've been working on our diversity and democracy agenda since 2018. We're taking action on this in two respects. First, we are bringing forward legislation this autumn to exempt disability-related expenditure from election campaign spending limits. And second, we're establishing a pilot 'access to elected office' fund. This will provide financial assistance to help disabled people stand for election, and it will be open for next year's Senedd election as well as for the local government elections in 2022. By removing barriers in this way, we aim to help create a much more diverse and representative Senedd.

The committee made a number of other linked recommendations, which I think are extremely important. We've already accepted the recommendation about commencing section 106 of the Equality Act 2010, when it was made by the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee, and we are giving careful consideration to the recommendations about broader expenditure exemptions and financial assistance to help other under-represented groups and those with caring responsibilities.

The idea of a larger Senedd is not a new one, and, as everyone has pointed out, has been recommended both the Richard commission in 2004 and the independent expert panel in 2017. The referendum in 2011 gave a resounding platform for this institution, and I don't think we need to revisit it, as a number of people who have contributed to this debate have sought to do.

I do intend to publish the Welsh Government's formal response to the committee's recommendations in the coming weeks. The Welsh Government welcomes the committee's insight and once again would like to thank them for producing their report despite the extremely challenging circumstances.

It is, of course, acting Deputy Presiding Officer, at times of crisis when we see most acutely the need for a strong and representative Parliament for our nation. The committee's work is a significant contribution to that, and I pay tribute to them. Diolch yn fawr.