Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. And thank you very much, on behalf of the Petitions Committee, for the opportunity to hold a debate on this petition today. I particularly want to thank the Business Committee for agreeing to schedule this debate at short notice.

This petition was submitted by Gareth Howell. It concerns the restrictions placed on the type of goods that could be sold by shops during the recent firebreak lockdown. This petition collected 67,940 signatures, making it the largest single petition that we have ever received here in the Senedd. Now, before I come to discuss the petition further, I want to briefly note the recent growth in both the numbers and size of petitions that we are now receiving. The Petitions Committee is on track to consider the same number of new petitions during 2020 than it did for the previous three and a half years of this Senedd combined. In recent months, we've also considered many of the largest petitions received since the process was established in 2007. Clearly, there are specific circumstances that have made 2020 an exceptional year in so many respects. About half of the petitions we are currently receiving relate directly or indirectly to this pandemic. However, it is also clearly the case that increasing numbers of people are engaging with the Senedd and devolved politics through the petitions process. I believe that this can only be a positive thing for our democracy.

In relation to this petition, I'm aware that questions have been asked about where some people who signed it live. So, for the record, it is important to note that 92 per cent, more than 62,000 of these signatures, were from people in Wales. The majority of signatures were also gathered over the course of a single weekend at the start of the firebreak. And, of course, because this coincided with the autumn half-term recess, it just hasn't proved possible to hold this debate during the two-week firebreak period. However, given the strength of support for the petition and the relevance of the subject matter to possible future lockdowns, we feel that it remains a worthwhile subject for discussion by the Senedd in Plenary.

The controversy over the range of goods that were able to be sold during the recent firebreak will likely be familiar to everyone watching today and, indeed, to our Members. Therefore, in the interest of time, I will leave those concerns to be outlined by other speakers. I am also not going to outline any views from the Petitions Committee on this issue as, due to the timescales involved, the merits or otherwise of the petition, and the Welsh Government's approach, have not yet been discussed in our usual committee meeting setting. The committee has simply agreed to refer the petition for a debate in this forum as the most appropriate way of airing the issues it raises. As I referred to earlier, whilst I am sure it is the hope of everyone here today that we will be able to control this terrible virus without any further lockdowns, none of us knows exactly what the future will hold. As such, we need to ensure that measures that must be taken to limit the spread of the virus are proportionate and that the reasoning behind them is trusted and, indeed, understood by the people of Wales.

I am sure that a range of views on the specific measures covered by this petition will be heard during the debate today. Indeed, that is the very purpose behind this debate. It is also the purpose behind providing the petitions process and a mechanism through which the Welsh public can raise issues here in our Senedd. I look forward, Deputy Presiding Officer, to listening to the rest of the contributions made this afternoon. Diolch yn fawr.