1. Joint item with the Welsh Youth Parliament

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 1:15 pm on 24 February 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:15, 24 February 2021

Llywydd, I'm not going to try to respond to all the different speakers we've heard, but Sandy was right in the very first contribution, that endings are inherently emotional moments, and I'm sure that will be true for all Members of the Youth Parliament. Sandy shared her story with us, and I think we were all glad to hear it. Wales is lucky to have you here, as we have been lucky with all the young people who've played their part in this very first Senedd.

Shall I just focus briefly on three things that I think I drew out of all the contributions we've heard? First, how overlapping the agendas have been between the things that you have been talking about in the Senedd Ieuenctid and the things that we talk about every week on the floor of the Senedd itself: mental health, climate change, education, the new curriculum, how we will forge a future that is better for us all. Secondly, the importance of plurality and diversity: the way in which hearing different experiences and different voices changes the nature of the conversation, enriches it, of course, but also means that we see things in new and different ways. I thought that came through very powerfully in a series of contributions. And finally, that in the work that you do and the work that we do, the work is never over. We never come to the end of the day and can draw a line under what we have been discussing and think, 'Well, that's that done, then.' The work always goes on, there are always challenges that we haven't thought of, there are always new chances to advance the causes that matter to us as individuals and as a nation. And in hearing of the work of the committees, I'm very glad that so much of what you have proposed has been accepted by the Government, and I'm not surprised at all to hear that there are things that you would want to go on advocating, making the case for, looking to secure further changes in the future.