At present, the Bill simply requires that the mandatory element of relationships and sexuality education is, and I quote, 'developmentally appropriate'. But, of course, this doesn't go far enough. Should it become law, the legislation would require Welsh Ministers to publish an RSE code setting out themes and matters to be encompassed by the mandatory element of RSE education in Wales. But my amendment 41 places requirements on the face of the Bill regarding the contents of that code to ensure that children and pupils must learn about the following things: firstly, the nature of long-term relationships, including marriage, and their importance for family life and the bringing up of children—and, of course, this is something that replicates exactly what is already in the Education Act 1996—and then, in addition to that, the importance of safety in forming and maintaining relationships, the characteristics of healthy relationships, how relationships may affect physical and mental health and well-being, how values influence people's approach to sex and relationships and the importance of respecting the values of others with regard to sex and relationships.

These are all things that have been touched on by other speakers in this debate, so there's no disagreement between us. I want to ensure that people have healthy relationships with one another, and that's why I think it's important that these things are on the face of the Bill. I know that the Minister has referred to these things as well in the Senedd Chamber, and, indeed, in the committee when asked about them. All of these are non-contentious, and the Minister herself has suggested that an effective RSE code should contain references to all of them. But, of course, at the end of this Senedd term, she may not be around to be the Minister, and that means that somebody else will inherit the ministerial office and the responsibility to develop the RSE code, and they may have different attitudes than those of us who are elected in this Senedd now. That's why I think it's prudent of all of us to put these things onto the face of the Bill in respect of the code.

My amendment 42 seeks to require that relationships and sexuality education in Wales should have regard to pupils' religious and cultural backgrounds. This is currently the case in Wales and in England due to the Education Act 1996, but the Welsh Government is seeking to disapply this requirement in Wales with this new Bill. I think that that's a backward step. It's a backward step in a society like modern-day Wales, a nation that aspires to be tolerant and respectful of people of all faiths and cultures. I believe that introducing these protections will serve to strengthen the Bill and strengthen our commitment here in Wales to equip children with information about relationships that is respectful of their upbringing, respectful of their culture and their faith.

The Minister says that the RSE code, which no-one, of course, has seen yet, is going to provide some clarity and confidence for parents about what will and won't be taught, but because we haven't seen it, we're not able to have that confidence, and because parents haven't seen it, they haven't had that confidence. That's what has led, I think, to some of the misinformation that both Lynne Neagle and Jenny Rathbone have referred to. I think that if we are able to put some more information on the face of the Bill regarding the content of the code, it will give that confidence that parents need to see.

Moving on briefly to my amendments 20, 21 and 22, these amendments insert new sections into the Bill to give parents the right to withdraw their children from relationships and sexuality education lessons where they believe that they're inappropriate for them. These parental rights, of course, currently exist here in Wales, but the Bill will remove them and undermine the important principle that parents, not the state, are the primary educators of their children. The failure to include a right for parents to withdraw children from RSE lessons also seems to fly in the face of section 9 of the Education Act 1996, which says, and I quote, that children

'are to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents'.

That particular provision in the Education Act 1996 will still be law in Wales even if the Bill before us today becomes an Act. The Bill also will do nothing to remove article 2 of protocol 1 of the European convention on human rights, which, of course, has been enshrined in UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998. That protocol says that the state must respect parents' rights to have their children educated in conformity with their religious and philosophical convictions. My amendments, if agreed, will simply seek to ensure that this Bill is compatible with the provisions of the Education Act 1996 and the Human Rights Act, which are already on the statute book.

Parents have long enjoyed the right to be able to withdraw their children from the two subjects that engage questions of families' world views, and they are of course sex education and religious education. The benefit of the potential use of this right to withdraw is that it provides an incentive for schools to engage proactively with parents regarding their children's education by requiring school leaders to sit and listen to parental concerns in order to minimise those withdrawals. And, of course, they've been exercised very, very rarely across Wales over the many years that they've been in place, because of the great engagement that they have resulted in. So, Dirprwy Lywydd, I urge Members to support my amendments in this group.