Thank you, Llywydd. I'd like to thank the Petitions Committee for its work in considering these petitions and bringing them forward for debate today. Although the petitions are clearly at odds with another, I know that all of us will recognise the genuine nature of the concerns being raised, and the understandable passion that underpins them. We all want to see people affected by cancer having the best possible care and the best possible outcomes. The need for a new cancer hospital in south-east Wales to serve a broader community is widely recognised and the Government has a manifesto commitment to help deliver one. The importance of improving cancer outcomes and the need for this to include a new cancer centre are therefore not in question. What is in question is what part a new cancer hospital plays in delivering those better outcomes and where it is best located to deliver that contribution.

Velindre University NHS Trust is the statutory body responsible for the delivery of non-surgical oncology services in south-east Wales. It has led the development of proposals for a new Velindre cancer centre with its commissioning health boards. It has been a long and complex process involving an incredible amount of work from all concerned. That is now coming to final decision. The Welsh Government's role in this is to assess, through our formal scrutiny process, the strength of the case being made and to make a determination with regard to approval and funding. Ultimately, Welsh Ministers will make that decision based on the analysis and recommendations carried out by our officials and their advisers, who will have scrutinised very closely the work done by Velindre and the advice provided by Nuffield and others. That scrutiny process has now completed, and I expect to consider the advice later this week. Therefore, I cannot comment specifically on the issues raised in the petitions, as this could clearly prejudice any decisions to be made in the coming days on the business cases that are before Welsh Ministers.

What I can say is that I understand the interest in the plans and the concerns that are being raised by both petitions. I will give them due consideration when it comes to making a decision, and of course, once that decision is made, it will become public. Thank you, Llywydd.