I want to also thank the Chair and committee staff for their unprecedented work on the future generations scrutiny in a virtual landscape, and providing Wales-first best practice on access and engagement, as I have highlighted to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association members and, of course, across the public accounts work in the Senedd. The Member for Monmouth, Nick Ramsay, has been a fine Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, and, despite clear ideological differences, he has continually sought consensus. So, I want to thank him for his professionalism and his long public service as Chair of the committee and to this Welsh Parliament.

The Public Accounts Committee has carried out sterling work, as this report shows us, but there are many challenges ahead for this Act and for the usage of public money for future generations. Indeed, the Secretary of State told the Senedd that Wales would not lose out following Brexit, so imagine my concern to read that Islwyn, which sits in the Caerphilly County Borough Council area, does not make a list of 100 priority areas earmarked for regional spending to replace EU funds, even though communities in Islwyn are some of the poorest in Europe, a fact underscored by the UN rapporteur when criticising the deepest cuts to the welfare state safety net in our history. That is unfit for future generations.

That is why this report is so important; they are our future generations. I was delighted to see that the consultation of young people included a selection of students from Coleg Gwent in Cross Keys, and I was struck by one person's comment that, 'When the coal mines were closed down, the rate of poverty increased. We lost our traditional industries. We need a strong economy.' So, I thought to myself, four decades on, there is a truth there that we still contend with—how we move from Wales's industrial famed past to the brighter future. Endemic poverty still, for many, will limit their future opportunities in life, and the future generations Act is a Wales-first, bold testimony of what this Senedd Cymru Welsh Parliament can achieve, working together. It was visionary when introduced by our late friend Carl Sargeant, and the work of ensuring that we give life to its meaning goes on.

And to conclude, as the report before us states, it is the work of this Senedd and its Members to ensure that the future generations Act is at the heart of all Government and Welsh Parliament work and thinking. Recommendation 13 places before this Senedd and its Business Committee a challenge, and, if the Deputy Llywydd will indulge me, it states how can we

'ensure that the Senedd’s Committee structure facilitates effective scrutiny of legislation such as the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and other matters that cross policy areas and Ministerial portfolios.'

So, let it be a key challenge that the Members of the sixth Senedd in Wales rise to, for our future generations need this as we embark on the journey into a post-pandemic and post-Brexit world. Diolch.