The next item is item 3, which is a statement by the First Minister on the Cabinet appointments. First Minister. 

Llywydd, diolch yn fawr. It's almost two weeks now since our fellow citizens in Wales were making their choice of the people who will represent them here in the Senedd over the coming five years. I know that in this Senedd term every Member elected will regard it as a privilege to sit in this Chamber, and to be First Minister of our nation is, of course, a very singular honour indeed. Yet, when I first became First Minister two and a half years ago, I emphasised my preference for collective and collaborative leadership, drawing on a wide pool of talent and commitment. I did so because I’ve always thought that collective leadership is therefore the most effective form of putting people to work for our nation's benefit. And I also believe that it goes with the grain of the way we do things here in Wales. We produce more choirs than soloists; we do better at rugby than at pole-vaulting, Now, that approach has held us in very good stead, I believe, during the last 15 months as we have responded to the global coronavirus pandemic, a response that has needed a whole-Government effort to help keep Wales safe.

The new Cabinet formed last week is a team of talent, ambition and experience, a team to ensure that we make the most of the opportunities that the next five years will bring, and to help us face the challenges that will inevitably come our way. I want to pay tribute today to Ken Skates, who has taken the decision to step back from Government to work from the backbenches. Ken has been a strong voice for north Wales inside the Government, and I know that he will continue to be a strong voice for north Wales from the backbenches. We will miss his passion and his energy around the Cabinet table.

Llywydd, the coronavirus crisis is not over. In the week since we last met in Plenary, all of the Members will have heard of the Indian variant and its potential impact. I will make a statement on the public health context later this afternoon, but the Cabinet will continue to make decisions in line with our three-weekly review cycle and to be collectively responsible for these decisions. 

This new Cabinet is a Cabinet for recovery, and recovery for the Wales that lies beyond the pandemic—that stronger, greener and fairer Wales to which my party is committed. It's a Wales in which everyone has a part to play, and a Wales in which no-one is held back and no-one is left behind either.

This is a Cabinet created to meet those other great challenges of our time—biodiversity loss and climate change. The climate change emergency has not gone away while we have been dealing with the pandemic.

And it's for that reason, of course, Llywydd, that this new Government puts the environment, biodiversity loss and climate change at the heart of our decision making, brought together in a single ministry that will bring together all the major drivers that contribute to climate change. A Minister and a Deputy Minister—Julie James and Lee Waters—will together have responsibility for housing, transport, planning, energy and the environment, dealing with the dangers of climate change, but also harnessing our immense natural assets and creating the jobs of Wales's future.

Llywydd, we have already begun the work to develop a new programme for government, which will be laid before the Senedd in the coming weeks. It will set out our plans to help our public services recover after COVID. That will include an urgent NHS recovery plan and the biggest catch-up plan for young people in the history of devolution. It will set out the work to develop a new young person’s guarantee, giving everyone under the age of 25 the offer of work, education or training.

It will outline steps towards a fair deal for care, including paying the real living wage for all those working in the care sector. It will set out the action we will take to make Wales a greener country—abolishing more polluting single-use plastics and creating a national forest and a new national park for Wales. It will include plans for safer communities, increasing the number of police community support officers on our streets. And it will outline where we will create new jobs for Wales through a low-carbon house building revolution, building 20,000 new low-carbon social homes for rent.

But where we can go further and faster, this Government will always be open to new ideas. Llywydd, last week I said that no party has a monopoly on good ways of taking Wales forward, and I offered to work across party lines where there are common and shared interests. I have written to the leaders of the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru to confirm that offer. And I know that, across the Senedd, there will be new and returning Members who come here looking to make that positive contribution to the future of our nation, the challenges of today and of tomorrow.

As I've said, none is more pressing and none more urgent than the climate and nature crisis we face. That is why there is a new ministry at the heart of this Government. And all parties represented here, during the election, quite rightly signalled the need for bold steps to tackle the crisis we face. Now will be the time to translate that commitment into practical action. Out of the election, and out of the pandemic, can come that stronger, greener and fairer Wales. The job now is to set Wales on the path to recovery, and the Cabinet that I have set out this afternoon is ready to go to work to do just that. Llywydd, diolch yn fawr.

Thank you, First Minister, for your statement this afternoon. And I, too, join you in congratulating returning Members and new Members, for the privilege that it is to sit in this Chamber, debate, discuss, and hopefully inform policy decisions that make a dramatic impact on people's lives for the benefit of everyone in Wales. It is an exciting time to be in Wales, and what we potentially can do with the powers that are available to the Welsh Parliament, and indeed the way you've constructed your Government, after the mandate that was given to you by the Welsh people, is the tone of what you want to set, especially on climate change and the environment, which you emphasised so extensively in your statement.

One thing we do know, First Minister, is that you have signalled that you will not serve a full term as First Minister. So, can you indicate whether this is a Cabinet that will see your term out as First Minister? Or is it something that you will have to reconstruct as the Assembly term progresses? Because I do think that's a genuine conversation that people do want to understand—how much of the energy of Government will be focused on who might come after you, rather than maybe the mandate that you set your colleagues in Government.

Secondly, it is important to understand how these policies will be delivered within Government, focusing on the delivery unit that Carwyn Jones used to have and the Cabinet Office that succeeded that, and importantly the Permanent Secretary and the change in Permanent Secretary that has been identified. Can you indicate how that recruitment is going with the Permanent Secretary and how the changes might affect the delivery of the Cabinet's policy decisions and directives?

Can you also indicate the plans that you highlighted around waiting times, catch-up, furlough, climate change and housing targets, and the importance that Ministers will be held to account for delivering those targets, and what means you will use to hold them to account? Because they will be charged with delivering those points that you have set them, and what goals have you set them in particular on waiting times and catch-up, which are such an important part of rebuilding after the COVID crisis?

On the legislation front, we've all indicated agreement around the clean air Act and the agricultural Bill in particular that needs to be brought forward. Can you indicate when the Government will bring forward these important bits of legislation so they can be considered by this Welsh Parliament? In particular, can you indicate the policy that you announced on the weekend about universal basic income? Because, from what I understand, this is merely an allowance that will be given to carers. However applaudable that might be, this isn't a genuine test about a universal basic income that the Government talked about on the weekend. So, can you indicate what plans the Government will have for bringing forward such proposals in Wales to have a genuine test of such a proposal, which, I admit, our side of this Chamber does not find support with, but if that is to be the policy position of the Government, it's important we understand how you're going to deliver that.

And also the conversation that you started yesterday around more elected politicians. Is it now Welsh Government policy to support such a position, because I understand you were talking as First Minister when you were talking about proposals for new politicians to be brought before the electorate by 2026? So, can we now understand that that is official Welsh Government policy to support that position, albeit that it'll be for the Senedd to bring forward those proposals for consideration in their entirety? Thank you, First Minister. 

Llywydd, I thank the leader of the opposition for all those questions and for the way that he introduced his remarks this afternoon. I agree with him that this is an exciting time to be involved in the future of Wales, and I am very committed to a sense of urgency in the way that this Government will deal with the challenges that we know are there in front of us.

I've always taken the view myself that you appoint Cabinet colleagues and then you give them the opportunity to grapple with the issues that lie to them. The average shelf life of a Secretary of State in Westminster I think is somewhere between 15 and 18 months. That seems to me that it offers you very little time to really get to grips with the issues that your department faces, and you have often long escaped the consequences of the decisions that you yourself might make. Throughout devolution, I think successive Governments have taken the opposite view. Ministers are here to have the time they need to discharge the responsibilities they have and then to be held accountable for the decisions that they make. 

When we publish the programme for government, the Member will see some of the proposals we have for machinery of Government to support the effort of the new administration. I do intend that there will be a number of key commitments that will be held in the First Minister's office. So, I will take a direct interest in the oversight of the achievement of those objectives. But the majority of the actions of Government quite rightly lie at the portfolio level, and Ministers must be given the authority to get on with the job that they've been elected and appointed to do, and when the programme for government is published, Members will see those items that I think you need the authority of a First Minister's office behind to drive through the Government and those greater number of items that Ministers will take forward and be answerable for here in the Senedd.

Andrew R.T. Davies is right, Llywydd, that the post of the new permanent secretary was advertised on Monday of last week. I think I've said before that the adjective 'permanent' is a bit of a misnomer these days, because permanent secretaries are appointed on fixed five-year terms and the current permanent secretary's term of office will come to an end at the start of the next calendar year. I think I've come to a conclusion that one of the ways in which some Whitehall departments operate has something to offer us here, because in a number of Whitehall departments, alongside a permanent secretary, there is what's called a 'chief operating officer'. The chief operating officer's job is to deal with the mechanics of the way a department is operated: to deal with staffing matters, to deal with terms and conditions matters, to deal with who gets to park their cars where—all those sorts of things, which, at the moment, in the Welsh Government, all end up on the desk of the permanent secretary. Now, I want a permanent secretary whose time is available to help make the programme of the Government succeed and I think the new person would be helped, if, alongside them, they had a chief operating officer dealing more with the mechanics of Government. And I had an opportunity of a considerable conversation with Simon Case, the head of the Cabinet Office at Whitehall, and I thought learnt some useful things from what he said to me about how we might learn some of those lessons here.

There will indeed be a legislative programme, Llywydd, and that will begin in this first year of the Senedd and I will make the usual legislative programme statement in the second half of this summer term. I'm grateful for what Andrew Davies said about the agriculture Bill. He will remember that in the previous Senedd we agreed, partly because of representations from opposition parties, that the powers we took through the UK agriculture Bill would be time-limited—that there would be a sunset clause. Now, I think that was the right thing to do, but it does put a pressure on all of us here to make sure that we are able to put a Wales-specific agriculture Bill on the statute book so that we can go on doing all the things that we need to do to assist farmers and others who rely on the rural economy. So, that is a Bill that we will bring forward and I hope we will be able to work in the co-operative spirit that the leader of the opposition mentioned in his introduction. 

As far as universal basic income is concerned, what the Government proposes is what we said in our manifesto and that is an experiment and a pilot. We don't have all the powers that would be necessary, let alone all of the funding that would be necessary to include a universal basic income for the whole of Wales, but we do have the ability, I believe, to design a smart experiment that will allow us to test the claims that are made for universal basic income. Now, I've been familiar with these claims for many years. My own doctoral thesis dealt with a group that advocated something called, 'social credit' in the inter-war period. Social credit is a form of universal basic income. They had a group here in Cardiff who were active in the promotion of the idea at the time. So, this is an idea with a very long history, but very little practical application to learn whether the things that are said for it are actually realised in the lives of people who receive it. And if we are able to begin with young people who come out of our care system, then I think there are strong arguments for doing that. They are a group of people who we know—we're able to identify them; we're able to provide, not simply an income for them, but the other assistance that they need to set their lives off on to successful futures. And I look forward, along with many Members in the Chamber who have an interest in UBI—I look forward to debating and discussing it with others who would like to see that experiment succeed as an experiment, where we will learn whether it works or, indeed, whether it doesn't deliver what's claimed for it.

And as far as the future of the Senedd is concerned, then it is indeed, as the leader of the opposition said, primarily a matter for the Senedd, not for the Government. There will be significant support on this side of the Chamber, as Members will have heard last week in the speeches made by my colleagues David Rees and Hefin David, both of whom referred to the need to take forward the proposals in the Laura McAllister review, and that that would be part of what they would seek to do were they elected as our Deputy Presiding Officer. So, there will be significant support on these benches for that effort, but in the end it is, as the leader of the opposition said, a matter for the Senedd itself, the Parliament itself, rather than the Government to take the lead.

May I thank the First Minister for his statement, and also respond to the spirit of collaboration that was intertwined throughout that statement? You mentioned that Welsh choral tradition as a sign of that spirit of collaboration, and of course we do have to remember that I think the original term for the Welsh Parliament was to create a cymanfa genedlaethol, that gathering for song. So that idea of seeking harmony rather than discord I think is always a good starting point in our proceedings as a Parliament, and may I, on behalf of Plaid Cymru, welcome the offer that you referred to, First Minister? We are of course always willing to seek to find that common ground between us for the benefit of the people of Wales, to get to grips with the issues that they face and to propose solutions that we of course discussed during the election.

May I just touch on some of those issues now where perhaps we will be able to find that common ground? I understand, of course, that you will in due course over the coming weeks be announcing your programme for government, but some of these areas are areas where we do need urgent action, so it would be good to hear more about your initial approaches.

May I just begin by referring to the housing crisis? I don't think that we could deny that there is a housing crisis in Wales at the moment. You have promised action before, during and after the election in terms of second homes. Can you give us a little more detail about the steps that you will be taking immediately in that regard? Housing prices in Wales generally are out of control, with house prices increasing here at a greater level than across the United Kingdom. Three charities have said over the weekend that it's a pipe dream to own a house, for many people in Wales now, and that the plans that you had as a previous Government didn't do enough to make a difference for a number of people. So, will you be bringing forward a genuinely radical proposition to get to grips with that particular problem, which is an increasing problem for so many of our young people in our communities?

Can you tell us, with regard to affordable homes, how you're going to deliver the more ambitious level of construction? My party and one of your advisory group suggested the creation of additional capacity with a specific agency. If you don't go down that path, how are you going to deliver on that?

May I just refer to child poverty, and specifically the concerns with regard to free school meals? This was a major theme in our campaign in Plaid Cymru. You've referred to the review of free school meals. Could you give us more detail on that?

With regard to the economy then, you commissioned—and this is at the heart of everything; this is the foundation—you commissioned a substantial and comprehensive report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development before the election, which suggested the creation of additional and the capacity to deliver economic policy in Wales within the civil service, within your department as First Minister, but also the creation of an economic development agency. Is that still something that you are considering as a Government, because we in Plaid Cymru think that we do need new capacity if we are going to increase economic performance in Wales?

It’s good to see the reference to the agriculture Bill. Of course, we do urge you to reconsider the situation with regard to nitrate vulnerable zones, which are a cause of great concern at a very uncertain time for agriculture in general. I heard the comments, but could I ask you to refer to the discussion that has been had over the past few days with regard to the possibility of a trade deal with Australia, which will set out a template—a very dangerous template, truth be told—for the entire future of agriculture in Wales? How much engagement have you had and has the Welsh Government had on this? Do you share the same opinion that we have, that we need to stand as one as a nation, truth be told, to oppose this suggestion that is coming from the Westminster Government?

In terms of the Senedd’s powers, you had argued during the general election for additional powers and you suggested the creation of a commission on this. Would you be able to give more detail on that?

Finally, may I ask you, as First Minister, to make a statement today in terms of the situation in Palestine and Israel, and demand that the United Kingdom Government does everything within its powers to ensure that there is a solution and that there is adherence to international law, to safeguard the interests of the people who are suffering so much in that region? Thank you.

I thank Adam Price for those questions. I don’t remember us having a gymanfa ganu previously in this Senedd, but that’s an idea that we can all agree on. I remember the Minister Lesley Griffiths reporting back to me on the gymanfa ganu in Builth Wells each year, so that’s a tradition that we can think about.

On housing, of course I agree on the importance of housing. One of the things that I did when I came to office as First Minister was to appoint someone at Cabinet level to be responsible for policy and practical approaches to housing, and Julie James continues to have responsibilities in that area.

When we’re discussing second homes and house prices and young people who want to remain in villages and so on, well, what I want to do is to put a radical proposal forward. There is a new unit within Government that has been working in this area. It’s looking at planning and taxation, but that, as I said last week, is one of the areas where I’m eager to work with others to see if there are new and different ideas that we could adopt in order to assist young people who are in that position, and of course to safeguard the future of the Welsh language.

We have set an ambitious number of new builds that we want to provide for rent and we’re going to be dealing with that in a number of different ways. However, working with local authorities is one of the things that we’re very eager to do, and to do more with them in order to put in place the resources and the people who have the necessary skills in order to build housing for the future and homes that can make a contribution to dealing with climate change too.

Now, in terms of child poverty, as we have stated in the past, we are now using new data that came out of the pupil level annual school census system and that was coming in as we were all out on doorsteps, involved with campaigning. However, officials are now working on that and that will be passed on to the new Minister for education. I do want to build on the OECD report in order to create new capacity to help us in the economy. I don't want to see a new agency outwith Government as the way to do that. I don't see that as the way forward. I don't want to see Ministers coming to the Senedd to say, 'Well, that's not my responsibility—we've passed that responsibility to some sort of new quango established here in Wales.' So, I do agree that we need to develop that new capacity, but the way to do it is in a way that is accountable to this Senedd.

I agree with Adam Price's comments on the reports on the proposed trade deal with Australia that the UK Government is putting in place. At a governmental level, we have been speaking to the UK Government and making points from a Welsh perspective. This evening, there is that almost weekly meeting between First Ministers and Michael Gove, and I have conveyed some comments already to his office, stating that I want to raise these issues this evening and I want to be clear as to what we in Wales thought about some of those ideas. 

I've been speaking this morning to the new Counsel General about the commission, and he will want to bring a statement to the Senedd before summer recess in order to set out some of the ideas as to how we can draw cross-party consensus but also bring others into this debate about the future and how we can draw Wales' future. In the view of my party, that should be within the United Kingdom but within a United Kingdom that is reformed in a way that can lead to future success.

And finally, Llywydd, just to say that I have issued a statement already on the events in Palestine and in Israel, which does highlight international law and which has been agreed with the multifaith forum that we have here in Wales.

First Minister, like others, I want to welcome the re-election of the Labour Government and also the reappointment of yourself as First Minister and the team of Ministers that you have assembled to drive Wales forward over the next four years or so. My question this afternoon is on how that will happen in policy terms and about the mechanics of Government rather than the appointments of Government. You will remember that I chaired the Valleys taskforce in the last Senedd, and prior to that we'd had structures that had enabled different policy areas and Ministers to work together to deliver policy in the Valleys region. I'm particularly concerned, as you would expect, about how we maximise the value of the dualling of the A465 and how we ensure that the Heads of the Valleys remain a focus of policy. So, I'd be grateful, First Minister, if you could outline your thinking on this at the moment. I very much welcome the tone of your statement this afternoon in terms of working together, collaboratively working and reaching out in order to bring people together, and I hope that, in not just assembling your Government but then as you manage this Government, we'll be able to see that approach taken to delivering policy in some of the poorest parts of this country.

Llywydd, I thank Alun Davies for that and pay tribute to the work that he himself was involved in, in bringing ideas and people together to make sure that Valleys communities share in everything we are able to achieve here in Wales. We have in this Government two Members directly representing Valleys communities, and I've already talked to them about the part that they can play in making sure that that work is taken forward.

Llywydd, work on the mechanics of Government is ongoing. It was, as you will know, a pretty full week last week, and now we need to move on and deal with some of the other underpinning issues that you need to put in place. But what Alun Davies points to is one of the holy grails of Government, which is how do we make sure that we have genuine cross-portfolio working, that, when a problem can only be properly solved by bringing together different Ministers, but not just different Ministers, but, very often, partners elsewhere, partners in local government, partners in the third sector—how can we make sure that the mechanics of Government support that effort to work across boundaries and to make sure that the different contributions that are needed from within Government, but beyond Government too, can be harnessed in a way that creates the maximum impact for the areas and the people we seek to serve.

James Evans.

Diolch, Llywydd, and I would like to put on record my thanks to you for your reappointment to your post and also to the First Minister for getting reappointed to his post. I would also like to put on the record my thanks and appreciation to my predecessor, Kirsty Williams, for her work and dedication to the people of my constituency and to this Senedd, and also to the people of Brecon and Radnorshire for electing me as their new Senedd Member. Thank you very much.

First Minister, in my constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire and across Powys, small schools like Dolau, Llanbedr and Cradoc are under threat of closure. As someone who was educated in a small rural school, I understand the importance they play in our rural communities. So, First Minister, how are you and your Government going to further protect rural schools and make sure that they have adequate funding to make sure that we keep small rural school closures off the table?

Llywydd, I congratulate the new Member for Brecon and Radnor, both on his election and on taking this early opportunity to make his first contribution on the floor of the Senedd, and for choosing an important issue to draw to everybody's attention. His predecessor, as the Member for Brecon and Radnor, changed the policy, as he will know, in relation to small and rural schools, to make it a presumption that those schools stay open. And that changes the challenge that local authorities face when they are dealing with school organisation. Previously, there was no such presumption. Now, local authorities have to start from the position that, unless good reasons can be adduced for those schools not to be continued, they will continue. And I hope that that has changed the nature of the debate. It has certainly, I know, in a number of instances provided greater power to parents who want to make the argument for the continuation of a school in a particular community.

In the last term as well, Llywydd, extra funding was provided to take account of some of the additional costs that are inevitably involved in providing education on that smaller scale. None of this means that every school will always be open forever, because sometimes local authorities are able to make good arguments that alternative provision would be to the benefit of that student and parent population. But I think it has changed the nature of the debate and this Government has no plans to change that new set of circumstances.

Heledd Fychan.

Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you to the First Minister for his welcome to us as brand-new Members to the Senedd.

The Scottish Government has a Cabinet Secretary responsible for culture and one responsible for sport. The Westminster Government has a Secretary of State responsible for culture and sport. But, despite your comments on culture and sport at the beginning of this session, once again, here in Wales, we have a Deputy Minister with responsibility for culture and sport. Why are culture and sport less important to the Welsh Government than to other Governments?

Congratulations too to Heledd Fychan on her election to the Senedd and for speaking on the floor of the Senedd this afternoon.

The purpose of devolution is to give options for the best way to do things in Scotland in the hands of people in Scotland, and to place those powers in our hands here in Wales. The way that we work as a Government is entirely different to the way that the Government in Westminster works.

There will be a powerful voice within Government for the new Minister responsible for culture and sport. As we've done over the years—. The point isn't about status in this area; the point is that the Minister will have all of the powers to speak up for culture and sport. I am entirely confident that the Deputy Minister will be successful and will be able to represent the people who work in those areas, who enjoy going to see people playing sport or seeing actors in our theatres, and so on. That is what is most important for me—namely, the impact of the person who does the work, not just the status.

First Minister, I'd like to congratulate you on the gender balance of your Government, which is obviously something I completely applaud. I'm rather disappointed to see that there's not a single woman on the Conservative benches here this afternoon. Clearly, there will need to be some hard work done to replace such excellent people as, say, Suzy Davies and Angela Burns, who will be sorely missed.

I wanted to just explore the innovative housing grants that we've been awarding throughout the last two Parliaments and on what basis that enables us to ensure that all new housing is built to zero carbon standards, not just the social housing that you've already alluded to, and therefore what plans your Government may have to amend Part L to ensure that private house builders are not building housing that is of a much lower standard than what we are building for social housing to rent.

One of the most urgent considerations for my constituents is the fact that we have many, many European citizens who are living a life in limbo because of the failure of the Home Office to grant them settled status. This is not just the 94-year-old woman who has lived nearly 60 years in this country, paying her taxes, and is now uncertain as to whether she can be assured of NHS care at the end of her life, which is an absolute disgrace; it's also about huge numbers of other people who are endeavouring to make a contribution to the economy and, in some cases, are being told that they are unable to go on courses to enable them to qualify, for example, as teaching assistants, because they're told that they still haven't got the correct settled status. So, I wondered if you could tell us who in your Government can approach the Home Office and the UK Government to find out when they are going to resolve these really disgraceful cases, which seem to be just a continuation of the Windrush scandal.   

Well, Llywydd, I'm very proud to lead a Government where two thirds of Ministers are women. Indeed, my party will continue the tradition of the Senedd in making sure that representation in this Senedd reflects the Wales that we live in. 

I'm very glad that we've had the innovative housing grant now for a number of years. Inevitably, when you are trying things out for the first time, innovative building methods are going to cost more until you're able to make them happen on a larger scale. That's why we have the grant. It's to enable innovation to take place, and then to apply the successful innovation on that larger scale. That is why we are confident that the 20,000 homes for social rent that we will build during this Senedd term will be housing of the future, creating as much energy, for example, as they consume.

Now, we began the process in the last Senedd term of reforming the housing regulations, and there is more to do. There will be more action taken by this Government to make sure that those standards of house building are applied generally and not just in an innovative context.

As for the points that Jenny Rathbone made about European citizens living here in Wales, I entirely share her sense of frustration, and more than that, at the way in which individuals who have made their homes in Wales, who have made huge contributions to Wales, now find themselves feeling that all of that has been undermined. We have put nearly £2 million into the funds of Citizens Advice in Wales to provide advice to people about acquiring settled status. We've provided nearly £0.5 million to Newfields Law, a specialist firm, to make sure that where people's circumstances are particularly complicated, they get that extra level of assistance to find their way through the new thickets that the UK Government has created for them.

I urge the Home Office, as we have many times, to take a properly flexible and human approach to this, not continually to be setting deadlines that mean that people find themselves fearful that they will be on the wrong side of an arbitrary date and denied all the rights that they have quite properly and legally enjoyed up until now. Here in Wales we celebrate the fact that we have people from other parts of the world who come here and make their futures part of our future, and anything that undermines that sense is surely to be regretted.

Thank you very much to the First Minister for addressing the Senedd this afternoon, and congratulations on forming a Government, and to the Llywydd for your re-election to your post last week. It's an absolute pleasure to address the Senedd for the first time as the first Conservative Member of the Vale of Clwyd, and I'd like to thank my predecessor, Ann Jones, for representing the constituency since 1999.

So, First Minister, the Vale of Clwyd in north Wales, like many parts of Wales, has been hit hard by the pandemic, particularly in areas such as the tourism, hospitality and leisure sectors. You say you're the Government of recovery, but you've failed to appoint a tourism Minister. How can you assure my constituents that their businesses will receive the attention and support they need to recover from the pandemic and prosper in a post-COVID Wales? Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Well, I thank Mr Davies for what he said and congratulate him, and for taking the opportunity to speak in the Senedd this afternoon. On his specific point, I have made tourism a responsibility of the Minister for Economy, and I do so because of the recognition of the importance of tourism to the economy of so many parts of Wales, including north Wales. I think it is to the advantage of the tourism and hospitality industry that they are firmly located in the economic engine of this Government, making sure that the contribution that the industry can make to the future economies of those parts of Wales is recognised in the major responsibilities that my colleague Vaughan Gething will now be discharging.

Wouldn't it be better to introduce, in the next 18 months, a Holtham levy to tackle the growing crisis in social care rather than allowing our social care policy to be made in Westminster?

Llywydd, there's no intention to allow our policy to be made in Westminster, but sensible policy making in Wales depends upon the interface between devolved responsibilities and non-devolved responsibilities, as the Holtham report on social care makes abundantly clear. There are decisions that the UK Government could make in the benefit system that could result in Welsh money simply being substituted for money that comes from the UK Government. That would be in nobody's interests, including those people who work in and rely upon social care.

Sam Rowlands.

Diolch, Llywydd, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today as another new Member here in the Senedd. And congratulations, First Minister, and to you, Llywydd, on your reappointments this time around.

Thank you, First Minister, for your statement. Similar to previous speakers, I too have noted the omission of the title of tourism within the title of a Minister within your Cabinet, but thank you for clarifying the point in regard to where that does sit for the Minister for the economy. I do want to say a few words about the tourism industry, though. As you will be aware, and as you noted in your response to Gareth earlier, the tourism industry is hugely significant for north Wales, the region that I represent, employing around 40,000 people in the region alone, and contributing around £3.5 billion a year to the local economy. So, with that in mind, I would ask: what measures will you be looking to take to ensure that this sector is properly supported to bounce back following this COVID crisis?

Well, Llywydd, it's a pleasure to welcome Mr Rowlands to the Chamber; I look forward to the contributions that he will make, particularly given his previous experience as a leader of a local authority in Wales. I know that he will have some important things that he will be able to contribute to the way in which we think about that relationship and make it work for people in Wales in the future. He was, of course, responsible for a number of tourism-related activities when leader of Conwy County Borough Council.

Can I just gently urge Members, Llywydd, not to mistake the surface for the substance? The label is not as important as what is in the jar, and that is as true of tourism here as it was for arts and sports, raised earlier. The most important thing that we can do for the sector is to create conditions around coronavirus that mean that it can be open and stay open. And as he will know, as from Monday of this week, all parts of tourism are now able to be reopened, alongside indoor hospitality. And the biggest thing we can do for the sector is collectively to make sure that the conditions are sustained in Wales where that can continue to be the case. But I absolutely recognise, as does the whole Government, that while there are parts of tourism and hospitality that are now able to reopen, they're not able to trade in the way that they would have done prior to the pandemic. The £66 million that I was able to announce—the first decision I took following my reappointment as First Minister—is a down payment on the £200 million that we have set aside to go on supporting businesses. I know that the sector itself is keen that we now work with them to develop a more targeted way of making sure that that money goes primarily to those businesses who are not back up and trading at full capacity.

So, it was inevitable, back in March of last year or January of this year, with so many businesses closed, that a rather blunt instrument approach was needed to get money out from the Welsh Government and into the hands of many businesses. We're in a different position today, and want to be in a different position—more strongly—in the future, and that will mean making sure that more of the help we're able to offer goes to those businesses who are still in recovery, and discussions with the tourism sector and others will be the way in which we will be able to design our help in a way that gets to where it is most needed.

First Minister, you've clearly put together a ministerial team that illustrates a determination to address the two biggest challenges that we face now, and that we're going to continue to face for many years to come: the climate emergency and the need for greater social justice. And I think what most people yearn for in life is a sense of security—security of employment, a secure home, security for their family, for their community and for the environment. We need to start tackling some of those systems and behaviours that so damage the security and the stability of society in people's lives, and I know that your Government will do so.

I am delighted, First Minister, that you have retained the role of north Wales Minister, and I'm very pleased indeed that my friend and colleague Lesley Griffiths has taken that role. And I'm confident, First Minister, that under your leadership this will be a Government that is humble but ambitious, that is modest yet audacious, that is unifying but also purposeful and, above all, that is courageous. First Minister, it was a pleasure to serve in your Government in the previous administration. Would you join with me in thanking the civil servants who have and will continue to serve Ministers so well? Their efforts during the pandemic have been heroic. And finally, to all Ministers, many of whom I worked with in the previous administration, au revoir, pob lwc and make sure you take care of yourselves in order to take care of the country.

Well, Llywydd, what a pleasure to hear from our colleague Ken Skates in this, his first contribution from the backbenches. I thank him for what he said, for drawing attention to the way in which climate change and social justice are the main innovations in the construction of this Government, and reflect that sense of challenge and that sense of security and stability that we need to build into people's lives.

I share exactly what he said about the efforts that are made by civil servants, often unseen, and it's not fashionable often to thank them for what they do, but when I think of the £2 billion that, when he was the economy Minister, left the coffers of the Welsh Government and went directly to businesses in Wales, that was only possible because of teams of civil servants who worked not just during the week, but over weekends and long into evenings to design those systems that allowed that to happen. That is just one example of the way in which we are well served by that sense of public service here in Wales.

I thank him, as well, for what he said about north Wales. I want to build further on everything he did as the Minister for north Wales, because the manifesto of my party has so many exciting things for the future of north Wales in it, from the clinical school in the north-west of Wales, through the new national park that will include, I believe, parts of the Member's own constituency, to the rebuilding of Theatr Clwyd, that iconic building for north Wales, to everything that is going on in Wrexham to create a future for that town and to make it a centre for those things that we know its population value so much. There is so much that this Government wants to do for north Wales, and a Minister there to make sure that every Cabinet portfolio plays its part in delivering it is something I was very keen to retain.

Finally, John Griffiths.

Diolch, Llywydd. I would like to congratulate the First Minister on his reappointment and his ministerial appointments, and also welcome the sense of urgency that he stressed in terms of governing Wales and implementing the programme for government. I think it is very consistent with what the First Minister has said about building back fairer and greener, through and beyond the pandemic, that we now have a Minister for Social Justice and also a powerhouse climate change department, including transport and housing. I think that augurs well for that fairer and greener approach, but I very much welcome what the First Minister said about the need for urgency in dealing with these challenges that matter so much for our communities across Wales.

And I'd just perhaps like some clarity from the First Minister in terms of responsibility for international affairs. I welcome what the First Minister said regarding his statement on the situation in Palestine and Israel. Communities in Newport East, particularly Muslim communities, are very concerned at what is happening at the moment. They want to see a ceasefire, they want to see a lasting and enduring peace, and they want to see talks and negotiations resuming towards that goal as quickly as possible. They note the overwhelming military strength of Israel in comparison to Palestine, and believe that carries with it a great responsibility to exercise greater caution than we are seeing at the moment with the loss of life in Gaza particularly. So, I welcome the First Minister speaking out, and I'd just like his reassurance that he will continue to do so on international matters when it matters so much to our communities here in Wales.

Can I thank John Griffiths for that important final contribution, Llywydd? Thank you to him for what he said about the way in which this Government is constructed to deliver that fairer, greener Wales for which he and I campaigned during the election period. There is an urgency about putting Wales back on track out of coronavirus. So many lives have been affected by it. I know how many times the Member has spoken on the floor of the Senedd here about the needs of our children and young people in education and what they have lost as a result of the pandemic. There is an urgency, isn’t there, to get on with the things that we have promised to do, that great catch-up programme we want to see in place so that the loss that those young people have suffered isn’t a permanent feature of their lives. I just wanted to thank him for recognising that.

During the election campaign, I had the privilege of being with John Griffiths in Newport East, in a part of the city where the community he referred to was very much in evidence. We had many opportunities to discuss with people that morning their view of Wales, its future and their part in it. He’s absolutely right; events in the middle east that trouble us all have a particular resonance for some of our fellow citizens. I agree with everything that John Griffiths said about the need for a resolution to what we have seen within the framework of international law, based on diplomacy rather than military activity. When there are interests in other parts of the world that have a direct impact on Welsh citizens, then of course we should make sure that we give voice to their concerns. 

Thank you, First Minister. We will now take a short break to allow some changeovers in the Siambr. If Members who are leaving could do so promptly so that we can clean the Chamber and welcome new Members into the Chamber. A brief break. 

Plenary was suspended at 14:32.

The Senedd reconvened at 14:40, with the Llywydd in the Chair.