Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion before us today.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) Regulations 2020 set out the legislative framework for the four alert levels described in the coronavirus management plan. Since February, and until recently, we have seen improvements in the situation in Wales. The number of cases of coronavirus and the number who are hospitalised as a result of the virus had been falling. This has enabled us to make substantial changes to the restrictions, allowing people to enjoy more freedoms with every review held. As the regulations note, the restrictions do have to be reviewed on a three-weekly basis. In the review on 4 June, because of initial concerns about the spread of the delta variant, a decision was taken that the decision to move to alert level 1 would be made in a phased manner. We said that we would review the situation within that same review period, and an additional review was held a fortnight later.

I want to apologise if this contribution sounds very similar to the debate that we had last week. Last week, I did provide an update on the announcement made by the First Minister. But, today, there is an opportunity for us to formally agree the changes to those regulations, in a formal manner whereby the Senedd gives them its stamp of approval. As the First Minister announced on 18 June, repeating the message in his press conference of last Friday, we have agreed to pause any major relaxations until the review on 15 July. The reason for this is the increase in coronavirus cases the length and breadth of Wales, and the ongoing uncertainty about the delta variant. Similar action plans have been adopted across the UK.