Thank you, Counsel General, for your statement this afternoon, in the absence of the First Minister. As someone who can remember, when I first came into this Chamber back in 2007, when people talked about legislation, we talked about legislative consent motions and consent Orders, and there was no surety as to what exactly could proceed—to now, a fully fledged legislature, where the Government does have the ability to bring legislation forward—this is an important statement, because it's conferring rights on citizens. That's why we pass legislation—it confers rights in legal terms on citizens to expect that in the delivery of services, or the environment, or any other aspect of life here in Wales. So, this statement should be read carefully and concisely, to understand exactly what the Government's aims are over the next year, anyway, that the Counsel General's outlined, but also for the remaining four years after that of this five-year Assembly term.

I would ask that, in the hope that the Counsel General can give us greater clarity at the start of our proceedings this afternoon—. The Presiding Officer touched on the backbench ballot that will happen in September about legislative proposals, and the Government aren't known in this institution for giving much oxygen to backbench legislation, very often killing that legislation at the first hurdle. So, I'd hope that maybe the Counsel General might be more generous today and give an indication that the Government would be supportive of legislative proposals to at least get to Stage 1 in their course here in the Assembly, because I do think it's important that Members do have an opportunity, as well as Government, to bring forward that legislation on important matters that the people of Wales have elected them here to understand and take forward on their behalf.

It is a regret that the legislative statement doesn't include any provisions for an autism Bill, mental health legislation, older people's rights, and there's nothing on planning, nothing on animal welfare, nothing even on the British Sign Language Bill that many of us were campaigning for throughout the Senedd election term that just happened. And again, we've seen a delay in the clean air Bill—'again', I use that word. It was part of the First Minister's election strategy, bid—call it what you will—to become First Minister and leader of Welsh Labour back in 2018, I think it was, and here we are in 2021, and many politicians made a commitment in the first year to bring forward such a piece of legislation, because we do recognise that nearly 2,000 people are dying prematurely here in Wales because of lack of legislation in this important area, and the statement doesn't give us any confidence when we might be able to see that Bill. That is a real concern, that is, because there is cross-party support to allow that legislation to see the light of day. So, I am bemused at why, in the euphoria of the election victory, the Government don't feel energised and empowered enough to come forward with a piece of legislation that this Assembly, this Parliament, should I say, could get stuck into. I would hope that the Counsel General will respond to that, because where is the clean air Bill that was promised in the leadership bid of the current First Minister, but also in manifestos that were put before the people of Wales, including the Welsh Labour manifesto, I might add?

You talk again about stolen powers from this institution, the Welsh Parliament. What are those powers that have been stolen, Counsel General? When I asked the First Minister last week he offered a pretty weak array of free ports, the Sewel convention and fishers. That was the best he could come up with. There has, in fact, been an enhancement of powers in the legislative field because of our leaving of the European Union—70-plus extra powers have come back to this Welsh Parliament and, by association, to the Welsh Government. So, come on—come through with something a bit stronger, or stop this myth that powers have been stolen from the Welsh Government. 

You talk about innovations ahead of the 2022 local government elections. That's only some nine months away, Counsel General. I'd be very pleased to try and understand what these innovations might entail, because I'm unaware of what innovations the Government has in mind, and I think we're deserving of a fuller explanation than just the word 'innovations' in the statement.

When it comes to the agricultural Bill that has been highlighted in the statement this afternoon, will you confirm that food security is at the heart of that Bill, because that is an important caveat in any support and legislative change that is needed in the agricultural sector. I hope that you will be in a position to confirm such momentum in the Government's thinking on its legislative proposals around the agricultural Bill. 

Finally, can the Counsel General confirm—and this isn't a dig at the Government, because I think it's a genuine concern, because the First Minister did touch on this in the closing months of the last Parliament—that there are capacity issues because of, obviously, the regulations that have to be laid because of the COVID crisis, around the legislative capacity of the Government? And I'd be pleased to understand what measures the Government have put in place to allow a legislative programme to come forward. We can disagree on that programme, but it is important that we can understand and have confidence that the Government does have the capacity to bring forward legislative proposals that it committed to in its manifesto, rather than, at the end of the five-year term, looking back and suddenly realising that two, three, four, five or six of those proposals haven't seen the light of day because of the capacity issues within Welsh Government, and I say that, hopefully, in a helpful way, not in a detracting way. Thank you, Counsel General.