Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I move the motion before us. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No.5) (Wales) Regulations 2020 put in place the legislative framework for the alert levels described in the coronavirus control plan. Officials are working hard to update the current control plan to cover the autumn and winter period. Across Wales we’ve recently seen transmission of COVID-19 increase, as has the percentage of people testing positive. While evidence continues to indicate that the link between cases and hospitalisations has weakened thanks to the vaccination programme, it has not been broken. Pressure on hospitals has been rising steadily and wider pressures continue to impact our health and social care system.

The First Minister was clear in his announcement on 17 September that, whilst we’re able to remain at alert level 0, there is a need to take early action to avoid longer term harms. On 27 September, draft amended regulations were laid that will require people to show an NHS COVID pass that will prove that they’ve been double vaccinated or demonstrate that they can produce a negative lateral flow test in the last 48 hours. They will need to produce this if they want to enter the following venues and events from 11 October: nightclubs and similar venues; indoor, non-seated events for more than 500 people, where people are mixing closely for prolonged periods; outdoor non-seated events for more than 4,000 people, where people will be mixing closely for prolonged periods; and any event of any nature that has more than 10,000 people in attendance. My officials have been working with stakeholders to ensure that they are ready to implement the systems next week, and we’ve prepared guidance to help the public understand why and how the system will work.

Llywydd, let me be clear: the COVID pass has already been used in Wales for some events over the summer, and some premises already require the pass to be shown as a condition of entry. This is not a vaccine passport, and people will have the opportunity to show that they've been fully vaccinated or they can provide evidence of a negative lateral flow test 48 hours before an event. I'm aware that the COVID pass currently states 'valid in England'. This is unfortunate and reflects the fact that we share the infrastructure with the UK Government. This wording will change before the system becomes mandatory in Wales. We are developing a Wales NHS app that will include our own NHS COVID pass as part of the digital services for patients and the public being delivered by Digital Health and Care Wales. This will be available early in 2022, and this will be available in Welsh as well.

Marriage, civil partnership and alternative wedding receptions, together with wakes, will be exempt from the COVID pass requirements, together with protests and mass participation events. I'm aware there have been some teething problems with the system in Scotland. Here in Wales, the COVID pass is already being used extensively, as it is in England. The NHS COVID pass has been in use in Wales for four months already, and has been downloaded and used by thousands of people already to access events and to travel abroad. We already have clear instructions on gov.wales on how to access the pass, and we'll continue to raise awareness of the use of the pass in future communications.

Can I be clear? We haven't taken the decision to introduce such measures lightly. Where we know that the rates amongst those under 25 are around 1,000 per 100,000 people, and that this age group is the most likely to attend some of these venues, in particular nightclubs, we are taking these measures to support venues to stay open and enable events to continue taking place through a potentially very difficult and challenging autumn and winter. Keeping these venues open is not an easy decision in the light of such high COVID rates.

As we head into winter, it's vital that we all work together to keep Wales safe. I'm pleased we've had the opportunity to debate this motion today, and I look forward to hearing Members' contributions. I urge Members to support the motion to keep Wales safe this autumn and winter. Diolch.