Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you, Minister. We wholeheartedly support your statement from these benches, as we share your sentiments, your aims and objectives that you have outlined in your statement. Lowering the impact on the environment and fighting climate change needs to be at the heart of everything that we do now. We all have a responsibility to play our part to leave the world in the best condition that we possibly can for future generations, so the aim of making our children and young people's school environments net zero is absolutely the right thing to do, as is increasing their input in their developments. The additional costs are significant, though, and to achieve becoming net-zero schools, you will need an extra 10 or 15 per cent on top of the cost of building the school anyway.

We have seen really great commitments to the aim of net zero from our local authorities, and as a current councillor in Monmouthshire County Council, I should declare that, but I know that Monmouthshire County Council have shown their absolute commitment to achieving net zero by committing themselves to a net-zero carbon school in Abergavenny. But they're obviously going to struggle, in this current climate, to afford this ambition. Do you believe, Minister, that local authorities should have to struggle when their commitment to our shared objective is clear?

If this Government is truly committed to the objectives and desires set out in this statement, surely it is the Welsh Government that needs to cover all costs to boost new builds to being net zero and to enable schools to adapt to achieve the same goal. You say within your statement that you understand that achieving this goal may impact the overall costs of projects, with the significant costs that achieving net zero has, I think this, perhaps, is an understatement, Minister.

While your plans are ambitious, they are also desirable, but they will be destined to fail, Minister, without making additional funding available to schools and local authorities for the biodiversity projects and electric vehicle charging facilities among the myriad of other changes you expect to be made in any new plans. On top of the extra costs for schools to become net zero, establishing new baseline requirements from 2022 onwards will all come with a cost attached. Who is going to foot this bill? You say that you're expanding the net-zero carbon pilot, but how long for? Only for the next two years and this current wave under band B, or will this continue through band C at 100 per cent? And will there be a band C? I think we need a bit more clarity on that, Minister, please. And when will you be in a position to set out what your plans will be for that band C if it is to continue so that local authorities are able to prepare?

Band B of twenty-first century schools, of course, was announced in 2017. Local authorities submitted their strategic outline plans for the schools they wanted to build or renovate between 2019-24. Net zero was not even then amongst the terms and conditions, and many of these schools have now been completed. And while I agree with you that those in development should be now net zero, the reality is that this will add an extra 10 to 15 per cent on top of the cost, as I’ve said, which is quite a hefty price tag. So, can you confirm, Minister, whether the Welsh Government will cover those additional costs?

You’ve announced also that new schools will be net zero by the month after next. What about schools that are already under construction? These schools have been in development for years. Their plans can’t change just on a whim, however newsworthy and welcome such a statement today might be. Whilst some schools benefit from the twenty-first century schools programme, the percentage of the overall estate is really small still. So, Minister, in order to achieve our joint aims, all schools need adaptations and money to become net zero. So, how does the Minister envisage a programme to help more schools become energy efficient—retrofitting old boilers, installing LED lighting and installing sources of power?

Working with our children and young people on these projects is absolutely fundamental to success, as you’ve outlined, and I totally agree with you on that, and it’s fantastic that sustainability is embedded in our new curriculum. I’d welcome the idea for a sustainable schools challenge fund that you’ve just announced and its intentions, but how much money is going to be in this fund, Minister? Roughly how many schools will be able to take up the fund, as isn’t this something you want all schools to achieve, not just the few that, perhaps, will benefit from achieving it? Although this sounds great, we need more detail, and I look forward to that detail, going forward.

Some of the schools that have come out of this joint collaborative working with local authorities, the WLGA, schools and colleges across Wales have produced some incredible schools. I visited Monmouth, in Caldicot Comprehensive School, in my colleague Peter Fox’s constituency recently, and they’re really impressive. Is there going to be extra funding for them to now develop further to get that net-zero status? It’s not fair to, once again, issue directives from this Welsh Government at this late stage in the scheme and put new financial burdens on local authorities and schools. So, I’m hoping that you can now confirm to me, Minister, that your objectives laid out in this statement will actually, even though you haven’t stated it, be backed up with moneys to cover all costs to cover all aims and objectives. Thank you.