Item 4 is the 90-second statements. The first of those is from Peredur Owen Griffiths.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. It gives me great pleasure to stand here in the Senedd today to speak about an important milestone for Blaenau Gwent.

In 1971, in the home of Joyce Morgan of Six Bells, Abertillery town band was founded. Now, 50 years on, the band is celebrating their half century with a special concert this Saturday at the Met in Abertillery town centre, featuring guest artist Dan Thomas, who is the principal euphonium player for the internationally acclaimed Black Dyke Band. I will be there, and I cannot wait to hear the band playing live once again.

Over the last five decades, much has changed for the people of Blaenau Gwent, but Abertillery town band has been a familiar and reassuring constant throughout those years. They have been an outlet for aspiring musicians, drawn from all over the county borough and beyond. They have taken absolute beginners, and with hard work, practice and dedication, made fantastic players out of them.

During this Saturday's concert, there will be the inaugural performance of a special composition, dedicated to the mining heritage of the valley, which will also remember the Six Bells mining disaster of 1960 that killed 45 miners. This concert encapsulates what institutions like Abertillery town band do best: they bring together communities, they keep alive our traditions whilst remembering our heritage, and they also keep one eye firmly on the future. With that in mind, I wish them all the very best for this weekend's concert, and I wish them all the best for the next 50 years. Diolch yn fawr.

Llywydd, this year marks the fortieth anniversary of Seren Books, based in my constituency of Bridgend. Seren is Wales's leading, independent literary publisher, specialising in writings from across our nation. With publications spanning from poetry, fiction and non-fiction, I am proud of the award-winning work that the team has brought to us and the international stage. To quote them in their own words:

'Our aim is not simply to reflect what is going on in the culture...but to drive that culture forward, to engage with the world, and to bring Welsh literature, art and politics before a wider audience.'

On this special anniversary, I want to pay special tributes to Cary Archard, the founder of Seren, the first employee, Mick Felton, who remains the current manager, non-fiction editor and fiction editor, and lastly, Seren's poetry editor, Amy Wack, who is stepping down this month after more than 30 years. Your team's dedication to the art of literature is what drives the success of Seren forward. And let me also mention our very own Seren-published writers from Bridgend and Porthcawl: Rhian Edwards, whose collections includes Clueless Dogs and The Estate Agent's Daughter; Robert Minhinnick, a poet, novelist, essayist and local environmental campaigner, and Kristian Evans, a writer, who has edited a collection of poems, along with Zoё, called 100 Poems to Save the Earth, which I think is very apt during COP26.

So, as we celebrate 40 years, I know we can look forward to many more talented and dedicated individuals and their work brought to us through Seren Books.

At 5.13 p.m. on Thursday 8 November 2001, many people across Wales would have been having their tea. However, in Port Talbot, it was a moment in time that rocked the steelworks and the communities around it, as an explosion occurred in Blast Furnace No. 5. The explosion was so powerful that it bodily lifted the furnace, weighing approximately 5,000 tonnes, over 0.75 metres into the air, before returning to its position. On that evening, three steelworkers lost their lives, 12 workers were severely injured and several others suffered minor injuries. The three men who died—Andrew Hutin, aged 20, Stephen Galsworthy, aged 25 and Len Radford, aged 53—like all of the steelworkers, went into work that day expecting to be going home at the end of their shifts, but this tragic event meant that they never went home. Their loss reminded us of the dangers facing steelworkers every day.

The Health and Safety Executive reported that while

'the outcome of the explosion was unprecedented in the steel-making industry'— it—

'was the result of many failings in safety management...over an extended period.'

Twenty years on, we must never forget these three steelworkers nor the cause of their deaths. It is our duty as politicians to do everything we can to ensure that safety at work is not simply a watchword, but a right and an expectation of every worker, whether that be in steelworks, a factory or any other setting. This tragic event will live not only with steelworkers and the people of Port Talbot, but must live with all of us. Today, our thoughts go to the families and friends of Andrew, Stephen and Len, and I call for you all not to forget them.

Thank you, all, very much. We will now take a short break to allow for some changeovers in the Chamber, and we will ring the bell two minutes before we recommence.

Plenary was suspended at 15:19.

The Senedd reconvened at 15:28, with the Deputy Presiding Officer (David Rees) in the Chair.