The next item is item 8, the Curriculum for Wales, relationships and sexuality education code, and I call on the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language to move the motion—Jeremy Miles.

Motion NDM7864 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves that the draft The Curriculum for Wales – Relationships and Sexuality Education Code is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 23 November 2021.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Llywydd. I am very pleased to move the relationships and sexuality education code for consideration by the Senedd.

We need to help our children and young people to go from strength to strength in all aspects of life, so that they grow to be adults who are healthy and confident individuals. Relationships and sexuality education has a positive and protective role to play in education. Schools and other settings have an important role to deliver in terms of creating a safe and empowering environment that supports the rights of learners to enjoy healthy and safe relationships throughout their lives.

We also know that children and young people who have strong relationships and positive views of themselves and who can understand and control their emotions and well-being are better placed to achieve their full potential in the future. Relationships and sexuality education will place these principles at the core of learning. We want our young people to prosper so that they can respond positively to a world that is changing and to be ready for the life that's facing them.

The Deputy Presiding Officer took the Chair.

Children have the right to access information that keeps them safe from harm and that allows them to navigate the complex world we live in—one that is very different to the world that we grew up in. As a society, we're becoming ever more aware of advances in technology, including the rising influence of social media and increased use of digital communications and devices. In this context, RSE is an important support in enabling learners to navigate these changes and to keep them safe from harm.

There's also an important role for RSE to respond to a wide range of alarming issues and challenges that young people face, which have been highlighted more recently, whether it's staying safe online, peer-on-peer sexual harassment, or the exposure of children and young people to sexual imagery and pornography. It's essential that our learners have an understanding of these issues, but it is also essential that we support them to be safe in an inclusive environment that is supportive of all children and that we equip our teachers and practitioners to deal with these issues. We have maintained that all learning in RSE should be developmentally appropriate and the phases outlined within the code are a guide to give practitioners an understanding of what is likely to be developmentally appropriate. Promoting and supporting healthy relationships is already a key part of our approach to end violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, and has already informed the new Curriculum for Wales. The Welsh Government’s new draft VAWDASV strategy will run alongside the new relationships and sexuality education code and statutory guidance.

More broadly, we continue to promote healthy relationships in the way we support families and vulnerable individuals. By promoting a consistent concept of what healthy relationships look like, we will support our whole-society approach to end the abuse of women and girls in Wales. Our new strategy for VAWDASV will be delivered through a genuine partnership approach, including education, health, police, specialist services, and survivors to create the blueprint for action.

On 26 November, I wrote to Members of the Senedd, sharing the draft RSE statutory guidance. Within this guidance, which must be read with the code, Members will note it is clear that the approach to RSE should be positive, protective and preventative, considering how learners can be supported to have the knowledge to recognise all forms of discrimination, violence, abuse and neglect, including violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. A link is included to a toolkit of resources to support schools and settings on the issue of violence against women and girls.

I would like to particularly pay tribute to and thank organisations such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Welsh Women’s Aid and others for their continued support for mandatory RSE and their input over recent months as we strengthen this area of learning within the statutory guidance and code, which will support learners’ safety by enabling them to recognise unsafe or harmful relationships and situations.

Estyn’s recent report on peer-on-peer sexual harassment in education settings is very challenging to read, and the prevalence of peer-on-peer sexual harassment in our society amongst young people is unacceptable. It is also clear that violence against women and girls is far too common, and I strongly believe that mandatory RSE will help support learners to form and maintain a range of healthy relationships based on mutual trust and respect. Estyn’s report also highlighted that our LGBTQ+ pupils have substantial personal experiences of verbal, homophobic harassment. Any form of bullying is completely unacceptable.

RSE will be realised, Dirprwy Llywydd, in a way that is inclusive, in accordance with the principles of equality. This helps ensure that all learners can see themselves, their families, their communities and each other reflected across the curriculum and can learn to value difference and diversity as a source of strength. This, of course, includes gender equity and LGBTQ+ inclusivity. This contributes to a cohesive, fair and equitable society that equips learners with the skills for life. We are clear that effective RSE requires specialist expertise, time and resources. This will ensure a supportive environment is created to enable learners and practitioners to be safe, in order to discuss and learn about issues that may be sensitive or challenging.

A key priority for us over the coming months will be to support schools and setting ahead of the implementation of RSE. A national plan for professional learning for RSE is currently being developed with practitioners and partners. Earlier this year I announced a budget of £100,000 to support the development of high-quality RSE resources, which will help develop teachers’ confidence and understanding in delivering high-quality, inclusive RSE. We are in dialogue with key stakeholders and practitioners to identify any gaps and to commission new, high-quality resources, where required, to support that implementation. Our national network conversations with the sector will also provide an opportunity to discuss RSE implementation further.

I wish to thank the practitioners within the RSE working group for their hard work and for their dedication and commitment in developing this code. I’d also like to offer thanks to the organisations spanning religion, rights, stakeholders representing children’s interests, and experts for their involvement in developing this code. You are far too many in number to name individually, but my thanks is no less personal. I am so proud that this RSE code commands so much consensus and support from across civic society. I look forward to the contributions in the debate and to dialogue with Members on this important area of learning. Diolch yn fawr iawn.    

Firstly, I think it’s quite frankly appalling that we have a mere 30 minutes to debate something that is so fundamentally important, in the last week of recess.

There is so much wrong with the code in its current form, and the guidance, which is of extreme importance and a guide to our teachers. This vital guidance, initially missing, this Government published late last night. To be scrutinised properly, a mere 30-minute debate is an insult to the Senedd, the parents, teachers and children across Wales.

Deputy Presiding Officer, before I attempt to address the multitude of concern from these benches, I thank the Presiding Officer for previously recognising the importance of this debate and allowing more flexibility with timings, which I hope that you will extend to my contribution, as sufficient time needs to be allocated for this to be scrutinised and debated sufficiently. It is vital that we get this right and it's not rushed through, as this will hugely impact on generations of children in Wales.

We all want high-quality, safe, age-appropriate, fully inclusive, scientifically accurate relationship and sex education for our children. The new curriculum will provide a unique opportunity for us to finally address some of the current pressing issues of our day and educate them to promote healthy relationships, awareness, and to protect our children. We welcome this. However, we need to get it right. They need to be the right messages, the right content, delivered by fully trained teachers or outside bodies that adhere to strict guidelines set. Therefore, these guidelines and the code need to be clear and based in reality. Even the title concerns me—removing the word 'sex' from the title of RSE and replacing it with 'sexuality'—as does removing all references to 'girl', 'boy', 'woman'. It is ridiculously confusing, dangerous to limit using gender, and strikes me as a Government more concerned in promoting ideology than teaching our children facts and protecting them. The omission of any terms of gender in the code is quite frankly staggering. What has been presented is not fact-based, biologically accurate sex education but an indoctrination of children in gender-identity ideology. The erasure of 'sex' undermines safeguarding, erodes the concept of privacy, boundaries and consent, putting girls particularly at risk—a code where girls and women are invisible, apart from references to their bodily functions, is more than counterintuitive. Girls and women exist, and it's staggering that a small minority are trying to erase us from society.

Our priority needs to be safeguarding children, presenting them with the facts in an age-appropriate manner. I wholeheartedly agree with the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, who has spoken out against this code today, and I reiterate her calls and think that it would be a completely reasonable step to specifically and clearly include the need for understanding about the gendered basis of violence and the specific gendered issues for healthy relationships to be included on the face of the RSE code. And, reacting to a rebuttal from the Government, it is true that Acts have been referenced in these documents, namely the Equality Act 2010 and the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015, but, beyond that, there is nothing at all in the learning outcomes that has the power to alter current male patterns or attitudes to sexual and domestic violence. Given these crimes are increasing, especially in schools, as you know, Minister, it is vital to grasp the opportunity now to address this. Likewise, the Equality Act has been referenced. I could go on, but, Deputy Presiding, there's no time. But, essentially, the purpose of this Act is eroded in this code. The success of this code will depend on buy-in and co-operation from parents, carers, families and teachers across Wales, but these are a hard-to-follow, confused and not factually correct code and guidance, using ill-defined terms that have no basis in law and, I believe, will not get that buy-in.

So far, this Welsh Government have wilfully ignored a multitude of concerns raised in the initial draft, and the guidance still fails to address a variety of issues. There is still no mention of the standards required for third-party suppliers or deliverers of educational material, which, in my opinion, needs to be approved by Estyn. The language in the code remains desexed, incorrect and confusing, which could actually have an adverse effect, Minister. I'd like to go on, but, again, not enough time. And still no inclusion of the impact on society and individuals of pornography—age appropriately, of course. In fact, age appropriateness is one of the most important things we need to ensure throughout these documents. But, due to the easiness and growing trend of sharing images on social media, as we've spoken about recently in the Senedd, this needs to be addressed.

Finally, Deputy Presiding Officer, there remain many glaring and obvious omissions in these documents, and it's highly confusing in content and is not fit for purpose. It is fundamental that this guidance needs to be clear, concise and watertight if it is going to be a guide to teaching RSE consistently across Wales and if it's going to have the desired effect. If this code goes through as it stands, I warn this Senedd it will not address the issues it sets out to, it will not address what this Government itself wants to address, and it will not be a worthy contribution to improving the lives of the next generations of Welsh children. We the Welsh Conservatives will be voting against this today, and I urge the Senedd to follow suit. I hope that this guidance can be brought back, and revised, to the Senedd in the new year and scrutinised properly, as it deserves and should be. Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister for the statement. I'm very pleased to contribute to this important debate on behalf of Plaid Cymru. This is such a crucial aspect of the new curriculum, and an aspect that we have been consistently supportive of throughout the journey of the new curriculum through the Senedd, as it will hopefully lead to a historic opportunity to nurture attitudes and respect for equality in our society in relation to sex, gender and sexuality.

I'm very pleased to note that RSE has received widespread support from practitioners and teachers alike, as well as public bodies and parents. Those who responded to the consultation on the draft code were generally supportive of the general approach to dealing with RSE, with positive responses to the approach taken steered by various different viewpoints. Many of those who responded understood that providing relationships and sexuality education would be effective in supporting the well-being of children and young people and in promoting the rights of the child, and that the provision reflects or builds on current teaching practice in schools.

In terms of the well-being of children and young people, it was recognised that appropriate provision would provide opportunities for them to develop their information, their skills and their confidence in examining their social spheres confidently, and would safeguard their emotional and physical health. Ultimately, the aim, of course, is that it will enable children and young people to find their way confidently and safely within a society that is continually changing—a society that is very different to the one that we were brought up in, as the Minister said.

In addition, relationships and sexuality education was considered crucial in providing an understanding and appreciation of relationships based on respect, and in providing balanced, unbiased information that can protect and empower young people—an idea that is further supported by the added emphasis on the rights of the child within these proposals, which emerge from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Following the consultation on the draft code, changes have been made, and these have been outlined partially by the Minister. So, I would hope that the Minister could provide more detail on these changes, the rationale behind the changes to the code and how he believes these changes will have a positive impact or will strengthen the provision of relationship and sexuality education. 

Positives aside, certain issues that pertain to relationships and sexuality remain prevalent in Welsh society, and I hope that, in responding to this debate, the Minister can shed some light on how this aspect of the curriculum will help remedy these problems. As we heard in a recent Estyn report, it was found that pupils are pressured regularly to send nude photos, and girls harassed over the length of their skirts. In this regard, about half of secondary pupils said they had experienced sexual harassment from fellow pupils, that twice as many girls said they had faced sexual harassment from boys, while 46 of those who'd experienced it decided not to tell anyone else. It's shocking, but not entirely surprising to see that 71 per cent of male pupils and 82 per cent of female pupils had reported seeing peer-on-peer sexual harassment in secondary schools.

We welcome the whole-education approach taken to ending misogyny and violence against women and girls in the new curriculum. And in light of these alarming findings in the Estyn report, it's clearer than ever that we need robust RSE provision in our curriculum, and that this provision empowers pupils to trust their teachers, stand up to their peers and report all forms of sexual harassment. The Minister's response to this debate could hopefully clarify how RSE provision could go about remedying this horrible and ongoing problem in our schools.

As the Minister referenced in his statement, Estyn inspectors also found that many LGBTQ+ pupils had substantial personal experiences of homophobic bullying and harassment, with most LGBTQ+ pupils surveyed by Estyn saying they felt only a few teachers would do anything about it if they heard homophobic slurs being used against them. It's concerning to note that some of the more oppositional consultation responses often masked prejudice and discriminatory attitudes against transgender people, so I'd like to go on record and reaffirm my and my party's commitment to ensure that LGBTQ+ voices and experiences need to be heard and affirmed, and our continuing promise to actively promote LGBTQ+ rights. In responding to this debate, I'd appreciate it if the Minister could further explain how the RSE code will help LGBTQ+ students, as well as their colleagues and teachers, to create a more understanding, empowering and compassionate environment in our schools. 

I also believe that—

You need to conclude now.

In conclusion, I also think that we need to look at how other subjects within the new curriculum would strengthen or would enforce RSE in its core aims. Plaid Cymru has long campaigned to see more emphasis on Welsh history, including the LGBTQ+ history of Wales, in the new curriculum, and I'm pleased to see reference to this in our co-operation agreement with the Government. It is crucial that pupils learn about the historic context, how we got to where we are today as a society, if they are to understand and find their way within that society. So, I'd like to know, in conclusion, how RSE is to be reflected and supported by other subjects within the curriculum, such as history. Thank you.

I'll be voting against the Welsh Government's relationships and sexuality education code today. As the Minister will be well aware from debates that were held in the previous Senedd, I regard parents as the primary educators of their children, not the state, and I believe that the Welsh Government's removal of the parental right to withdraw their children from sex education lessons was a massive retrograde step for parental rights and choice, and, given the fact that parents can no longer withdraw their children from sex education lessons, it is absolutely critical that the new RSE code is as respectful and accommodating as possible to the wide variety of views that people hold on this very important subject. But I regret that the code before us today and the draft statutory guidance that was shared with Members late this morning do not do that. What is clear is that the Welsh Government is trying to disguise a controversial set of ideas over which there's a great deal of debate as some sort of settled catalogue of truths that all pupils in the country should be taught. But the reality is far from that. The reality is that there's a great deal of debate, even within the LGBTQ+ community, on the impact that the code may have, particularly on women's rights, and there are real concerns that the views of faith and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities across Wales risk being demonised and discriminated against.

The code is very heavy on respect, but it's clear that that respect does not seem to extend to many Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, members of other faiths, members of the LGBTQ+ community or those whose views may be at odds with those espoused by the Welsh Government. The evidence suggests that the code and the draft guidance have been influenced heavily from a particularly woke ideological viewpoint, and the draft guidance in particular screams 'woke'. Out of the 4,000 words of which it's comprised, we see the words 'male' mentioned just once; 'female' twice, both in relation to female genital mutilation; 'men' doesn't appear at all, and neither do the words 'girl', 'boy', 'straight' or 'heterosexual'. Any relationships and sexuality education code that seeks to avoid these words simply isn't worth the paper it's written on.

Now, as the Government of the day, I respect that you have the right to design the curriculum in the way that you see fit, but you do not have the right to teach children as young as 11 an inappropriate, sexually loaded curriculum, promoting an understanding of how of how all are entitled to, and I quote, 'pleasurable relationships'. Doing that without parental consent, in my view, is wholly unacceptable, so I urge all Members today to reject this code and the draft guidance emanating from it, and I urge the Welsh Government to go back to the drawing board, to engage more with parents, to engage more with faith communities and a more diverse range of voices from the LGBTQ+ community. Develop a new code that addresses their concerns, I urge you.

I respectfully disagree with Darren Millar. I think it's really, really terrible for children's rights if they don't know what's happening to them when they're going through puberty. Why is it that so many girls have no idea what is going to happen to them when they start their period? And that is just shocking, and very frightening and unnecessarily slow. And we really do live in the worst of all worlds, where sex is used to sell everything, whether it's harmful pornography or it's to sell the latest shoes, or the football, or a car. So, we absolutely have to get to grips with this, as we saw in Meilyr Rowlands's devastating report on what we already knew was happening—the peer-on-peer sexual harassment that goes on through people's smartphones and other online platforms. It's really, really uncomfortable, and most of this bullying and sexual harassment doesn't go on in schools, it's going on outside school, although it may well be going on in school too. But it really, really underlines the importance of the collaborative partnership with families, as well as the right of the young person to get some sense into different relationships that both children and adults have. This is the reality of their lives, and if we're not explaining to them how they may wish to explore their personality and their sexuality, without giving them any context for all the other horrible things that sex is used for, to corrupt people's heads as well as their lives—. We really have to take this matter really, really seriously. And I have confidence in the ability of teachers to address this matter in an age-appropriate way that gives people comfort that there's nothing unusual about their particular family situation, because it comes in all shapes and sizes, whilst we are having commercial interests who are targeting children and young people and getting them to think about things in a way that is totally artificial and harmful.

So, we really do have to address this, because otherwise we are going to have people growing up thinking that sex is all about being brutal and violent, and absolutely it is not. It's all about being loving, and firm friendships and respect for each other. So, we really do have a big problem here, and I suppose my question today to the Minister is whether or not he thinks that we should be banning smartphones in schools and really advising parents it is not a great idea to be giving smartphones to young people where they can access all the harmful stuff that goes on on the internet that's, at the moment, sadly, completely uncontrolled. 

The draft of this RSE code is a vast improvement on the one sent out with the consultation. However, as it stands today we can't support it. We do still have some huge concerns, which I hope the Minister can address, and bring back a revised code that all in this Chamber can support. 

The guiding principle of the relationships and sexuality education code, at least according to the Act, is that RSE lessons must be developmentally appropriate for learners. I am concerned that this code fails to adequately demonstrate how this can and will be achieved. The fact that schools and early years settings will have to decide what is developmentally appropriate for each child places undue burdens on those settings. How are schools and early years settings equipped to make those decisions? Teachers are not experts in child development, yet they are being asked to analyse each child and make a determination of their stage of development. This code has been developed with broad-stroke phases, which, according to the document itself,

'have been designed to give practitioners an understanding of what is likely to be developmentally appropriate.'

And this is not good enough. 

It is also concerning that, within classes or year groups, children could be taught differently, as they are at different stages of development, but it is not clear that there will be safeguards in place to prevent children accessing material that is not developmentally appropriate for them. The lack of safeguards makes this whole code unsuitable. That, together with the fact that we are being asked to improve the code without ever seeing the accompanying guidance—

Gareth, could you hang on a second? Joyce Watson, do you want to make an intervention? Joyce, do you want to make an intervention? I can see you're signalling.

Yes, I do. Thank you.

Apologies for that. I didn't see you.

Gareth, will you take an intervention?

Well, I'm nearly finished. I'm near as finished, Deputy Llywydd, so I'm not sure there'd be much point, really.

It's your choice, Gareth.

No, I'm nearly concluded, Deputy Llywydd.

Okay, thank you. Joyce, sorry. Go on, Gareth.

Yes. We're being asked to approve the code without even seeing the accompanying guidance, which means that there is no way that we can approve this code today, and I urge Members to reject the Government's motion and call upon Ministers to redraft the RSE code with some stronger evidence. Thank you very much.

I must also say that I'm disappointed that just 30 minutes has been tabled for this really important item this evening now, and also disappointed that that draft guidance was only published late last night. It does make it difficult to properly scrutinise a really important area of work. That aside, whilst much of the intention of the code presented today may be good, I do share Members' concerns with the lack of acknowledgement and the lack of a clearly identified role of parents in their responsibility in educating and supporting their children.

First and foremost, it's a parent's responsibility to ensure that their children are educated in the way that they see is best and most appropriate for their child and it's important to remember that parents are ultimately responsible for their child's education and well-being, and it's parents who know their children best, and the role of Government is to support parents in undertaking this amazing privilege and this great responsibility. So, with this in mind, it's deeply concerning that, under this code, parents won't have a choice in this very personal and very important area of learning—right from the young age of three years old, the state will have that intervention, with no choice of parents there.

And indeed, I've had a number of teachers actually contact me regarding their concerns at this shift from a traditional parent-led model of education to now much more responsibility and pressure being put on them as teachers. So, aside from that parental choice, I've also had teachers getting in touch to express their concern about the lack of protection afforded to girls and women in this code, and I'd like to quote from one teacher who wrote to me on this matter, and they said:

'The Welsh Government are promoting an ideology in our schools which is not supported by strong evidence. Teachers should be supported in helping to make sure that our pupils are given age-appropriate and scientifically accurate relationship and sex education. We should also be supporting the Equality Act 2010, where sex is a protected characteristic and the provision of single-sex services, spaces and protections are permitted to ensure women's safety, privacy and dignity.'

That's a quote there from a teacher who wrote to me on this issue. And I think this teacher highlights a really important point, which I hope the Minister will take time to reflect on and bring back a better version of what's in front of us here today.

So, in light of this, and my significant concern in relation to the general direction of travel in pushing aside parent-centric education, I'll be voting against this rushed and ill-thought-out code, which will take responsibility away from parents and put more pressure on our teachers. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

I call on the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language to reply.

Deputy Llywydd, may I thank those Members who've contributed on the code that is the subject of our debate today? May I first of all thank Sioned Williams for the way she framed her comments during this debate? The substance of contributions is important, but the tone is also very important on an issue as important as this, so I'm grateful to her for that, and for referring to the broad support that exists for the documents that are before us today and the work that's happened in a broad range of organisations, taking in a broad range of voices too, in order to create the policies and documents before us today—the kinds of voices that Darren Millar encouraged us to ensure to be allowed to contribute to the debate. They have contributed, and I  want to repeat her thanks to them for doing so.

Sioned Williams specifically asked me what changes have happened as a result of that consultation process. Well, there have been a broad range of changes, which just demonstrates the depth of the consultation responses that we received, in terms of rights, in terms of the UNCRC, in terms of principles around safety and in terms of the role of parents, which Darren Millar and Sam Rowlands mentioned. All of those have seen some advances and changes as a result of the consultation. Estyn worked with us to ensure that their work in our schools—and Sioned Williams referred to this—is looking at harassment, and that the fruit of that work was also incorporated into the code. So, I'm grateful to them for that.

There is more work needed in terms of professional training, there is more work needed in terms of resources, and those are an important part of the responses to the challenges described by Estyn, which are at the heart of many of the arrangements in place in this code today. She asked me what the contribution of the code would be to an understanding of LGBT communities; as a gay man myself I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to bring this code forward today, a code that is inclusive and which allows us to see our identity reflected in the debate within our schools in a very appropriate manner.

Laura Anne Jones made an opening contribution and I think I would say, more in sorrow than in anger, that I disagreed with almost every part of her contribution. I think it simply did not reflect the reality of the code and the statutory guidance that we have before us here today.

Just for the record, Dirprwy Lywydd, I think Laura Anne Jones and Sam Rowlands believed that the guidance had been published last night, Darren Millar believed it was published this morning, and Gareth Davies didn't believe that it had been published at all; just for the record, it was shared with Members, as is conventional, on 26 November. Conventionally, it would be published after this debate because it relates to a code that has not yet been approved by the Senedd. So, I wanted to publish it in advance, in light of the discussion that was happening around the code in advance of this debate. It has been available to Members for at least two weeks, which I hope other Members at least will have found helpful.

There are references aplenty, as I mentioned in my opening statement, to some of the points that Laura Anne Jones was challenging me on. It is very clear from the statutory guidance, Dirprwy Lywydd, how important the VAWDASV legislation is as part of this scheme, and how important this policy is in part of our broader policy to eliminate violence against women and girls. I hope I made that very clear in my opening remarks and it's certainly clear from the statutory guidance. Laura Anne Jones also indicated that there was an absence of references to both, I think, pornography and gender stereotypes. Both are dealt with explicitly, Dirprwy Lywydd, for the record, referring to learner's understanding of and awareness of how sexual material in the media often represents gender, sexual activity, bodily appearance and relationships in unrealistic and harmful ways, and the importance of learners knowing how to safely respond to and challenge gender and sexual stereotypes and unfair behaviours. Those are both set out in the letter that I sent to Members this morning, responding to some of the public discussion and debate.

Dirprwy Lywydd, if I may, one of the most important contributions we can make in this Senedd is to take those steps together that help make us a more inclusive, kinder and healthier nation, and I hope you'll forgive me a personal reflection: I look at these new RSE reforms and think how much I myself would have benefited from a curriculum that had this kind of teaching at its heart, one in which my younger self could see himself reflected back at him, and a wonderful boost to well-being, to self-respect and the security that that would bring. Those were different times, Dirprwy Lywydd, but if we are truly committed to giving our children and young people an education that allows them to see themselves at its heart, to keep them safe from harm and equipped to develop healthy relationships, then let's take that next step on that journey today. So, I'd like to thank everyone who will cast their vote today for this code. It's an important act, Dirprwy Lywydd. For some of us, an inclusive Wales is more than a political objective; it's an essential precondition to well-being and, indeed, to safety. And, Dirprwy Lywydd, these reforms help make that a reality for all our children today, and for our future generations.

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] There are objections, so I will therefore defer voting under this item until voting time. 

Voting deferred until voting time.

Next, in accordance with Standing Order 12.24, unless a Member objects, the two motions under items 9 and 10, the Local Elections (Principal Areas) (Wales) Rules 2021 and the Local Elections (Communities) (Wales) Rules 2021, will be grouped for debate, but with votes taken separately. I don't see any objections.