5. What progress has the Welsh Government made in relation to the pledge to provide a work, education or training offer for all under 25s set out in the Welsh Labour manifesto of 2021? OQ57409

I thank Huw Irranca-Davies, Llywydd. The youth guarantee scheme is already up and running in Wales, with the Working Wales service providing a gateway to the extended opportunities available across education, training, apprenticeships, employment and self-employment for our young people.

First Minister, thank you for that answer. You will know that this was one of the headline pledges in the Welsh Labour manifesto, which won such strong support from the people of Wales last year. It included a fair deal for care, with the real living wage for carers; a greener country, including a national forest for Wales; safer communities, with 500 more PCSOs, and far more.

But in respect of the young person's guarantee, as well as contributing to the future health of our economy, this sends a clear signal about the priorities of this Government. We know that Wales cannot prosper while young people struggle, so acting now to invest in young people is vital to ensure we get higher earnings and skills in the longer term, with all the benefits that brings to all of us in society as a whole. So, First Minister, do you agree with me that the young person's guarantee is a crucial tool in changing the life prospects of young people, starting out with the networks that others take for granted, those who are born without a silver spoon, but with a desire to realise their talents and their ambitions?

Llywydd, I absolutely agree with what the Member has said. I was very struck, myself, back in April of last year, by the way that the young person's guarantee had communicated itself, not simply to young people, but to the parents and grandparents of those young people who were anxious about their future and looking to the Government to put in place the foundations of success for those young people as we came out of the coronavirus impact. The fact that the guarantee is there already, that it operates across the spectrum, it has things in there for people in higher education, it has a significant new investment for those young people who decide that they'd rather go directly into work and the world of apprenticeships, and there's a real offer in there for those young people who are furthest away from the labour market—the young people that I know Huw Irranca-Davies and I would worry about—where you need a stronger set of measures in place to show those young people how there is a path that they can travel that takes them from where they are today to where they would wish to see their futures for them. That's why there are traineeships. That's why there are some work taster programmes built into the guarantee as well. Now, as the Welsh economy recovered from the impact of coronavirus, we did see strong employment growth, and that did reach into the lives of young people as well. But the latest omicron experience will create new anxieties amongst young people that those opportunities may be slow in re-establishing themselves this year, and that's why having the guarantee there, having Working Wales there as the service that co-ordinates it all and makes sure that it's available for young people, will be so important as we go into 2022.