Thank you, First Minister. The employer skills survey has reported that a wide range of skills and attributes are lacking among applicants for jobs within Wales, with over 84 per cent of vacancies partially caused by a lack of technical or practical competence, and 66 per cent partially caused by a lack of people and personal skills, such as the ability to manage one's own time and prioritise tasks. We all agree that a good academic education is important for the workplace, but we must recognise that these abilities can be wasted if a person does not have the complementary skills that are needed to obtain employment. This situation is made even worse if they have the wrong academic qualifications needed for the employment that they want. It seems obvious that a viable solution for tackling both youth unemployment and job recruitment is for high schools to have much better relationships with local businesses whereby these businesses are able to demonstrate directly to learners the skills and education that are required for jobs and to allow learners an opportunity to better understand how businesses work, what skills they need, and possibly, even open up the doors for better opportunities for employment.

To give an example, the Construction Industry Training Board, which represents a consortium of construction companies in Wales, has been very effective in opening doors to secondary school learners to experience active building sites and for them to take a behind-the-scenes tour to see the latest projects and building designs. A lack of adequate and relevant careers advice and work experience has always been a concern of mine and I believe that we can do better for our secondary school learners, providing longer integration into the workforce and by providing in-depth experiences of industry that will enable them to understand and develop the skills needed for employment. With this in mind, First Minister, what commitment will you give to ensure that secondary schools are proactively working with local businesses to integrate learners into the workforce while they're at school?