I am delighted, on this important day, to be announcing the publication of the children and young people’s plan, which sets out our ambition for children and young people in Wales, both now and in the future. In Wales, we want the best for our children—all of our children, no matter what their backgrounds are, where they come from, or where they live. We want them all to have the best start in life, to go on to lead the kinds of lives they want to live, and to know that they are valued.

As a Government, we are passionate about children’s rights. We were the first UK nation to write children’s rights into our laws, and today we are reaffirming our commitment to making children’s rights a lived reality. The plan I am publishing today brings coherence to the work we are doing across Government on behalf of children and young people, and puts them at the heart of our decision making. In this plan, we have set out our ambition, and identified seven cross-Government priorities where we've agreed to work collaboratively across our ministerial portfolios, to ensure the best possible outcomes for our children and young people, both now and in the future. These include ensuring all children and young people have the best start in life, are treated fairly, have the support they need to progress through education, training and into employment, are supported to help them feel mentally and emotionally strong, to have a fair chance in life, a good and secure home to live in, and receive the support they need to stay together or come back together with their family, if possible.

The plan is focused on what we will do to make our programme for government commitments a reality for children and young people. It provides a snapshot of some of the activities we've achieved previously and sets out some of the activities we'll take forward over the next 12 months. As a Government, we have achieved a great deal, but we know it's important to go further, and we're determined to go further throughout this Senedd term. In the coming year, there are some exciting projects that we plan to take forward. For example, we will give baby bundles to more new families, start our new curriculum for Wales, create more apprenticeships, improve youth work so that more young people can access a safe space, build residential homes for children with complex needs, and start creating a national forest for Wales, to name but a few. This plan is underpinned by significant investment, as our final budget for 2022-23, published today, demonstrates, with more than £1.3 billion of investment specific to early years and education, and almost £0.75 billion provided to local authorities to deliver essential services such as schools.

Listening, talking and responding to children and young people is key to understanding how the decisions we make as a Government affect and impact on their lives. We talked with 173 children and young people aged up to 25 about the priorities in this plan. They told us about the things that are important to them, including having places where they can play, have fun and learn, being able to fulfil their aspirations regardless of their family income, ability or ethnic background, receiving support when transitioning between life stages and when making life choices, and having decisions about them made with them and not for them.

Diprwy Lywydd, I would like to thank the children and young people who have helped shape this plan, along with Children in Wales and the organisations they worked with to gain these important views. I am determined to maintain this conversation. The plan outlines how we will continue to engage with children and young people as we deliver on our commitments. This includes reporting on progress and the contributions we are making towards reaching our national milestones. But of course, we understand we cannot do this alone. The success of the plan is dependent on us working together with our partners in the public, private and third sectors, and across society as a whole, to improve local services and achieve our wider ambitions for children and young people in Wales.

Let’s make this a St David’s Day to remember, and convey a strong message to children and young people that this is a Government that is working for them and that their voices are heard and represented consistently at all levels within Welsh Government.