I thank the Minister for her statement and would like to associate myself and my party with her tribute to the women of Ukraine. 

My grandmother had to give up her job when she was married. My mother started out her career as a teacher on less pay than her male counterparts. I worked part-time for over a decade because I couldn't find suitable childcare. According to the World Economic Forum, none of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, nor likely will many of our children. There is urgent work to do, and Chwarae Teg's 'State of the Nation 2022' report, published last month, shows clearly that Wales has a lot of work to do.

Yesterday evening I took part in a discussion organised by the Senedd and chaired by Jenny Rathbone about the provision of childcare in Wales—or should I say the inequality caused by the lack of it. I am very glad, of course, that the expansion of free childcare is part of the Government's co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, but we know that this must really just be a first step.

In a round-table discussion with Chwarae Teg last week, it was noted that, when looking at gender inequality data and assessing its root causes, it almost always comes back to the burden of caring responsibilities falling disproportionately on women. Their report found that, out of women who were economically inactive, 24.1 per cent of the time this was due to family caring responsibilities. The figure for men was only 5.8 per cent. No matter what policies we put in place across the economy, or what quotas we implement in public life, we have to create a society where women are able to take up the opportunities that are before them. Given this, could the Welsh Government please outline what further provisions are in place for these women who are economically inactive as they are having to care for family at home, especially as the current childcare offer is not available to those who are out of work?

To truly achieve gender equality in Wales, we have to focus on the most marginalised women first—the women in society who face the greatest barriers and are the most disadvantaged. The compound effect, as you've said in your statement, of the intersection between gender inequality and other socioeconomic inequalities in Wales is clear. According to the 'State of the Nation' report, in Wales, in 2021, 78.4 per cent of men were economically active as compared to 70.3 per cent of white women who were in employment. But only 56 per cent of ethnic minority women were in employment.

In politics and public life, diversity is crucial, as this is where decisions that affect day-to-day life are taken. Without intersectional women's representation, we will not have a diverse range of voices in the room that allows for different issues and perspectives to be discussed and heard. Women, as we know, are already under-represented in public life. While 43 per cent of the elected representatives in this Senedd are women, this is still a drop from where we ended the last Senedd term, and we have a higher proportion of women here than we do among Welsh MPs, for example, and only 29 per cent of Welsh councillors are women.

In local government, we really need to see significantly more women elected in this coming election in May, and ensure this translates into higher numbers of women in local government cabinets and as leaders. Part of this is ensuring that working practices work for women; maintaining the virtual element to meetings and keeping to flexible and family-friendly working hours can help. So, what is the Welsh Government doing to ensure an improvement in that 29 per cent rate for the election of female councillors in the upcoming election in May?

Women from ethnic minority backgrounds, working-class backgrounds, low incomes and women with disabilities are proportionally less represented in areas where they will have their voices heard or receive the highest pay. In Wales in 2021, less than 5 per cent of public appointments in 2020-21 were from black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds, and less than 5 per cent were people with disabilities.

There is positive work being done in Wales, and I congratulate Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson on her appointment. I welcome also the creation of the equality evidence unit alongside the race and disability disparity units, which will undoubtedly help us to see what is going wrong. However, more must be done to ensure everyone involved in making decisions about spending and public policy embed intersectional equalities analysis into everything they do. So, how is the Welsh Government ensuring that intersectional and gender equality are being considered during public appointments in Wales, for example? Is there scope for mandating or encouraging the use of quotas, not only in Senedd elections, as is currently committed to in the co-operation agreement, but also public appointments? Would the Welsh Government also consider implementing gender and other equalities training for all those involved in making decisions about spending and public policy, to ensure we are embedding intersectional equalities analysis into everything we do? Diolch.