Item 4 this afternoon is the statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, and an update on the digital strategy. And I call on the Deputy Minister to make the statement. Lee Waters. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and now for something completely different. [Laughter.]

A year ago, we published a new digital strategy for Wales, a strategy that sets out how we want to use digital and data in a better way to improve people’s lives and help businesses and communities thrive, and we've just been discussing the use of digital and data in the mapping of flooding and the monitoring of coal tips as a practical example of how this can improve public service delivery.

I just want today to highlight some of the progress we've made since last year's publication of the strategy. They key point that's worth repeating is that digital is not about kit; it’s about culture. It enables us to look at old problems in new ways, and use openness, the key digital principles of iteration, collaboration and, critically, user-centred design. And a year on, the strategy has created an excitement around what we are doing in Wales and how our approach can make a difference to public services.

We have established a digital leadership ecosystem, which may sound a bit dull and nerdy but is actually critical, and it was a key missing gap as the Public Accounts Committee and others looked at in a number of examples, and we've put that right. So, we now have a new centre for digital public services and chief digital officers for local government, Welsh Government and a soon-to-be-appointed health service CDO. Our aim now is that this matures and widens across the public sector.

The digital centre is already empowering public sector organisations to adopt a digital approach. This includes supporting Sport Wales to widen the reach of their grants, developing a text messaging service when accessing adult social care in Neath Port Talbot, and exploring a new hazardous waste service with Natural Resources Wales, all using this approach of iteration and user-centred design. The centre's also gathering insights into how people access primary care as part of NHS Wales's digital services for patients and the public programme.

Dirprwy Lywydd, effective cyber security and resilience will be key to successfully delivering these services. The centre is leading also a public services landscape review—a good, hard look at the digital and technological maturity of public services in Wales. This will be really important—crucial—to help us prioritise work over the next few years.

My focus now is on cementing digital in the way that we work. I don't think we've yet invented digital cement, though, it's worth reinforcing. We have—again, learning from the PAC committee reports—a set of digital service standards that allow anyone to develop a set of services in an iterative, agile and user-centred way—again, the key digital principles. And I want these to be adopted, placing an uncompromising focus on user needs to support better outcomes for all, and also, crucially, a chance to refocus public services on their users. That's ultimately what this is all about.

In realising our ambitions, we need to recognise barriers. Wales faces the global challenge of skills capacity, and public sector bodies are searching for talent in a massively competitive labour market. Apprenticeships can help, as well as upskilling and nurturing the talent that we already have in digital, data and technology roles.

For those people who do not have digital skills and confidence, we are exploring a national minimum digital living standard. It will be developed through engagement with digitally included and excluded people across Wales, so that we can identify what people really need to be part of the modern digital world.

Growing a digital culture includes recognising the importance of data and partnership working. We've just been discussing, Dirprwy Lywydd, the recent storms, where we saw Data Map Wales used as a public sector geospatial platform to identify where vulnerable people lived, where to target our support, and how quick and effective decision making can save lives. That's digital advancement and innovation in action in the way that we run public services in Wales.

We are also investing in a Wales data nation accelerator project. This was inspired by a recommendation in the Brown review into digital innovation, and is a partnership between Welsh universities, delivering a number of exciting projects with industry, for example, using artificial intelligence to optimise land management and reduce flood risk.

Digital connectivity underpins the digital strategy. In the spirit of openness, Dirprwy Lywydd, I want to update you on broadband provision in Wales. As Members know, while telecommunications is not devolved to Wales, the Welsh Government has continued to step in where the market and the UK Government have failed to deliver fast and reliable broadband.

We have provided future-proofed gigabit broadband to nearly 26,000 premises through our own full-fibre roll-out with Openreach. We have also provided extra funding to top up the UK Government gigabit broadband voucher scheme. This has doubled the amount available to homes and businesses where the UK funding has failed to reflect the true cost of deploying in the Welsh landscape. The Welsh Government top-up has supported over 1,300 homes and businesses to get connected.

However, in the face of continued budget pressures, we cannot continue to underwrite the UK Government who have the responsibility for this area. Therefore, the top-up will cease on 31 March 2022. The volume of funds provided under the top-up across the UK suggests that the upper cost threshold of the scheme should be reviewed by the UK Government to reflect the cost of deploying gigabit broadband in rural and remote areas. I have written to, and have met with, the Minister of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to emphasise this point.

The scheme was shortly due to be paused in Wales as procurements for Project Gigabit began, but applications for vouchers received before the cessation date that meet the scheme’s criteria will still be eligible for top-up funding. On Project Gigabit, we are pressing the UK Government to ensure that Wales gets its share of the £5 billion of investment for the needs of homes and businesses in Wales. Discussions are ongoing about how it will be delivered and the role of the Welsh Government.

The digital infrastructure landscape has changed since Brexit. We no longer have access to EU funding and, because it is non-devolved, we now rely solely on UK Government funding to improve broadband in Wales. We remain committed to working with Whitehall to secure the best outcomes for Wales and to make a strong case for continued investment to reach the hardest to reach communities, to make sure that they are not left behind. I'm pleased to say that we do have good relationships with both officials and Ministers, but we do need a change of heart regarding the failures of the market and the role of Government.

We have, in conclusion, Dirprwy Lywydd, made a good start on delivering the digital strategy for Wales, but clearly we have a long way to go. In order to maintain momentum, I will publish shortly a new iteration of the digital delivery plan to detail the next steps on our journey towards Wales becoming truly digital. Diolch.

Conservative spokesperson, Paul Davies.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank the Deputy Minister for his statement this afternoon. Now, it's thought that 82 per cent of all jobs in the UK require digital skills, and digital access to skills is becoming more and more essential to enabling people to fully participate in an increasingly digital society. So, I welcome the Deputy Minister's update today, and the steps that have been taken since the launch of the strategy last year. Of course, tackling the digital divide is crucial to addressing social and economic inequalities and levelling up every community across Wales. Digital exclusion is inextricably linked to wider inequalities in society, and is more likely to be faced by those on low incomes, people over 65 and disabled people. Therefore, can the Deputy Minister tell us how the Welsh Government is monitoring the effectiveness of this strategy to ensure that digital exclusion is being addressed, and can he provide some specific examples where the Welsh Government has tackled economic inequalities as a result of this digital strategy so we can learn from best practice?

Today's statement refers to a national minimum digital living standard, which will be developed through engagement with digitally included and excluded people across Wales so that we can identify what people really need to be part of a modern digital world. I think this is a very important step forward, but perhaps the Deputy Minister could tell us a bit more about the work that has been done in this area so far, and when the standard is likely to be published. Today's statement confirms that the Centre for Digital Public Services is leading a public services landscape review to provide an insight into the digital and technology maturity of public services in Wales. I agree with the Deputy Minister that this will be really important to help prioritise work over the next few years. Therefore, can the Deputy Minister tell us what sort of timescales are involved in this review, and when we'll be able to see the outcomes of it?

Today's statement rightly states that digital connectivity underpins the digital strategy. As someone who represents a rural area, I know just how important it is to have access to adequate broadband. With the shift to home and hybrid working, residents and businesses in areas like Powys or Pembrokeshire, for example, face a particular disadvantage, not only in terms of labour market opportunities, but also in terms of being able to run a business competitively. Therefore, perhaps the Deputy Minister could tell us how he is engaging with sectors like farming, and their supply chains, to ensure that they have the tools and resources they need to be as competitive as possible in the future. 

The Deputy Minister refers to Project Gigabit, and I agree that it's vital that Wales receives its fair share of investment from the UK Government. I appreciate that telecommunications is not devolved to Wales, but I am pleased that discussions are ongoing about how future investment will be delivered, and the role of the Welsh Government in delivering that investment. I'm sure the Deputy Minister will join me in welcoming the recent funding boost of £11.5 million to improve broadband for public services in north Wales, south-east Wales, Pembrokeshire and rural Welsh areas. That funding has already made a real difference to organisations like the Anchorage Social Activity Centre, a day centre at Pembroke Dock that works with people with learning disabilities or dementia, and Milford Haven library, indeed, in my own constituency. It's crucial that inter-governmental relations are good, and that departments are working together to ensure that Wales is not left behind. So, I'd be grateful if the Deputy Minister could provide us with an update on those specific discussions and how they are progressing. 

I'm pleased that today's statement recognises that Wales faces a challenge in terms of skills capacity, and I understand that public sector bodies are searching for talent in a massively competitive labour market. Digital skills have been increasingly important in obtaining high quality employment. We know that jobseekers with digital skills command higher salaries and that roles requiring digital skills pay 29 per cent more than those roles that do not. Addressing the digital skills gap will therefore be essential to equip people with the skills they need to live and work in a digital world, and ensure everyone can benefit from the opportunities that digital innovation and infrastructure investment can bring. 

Last week, the Minister for Economy published the Welsh Government plan for employability and skills, and there was no mention of the digital strategy. Therefore, perhaps the Deputy Minister can tell us how this strategy works alongside the Welsh Government's wider strategies around employability and skills. Perhaps he can tell us what funding is being allocated to skills providers across Wales to help tackle the digital skills gap. Dirprwy Lywydd, we must fully embrace the full potential of the digital agenda by tackling levels of digital exclusion, and ensuring that everyone has access to the opportunities and services provided by digital technology. Therefore, I welcome the Welsh Government's update, and I look forward to working with the Deputy Minister to ensure that the outcomes in it are felt by communities in all parts of Wales. 

Those were an excellent and fair set of questions, but I'm not a robot, so there's no way I can possibly answer all the detail in the time that's available to me. I'd be very happy to send a comprehensive reply to the Member, to work through those very fair and challenging questions, and I welcome the spirit in which he posed them. I think they are all good challenges, and we are doing work on each of them. If I can just pick up on a couple, to respond in the time available.

In terms of the relationship with the UK Government, as I say, I had a very good and cordial meeting with the Minister of State and her senior officials last week, and with her predecessor and other Ministers over the last few years. So, this is one area where it's not a question of static electricity; I think it's just a genuine different world view. We think the market alone will not deliver at the scale and pace required for communities like his, which are harder to reach and more expensive to reach. The market will do what the market does well—it will get its fastest and greatest return for the capital invested. That is done in urban areas, areas where we have already addressed market failure by putting superfast in. And the likelihood is, with the market model, that they will simply serve them more—they will give them faster, better services, and charge them for it, so they can get a faster return. Investing into rural areas—and it's not exclusively a rural problem, but let's just call them, for the sake of today, in shorthand, 'harder-to-reach areas'—is slower and more expensive and brings a slower return on capital. That's rational from a market point of view—it's what private companies do. But that is not good enough for this area. This is not a nice-to-have service, this is must-have service, and simply relying on the market to do it is a flawed approach, in our view.

The UK Government doesn't accept that, and, to the extent it does accept it, it has put measures in place, but measures that are acting too slow, and that, even after they're finished, will still leave significant parts of Wales underserved or not served at all. That is the nub of our conflict with the UK Government on this. We think this should be treated like a core utility service. We require the Post Office—a private company—to deliver a letter to every farm and every property, no matter the cost to them. We don't extend that logic to the providers of digital infrastructure, and, in our view, we ought to. If you want to provide digital infrastructure in this country, and get contracts, you should have to provide to every property. That is the fundamental difference in view on the role of the market and the role of the state that we have with the UK Government. Though it's lovely to hear about £11 million of funding in Milford Haven library, that just doesn't cut it. The sorts of sums we're talking about are significantly higher. There's good work being done by us, by the UK Government, by the city regions, and so on, but there is a fundamental gap here that needs confronting and needs addressing.

His challenge on digital skills is a fair one. I think digital skills is hard. I'm pleased to see in the new curriculum that we have digital as one of the core competencies, but there is an issue of teacher confidence and teacher skills. Not enough schools are teaching ICT, not enough pupils are doing GCSE, A-levels, higher skills in computer science. These are the skills that we need to have to make sure that we take advantage of the huge job opportunities there are—and the Member mentioned the salaries available. There is a massive skills shortage. I take his point about the employability and skills strategy. The Minister for Economy and I did a joint session with officials from across the Government a month or so ago, looking at what we were doing and how we were delivering against the digital strategy, and I think we accept there is more to do. This is something that we need to do with the regional skills partnerships, with the further education sector, with the schools sector, to raise our game.

Finally, on the point about engaging with sectors like farming, as I mentioned, it's been six years since I gave a speech in the Senedd about precision agriculture. We have now published a route map, an audit, of agritech and what's going on in Wales. It's a very exciting field, with lots of economic opportunities, as well as real advantages to farmers who are struggling in the face of economic forces to improve productivity and reduce their impact on biodiversity by using less fertilizer and fewer chemicals. I had good conversations with the National Farmers Union on the weekend, in Llandudno, about the subject as well. There's a lot more we need to do—we need to really up the pace. Lots of farmers get it; the NFU were showing me their apps on their phones, with the weights of their cows, with great pride. So, there's a level already there, but there's such an opportunity to do more, and it's not without its challenges. Let's hope we can go on that journey together. I welcome the comments and questions he's asked.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Delyth Jewell.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, thank you once again for a different statement this time.

Digital does offer so much potential, doesn't it, in terms of enhancing people's lives, strengthening the links between people and people and services, and helping business to adapt, but modernising in this way can also perversely mean that some people are left further and further behind. I know that one of the principal drivers behind the strategy is about reducing inequality—that's already come up with what Paul Davies was asking—and we know that superfast broadband availability and mobile services in Wales, as you've already just acknowledged, are below the UK average; nearly 8,000 premises in Wales can't access a decent broadband service or get 4G coverage indoors. Ofcom has found that too many people aren't aware of the options for connectivity that could be available to them. So, could you outline, please, how you'd like to raise people's awareness of the services that are available to them, but that, for whatever reason, they're not making use of?

Could you also, please, explain how the Government is supporting—this has already come up with what you've been talking about with Paul—people who might be more marginalised for lots of different reasons about gaining these digital skills? Again, I know that this is something that's already been discussed just now. I'm thinking not just of particular communities—older people, people with disabilities, people who lack confidence to use the services online—because there seems to be this almost perverse dichotomy that there will be people who live their lives surrounded by these possibilities. We're not talking maybe about the people who live in rural areas where the possibilities just are really tantalisingly out of reach, but people who could be able to access paying for things online, purchasing tickets online, checking bus times online, doing online banking, all these different things, but, for a combination of different reasons, they don't take up that offer, and so the community around them gets more and more connected, but they, in the centre, get less and less engaged. I know it's a real quandary, but, as things progress more and more, how would you think we can make sure that, for the people who are left behind, that that gap doesn't get even bigger?

Minister, I'd also like to hear your thoughts about how the interconnectedness between communities in Wales could be strengthened as well through this. There is an undeniable digital divide between communities and Cardiff. I think in other cities there's something like 93 per cent mobile voice coverage, and that compares with only 52 per cent in some rural areas. Do you agree that access to digital infrastructure shouldn't be a luxury, it should be a necessity in modern life? I do completely agree with what you were just espousing in terms of how you view that the state's stance should be almost in terms of connecting people digitally, as we do with the postal service, because, like what I was highlighting with individuals, the same thing is true of communities too. How can the strategy be used to ensure that this gap grows smaller not wider? 

Finally, I'd like to know more about how this strategy could be used as a tool to tackle loneliness and isolation, building on what's already been said. So many studies have shown that loneliness can lead to distress, emotional strain, but also physical ill health, like heart disease and obesity and high blood pressure. Digital connectivity doesn't just help people connect with services, like health services, of course, but also with support networks. So, how can we make sure that the people who need it most will be able to benefit from what's available? 

I agree with that. The digital divide is real. We saw it during the pandemic and it's a complex divide. It is about poverty, it's about access to equipment, it's about ability to afford a broadband connection, it's about digital and data poverty. That is no different from any other inequality we have in our society. The pattern is similar and it holds people back. I think we did great things during the pandemic, and schools did great things to make sure that pupils were given equipment, and were connected and were harnessed. But it is not a level playing field, and we spent considerable amounts of money and great effort to try to ameliorate the impact of this inequality. We have some impact, but we can't adjust the fundamentals, it seems. We have continued funding for the Digital Communities Wales project, run by the Wales Co-operative Centre, and, as I mentioned, the digital public services centre is commissioning research into a digital minimum living standard for Wales, which is a crucial evidence base, I think, for understanding, again, based on user research and user need, how we can up our game. 

In terms of the question of people accessing services and being left behind and usage, this is why the principle of user need is so critical. If we are designing a service around user need, the fact a user may not be online is our problem not their problem, because a service that's designed around user need will also devise a way to reach those people. It won't assume they are digital. So, you know, digital policy isn't about—. As I say, it's not about kit, it's about culture. So, properly designed public services around user need will find a way to reach people who are not connected, as well as giving an online, intuitive, end-to-end service for those that are. It's a whole-system approach, and that's why it's crucial, in the digital service standards we set and in the leadership training we offer, that leaders and all in the system understand that services are designed for users—they're not designed for the convenience of the system. And that's what I think is exciting about the digital reform agenda—it allows us to challenge the way public services work and are designed and operate, using digital to refocus them on the person at the sharp end they're for. And the person at the sharp end they're for will be different. So, the way we deliver services should be different and tailored.

I welcome today's update from the Deputy Minister. There is plenty I could talk about this afternoon, but I won't test the patience of the Presiding Officer, and I hope the Minister and I can work together in this field constructively in the future. But if I may, if I can pick up on one specific point in your statement today, and that's about cyber security, because it is the case that experts are warning that there is now a heightened risk of cyber attacks arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and it is possible that the war criminal Putin and his regime will direct cyber attacks towards the United Kingdom and other NATO countries. But it is also the case that the cyber attacks being carried out on Ukraine at the moment could spread damaging consequences beyond its borders. So, could I ask you, Minister, what steps the Welsh Government is taking to encourage not just businesses but public sector bodies across Wales to ensure that they are very and fully prepared to withstand this very present and very serious threat?

Thank you. I think that's a very timely question. There is no doubt that we are seeing increased activity on the cyber-attack front. Certainly, as state actors, this is something the UK Government—and we work closely with them—is taking seriously and doing an awful lot about. And as you can imagine they prefer to keep it secret exactly what they are doing, but this is a very serious issue at a state level.

In terms of a Welsh public services and business level, I don't think there is sufficient awareness amongst organisations of the threat of disruption and harm to their organisation and their users that the cyber threat poses. So, back to what we were discussing earlier—the level of understanding of what digital is and what they can be doing about it—it is now a key risk for all organisations, and it should be led at a senior level. So, every chief executive or managing director needs to be asking themselves and their systems the question, 'Have we got the basics right? Are we doing the simple checks? Do we have password protections in place?' And there are a whole raft of resources out there. The cyber security centre run by the UK Government has on its website a whole range of digital tools that are free to access that businesses and organisations can do a simple check on. So, they need to make sure they have the basics right, that they have incident management processes in place, and that those fundamental controls are thought of and are actioned. We are in a new era. A lot of data is shared and spread. A lot of our systems we rely upon fundamentally for what we do, and they are all viable to collapse and attack. We need to take it seriously. I think this is one of things we're raising awareness of—this agenda—this is now normal business, this is mainstream, and all leaders need to take it seriously.

And finally, Rhun ap Iorwerth.

Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. As chair of the cross-party group on the digital agenda in Wales, I very much welcome this update by the Deputy Minister today. I look forward too to hearing the update that he intends to give soon on the delivery programme for digital. It's important to put on the record that I'm grateful for the leadership shown by the Deputy Minister in this field. I know it's one that he has a genuine interest and personal interest in driving forward, and in that regard I know that he will feel frustrated, as am I, with the fact that this is an area that Governments over the years have dragged their feet on.

It is right, I think, to talk about the need for a change of culture here. It's certainly true within the Government too. It was very refreshing to hear the health Minister acknowledging openly here, when I called for an acceleration of the introduction of e-prescribing and prescriptions, that she was surprised how slowly things had moved in this field to date.

So, yes, we do need to generate that excitement within the Government and that activity within the Government, as well as in the bodies that have been created to drive this agenda forward specifically. But if there's one thing that we have learned within the cross-party group, it's the lack of skills in this area. That's been referred to by the Minister. Figures shared with me about the number of teachers who started a course in secondary education focusing on IT for the previous education year says that the total was 10, and that demonstrates what the scale of the problem is.

So, my question is, very simply put: even though the Minister has referred to the fact that, yes, this is an important agenda and that he wants to push things forward, can I get a sense of what the Government is trying to do to fast-track, now, this progress, and increase the number of teachers that can plant that digital seed in our pupils in far greater numbers, so that they can go on to careers in this area?

Well, thank you for the comments, and I thank him for taking on the role with the cross-party group. I think it's really important that there is a cross-party group, and it continues to hold the feet to the fire.

One of the problems with this agenda is it's seen as a technical agenda. He mentioned my personal interest in it. I know nothing about digital. I know nothing about technology. I don't come to this from a computer point of view. I come to this from a public policy failure point of view. It's been quite clear to me for a long time that we are not performing at the level we need to, right across the piece on this agenda, and it has consequences for people's lives. And there are opportunities we're missing for skills and prosperity from doing it too. So, I think it's important that Members, who may not think of digital as something that is their business, think again, because it is their business, and it needn't be about understanding the technicalities of it, even if it's just understanding the opportunities of it and asking some questions. So, I think the role—. I'm very keen to work with the cross-party group in a very open way, to be honest about our shortcomings, and accept the challenge for moving faster. And I think, as I said in the response to the statement, digital skills is an area where we are doing some good things on it, and we have plans for more, but the skill and the pace is a challenge for us, and it is back to that cultural point about a whole-society understanding of how we move together rapidly on this journey. 

He mentioned the example of the electronic prescription and patient record. It's one of those things where people are shocked when they find out there isn't one. They think because of the way they use private services—. You know, you go on to Amazon and you have an entirely end-to-end digital experience and it's super efficient and super quick, and then you access public services, renewing your library card or booking your swimming lessons, and it's a very different experience. And I think that's why Rebecca Evans and I—I was pleased to see her in her space—have done a lot of work together in getting this digital centre in place—both Rebecca in her role as finance Minister but also previously as a digital lead as well. This has been a bit of a double act in getting this agenda to where it is today, because we recognise the need to do it. So, the—. I think the—. Forgive me, I'm trying to remember the rest of the question—

Fast-tracking of skills.

Yes, I think it's an area we need to do better at. I don't have the answers today. It's an area of vulnerability. As I said, Vaughan Gething and I held a joint session with officials on it not a month ago. I'd be happy to write to him and the cross-party group, setting out what we are doing, and I'm happy to have an open conversation with them about some practical ideas of how we might make it better.

One of the key principles of digital service design is openness and iteration, and that means publishing something as good as we can get it, not waiting for the perfect, trialling it in real life, taking live user feedback, and being willing to change it quickly and go on to the next level. And I think if we had a bit more of that iteration and openness in public policy as we expect from digital service design, I think we'd all be a lot better for it.

I thank the Deputy Minister.