Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. I would like to thank my co-sponsors and those who supported the motion for this debate. Jane Dodds will be responding to the debate.

This debate is not about religion, it's about our built heritage. It's about the importance of church and chapel buildings in our community. Members cannot have failed to notice the continuing closure of religious buildings, including churches and chapels, in their own constituencies. In recent decades, we have seen a gradual and continual decline in what can be referred to as the two great traditions of the nineteenth and early twentieth-century Welsh society: that being the tradition of attending the local chapel and the local public house.

Wales is often considered the land of castles, but we have substantially more chapels, churches and other religious buildings across Wales than we have castles. We have some great church buildings and chapels, such as St David's cathedral and Tabernacle chapel in Morriston, which has been described as the cathedral of nonconformity, as well as many others of historical significance and architectural merit. Wales’s ecclesiastical history and heritage is an incredibly significant part of our built and cultural heritage. Many who do not attend the chapels or churches of Wales attach a huge significance to their architectural merit and the status they carry within their communities. Ask someone about St David's, and they will mention the cathedral. Ask people about Morriston, and the most likely response will be Tabernacle chapel.