Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank Members for contributing to this debate this afternoon? We've heard some very insightful contributions from Members on some of the issues facing the sector and the impact that driver shortages are having more widely on the economy. I'm grateful to all Members, whether they are committee members or not, for engaging on this issue.

Before I respond to Members' individual contributions, I just want to reiterate how important HGV drivers are to our economy and say that they continue to play an enormous role in transporting goods across the country and, indeed, further afield. That's why it is crucial that the recruitment of HGV drivers is a priority for Governments across the UK and that there's some long-term investment in the UK domestic workforce.

I'm grateful for the Member for Cynon Valley's contribution, and she highlighted how important HGV drivers are in our everyday lives. It is these drivers who make sure that we are able to receive goods and products that make sure that we are able to live our everyday lives. She also made a very important point about the importance of training, and she's right to ask how the Welsh Government is drawing attention to courses available for HGV drivers. This is essential to drivers' continuous professional development.

I'm also grateful to my colleague the Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire. In his contribution, he focused on the experience of HGV drivers, and he's right to highlight the hit-and-miss rest stop facilities available to HGV drivers up and down the country. He's also right to say that it's now crucial that recommendation 3 is accepted as soon as possible, because we need to see that inventory of services so that an improvement can be seen in rest stop facilities up and down Wales.

I'm also grateful to the Member for South Wales West. He rightly raised the awful experiences we heard from HGV drivers and the fact that the backlog in tests made matters worse regarding the shortages we have been seeing. He also highlighted the importance of both Governments working together. It is important that the Welsh Government and the UK Government work together in order to try and resolve some of these issues.

I'm also grateful to the Member for North Wales for her contribution on how important these rest stop facilities are in helping to improve HGV drivers' experience.

I'm also grateful to the leader of the opposition for reminding us of our late colleague Brynle Williams, who, when he was in this place, had been campaigning tirelessly to improve the experience of HGV drivers. 

Now, Members' contributions have rightly focused on HGV drivers' experiences, and I think it's fair to say that there is a lot that needs to be done to make the experience much more secure and comfortable for HGV drivers. When drivers refer to the legislation around drivers' hours as a 'beasting', then we know that something has gone seriously wrong. The drivers that gave evidence to the committee described how their employers pushed them to work 60 hours a week, and that is, of course, physically draining and can lead to high levels of stress and anxiety. So, I'm particularly pleased that the Welsh Government has accepted our recommendation to work with the UK Government on any review of legislation that affects the working conditions of HGV drivers. Of course, as this legislation is not devolved, the Welsh Government is limited in terms of what it can do. However, it's important that the sector and drivers in Wales are engaged and listened to so that any review can ensure their voices are heard.

I'm also pleased that the Welsh Government has agreed to carry out an audit of rest facilities for drivers in Wales and create that national inventory, similar to that available for England. I'm grateful to the Deputy Minister, in her comments this afternoon, and I hope very much that she will be able to bring that inventory forward as soon as possible. The committee also received some really eye-opening accounts of the rest facilities that HGV drivers continue to experience. As the Member for Cynon Valley said, we heard about broken showers, broken tiles and dirty wash facilities, and even the cost of food and drink at service stations was cited as an issue, with one driver telling us he was charged £1.80 for a cup of hot water. I think all Members in the Chamber will agree with me when I say this: we must do better.

That leads me to the Deputy Minister's contribution, and I'd like to thank her for her constructive response to this afternoon's debate. I appreciate that her colleague the Minister for Economy can't simply click his fingers and resolve the issues facing the sector, and in many areas it's not within the Welsh Government's remit to take action. Nevertheless, where the Welsh Government has accepted all of the committee's recommendations and where it is able to, it has pledged to take action, and I'm very grateful to the Government in doing so. It's absolutely crucial now that those recommendations are implemented in full and that action is taken to support the sector and address some of its long-standing challenges. We want drivers to feel safe and valued in their roles.

Therefore, in closing, Dirprwy Lywydd, can I thank Members for their contributions today and say that the committee looks forward to being updated on the progress on the implementation of the recommendations in our report in due course? Diolch yn fawr iawn.