Thank you also to Sam Rowlands for joining us. Childcare is the most frequently cited barrier for women in work. It is a huge cost for working families, and it's a barrier for parents looking to re-enter the workforce, as we've heard from Laura Anne. That's before you consider the complexity of the arrangements and eligibility criteria that parents and carers need to navigate, as Jenny Rathbone, our Chair, has already highlighted. 

It's really great to hear such a wide range of contributions from the Siambr, but there's one recommendation that I just wanted to focus on, and that's recommendation 2, which is addressing the gap in childcare between the end of maternity leave and eligibility for the childcare offer. That period between maternity and the age of three is crucial for children. Access to good-quality childcare for all children, regardless of their background, is essential if we are to create a brighter future for every child in Wales. 

Currently, the costs and complexity of the arrangements between nine months and school age are disadvantaging many families. In order to currently qualify for the childcare offer, each parent in the household must be working and earning below £100,000 a year. So, a child whose parents have a combined annual income of £99,000 could qualify, but a child from a non-working lone parent family, or a two-parent family where one or both parents do not work, isn't eligible. This cannot be right. A quick search of day nursery places right now across my region shows that the prices are around £800 to £1,000 a month. Evidence from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that increased provision of early years learning and childcare improves a child's attainment in later years, with sustained improvement in lifelong outcomes in health, employment and education.

I want to reiterate the calls that my party has made in the election, and those also made by Chwarae Teg, for universal free childcare for all children from birth to age four, regardless of the employment status of their parents. I believe that this would transform the lives of parents and carers and our economy, and should be an aspiration that this Government holds for every child in Wales. The sooner we recognise childcare, paid parental and carer leave and investment in families as an investment in our economy and our future, the better off we will be. As we have heard, it's important also that children with additional learning needs should have their access to childcare enhanced. Finally, I really welcome this report, and I'm grateful for the work that we were all able to do. I hope we can keep the aspiration for every child and family to have free, good-quality childcare to bring about a more equal, more educated, healthier, more interested and interesting and more economically active Wales. Diolch yn fawr iawn.