Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I've agreed to give a minute of my time to each of Joyce Watson, Peter Fox and Luke Fletcher to enable them to contribute to this debate.

As rolling out universal free school meals to all primary schools is one of the most important and radical proposals in the partnership agreement with Plaid, and we've allocated £260 million to make it happen, we have to ensure that we get it right and actually achieve our policy objectives. This isn't just about making sure no child goes hungry in school; it has to be the way in which we transform children's relationship with food in the face of the obesogenic culture that encourages people to eat all the wrong things.

As the statement by the Minister made clear yesterday, the first milestone of all reception children getting free lunches from the beginning of this term seems to have been largely met. A lot of schools and local authorities seem to have been able to do this fairly easily. Eight councils have already extended provision beyond reception classes, well ahead of the Government timeline of April for both years 1 and 2 as well, so 45,000 pupils are already benefiting from this new scheme.

Nine months from the announcement is very little time operationally to achieve this. It doesn't mean to say it was easy. Two local authorities, in correspondence with me on this, have highlighted the challenges of sourcing equipment that's part of the legacy of both COVID and of Brexit. Anglesey reported overcoming myriad challenges around sourcing additional equipment as a result of the contract they've entered into with Chartwells, which is a subsidiary of Compass, who are going to run their school meals, or are indeed running their school meals.

In Cardiff local authority, every single school had to be surveyed to identify which were the top priorities for kitchen refurbishment during the school holidays, and getting 18 kitchens refitted within that six-week time span meant costed plans, procuring contracts and making sure they were completed during the holiday time. It was really no mean feat and seriously surprised the cabinet member for education that it was achieved. Cardiff also highlighted a longstanding working relationship with local kitchen fitting companies that enabled them to get the job done. So, the fact that one school in Cardiff and five in Bridgend are still serving pupils a cold lunch while their kitchen refurbishments are completed is really a minor matter. Frankly, the size of their kitchens is really a sideshow compared to getting qualified catering staff and ensuring that all children are served and have enough time to eat their lunch in the hour allotted on most schools' timetables.

I understand why Welsh Government wanted to start at the beginning, but starting universal free lunch roll-out in reception is a challenge all of its own. Four-year-olds are having to cope with the newness of the noise, the new faces, involved in the biggest transition in their lives. Also, being invited to eat food they may never have tasted before is a really big challenge.