In response to the Minister's last statement on regional economic development in January this year, I brought up my concerns about a lack of energy projects being identified in some of the frameworks, especially in light of the cost-of-living crisis and the rising fuel poverty that exists in Wales. This was only at the very beginning of this crisis. Our post-industrial areas are really being hit; these areas rank higher on Lowell's financial vulnerability scale, while having a higher number of energy crisis hotspots, according to Friends of the Earth.

Due to the unequal spread of energy projects in the regional economic framework documents, can the Minister please reiterate how he will ensure that all regions of Wales can benefit from more green energy project developments, with the aim of making energy bills cheaper, especially as we continue to face a growing cost-of-living crisis? It's clear that we have to crisis-proof the future so that we don't find ourselves in a crisis like this again, which I believe will be done by investing in green energy and ensuring that this industry is nationalised and publicly owned.

Last time I raised the need to move towards green energy within these frameworks, the Minister responded by raising concerns about a just transition, so I would reiterate, therefore, and ask the Minister to consider establishing a just transition commission, so that we can begin transitioning as soon as possible in the face of this crisis and to prevent further energy crises or climate damage.

There was also mention of free ports in the Minister's statement today. Free ports are rarely, if at all, mentioned in any of the regional economic development publications, yet Welsh Government are launching a free-port programme with the UK Government. Free ports are not new and there's a whole bank of research that criticises them. There's a myriad of evidence showing free ports go hand in hand with low-wage job creation, likely job relocation, instead of creation, and the potential for illegal activity while wealthy high-net-worth individuals and businesses stand to gain. Of course, his statement expresses the Government's desire to create better paid and skilled jobs, and the Minister, in the statement, noted that the free-port programme in Wales must contribute to and not take away from our wider objectives to create a stronger, fairer and greener Wales. But it strikes me that free ports don't align with the Government's ambition on this.

It's simple: we cannot be willing to go along with this if it means eroding workers' rights and conditions, as well as undercutting environmental standards. We cannot compromise on our principles. To that end, can the Minister outline his rationale behind Government support for free ports? And would the Minister agree that problems in underdeveloped areas could be solved by investment and community wealth-building strategies without any need for free ports at all?

Finally, in his last statement on the regional economic development framework, I raised the issue of the brain drain with the Minister, and specifically how the framework should be integrated with the young person's guarantee to retain talent and improve job creation in Wales. How does this now align with the Minister's support for free ports to improve regional economic development?