Thank you very much, Llywydd. I am very grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate on the general principles of the Bill and to be able to share the views of the climate change committee on the Bill with Members. Before I turn to the content of the Bill, I would like to speak briefly about how we've got to this point. Members will be aware, of course, that there was no Stage 1 committee scrutiny—by any committee—of the Bill before us today. The Bill was introduced in the Senedd only three weeks ago formally, the finalised Bill. During that period, the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee, the Finance Committee and the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee have all conducted work on this Bill. It's not a situation that we're very content with, but under the circumstances, I think that we have done a respectable job between us of scrutinising this Bill. If we had not chosen to do this work, then there would have been no public consultation on the detailed provisions of the Bill and there would have been no opportunities for those affected by the proposals to have their say. We therefore believe that it was important for us to do the work that we did to avoid a total scrutiny deficit. But—and I say this in the strongest possible terms—our work and what I refer to in my contribution to the debate today should not be considered as an adequate replacement for Stage 1 committee scrutiny. It's important that we all understand that. 

Turning to the Bill itself, while there was widespread support amongst stakeholders for the Bill, it must be said that they were under no illusions about the potential impact of the Bill on the environment. Most people told us that the Bill alone will have but a limited effect on the plastic pollution and littering that we see all around us, but, of course, it is a starting point at least, and it is a good first step in the right direction.

There was some discussion in committee about the definitions used in the Bill. For example, some contributors questioned whether there were loopholes around the definition of 'single use' specifically and what that means. But the consensus was that there will always be a degree of ambiguity around the definitions. Stakeholders were less concerned with perfection than with the need for the alignment of the definitions with other legislation. We have therefore recommended that the Bill should be amended to include provision for guidance to be issued on the definitions.

We are, however, concerned about one omission. The Bill, of course, prevents the supply of banned items, but it doesn't prevent the manufacture of those items. In Scotland, of course, both manufacture and supply are prohibited. Under the Bill as drafted, although there might not be many of them, manufacturers based in Wales could be shipping single-use plastics to other parts of the globe. On the face of it, therefore, it is difficult to tally this with our ambitions to be a globally responsible country. Now, the Minister said in opening her contribution that we are starting on a global journey when it comes to tackling plastics. Well, I'd be grateful if the Minister, in responding to the debate, could give specific attention to that point; I'd be eager to hear that.

The central part of the Bill, of course, is the list of banned items as well as the element of those that are exempted. Now, generally speaking, the stakeholders were content with the items on the list, but the message we heard clearly was that this should be considered as a starting point. I know that the Minister has already said that she intends to pursue a ban on wet wipes that contain plastic as soon as she can do so, and the committee supports you, Minister, in that regard. Stakeholders told us that the exemptions, then, to the ban should be minimal, but Disability Wales gave us food for thought about the potential unintended consequences of the measures in the Bill. So, it's important to ensure that representative groups like Disability Wales and others have a prominent role in the development of any proposals to add to the list of banned items from the outset, and I'm pleased that the Minister has acknowledged the importance of that in her opening comments.

Now, there is an expectation that local authorities will play a significant role in implementing these proposals, and one of the biggest concerns raised with us was about the capacity of local authorities to do this work. The Minister has said that she expects local authorities to educate suppliers in advance of the ban coming into force, but I doubt whether this is realistic, based on what we heard. We were told—and we all know this, of course—that there have been cuts in terms of proactive advisory work. There were also doubts that local authorities have the capacity to enforce the ban effectively. It was suggested that some local authorities may choose not to take enforcement action at all, because of a lack of capacity. I'm therefore grateful that the Minister has confirmed that she is discussing this issue with local authorities, but we do expect the Welsh Government to provide the funding needed for local authorities to play their part in ensuring that the ban is a success, and I look forward to receiving that correspondence from the Minister when she does write to us on this issue.

And finally to conclude, the committee is pleased to see progress in this area, but it's clear that whilst stakeholders support the Bill, the Bill hasn't led to some great excitement. After all, the UK and Scottish Governments have already legislated to ban certain single-use plastics, so we are attempting to catch up with them here. Yes, that means that we can perhaps avoid the mistakes that others have made, but for how much longer can we continue to call ourselves leaders on environmental policy, when we are in fact, in this context, often the last to act?