Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. May I first of all remind Members of my declaration of interest as a farmer? It is an absolute pleasure to introduce the Food (Wales) Bill to the Chamber this afternoon—the first Member Bill of the sixth Senedd. Around 13 months ago, I was given the opportunity by you all to present an outline of the Bill, based on the principle that we need to get more locally produced food into our homes, our communities and our public services. But when discussing my ideas with stakeholders, it turned out that much more work was needed to ensure that the food system works for not just our producers, but our communities as well. And so, the Bill as drafted today has been expanded far beyond what I originally envisaged. I felt that it was important that we grasped this opportunity to strengthen the Welsh food system as a whole, to establish a more sustainable food system in Wales, to strengthen food security, improve Wales's socioeconomic well-being, and to enhance consumer choice.

These are the broad principles that have underpinned the provision and policy objectives of the food Bill. To achieve this, the Bill provides a framework that enables a coherent, consistent and strategic cross-governmental approach to policy and practice on all aspects of the food system. To inform this process, I have held a wide range of consultation—from policy round-tables to scope the initial approach of the Bill, I've had regular engagement with policy experts to discuss technical aspects, as well as a public consultation, which I launched at the Royal Welsh Show. That went over the summer, and we've received over 50 high-quality responses to the consultation. What this uncovered was strong support for the general principles of the Bill and its provisions. Over 75 per cent of respondents agreed that we need to see this Bill on the statute book.

Deputy Llywydd, the amount of work that has gone into producing the Bill, and the explanatory memorandum, has been immense, and I could not have done this without the expert support and friendship offered to me by the Commission Bill team, who have been drawn from across the Senedd Commission, as well as thanks to the external counsel. They have put a tremendous and immense effort in, from day one, to transform my ideas into reality, and to guide me through this process. I'm ever so thankful, and I have to praise the quality of the staff in the Commission—they have been outstanding. I also wanted to say a special thanks to my own support staff, particularly Tyler Walsh, who has been absolutely fundamental in helping me achieve this to date, and also Tom Povey, who has been invaluable throughout this process. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank every organisation, policy expert, and members of the public, from across the UK, that have helped us to shape the Bill. Your continued support is very much appreciated.

Deputy Llywydd, I would now like to turn to the Bill itself, and will broadly set out what each section does and why. We start with food goals. They provide a mechanism to ensure that the Bill achieves its key policy objective, or the primary food goal—that is, to deliver affordable, healthy and economically, environmentally and socially sustainable food for the people now and for future generations. This is supported by a range of secondary food goals that cover things like health, social and economic well-being, environment and biodiversity, and, of course, food waste. The Bill places a duty on public bodies to take reasonable steps to advance the primary food goal and the secondary food goals, such as through the national food strategy and local food plans. There is also a requirement on Welsh Ministers to consolidate existing targets, as well as to establish additional targets on how to meet the food goals. The reason for this provision is to establish a consistent direction of travel for the Welsh food system, as well as increasing accountability within it. During consultation, it was made clear that there is a lack of coherent approach to Welsh food policy, as well as within the wider food system. Sixty-three per cent of respondents to the consultation on the draft Bill believed that the Welsh Government food-related strategies are not joined up enough. And whilst there are a number of plans in place, many of these lack scrutiny and accountability mechanisms.