I do think this is a very important committee report and debate. The leisure sector has a very important role to play in our lives in Wales, including physical activity and sport. They are so important for the enjoyment of life, health and fitness, quality of life. And, thankfully, I think we've seen much better links between the worlds of sport and fitness and the worlds of health and, indeed, social care. In Newport, we're lucky in terms of our leisure trust, Newport Live, which I think has shown some very good examples generally and in terms of those links with the health sector. So, they've done much in terms of referrals for exercise, cardiac rehabilitation, dealing with long COVID, using centres for vaccination during the pandemic, and now, opening up the Newport centre for rough sleepers. So, they are working to establish links across the piece, which I think is very, very important.

But, as we've heard, this good work is under dire threat now because of energy costs, the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and, of course, the impact on salaries. Newport Live are committed to paying the living wage, and rightly so, and that in itself will result in something like a £350,000 per annum increase in their salary bill. So, what we see I think is less income and greater outgoings, and that will mean less sport and less physical activity. And, sadly, possible redundancies for committed workforces across Wales and the undermining of our work on health and well-being, which will add to long-term pressures on the national health service. And, of course, as we've already heard, it's the most vulnerable and relatively disadvantaged who are likely to suffer the most, because they will be priced out of the market, as it were, and not able to meet the costs, and indeed increased costs that are likely to come about to deal with these pressures on the sector.

So, it's such a difficult time. And, as we've heard, the impact on swimming pools is also very worrying, as part of the general picture. I think we know, don't we, that many more of our young people need to learn to swim, for the reasons that we've already heard about. I'm a regular user of my local swimming pool, and I've certainly noticed the drop in temperature in recent times, it must be said. But, it's a great benefit to adults who want to have the benefits of what is one of the very best forms of exercise as well as being so important in terms of teaching our young people to swim.

We face the prospect of reduced hours, increasing charges, the more disadvantaged suffering disproportionately more than groups with greater incomes—all of that is so worrying for so many of our Welsh Government's most important strategies and programmes. We saw a very important shoring up of the sector, I think, during the pandemic from Welsh Government and others, and it would be such a tragedy if that support was undermined by the current crisis and, perhaps, not matching support at this time to deal with this particular challenge. We know that, as ever, the UK Government is woefully lacking in its response in terms of those energy costs and their refusal to properly support the leisure sector at such a crucial time.

Could I say as well, Llywydd, that I do believe that this is the sector that has been proactive in dealing with some of these challenges? They're not just sitting about waiting for support to come to them. Jenny Rathbone mentioned the energy situation, for example, and I know that Newport Live have done much in terms of solar panels on roofs, energy efficiency; they have many more plans to use their roofs for those solar panels and to harness ground source heat. But they will require help to meet the initial cost, if they are able to do that, and it’s a real invest-to-save opportunity that I hope Welsh Government can support.

Llywydd, the leisure sector, sport and physical activity have so much to offer, and these leisure trusts are so important in terms of supporting local sports clubs and community groups. All of this is in this very important report and I just hope that we can—Welsh Government and others—rise to meet these challenges to offer this support, which is so important for the long term and the preventative agenda that our well-being of future generations Act requires us to take with the utmost seriousness.