Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:09 pm on 21 March 2023.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm genuinely a glass-half-full person here today. Can I thank the Minister for bringing forward the statement, but also for her engagement as well, not just with the cross-party group on a clean air Act for Wales, but all of the member organisations who are part of that and the Senedd Members, on a cross-party basis, who have been campaigning so long for this? It's unfair to name some of those, but people like Healthy Air Cymru, Asthma and Lung UK Cymru, Friends of the Earth, Living Streets Cymru and Wales Environment Link. So many people are on record as welcoming this step forward today, and it would be remiss of me not to mention the shy and unassuming Joseph Carter, who has been a one-man bandwagon, pushing this along and getting us all there.
So, I only have one, straightforward question, Dirprwy Llywydd, and it's this: within this renamed Bill—I wonder now whether we have to rename our cross-party group to reflect it—but within this renamed Bill, can I just ask is the Bill, in your opinion, Minister, ambitious enough? Does it deliver on the commitments made in the clean air plan and the clean air White Paper? And, just finally, in welcoming the intent to bring this Bill forward in consultation, in collaboration, in co-production, will she make sure she continues to engage with all those outside campaigners who've got lived experience as well, sometimes tragic, of the implications of air pollution?