I’m also going to ask for two statements. And the first one, leader of the house, that I would like is a statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs on whether or not she will consider looking at increasing the maximum jail term for animal abuse from six months to five years. The UK Government have recently announced their intention to increase the maximum prison sentence available to magistrates to five years, and it’s thought that the Animal Welfare Act 2006 will be used as a mandate for change for increasing sentences.

In the last year, there have been two successful prosecutions in my Constituency, where puppy farm breeders have been found guilty of cruelty and neglect. Those animals were kept in the most horrific conditions without being given even the most basic care, and they did suffer terribly. But what struck me was that despite the horrendous suffering that was caused, the longest sentence that was given was only five months. The only other sentence that was given was a nine-week sentence suspended for two years. I believe those sentences to be far too lenient, and I think that we need to urgently address this issue if we are going to be serious about becoming a country that protects animals.

The second statement that I would ask for is a statement on human trafficking or anti-human slavery. I’m chair of the cross-party group on human trafficking in the Assembly, and we did convene the very first meeting of the term this morning, which was hugely well attended by experts from across Wales. They are providing both the expertise to try and end the heinous crime of modern-day slavery or trafficking, and they also actually provide victim support, which helps to support those victims, but also to help those victims tell their stories, so that we end up with the perpetrators of this heinous crime actually being prosecuted.

We were, and we still are—. We were the first, and we are still the only country in the UK that has a national anti-slavery co-ordinator, and I don’t think that people realise that that is still the case. And, in the meeting this morning, the Wales anti-slavery co-ordinator made clear that Wales is now seeing more reporting of modern slavery than ever before, and it has the most successful number of prosecutions. We think that that was due to the increase in reporting of those as a consequence of the greater awareness that this issue has across Wales, alongside the comprehensive training sessions being delivered to first responders and non-government organisations on what they need to look at, and what they need to consider in first identifying a potential victim of slavery, or how to respond to them. And, again, it was the case that those victims are more likely to share their stories with the non-government organisations, and not the authorities, when they come forward, since they definitely do not trust the authorities from whence they came.

But the other issue, and the other crossover that was clearly identified this morning, is the need to cross-reference where we have refugees seeking refuge, particularly if they’re unaccompanied minors, with the likelihood of them falling prey—if they haven’t already fallen prey before they arrive—to the slave traders. And we all know that we supported the Dubs agreement here in Wales, and yet it is the case that we have brought through very few children safely to the UK, and yet Wales remains open to that request.