The next item will be a statement by the First Minister on the legislative programme, and I call on the First Minister. 

Llywydd, thank you very much. In this annual statement today, I will set out the third year of our ambitious legislative programme. By this point in the term, I know that the Senedd is used to dealing with a significant legislative workload, as has very much been the case in the last twelve months.

The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Bill received Royal Assent on 24 May, after being introduced in the first year of our legislative programme.

Action on climate change was central to the second year of our legislative programme. The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill was passed rapidly thanks to efforts of Members on all sides of the Chamber. The Bill received Royal Assent at the start of this month. We have introduced the Environment (Air Quality and Soundscapes) Bill, and the Senedd will consider its general principles in the autumn.

Some complex legislative matters will span the whole of this Senedd term. Today, we will be voting on the final stage of the Agriculture (Wales) Bill. This is the first phase of our programme of agricultural reform.

The Infrastructure (Wales) Bill was introduced earlier this month. This is the final Bill of the second year of our legislative programme. It will simplify the consenting process for specified types of major infrastructure projects. It will also provide more certainty for communities and developers alike.

I'm grateful to Members for agreeing to fast-track the Health Service Procurement (Wales) Bill. Without that Bill, the idea of a level playing field between England and Wales in terms of procurement for NHS services would have come to an end.

During this second year, the Senedd also unanimously supported the first ever Welsh consolidation Bill, namely the Historic Environment (Wales) Bill, which brings together legislation relating to the historic environment.

A significant programme of subordinate legislation sits alongside and underpins our legislative programme. This includes statutory instruments to implement major Acts passed by the Senedd, including legislation to implement the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 and Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022. The programme also includes subordinate legislation to implement UK Government Acts, including more than 20 proposals for UK Bills in the final Queen’s Speech. All of these contained provisions relating to devolved areas, and they must all be properly scrutinised.

Llywydd, I now turn to those Bills this Government will introduce in the third year of the legislative programme. There is a strong theme of reform running through the Bills we intend to bring forward as we use the law to make positive changes for people in Wales.

The scientific advice about climate change is as clear as it is stark. Climate change is no longer something for the future; it is happening now and it is happening here. If we are to pass on the Wales we love to our children and grandchildren, we must make changes to the way we live now. Transport accounts for nearly 15 per cent of our carbon emissions. We currently have a bus system that puts profit before people. We will bring forward a bus Bill to reform the failed system of deregulation to enable all levels of government to work together to design the network of bus services our communities need.

In this third year, we will also reform Laws around coal tip safety and spoil tips more generally, giving communities living in the shadows of these disused tips greater security. Our disused tips safety Bill will draw on the Law Commission's landmark report and responses to our own white paper to establish a new supervisory authority and management regime for tip safety in Wales. As anticipated by the Law Commission, the regime will apply both to coal and non-coal tips. Designing a proportionate regime that meets this broader lens is complex, and we're determined to get it right, because our proposals will establish a world-first regime for managing disused tips in the era of climate change.

Llywydd, bringing forward primary legislation to support the implementation of the programme for government commitment to eliminate private profit from the care of looked-after children is a priority for this Government. We will also legislate at the same time to introduce direct payments for continuing healthcare, in support of our programme for government commitment, and we will, in the same Bill, make a number of amendments to help regulation and support for the social care workforce operate effectively.

We will act purposefully to increase the number of people who can speak Welsh and to protect our Welsh-speaking communities. Our 2050 ambition is that every pupil in Wales will become a confident Welsh Speaker by the time they leave school, and there is a responsibility on the entire education system to work together towards that goal. This ambition will be reflected in our Welsh language education Bill, which we will bring forward in this third legislative year.

At the same time, Llywydd, we will bring forward a Bill to deliver the Government's commitment to reduce the democratic deficit in Wales, and to develop an electoral system fit for the twenty-first century. This Bill will also strengthen electoral administration by establishing an electoral management board, take steps to ensure every eligible voter in Wales is on the electoral register, and reform the processes for conducting community and electoral reviews.

A Bill to reform the Senedd itself will be introduced when we return from the summer recess. This Bill will create a modern Senedd, reflecting the breadth of devolved responsibilities and the Wales we live in today. It will create a Senedd that is better able to represent and serve the people of Wales, with increased capacity to scrutinise, to make Laws and to hold the executive to account. The Special Purpose Committee on Senedd Reform considered how its proposals could support and encourage the election of a legislature that aims to deliver a more representative and thereby a more effective legislature for and on behalf of the people of Wales. Therefore, in a further measure to reform the Senedd, we will bring forward a Bill to introduce gender quotas for candidates elected to this Welsh Parliament.

And finally, in this extensive and ambitious programme of radical reform, we will introduce a local government finance Bill. It will contribute to reforms of our council tax and non-domestic rates systems. The reforms will pave the way for these systems becoming more closely aligned with changes in market conditions, more responsive to the evolving pressures faced by people and organisations, and more tailored to Welsh needs as a result of being maintained within devolved structures. Extensive research experience and our experience of operating these systems over many years make clear that targeted reforms are very much needed in this area.

And, of course, Llywydd, there will be more to come in the remaining legislative years of this term as we bring forward measures to deliver on further important commitments in our programme for government and our co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru. In those future years, we will introduce legislation for a visitor levy and a statutory licensing scheme for all visitor accommodation, including short-term lets, before the end of 2024.

In line with our programme for government commitment, we will bring forward legislation during this Senedd term to establish an environmental governance body for Wales and to introduce a statutory duty and targets to protect and restore biodiversity. We will legislate to reform homelessness services and introduce a Bill to overhaul the system for building safety. We will also modernise the taxi and private hire vehicles sector, and bring forward legislation relating to the Welsh tribunal system.

Our programme to improve the accessibility of the law is another important facet of our legislative programme, and we intend to bring forward further consolidation Bills during this Senedd term, including Bills dealing with planning and a legislation repeals Bill. The Counsel General will set out more details about these plans as part of his annual progress report on the accessibility programme.

As a result of all of this, Llywydd, by the end of this third legislative year, spanning the halfway point of this Senedd term, we will have: put people before profit in the care of our children and in our public transport system; strengthened the path to 'Cymraeg 2050'; attended to the fears of our coal tip communities; reversed a 20-year hesitation to give people in Wales a Senedd fit for the future, a Senedd that reflects contemporary Wales and a democracy dedicated to widening participation, not its suppression; and we will have tackled deep-seated unfairnesses in the council tax system.

I commend this ambitious legislative programme to the Senedd, and I look forward to working with Members and those with an interest beyond this Chamber on these proposals, which will help to create that stronger, fairer and greener Wales that I believe people in Wales look to us to create. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you, First Minister, for your statement this afternoon. It's easy to forget how significant this statement is because it's become a part of the regular calendar of the Welsh Parliament, but, as someone who came in in 2007, I can well remember your predecessor saying some of the most exciting things that ever used to get debated and discussed in here were seed potato regulations from Cyprus and Egypt. That used to contain the excitement of the Senedd, or the Assembly as was, for many hours on a Tuesday afternoon. So, this ability to legislate, and legislate in a Welsh sense, is vitally important, and it's not to be forgotten that, whilst we might have disagreements across this Chamber in First Minister's questions, it is the UK Government in Westminster in 2011 that, obviously, brought forward the legislation that allowed that full law-making power referendum, the two Silk commission reviews that looked in and created the report that allowed for two Wales Acts to come forward, and obviously then those Acts being enacted to allow much of this legislation that the First Minister has talked about today to actually be brought forward by the Government here in Cardiff Bay.

If I could touch on a few pieces within the legislation that the First Minister has highlighted, and if I may be a little bit self-indulgent about the building safety legislation that you talk about, because that's something that's occupied a considerable amount of my time as a regional Member and, I know, other Members in this Chamber as well, could the First Minister highlight exactly what would be in that Bill? Will it convey the rights to the residents and home owners that are encapsulated in the legislation that Westminster has passed, which we've brought many a debate on to this Chamber before, but in particular sections 116 to 124, so that home owners can, if they so wish, seek redress of their own accord through the courts? At the moment, obviously, Welsh residents are unable to actually achieve that against the developers who have put them in such a precarious position.

Could I also seek clarification from the First Minister in relation to the public transport Bill that he'll be bringing forward around buses, and in particular the care of children? Many of these areas I think we will find some common ground on, but it's important that the policy initiatives that are running side by side of these initiatives that the Government are bringing forward via legislation can actually deliver for people, whether that be in the childcare system or, obviously, the bus operators system. Obviously, that's part of the reforms that were brought forward from the Silk recommendations—that we are able to talk about this legislation here this afternoon.

So, can the First Minister give an assurance that, with the legislation the Government is bringing forward, the policy initiatives and the money that will be needed to deliver these improvements will run in parallel with the legislation, rather than us seeing legislation sitting on the statute book that ultimately won't deliver those improvements that we would all wish to see in those key public services?

Could I also try and understand from the First Minister how he believes the 'Cymraeg 2050' goals will be enhanced by the legislation? I think all parties in this Chamber support the goal for 1 million speakers by 2050; I don't think anyone would expect the Government to bring forward legislation that would look to suppress the Welsh language. But, regrettably, time and time again, we've seen, most recently in the census report that came out, sadly, there are fewer Welsh speakers in Wales, despite many pieces of legislation that have come forward and many initiatives that have come forward, not just here, but before devolution in the Wales Acts that were passed in Parliament, and the Welsh language provisions that were passed in Parliament in Westminster. So, could I try and understand exactly what this piece of legislation will seek to achieve, and ultimately, what resource the Welsh Government will be putting behind this legislation to make sure we do achieve that goal of 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050?

Could I also try and ascertain from the First Minister, in relation to the coal tip legislation that he's bringing forward—again, an important consideration for my own electoral area, but I know for many other Members—? The First Minister talked of this being groundbreaking, world-beating legislation. It's important to try and understand what this legislation will convey in terms of rights to residents in those old coalfield areas, and, in particular, what remediation they would be able to seek, by using this legislation, in some of the blights that feature on the landscape within those communities. So, again, could the First Minister outline exactly how this piece of legislation will impact those communities in a meaningful and tangible way?

The First Minister talked about the Senedd reform Bill that the Welsh Government will be bringing forward. I'd be grateful to try and understand from the First Minister what the legal advice is to the Welsh Government in relation to the gender quotas that the First Minister talks of. We all want to see plurality in this Chamber—I'm pleased to lead a group that represents that plurality, although we can always do more and go further—but can the First Minister indicate why there's a need to bring a separate piece of legislation forward in this particular area, if the legal advice that he is working to doesn't give him confidence to incorporate it in the main body of the legislation that he'll be bringing forward about Senedd reform? We might well disagree about the numbers that will sit within this Chamber, but I think we all want to see a vibrant and wholeheartedly embraced democratic settlement here in Wales that people will buy into, so that we are able to increase turnout at Senedd elections and all elections across Wales, in particular when you look at the difference between a General Election turnout and a Senedd election turnout.

Could I also seek from the First Minister the ability to understand, when he's talking about the council tax legislation that he'll be bringing forward—? Will that be specifically limited in scope to increasing the bands and a revaluation exercise here in Wales, or is it a broader piece of legislation that will look to capture a more wholesale reform of the council tax system here in Wales?

I appreciate I might be trying the Presiding Officer's patience, because the red clock has gone on. My final question to the First Minister: it is well known that the First Minister has indicated his wish to stand down from the role of First Minister halfway through the Senedd term. Is he going to give a commitment today that, at the end of this 12-month legislative statement, he will be in place to deliver the next legislative statement, so that, obviously, we can understand the direction and leadership of the Welsh Government?

Nice try.

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for those questions. He was quite right to remind us all of the journey that this institution has been on during its brief period. In less than 25 years, it has gone from debating the smaller Egyptian potato Order—I remember it well—to the sorts of pieces of legislation that will come before the Senedd in the next legislative year.

The building safety Bill will not be in the third legislative year. As I indicated, it will come in the final half of this Senedd term. It will do the things that the Minister, who's joined us, I see, on the screen, has said many times: it will establish a robust and coherent regulatory system, it will create clear lines of accountability, it will require an annual fire risk assessment of those buildings within the scope of the Bill, and it will place the voice of residents in those buildings where fire safety has been a concern at the heart of that new regime.

I give the leader of the Opposition an assurance that, while we are legislating in relation to the future operation of bus services, and to eliminate the taking of private profit in the care of children, the policy initiatives that run alongside that will quite certainly continue. You've hard about the £44 million that the Welsh Government is making available in this financial year to support the transition of the bus industry from the current regime to the regime that will be set out in the Bill. And I'm very pleased to be able to report that there's been a significant acceleration in the programme of regional work by our local authorities to establish new premises for children who are currently looked after outside Wales or outside their local boundaries, and often in private facilities, to bring those children back closer to home and in facilities that will be run directly by public authorities. 

The Welsh language Bill quite certainly will contribute to our ambition to create 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050. I think the evidence is more disputed than the Leader of the Opposition suggested on the number of Welsh speakers that there are in Wales today. What is certainly not in dispute is the astonishing rise in the numbers of young people receiving their education through the medium of Welsh. When I first chaired—many, many decades ago now—the Welsh language education committee of South Glamorgan County Council, there was one primary school in Cardiff and one secondary school that taught through the medium of Welsh. If you look around the city today, you cannot imagine a more—. I hate using the word 'transformed'—we use it too often—but in this case, I think transformation would be a fair reflection of what has happened in Welsh-medium education, and the Bill will support that into the next part of that journey. 

As far as coal tip safety is concerned, I say again to Members that it's more than coal tip safety; there are spoil tips from other industries in other parts of Wales—slate quarrying in north Wales, metal mining in the Swansea valley, for example—that need to be brought within a regime that reflects safety concerns in an era of climate change. Only last week, I visited the work that is being carried out on the Tylorstown tip in the Rhondda, a tip, as the leader of the Opposition will know, that moved during that intense period of rainfall in February 2020. We need a regime in Wales that recognises that safety standards that were adequate in their day and in those circumstances are not what are needed in an era of intense weather events, whether that is intense rainfall or, as we saw last summer, intense temperatures, which had their own effect on the stability of some tips in Wales. The Bill will bring forward that new regime. It will offer that sense to people who live in those communities that there is a body charged directly with ensuring that they remain safe for them into the future. 

On Senedd reform, it was the subject of detailed discussions between the Government and Plaid Cymru, and the advice we had was that in order to ensure that the main Bill can be there and operating successfully for the 2026 election, we should find a way of dealing with any vulnerabilities to challenge that there may be on the gender quotas aspect. We are confident that we have the legal scope here in Wales to legislate in this area, and we will bring forward a Bill confident of the basis on which we do so. But it is an area in which other views may be possible, and where a challenge might be mounted. In order to make sure that the main reforms are not vulnerable to challenge, we've severed the two aspects. I'm not absolutely certain, Llywydd, that a disinterested observer looking at the Conservative benches in the Chamber would regard them as a model of gender plurality, and the gender quotas Bill will help us all to be—[Interruption.] I hear the Member; others outside the Chamber won't hear him. He's asking me about other aspects of diversity, and I agree with him. I agree with him absolutely that there is work for all political parties to do in an expanded Senedd to make sure that other aspects of diversity—people with disabilities, people from BAME communities—in a new and expanded Chamber reflect the nature of contemporary Wales.

The council tax Bill, Llywydd, will be broader than simply bands and revaluations. It will to allow us to take a more efficient approach to the many ways in which exemptions, discounts and disregards have accrued over the years without a proper look at the interaction between all those different elements. So, it will be broader than just the two issues that the Member mentioned.

And I can give him an assurance that there will be no Bill placed in front of Members during the third year that is a First Minister (end of term in office) (Wales) Bill.

May I thank the First Minister for this comprehensive statement? There are many elements to refer to in the next few minutes.

I'd like to start by referring to one Bill that is reaching the end of its journey today. We on these benches always try to bring the voice of rural communities and the agricultural sector to the Chamber for economic and cultural reasons. I'm very pleased that we've been able to use our influence within the co-operation agreement in a very constructive way to strengthen the agriculture Bill, and I know that farmers appreciate that too.

Plaid Cymru has campaigned long and hard for a clean air Bill, and I look forward to seeing steps being taken to save thousands of lives here in Wales. It's time to do that in order to save lives and also to protect NHS resources.

There are so many elements of the programme that we'll be dealing with over the next few years that I'm particularly proud of, and the contribution that we've made to them, like the attempt to create a more sustainable tourism model, supporting the tourism sector and safeguarding the communities that tourists frequent.

I'm excited to think about what we can deliver through a Welsh language education Bill, and I look forward to us working across parties here in the Senedd to deliver that.

I want to turn to the significant, important and positive step that we are about to take as a nation in terms of the development of our democracy.

The introduction of this Senedd reform Bill will be a landmark moment in the political history of Wales, of that I have no doubt. Almost a quarter of a century after our nation took its first tentative steps into the age of devolution, Welsh democracy is set to get an upgrade, and we will build on the work that has already happened within the co-operation agreement to make that a reality. Welsh devolved competences have developed and changed beyond recognition since I started working here as a journalist many years ago, and there’s been a resultant increase, of course, in the responsibilities and duties of elected Members, but Welsh devolution and the electoral profile of devolution has remained resolutely fixed throughout. There is no doubt that a larger Senedd facilitates more effective accountability and scrutiny of Government, and that is something that all of us in Wales should want to aspire to.

We’re pleased that the Bill will address the glaring need for reforming the voting system, disregarding once and for all the archaic first-past-the-post system that has proved so debilitating, has impacted on voter engagement over so many years, and sapped enthusiasm in the Westminster model. A move towards a more proportional system will ensure that each and every vote cast in future Senedd elections will have a tangible impact on the distribution of seats. We don’t pretend that the Bill as it will be presented delivers everything that we set out to achieve. Our policy as a party remains in favour of the single transferrable vote as opposed to the closed list system. We’ll continue to push for further reform. But we also recognise that no one party has the two-thirds Majority required to deliver such important reform, and as such we have worked pragmatically with the Government to develop a set of proposals that will pass that necessary threshold in the interests of everyone in Wales.

Finally, I'd like to remark on the legislative measures to introduce gender quotas in our electoral system—far overdue, again. Whereas great progress was made during the early years of devolution in terms of female representation in the Senedd, which became the first legislature in the world to achieve gender parity in 2003, we have witnessed a disappointing slippage in more recent times. Ensuring a prominent and diverse presence of women in politics is both a democratic and societal imperative, and as such, I welcome the measures contained in the Bills taken together.

To conclude, yes, this Senedd, as the First Minister said, will reflect contemporary Wales. We hope to lead Wales on a journey to independence in years to come, but, in the meantime, we need to ensure that our new Senedd adopts new powers in order to improve the lives of the people of Wales. To conclude, I appeal to and urge the First Minister to work with us to get those powers, not for their own sake, but in order to create the fairer, greener and more prosperous Wales that I aspire towards.

I thank Rhun ap Iorwerth, and I thank him for what he said at the outset about the constructive way that we have co-operated, and I am looking forward to co-operating with Members from all parts of the Chamber, where there are things we can do together. The ambitious programme before the Senedd for the third year of legislation does reflect the hard work that has happened between the Government and Plaid Cymru, particularly the work that Siân Gwenllian, Cefin Campbell and Adam Price have been part of, to prepare the programme that I have outlined this afternoon. I'm looking forward to continuing in that spirit.

I'll focus just on the Senedd reform issues that Rhun ap Iorwerth concentrated on in the second half of his contribution, Llywydd. Can I say to Members in every part of the Chamber that it's over 20 years since Lord Ivor Richard produced his report on the first Senedd term, a report that said that the Senedd did not have the number of Members it needed to discharge the responsibilities it had then? In the discussion that some of us were engaged with with some young people, somebody said to me, 'I wasn't born when Lord Richard produced that report, and, throughout the whole of my lifetime, successive Assemblies and Senedds have failed to grasp what is, undoubtedly, a challenging issue and one that requires a two-thirds Majority on the floor of the Senedd, quite rightly, in order to change the system that we have'.

Now is the moment to do it. I say that to colleagues in every part of this Chamber. We have a responsibility, while that opportunity is in our hands, to do something that has not been possible for over 20 years, and when that Bill is laid in front of the Senedd in September, it will be a landmark moment. It will be a landmark moment when we take that responsibility for making sure that the democratic structures we have in Wales are sufficient to bear the weight of the responsibilities that lie in the Senedd and future responsibilities that many of us hope will come the way of this devolved institution and to do it in a way that makes sure that there are sufficient Members and the organisation that lies behind them to be able to do the hard business of scrutinising legislation. We're a unicameral system here, we don't have a second Chamber to put anything right that we may get wrong. That's why we must have the firepower on the floor of a future Senedd to be able to scrutinise that legislation, make sure that it is as good as it possibly can be, and to hold the Executive, whoever will be in it, to account for the actions carried out on behalf of people here in Wales.

Of course, Rhun ap Iorwerth is right that the gender make-up of the Senedd isn't today as balanced as it was in some earlier Senedds. I am very proud indeed to lead a Labour group where women outnumber men—and by some distance. I'm very proud indeed that there are more women in my Cabinet than there are men, that, in the Government at least, we have an approach that reflects the nature of Wales today, and we want to see a Senedd that does the same, and those of us who are jointly committed on that enterprise will have an opportunity to make that happen when that gender quotas Bill appears in front of the Senedd before the end of this calendar year.

Can I echo in my opening remarks the comments there on Senedd reform by the leader of Plaid Cymru and by the First Minister? It falls to us to make this the Parliament, the Senedd Cymru that is fit not only for now, but for the future and for serving the people of Wales. It falls to us; we need to get on with it and do it.

But can I ask a few questions on the legislative programme there? First of all, the bus Bill: very welcome. We've been waiting for this very much to come along there. How will this tie in with this idea of streamlined timetables, streamlined ticketing—one ticket, one timetable—does this take us a stage towards being able to do that, because that's our vision for transport in Wales? 

Secondly, the environmental governance legislation you're bringing forward: will that be the one that actually enables us to move towards nature-positive restoration within Wales, replenishing biodiversity, our ecosystem services and nature itself, as well as strengthening that post-EU governance?

And just one final comment, Dirprwy Lywydd, one thing that we particularly welcome here—not just Welsh Labour, but co-operative Members as well—is the proposal around taking the profit out of care for looked-after children, delivering on that priority. And also, taking forward as well, linked to that, the proposals around continuing healthcare, where you can actually introduce direct payments, because that will enable different models of healthcare to be provided, including co-operative models. Thank you.

I thank Huw Irranca-Davies. And of course, as Chair of the special purpose committee established by the Senedd, he speaks with particular authority on the issue of Senedd reform, and it is the report of that committee endorsed by this Welsh Parliament that has been the bedrock of the Bill and all the work that goes into preparing it that you will see, I hope, in September.

The bus Bill will make the public interest the key test in the way in which bus services are provided in Wales in the future. It will mean that local authorities, Transport for Wales, will have the powers that are needed to ensure that the very significant public investment that is made on behalf of the public in sustaining that public transport system is put properly to work on their behalf. That is the guiding principle of the Bill, and I think the Member will see that reflected in that wider agenda to which he drew attention.

I'm pleased to confirm that the environmental governance Bill, when it appears, not in the third legislative term year, but beyond, will have biodiversity targets and nature restoration included within it, as well as post-EU governance arrangements.

Direct payments for continuing healthcare is a topic that has become more significant in the lives of many health service users, as the direct payments system in social care itself has matured, and matured in many of the ways to which Huw Irranca-Davies drew attention. It is anomalous that an individual can be in control of their own budget on a Monday, when the service is being provided by social care, but on Tuesday, when their needs mean that they are now to be provided through the continuing healthcare system, they lose that control. The Bill will make sure that that control can be continuous.

And can I just finally echo what Huw Irranca-Davies said, Llywydd? The Bill will help us to eliminate profits in looked-after children's services. I don't think I will ever forget meeting a group of young people brought together by the then children's commissioner, when a young woman described to me her feelings when she saw herself on a website where her local authority, her corporate parent, invited tenders in from anybody prepared to look after her at the lowest possible cost. Just imagine that—to think that that is how your future is being shaped. This Bill will make sure that that way of providing for young people in Wales will not be part of their futures or ours either.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (David Rees) took the Chair.

In the one minute I think I have in order to comment on a massive legislative programme, three very quick things. I do welcome Senedd reform, of course, but I do really want us to move the agenda forward from the least proportional representative system that is being proposed, to single transferable vote, and I do hope that's something that you would consider. I'd be interested in your comments on that. To Plaid Cymru, I say what I said last time: please don't stitch it up again. We want to make sure that we have STV and we want to make sure that we have an open agenda and an open discussion—[Interruption.] You stitched us up last time, I'm afraid, so please—. You went with the proposal for a closed-list system, and I'm really sorry you did, so I hope you'll be behind this.

The second thing is I really do welcome what you've said about taking the profit out of childcare. As a former child protection social worker, I'm really pleased to see that.

And the third thing is the issue around homelessness. I hope we're going to eradicate homelessness. I hope we're not going to reform it; I really hope we're going to eradicate it. So, I really do hope to hear more from you about how you're going to eradicate homelessness across Wales. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. On the homelessness point, the policy of the Government is that, where homelessness is experienced it should be rare, brief and unrepeated, and that is what legislation—not in the third year—when it comes forward, it will reflect those principles.

Can I say to the Member on Senedd reform that you heard Rhun ap Iorwerth say that there are aspects of the Bill that his party would have preferred to see otherwise? There are aspects of the Bill that I would have rather seen otherwise, but we will not get Senedd reform through this Senedd if we all are determined to get everything we want out of that Bill. The Bill will only succeed if we are all prepared to celebrate getting half a loaf where, otherwise, no loaf at all would exist, and that means compromise, and the Bill is a compromise, and nobody, not a single Member of this Senedd, will regard it as the perfect package of measures. But if you hang out for perfection, you will end up with nothing, and my belief is that this is not the moment to allow the search for perfection to drive out the possible. It has been impossible to reform the Senedd for 20 years. It is possible to do it now. But that possibility rests on every single one of us being willing to recognise that some compromises are necessary in order to secure a two-thirds Majority where not a single vote of those of us who believe in Senedd reform can be lost along that way.

I also thank the First Minister for his statement this afternoon. I have to say that the Welsh Government's legislative programme is a disappointment—a disappointment to my party, but more so, a disappointment to the people of Wales. Why is the legislation to tackle the big problems facing the people of Wales not here? Apart from the bus Bill, a pledge to tackle the management of disused coal tips and reform of council tax, this is once again a legislative programme seeking to buy Plaid Cymru's vote.

First Minister, where is the legislation for a Welsh human rights Act? When my party repeatedly called for the inclusion of the United Nations principles of rights of older people and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into the Welsh law, we were told that, rather than adding rights piecemeal, your Government would introduce new human rights legislation. We are still waiting. Older people's rights are still being ignored, as clearly evidenced during the pandemic. So, First Minister, how much longer do older people need to wait, or is your message to the Welsh elderly population that 36 more politicians is more important than their human rights? Diolch yn fawr. 

Well, Llywydd, I'm sorry the Member read out his script telling us that he was disappointed; I'm sure it was written well before he heard the statement. And I disagree with him, of course. And the fact that something isn't mentioned in the statement doesn't mean that it may not happen, because there are many, many things on which the Welsh Government is working that are not possible to include in a statement that was, by itself, of significant length and complexity this afternoon.

So, I don't agree with him, of course, that the statement is disappointing; I think it is the most demanding one-year programme that this Senedd will ever have been asked to navigate. It will put enormous obligations on the shoulders of every Senedd Member to find the time to do the job that will be necessary to make these proposals into the best law they can be, and, at the same time, and in the way that I indicated, the Welsh Government goes on preparing legislation for the second half of this Senedd term. 'How long can we wait?' the Member asked, and we're not even halfway through the Senedd term. There are two and a half and more years of this term to go, and there will be other pieces of legislation, beyond the ones that will preoccupy us in the coming 12 months, that will come before you before this term is over. 

Thank you, First Minister, for this afternoon's statement. Certainly, reflecting on the bus Bill, the coal tip safety Bill, is very important, particularly for the region I represent, but also for other parts of Wales. 

I would like to pick up on the point that Huw Irranca-Davies raised with you, just in terms of what's been called by organisations like Climate Cymru the 'nature positive Bill', and the delay once again here. People will be disappointed. As you'll be aware, over 300 organisations wrote to you in March asking for this to be brought forward. In your statement, you emphasised your commitment to the nature and climate emergency, and that we can't wait. Well, that's true in terms of biodiversity. We are losing biodiversity every day, every week that goes by without this legislation in place. We're already behind, post Brexit, in terms of that governance, that environmental governance framework here in Wales. We don't even have the interim properly in place. So, therefore, can I ask: why is this, once again, delayed, and how will it be progressed so that it will become legislation as quickly as possible, so that we do actually react to a climate and nature emergency?

I thank Heledd Fychan for those comments, and I can tell her that, every time we prepare the legislative programme for the year ahead, a lot of conversations and arguments take place internally, and all members of the Cabinet try to get more into the programme. 

And that's how the system works. There are always more bids than there is room. There are always more ambitions amongst Cabinet colleagues than can be accommodated in a single year. And I can assure the Member that the case for the environmental governance Bill getting into the third year was powerfully made during those debates. In the end, we will bring forward a white paper by January of next year. In the meantime, we will strengthen the interim arrangements, and I certainly pay tribute to the work of Dr Nerys Llewelyn Jones, who, I think, has carried out her duties as the Interim Environmental Protection Assessor for Wales in a way that has given people confidence that, while we are still developing the final arrangements for environmental governance, there is a system here in Wales that is actively available and powerfully led. We're going to recruit a deputy to Dr Llewelyn Jones in this interim period, to strengthen the resources she has during this period. And a full Bill, including nature restoration—a nature positive Bill—will be part of that Bill. It's more than just governance arrangements, in the way that I explained to Huw Irranca-Davies. 

Thank you, First Minister. It was, in many ways, an inspiring statement, an inspiring statement that speaks not simply of a legislative agenda, but of our values and our ambitions and our visions for Wales. I think taking the profit out of children's care is something that can unite people across the whole country—maybe not on the Conservative benches, but everywhere else in this country. Ensuring that we have bus services that are fit for purpose for everybody across this country is something, again, that people want and people want us to deliver. Ensuring that children across the whole of this country can access Welsh-language education delivers on the ambition of a million speakers by 2050. Ensuring that people can sleep safely in their homes because the tips that disfigure our Valleys are dealt with is a reason why people vote for our Government.

And I hope, First Minister, in delivering this legislative programme, you can also ensure that we can protect our environment, protect our employment rights, and that, when the Conservative Government in London take away EU law protections, this Parliament will ensure that our voices are heard and that protections that our people want, need and have voted for will remain in place, and this Government will legislate wherever needed to protect the employment, environmental and other rights that we have come to expect and anticipate in this country.

I thank Alun Davies very much for that, Llywydd. I hope that he can see, and others can see as well, that there is a series of themes that run right through the legislative programme. First of all, we are determined that the public interest will drive the way in which policies and legislation in Wales make a difference in people's lives, particularly when the public makes an enormous investment in those services in the first place. And I hope as well that he will see that the programme is both radical and ambitious. And I can tell you, Dirprwy Lywydd, that there will be vested interests out there who will mount considerable Opposition to a series of the measures that the Senedd will have in front of it during the coming year, and the looked-after children measure is one of those. There is a very well-resourced sector out there that has made a huge amount of money out of the lives of vulnerable children. The Competition and Markets Authority has reported twice in the last 12 months on the excess profits that the sector has taken from that work. Every Member of the Senedd, I predict, will hear from that sector, protesting against the legislation that will be in front of us. And on that score, and on others, and Senedd reform is certainly one of them, we will have to hold our nerve. You cannot bring about radical change, you cannot disrupt the status quo, you cannot take on vested interests, without having the political courage that comes in order to bring about change. And I hope the Member can see, in the package of legislation that is in front of the Senedd in the next 12 months, that sense of the public interest on the one hand and the political courage to make those things happen run right through the programme that this Senedd will have in front of it over the next 12 months.

First Minister, thank you for your statement. I was saddened that the word 'food' didn't feature once in the statement, because we know that obesity and other health-related issues are running rampant, and that is something that we need to grab hold of. I know that there is a statement later today looking at food environment legislation, but I would have hoped that the importance of the well-being of our children through our food system would have featured in this major statement of yours today, for the good of future generations. We make a big statement about the Welsh language, and young people learning the Welsh language, which is very, very important, but surely their diet, their food and their well-being is fundamentally important, going forward. I believe we lost the opportunity for a good bit of legislation here—I know I'm biased. But the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee I think agreed with me, and made several recommendations to this Chamber. First Minister, I won't go through those—I haven't got time—but I was disappointed that there was no reference to any of those in your statement. Can you give me some further reassurance—and I know there's already been some in this Chamber—that the recommendations that the food Bill could have brought forward, or the importance of educating our children around food, will feature in your thinking going forward, and this won't be an example of a bit of backbench legislation kicked into the long grass? 

Well, first of all, I thank Peter Fox for what he said. I recognise his own personal commitment to that food agenda and the work that he put in to the promotion of his own Bill. But, in the way that he recognised, the Senedd this afternoon will hear from my colleague Lynne Neagle about the very significant package of measures that she has announced today, all of which help to contribute to the actions we need to see to protect the future of our children. I chaired a meeting myself, Dirprwy Lywydd, just outside the Chamber, with a series of ministerial colleagues, on the community food strategy. The purpose of the meeting was to energise the system, now that the food Bill itself was not to go ahead, to make sure that every part of Government and every ministerial colleague are contributing everything they can to make that community food strategy as powerful as it can be, and we will reconvene before the end of this term to make sure that those actions are being rapidly progressed. 

Can I say, in a gentle way, if I can, I don't think it helps to try to counterpoise the actions we are taking on the Welsh language against the actions that we will be taking on food? We want, of course, our children to grow up in a healthy food environment and we want our children to grow up in a Wales where the Welsh language is a normal, ordinary, everyday part of their experience, and there really is no contradiction or competition between those two objectives. 

Thank you, First Minister. The word 'poverty' is missing from your statement. The eradication of poverty should be the basis of the Government's whole programme, or every Bill and piece of legislation will be built on sand. The unacceptable levels of poverty in Wales are scarring our children, and, in the words of the chief executive of Faith in Families, a charity that supports children in Swansea in my region, mean that we are storing up a huge problem for the future—a huge, huge health problem, a huge welfare problem and an anger problem. Whilst we are tied to an unequal union and a Westminster Government that prioritises some groups of people and some areas over others on an ideological basis and of electoral politics rather than need, we in Wales will not be able to act fully to eradicate poverty. And, in seeing the Labour Party refusing to commit to providing free school meals for schoolchildren, it's clear that we can't have faith in a government of any colour to take the robust steps that are needed.

So, First Minister, do you agree that we need to accelerate the process of taking the powers that we need to create the nation and society that we want to see, and to devolve powers for welfare to create a safety net that truly would save those people who need to be caught from falling into a slough of despond? And in the meantime, do you agree that there are measures that we can put on the statute book here to try and ensure that every £1 of support that comes to families reaches their pockets quickly and swiftly by creating a Welsh benefits system on a statutory basis? Thank you. 

Well, I thank Sioned Williams for the questions. And of course, I do agree with what she said about the importance of poverty and that poverty is a part of all important experiences in the lives of families, which are so important to us. In the legislative programme, we do concentrate on two things: things where we have to legislate to make a difference and where the powers to legislate are within the competence of the Senedd currently. And there are lots of things that we can do in the area of poverty that don't depend on legislation, as Sioned Williams said. Everything that we've done on free food in our schools—we didn't have to legislate to do that. And in the document that the Minister Jane Hutt has presented on poverty, what's in the document are those things that we can do that don't depend on legislating on the floor of the Senedd, because we don't have many powers at present that run towards legislation and the best way to do that. In the future, I want to see more powers in the Senedd to administer the welfare system that we have, because I think if the powers are there—and Gordon Brown's report does show the way to do that—by doing that, we can do more to help the lives of children and families who are suffering from poverty at present. But that is something for the future.

Thank you for this very important statement, First Minister, to this place, on the legislative programme for Wales and for the people of Wales. And as the representative of the Constituency of Islwyn, I know that climate change is a key overriding Welsh priority for young people, and the role of public transport is integral within that. I know my residents will welcome, and I will urge the Welsh Government to act with great vigour on the forthcoming proposed bus Bill. For far too many communities in Islwyn, public transport is also fragmented and unreliable.

I also wholeheartedly welcome the bringing back of Welsh looked-after children with a qualitative, invested offer, consistently across Wales and not for profit.

Additionally, the disused tips safety Bill will fulfil a direct need for Wales to safely manage our industrial heritage and will apply to coal and other sites. Tŷ Llwyd quarry in Islwyn closed in 1972, and it has shown, 50 years later, that more is directly needed to be done to monitor and manage the legacy of our industrial and mining past for the safety of all of our citizens.

First Minister, further to the transformative enrichment of a Welsh democracy with a Bill to reform the Senedd and create a gender balance, how then will you sum up the importance and, yes, urgency of the Welsh Labour Government's ambitious and radical legislative programme to the listening citizens of Islwyn and beyond?

Well, I thank Rhianon Passmore, Dirprwy Lywydd. What I would want residents of Islwyn to know is that this Senedd is determined to protect the democracy on which their futures depend, and to make sure that they have a Senedd fit to discharge the responsibilities that lie in our hands on their behalf, and that that Senedd of the future, I hope, will go on grappling with those things that make the greatest difference in the lives of the citizens of Islwyn.

And just to take one example of the ones that the Member highlighted, in her part of Wales, many, many villages and families will live with the scars created by the mining industry of the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. They live with that every single day. They will know, as a result of the Bill that will come before this Senedd, that there will be a future system in which the management, the monitoring and oversight of those disused spoil tips in Wales will be done in a way that is fit for the circumstances in which we live today.

An enormous amount of work has gone on, Dirprwy Lywydd, as a result of the taskforce that I jointly chair with the Secretary of State for Wales, to establish very basic things like: how many disused coal tips are there in Wales? We simply didn't know. There are 2,566 according to the most up-to-date and accurate information. Where were they? Who owned them? What state were they in? It turned out that we didn't know a whole series of absolutely fundamental things in order to have a regime that will keep people safe in the future. Over 1,000 inspections will have been carried out by the Coal Authority as a result of money provided by the Welsh Government to make sure that the highest risk tips have been inspected regularly, and we're now about to embark on the inspections of tips that are further down that risk hierarchy. All of that work will culminate in the legislation that you will see in front of you next year.

For a Labour Government, Llywydd, knowing the history of Wales, knowing the disasters that people in Wales have had to experience in previous years, the effort to make sure that we avoid any of that in the future could not be more fundamental to our political mission, nor could it be more fundamental to the people of Islwyn, whom the Member represents.

First Minister, the Children, Young People and Education Committee brought forward the report on radical change for care-experienced children in Wales, and I know this is a key area of work that you've taken a personal interest in. A lot of those recommendations needed legislative change to actually get the radical reform that we need here in Wales. So, on top of what you announced today in the statement, can you outline any measures the Welsh Government is taking to implement some of the recommendations in the report, so that we can actually improve the lives of care-experienced children here in Wales?

Dirprwy Lywydd, I don't think I can do that this afternoon. I'll give the Member and the Chair of the committee particularly an assurance that that report is being taken very seriously inside the Welsh Government. As Members will know, we have six weeks always to make sure that we have an opportunity to at least absorb and take a first proper consideration of those recommendations, and the Minister responsible will come forward with a response to that report, including thoughts that the Welsh Government will have on any further and future legislation in this important field. I'm very grateful to the committee for the work that it's done. It will not be reflected—but I know the Member wouldn't expect—in the next 12 months' programme, but it will certainly have an influence over the thinking of the Government as we plan beyond the third legislative year.

Finally, Carolyn Thomas.

Diolch. I welcome the bus Bill, especially with the current bus emergency, and I know that operators are also welcoming franchising now, which is good. I am a bit concerned about funding for it, and I am looking forward to discussing it at the cross-party group on public transport.

I was going to also ask for an update on the nature positive Bill, and I understand now that it is coming under the environmental governance Bill. I did hear your responses earlier, but we are in an emergency, and nature is declining so rapidly that I hope it can be addressed really quickly. Can you confirm that the Bill will actually be coming forward in this Senedd term? I think I heard you correctly that the white paper will be coming forward next year. If you could just respond to those, please. Thank you.

Well, I thank Carolyn Thomas. Yes, I confirm, Llywydd, that the intention of the Welsh Government is to bring forward a white paper on environmental governance at the start of next year, and a Bill on environmental governance is absolutely still an integral part of the plan of the Welsh Government for the second half of this Senedd term.

Dirprwy Lywydd, the Member has been a powerful advocate for bus services, and a sustained advocate for bus services, on the floor of the Senedd. I'm glad to hear what she says about the franchising model being welcomed. I think the Deputy Minister has worked very hard with the industry to create a collaborative approach to shaping that future. Funding will always be an issue; we simply do not have the money to do all the things that we would like to do. But, the bus Bill will provide a new legislative basis to make sure that whatever funding is available is put into the system in a way that promotes the public interest, and that is a theme, as I've said, Dirprwy Lywydd, that runs throughout the programme that I've been able to outline this afternoon.

I thank the First Minister.