Thank you, Minister, for your statement. As you have quite rightly said, the retail sector in Wales is vital to providing so many jobs across the country, and of course providing vital skills that are transferable to other industries. Although you haven't mentioned it in your statement, I believe that, in order to improve the retail sector and help improve footfall to high-street businesses, there needs to be a greater scrutiny of what is missing on the high street and what is needed to support shoppers.

One of the issues that I am deeply concerned about, but seems to be repeatedly not included in future plans or even mentioned, is the need for more public toilets. Many shops across Wales are small independent businesses who rely on passing trade and tourism for a Majority of their customer base, and a major limiting factor for people accessing the high street and purchasing from many of these shops is the availability of toilet facilities. This is particularly true for older people, those with disabilities, and those with young families. Though there are toilets in some shops, it's not all of them, and those shops that do have them are usually the big national chains. Smaller shopping areas almost always never have public toilets.

Indeed, Minister, there are only seven listed public toilets in the Constituency of Cardiff North, four of which are in large supermarkets, one is in a cemetery, and two are in libraries. One only has to walk along St Mary Street late on a Saturday night to see the impact of this. Surely, it is plain to see how investing in public conveniences is essential to helping the high street and many of these small businesses. Therefore, Minister, what assessment has the Government made of the impact of so few public toilets on the retail sector, and what measures are you taking to encourage councils across Wales to improve the provision of public toilets?

Sadly, Minister, Wales has the second highest number of vacant shops in the UK, according to new figures from the Welsh Retail Consortium, with just over one in six shops lying empty. The problem with vacant shops is that they create a feeling of a shopping area being run down, and it has a knock-on effect of fewer people coming to that area, which in turn leads to fewer and fewer shops being opened.

With this in mind, one of the single biggest contributors to reducing footfall for shops is the availability of car parking. Councils and private car parking businesses are squeezing every penny from their parking charges and they are, in many cases, extortionate. They're also becoming few and far between, with many roadside spaces being taken out to make way for cycle paths. In my own council of Rhondda Cynon Taf, the council car parks in town centres are cash only, which causes added issues, as most people now predominantly spend on card and very rarely rely on cash. All of this is making it easier and easier for online businesses to take away trade from the high street. So, with this in mind, Minister, what are your proposals to ensure that there are affordable and accessible car parking facilities available for people to utilise on our high streets?

Finally, I would like to mention the role of architecture in helping businesses to attract an increased footfall. It has been known for some time that architecture plays a key part in encouraging people to visit an area, promoting better social interaction and making people feel happier. Council planning has a big part to play in this, because allowing developments that are not aesthetically pleasing or in keeping with existing designs has actually been proven to put people off visiting. Thus, I would be very interested to know your thoughts on how the retail sector can work with planning departments to encourage better urban design and architecture of buildings that encourages rather than deters people. Thank you.