Equality and Social Justice Committee

Hello, everyone. Prynhawn da. I'm Jane Hutt, Minister for Social Justice, and I'd like to also introduce Claire Bennett, director responsible for all policies relating to social justice.

Thanks, and I'm Hannah Blythyn, Deputy Minister for Social Partnership, and with me today is Jo Salway, who's the director for social partnership and fair work.

Thank you very much indeed. Thank you both—thank you all of you. I just wanted to—. I’ll start off, and I just wanted to ask you: you say in your paper that equality and human rights is centre stage of every Welsh Government since the foundation of the National Assembly, now the Senedd, and I just wondered if you could respond to the comments made in the report that you commissioned—the 'Strengthening and advancing equality and human rights in Wales' report—which found that there had been a persistent implementation gap between the aspirations in the Government's policy and the legislation, and the actual lived experiences of people in Wales.

Well, thank you very much, and I'm really pleased to come before your committee, equality and social justice, and before Members this afternoon. I mean, that's a really important question, Chair, because we commissioned that research in order to identify how we could strengthen and advance equality and human rights after 20 years. It was commissioned back in January 2020, I think, in order for us to look at it from a policy, implementation and legislative powers, as they've grown, perspective. What was really important was that we set up a steering group for stakeholders and partners, brought an intersectional group, all those involved in equalities, all our fora came together to help us in terms of terms of reference and also to monitor and receive reports, as the research has been undertaken. And, as you know, I've published a statement on 26 August, welcoming the publication of that independent report commissioned by the Welsh Government. Because we needed to clarify how we can deliver and learn from the research, that central approach that we have, to ensure that equality and human rights are at the forefront of all that we do. And also, I mean, we were concerned not just in terms of looking at it as we move forward, progressing devolution, but looking at it in light of our exit from the European Union as well, which is going to have a huge impact; that was the evidence that we were getting back to the external affairs committee.

So, I think the report is extremely valuable, particularly looking at the recommendations—40 recommendations—not just for the Welsh Government, but for our Equality and Human Rights Commission, our Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and all the regulators, and we're receiving it now and considering it very carefully. It does actually, very helpfully, point the way to safeguarding and promoting equality and the human rights of people and communities in Wales, so it's going to be really valuable in helping us inform the work as we move forward in terms of strengthening equality and human rights.

So, there are many aspects to it, which I'm sure we will be considering and discussing with you as a committee, including opportunities that we can set out in our programme for government for incorporating those conventions—the UN conventions—and how it can align with our socioeconomic duty. But I'm particularly interested in what's emerging, and it is from the qualitative as well as the quantitative research that's been undertaken. They were very delayed by COVID-19 in getting out and talking to people, but they did manage to engage with those who are particularly affected by inequalities and discrimination in Wales. They reached out during the period of time of this research. But I'm particularly interested in those sections about implementation, accountability and monitoring, which are all of the issues that we continually look at, and particularly now coming altogether in our portfolio, our social justice portfolio.

But, as you've said, Jenny, we have said that equality is at the heart of our programme for government, the underpinning principle for everything that we do, very much a key part of our recovery, as the First Minister has said, and the steering group, as I mentioned, is meeting in October and we will then of course be considering the recommendations and moving forward.

Okay. So, you accept the basic assertion that there is a big gap between the aspirations and the legislation and the actual implementation.

I mean, we've always known that there's a—. How do you get to the implementation? You can monitor. What are the outcomes—not just reports on action—what are the outcomes in terms of implementing equality and human rights? So, it's very valuable, as I said, as a piece of research.

One of the things from our race equality action plan, as you will all know, is that there's been a—. What came out of a co-construction of that action plan was this very strong call for implementation. Yes, we can have all the aspirations, objectives and goals, but actually are you going to implement this strategy? Are you going to implement this plan? So, we have to look at this research—this very, very valuable research—and say, 'Well, is it going to give us a way forward; help us with the tools, the levers within our powers and what we need to do in terms of strengthening those powers to deliver?' I think it's going to be very valuable to take stock.

I'm very interested in the fact that they talk about what does 'due regard' mean. Because we managed to get due regard to equality into our very first Government of Wales legislation—that's all we could do—but how can we strengthen that? So, it's extremely valuable research. For the steering committee, who are all of the intersectional—because that's what's crucial about this, in all the plans that we're taking forward, not just race equality, obviously all of that needs to be now—all of those stakeholders and representatives will be guiding us as we move forward.

Okay. You mentioned the 'Strategic Equality Plan 2020-2024'. In your view, is that still fit for purpose or are there any plans to revisit it in light of, obviously, the pandemic in particular having highlighted the extent of the inequalities we have?

Well, clearly, the pandemic has deepened inequalities and that became very clear. As we mentioned, in the lockdown we saw the disproportionate impact of COVID on particularly black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, disabled people and women. We saw the deepening of the inequalities. So, the strategic equality plan that we've been consulting—[Inaudible.]—phase and iteration was very influenced by the impact of the pandemic and how we were responding to it.

And I think what's become more interesting is that, in terms of the strategic equality plan, we now have this sort of thematic approach. We've got these pillars, if you like, and we've got those separate but interlinked plans. I've mentioned the race equality action plan, but there's also the LGBTQ+ action plan; we've established a disability rights taskforce—many of you will have seen the 'Locked out' report from the disability equality forum—and linking to the 'Nation of Sanctuary' plan, and of course we had the 'Advancing Gender Equality in Wales Plan'. So, I think the strategic equality action plan has got to have an overarching grip on all those pillars and themes in order to ensure that it can actually deliver on specific protected characteristics, but also an intersectional approach.

What we have found from the pandemic, from the consultation and our experience, is that we need more collaboration and cross-sectoral collaboration in the way we take the themes forward, and we've got to provide the leadership for that. So, I think it's strong in terms of the need for that plan. We have to deal with entrenched inequality and I think the plan does provide a strategic vision that will have that power to make sure we deliver on those individual plans. But also, I have to say, I've also done, as you know, from the word go, from devolution, an annual report on equality and that actually does give you a bit more of a progress check on what's happening, but it's the outcomes that we're seeking in terms of the plan.

Okay. Just very briefly, lastly, because we obviously have lots of other issues we'd like to discuss with you, the report also recommends a human rights Act for Wales in this Senedd term. Is this something you intend to bring forward legislation on in this Parliament, or are you more likely to focus on the collaboration, leadership and implementation you've just been speaking about?

Well, we did commission this research in order to—. One of the big questions is, 'Do we need a human rights Bill/Act for Wales?' That was one of the driving forces behind it, and I've mentioned issues like incorporation of UN conventions, et cetera. Obviously, in terms of so much being reserved and there are devolution issues here, we have got to consider, look at the place for legislation of this kind and then look at the potential scope for it if we had a Bill in Wales and what could we achieve in terms of getting a Bill in Wales before the end of this term. But I think what's quite clear is that a Bill would at least be needed to strengthen human rights and equality, so work needs to start on the case for that, looking at the research and considering what scope and what powers we've got to deliver on it.

Okay. Thank you for that. I'd like to move us on now, and Jack Sargeant's going to start us off on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Jack.

Diolch yn fawr, Chair. Good afternoon, Minister and Deputy Minister, great to see you, as always. As the Chair has said, we'd like to look into the implementation of the future generations Act—a fantastic Act that, as you know, I believe in. Minister, could you set out the approach by the Welsh Government to ensure a consistent, cross-Government approach to developing policy and legislation that is in line with the Act? Perhaps you could comment on the future generations commissioner's comments, where she says there's an implementation gap between the aspiration and delivery on the ground. So, how do we go about addressing that problem and accelerating the scale of pace to deliver what the Act is there to do?

Well, thank you very much, Jack, and of course I'm so proud of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, as you are, I know, Jack. And it's what's been so interesting—and you've been here longer than some of our Members on the committee—to see how it's become more powerful in terms of influence, influence on those public bodies that have to abide by the requirements of the legislation, the sustainable development principle and well-being duties, having to affect every aspect of Welsh Government's work. I think celebrating activity also, under the agenda, has been important in recent times, because we've now got, in the last few weeks, the consultation out on national milestones and national indicators, and I do hope the committee will—I'm sure you will—ensure that people engage with that, with very strong publicity to get out and get people thinking about those milestones and updates. But I think the well-being objectives of the future generations Act, as part of our programme for government, prove how important it is, that it's central again, like equality of outcome, to our thinking and policy making.

But you make the point about implementation, again, Jack, and I know the future generations commissioner and the ways in which she is working, integrating the collaborative principles, reaching out and engaging in terms of the impact of policies, is crucial. That's why we have particularly, I think, informed and changed direction to ensure that we are speaking with, listening to, working with people with lived experience, because it cannot be academic, it can't be a tick box. Are we actually changing people's lives in terms of long-term thinking? So, I think this does link very well to the former questions about implementation, so that we don't have this gap, and I know that that's something that not just the commissioner, but all those who have responsibilities for delivering on it will certainly be having to deliver on.

I suppose, one example I'd give is that last year, just before the lockdown, we produced a diversity and inclusion strategy for public appointments, 'Reflecting Wales in Running Wales'. That's got to prove a change, and it will be about, 'Are we making a difference?' I know that we do have to ensure that it's not just about aspirations, but it's about delivery. There's a lot of good stuff about the well-being of future generations Act in the research that we've just been talking about, which I know that the future generations commissioner will want to respond to as well.

If I may come in just on that point, Jack, that you asked around developing policy and legislation that is in line with the Act. I just thought it might be easier to briefly highlight how the social partnership and public procurement (Wales) Bill we're working on at the moment actually shares a common purpose with the well-being of future generations Act in seeking to promote well-being and sustainable development in Wales. It shares those goals of a prosperous Wales, a healthier Wales, and a more equal Wales. It resonates very much with our fair work agenda that we're seeking to progress, which is very much why we've taken that decision to link the social partnership duty with the well-being duty in the well-being of future generations Act. So, requiring public bodies to engage with social partnerships is set out in the Bill. The intention is that this way of working will not only support improving public services but also enhance well-being as well as fair work.

Thank you both for that. I think there are some further questions on your social partnership Bill, you'll be pleased to know, later on.

Minister, you mentioned the Welsh Government's consultation on milestones, but within that consultation, I believe it does not list the Senedd under accountability; it only lists the future generations commissioner herself and the auditor general. Could you just tell the committee what you envisage the Senedd's role to be, but in particular this committee's role, in scrutinising the Government across all portfolios in their role in the implementation of that Act?

I'm glad I've got the opportunity to respond to that, because obviously, the Public Accounts Committee which some of you were Members of, did such important work on this, looking at the interacting roles of the Senedd and also in terms of public bodies. I mean, obviously, it's up to committees on how they scrutinise us in terms of our statutory obligations, but I think in terms of the milestones and the indicators, we were focusing on the bodies. That sort of mechanism was established by the well-being of future generations Act, and that's where in this consultation I suppose it might have looked as though it wasn't including the Senedd. But I think we need to take that on board, because your role is critical in this. It's not just this committee or the former predecessor committees; the Finance Committee and public accounts have been critical to ensure that all the Senedd can be part of that delivery of the well-being goals through the well-being of future generations Act. It's so important, particularly now, just as we move up to COP26, but also looking at the UN agenda for 2030 and the declaration of sustainable development goals. So, yes, thank you for pointing that out. We want the Senedd to be part of that very clearly, in terms of the consultation and the scrutiny of those milestones.

Thank you, Minister. Just one final question from me, Chair. We talked about some successes of the Act and the good work of the commissioner's office, but in order to continue that good work, it's key to have a really insightful role for this committee to play in terms of appointing the new future generations commissioner. So, I wondered if you could tell the committee what the process or timeline is for appointing the next future generations commissioner, and just how you would envisage this committee engaging with that search for the next future generations commissioner, as I believe it's required by the Act. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Jack, as well. I think the current term of office is February 2023 in terms of the current commissioner. It's very obviously open to a full, open and transparent public appointment process, as happened before, complying of course with the Act as well, as you say, but also, we do have the guidance on those appointments. It is a ministerial appointment, but we want to involve the committee and the Senedd throughout the appointment. It's regarded as a significant appointment. I think—[Inaudible.]—with the original appointment, so there will be a pre-appointment hearing by the committee. As I say, it wasn't in place at the former times. And, you know, we can discuss how we manage that together. But we've got a timetable under way.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Minister, for those answers.

Minister, before you move on, I wonder if you have a date for the Government's response to the future generations commissioner's weighty report, and the auditor general's report that went with it, and the Public Accounts Committee response to those two very large reports. I wondered if you have a date in mind, whether it's this year or moving into the following year.

These reports came out—really important reports—at a time, not just with the pandemic—well, particularly the pandemic—when we couldn't do even the scrutiny you would have wanted to do on previous committees, and also the Government response. We are responding, of course, in line with the Act. I think it would be helpful, perhaps, if I could write to you, Chair, to give you an outline of—[Inaudible.]—because of the difficult circumstances, and lots of recommendations about the best way, and talking to the commissioner about this, and the auditor general. So, we'll get back to you on that.

Okay. Thank you very much. Moving on now to the small subject of tackling poverty. Sioned Williams is going to start us off.

Diolch, Gadeirydd, a diolch, Weinidog. Eisiau gwybod oeddwn i os oes modd cael diweddariad o ran y trafodaethau neu'r adolygiad sydd wedi bod—mae'n cael ei grybwyll yn y rhaglen lywodraethu ac rydych chi'n cyfeirio ato fe yn fyr iawn yn eich papur tystiolaeth—o ran ehangu cymhwysedd disgyblion o ran prydiau ysgol am ddim. Beth yw'r amserlen? Pa drafodaethau sydd wedi bod ynglŷn â'r hyn sy'n cael ei gydnabod, wrth gwrs, ac wedi'i gydnabod gennych chi, yn ogystal ag yn y Siambr yr wythnos diwethaf, fel storm berffaith economaidd sydd nawr yn wynebu'r rhai sydd ar yr incwm isaf yn ein cymdeithas?

Diolch yn fawr, Sioned. Clearly, this is such an important issue in terms of the whole Welsh Government, not just for me as Minister, but for social justice. You've commented on one aspect, which of course has been raised across the Chamber, about free school meals, and I've mentioned in my written evidence, as you say, about that being just one example of how other departments, not just my own, have got a responsibility to look at the levers that we have to tackle poverty in terms of free school meals. Quite clearly, last week we were talking about and we were debating the cut to universal credit, which is going to be a major blow. We're seeing evidence now of what the adverse impact of that will be.

I think the crucial thing about tackling poverty, as I said, is it's a cross-Government responsibility in terms of the particular actions we can take. I think I also mentioned in my written statement some of the other responsibilities across Welsh Government that will be crucial in terms of tackling poverty: intervention in early years, our flagship Flying Start programme, but also looking at issues in terms of the prospects of young people, our new network of disabled people, people's employment champions—disability, poverty and equality—the race equality action plan, and also looking at things like gender budgeting, supporting families living in poverty. That's where, clearly, we have to also influence issues like the economic contract and digital, which delivers, of course, in terms of support for businesses.

So, we're tackling poverty at every level, whether it's health, education, economic or social. But I think it's clear that we need to bring all of these policy areas together. In fact, I'm sure Hannah might want to say something about the importance of social partnership and fair work as far as this is concerned, because that's why this new ministry for social justice is so important.

Diolch am hynny. A allaf i jest gofyn yn benodol—? Yn amlwg, mae ehangu cymhwyster prydiau ysgol am ddim yn cael ei gydnabod gan grwpiau sy'n ymgyrchu yn erbyn tlodi a grwpiau dros gyfiawnder cymdeithasol yn un o'r prif fesurau i fedru taclo amddifadedd ac i daclo dyled, sy'n rhywbeth fyddwn ni'n ymchwilio iddo nes ymlaen prynhawn yma. Felly, jest eisiau gofyn yn benodol oeddwn i pa wybodaeth ydych chi'n gallu ei rhoi ynglŷn â'ch trafodaethau ar yr union fater yna. Oes yna unrhyw wybodaeth allwch chi ei rhoi o ran amserlen ar hynny?

The Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, is obviously responsible for this review, and he's undertaking this review of eligibility criteria, as you say. He's got an internal working group. It's working across the Welsh Government, all ministerial portfolios, to make sure that we can inform that and align it appropriately. I understand that he will be giving us an update for the Senedd early in October within the next few weeks when the review is going to be concluded, or the timescales for the review in terms of next steps. But he's going to be giving an update on progress. I hope that's enough from me today as the Minister for Social Justice. But just to recognise, as I did in my written evidence, that this is crucial and it's a priority.

Diolch am hynny. Allaf i ofyn o ran prif-ffrydio? Fe wnaethoch chi gyfeirio ato fe fanna yn eich ateb bod taclo tlodi yn rhywbeth sydd angen mynd i'r afael â fe ar draws sawl portffolio a thrwy'r Llywodraeth. Ydych chi'n gallu rhoi enghreifftiau i ni o sut mae Gweinidogion yn gweithio'n wahanol o fewn eu portffolios nhw i wneud yn siŵr bod trechu tlodi yn flaenoriaeth ar draws y Llywodraeth? Pa mor hyderus ydych chi yn y dull yma? Sut ydych chi'n mynd i'w fonitro fe a mesur cynnydd, gan nad oes gyda ni ar hyn o bryd strategaeth i ddileu tlodi? Ac allwch chi efallai amlinellu pam nad ydych chi'n meddwl bod hynny'n syniad da, gan nad yw'r Llywodraeth wedi ymateb i alwadau i gyflwyno strategaeth o'r fath?

In terms of tackling poverty, as I said, it is—and you rightly recognise—a cross-Government responsibility, and particularly a responsibility in terms of tackling child poverty. We have our child poverty strategy, and I recently also announced the outcomes of the child poverty income maximisation plan, which goes into the heart of the issues around financial security in terms of tackling poverty. But I also have to say that this is something where the whole of the Welsh Government is engaged. One of the ways in which we're doing that is we're undertaking a review of legislation. We're looking at how we can use our legislative levers to have a greater impact on tackling poverty. Poverty has always been a cross-cutting theme in the budget planning process. In fact, we'll be meeting with the Minister for Finance and Local Government in the next few days to look at how themes like tackling poverty and inequality have an impact on budget making. Budget making is crucially important in terms of tackling poverty, because every Minister needs to look at what is this resource allocation, what impact that is going to have on tackling poverty. So, it's at the heart of financial decisions for the Government.

I've had my bilateral meetings since I became Minister for Social Justice over the past few months since May, and we've discussed many of the issues that are already coming up, not just free school meals—childcare being another key issue in the meeting with Julie Morgan, looking at Flying Start. But also, we want to learn the lessons of how we can best tackle poverty as a Welsh Government, and that's why we have our Wales Centre for Public Policy. We commissioned them to undertake an international review of what works, because this is the crucial thing—it's the evidence of actually what works. There are many tackling poverty strategies, but actually what do we need? What are the key ingredients to make something work? So, we're expecting that report in October or November from the Wales Centre for Public Policy, but we know from what's coming forward, and that's including research commissioned from the London School of Economics and Political Science, for example, that it needs to have that top-level commitment from the Government in order to make it work. A lot has been done in the last year, as I've already outlined. But the plans for the race equality action plan identify quite clearly the lived experience and the evidence about inequalities faced by black, Asian and minority ethnic people. So, that is reflected in the socioeconomic report that was done, in terms of the impact of COVID, and it is part of our recommendations from 'An Anti-racist Wales'. But one of the things that came out of that report last year was that we need a race disparity unit, and we need a disability data unit. We need more evidence at the centre of Government. So, our equality data unit, which is in my written statement, I think is also going to take us forward.

So, we now need to take on board—. As we did with the Swansea research, we need to take on board research findings. We need to look at all of the work that we're doing and see what's the best way to move forward in terms of tackling poverty. What I have said, when I came into this ministerial role, is that this isn't just about tackling poverty. I always say it's about tackling poverty and inequality. It's the inequalities that are driving the poverty. We got the socioeconomic duty enacted here in Wales, and your predecessors got that through on the last day of term. It's crucially important, as well as addressing the protected characteristics as well. It's a tackling poverty and inequality direction that I want to take, and it's really helpful to have the committee's views on that.

Diolch. Os gallaf i jest ofyn un cwestiwn olaf. Rŷch chi'n siarad am dystiolaeth. Yn amlwg mae e'n ddyddiau cynnar ar hyn o bryd. Wnaethoch chi gyfeirio at y ffaith bod y ddyletswydd gymdeithasol economaidd yn ei dyddiau cynnar, ond buaswn i yn hoffi gwybod sut ydych chi'n monitro ac yn gwerthuso effaith y ddyletswydd honno wrth symud ymlaen. A hefyd, un o'r pethau mae grwpiau yn dweud wrthym ni dros y cyfnod diweddar yma, ac mae yna dystiolaeth am hyn—sawl adroddiad wedi bod am hyn—o ran sicrhau bod pobl yn cymryd y cymorth sydd ar gael ar hyn o bryd, a fyddech chi'n ystyried gwneud hi'n ddyletswydd statudol i basportio aelwydydd sydd yn gwneud cais am un fath o gefnogaeth ariannol, er enghraifft y discretionary assistance fund neu'r cymhorthdal tai, ymlaen wedyn i fudd-daliadau eraill? Yn amlwg, mae yna ryw gyfarwyddyd. Mae yna arweiniad i wneud hynny ar hyn o bryd, a dwi'n gwybod bod y Llywodraeth wedi bod yn rhoi arian tuag at hyn i hwyluso hyn, ond dyw e ddim yn ddyletswydd ar hyn o bryd, a'r dystiolaeth, mae'n ymddangos, yw bod angen i hyn gael ei wthio llawer yn fwy, achos bod yna nifer o aelwydydd sydd mewn angen a sydd ddim yn cael y gefnogaeth sydd ar gael iddyn nhw ar hyn o bryd.

That's a crucially important point, because we can discuss how we tackle poverty and strategies and plans, but actually we know that there is more we can do here and now. We talked about the discretionary assistance fund last week and how we need to extend it and ensure the flexibilities are there to make sure that that is there for people who are in need. But you're absolutely right about the need to passport, to make things simpler. The income maximisation plan that we carried out actually did result in hundreds of thousands of pounds getting to families, through targeting take-up campaigns, and particularly through our single advice fund, which we're funding, where they have to report on the ways in which they're reaching out. But the passporting, of course, requires also engagement with local authorities, and also the Department for Work and Pensions. So, again, it's guidance, it's toolkits. We're at that stage now, in terms of pressing this forward. But it's certainly something that we would want to look at in terms of how we could strengthen that. The duty of course, the socioeconomic duty, might help us in that direction. It's early days, but there's a huge amount of work and willingness to deliver on the socioeconomic duty. And I think that that will help particularly our partners in local government specifically in terms of public bodies, and all the other Welsh public bodies to look at all their decisions in relation to socioeconomic duty. Because there's a lot that they can do in terms of process in reaching out to people if they do actually consider—as they have to under a duty now—socioeconomic impact. So, I hope that that will help in terms of that kind of direction, a stronger direction in terms of passporting benefits.

Okay. Before I bring in Jane Dodds, I just wonder if I could follow up with whether the success of the pilot programmes on income maximisation means that you're now planning to mainstream those across Wales.

It's been one of the most successful schemes or initiatives that we've undertaken in terms of tackling child poverty. The pilots have been very valuable and we're looking at the impact of the pilots, so I certainly hope that we will, in the next phase of this, be able to share those across Wales.

Thank you. Jane.

Diolch yn fawr, Gadeirydd. Dyma'r tro cyntaf imi ofyn cwestiynau ohonoch chi, Jane, fel Gweinidog, ac mae'n neis i gael y cyfle hefyd.

So, thank you so much for this opportunity. I do apologise for being late for this very important meeting. One of the themes that we felt that we wanted to look at from our first meeting was around the effects of poverty on women. And I just really wanted to ask a couple of points if I may, Minister and Deputy Minister, around that. The first relates to a report in 2019 from Chwarae Teg and the Bevan Foundation, 'Trapped: Poverty Amongst Women in Wales Today'. The biggest ask of that report was a cross-Government strategy to tackle poverty in women, and I just wondered whether you had managed to review that and think about what that cross-Government strategy would be. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Jane, and great to see you as well on this committee, and I welcome your scrutiny as well.

Quite clearly, in terms of gender, the fact that there has been a gender equality review, which was before we got to our race equality action plans and the other plans that are coming forward now, was a very, very important review in terms of tackling issues in relation to advancing gender equality in Wales—a very significant piece of work. Actually, it's referred to in the 'Strengthening and advancing equality and human rights in Wales' research in a very supportive way. So, there are quite a lot of recommendations there that we have to deliver, which include things that Hannah is responsible for in terms of fairer work for women, but obviously tackling barriers as well as lack of childcare, the gender pay gap as well, which is why we have looked at all of those kinds of levers in terms of tackling gender pay and the milestones as well for the future generations, but also gender budgeting, which has been important.

One of things that hasn't been mentioned yet—and I'm sure that the committee will be looking at—is the fact that we are looking at public sector equality duties. We've got legislation; we've had an equal pay Act forever, haven't we? It's are we actually able to implement that legislation and those duties. And we were reviewing the Welsh-specific equality duties, but unfortunately, the pandemic came along and that work was paused, but we're certainly picking that up again, and I met with the Equality and Human Rights Commission last week and indeed, the Women's Equality Network to discuss these issues.

So, I think it goes back, Jane—I'm not sure if you were here earlier on when we talked about the role of the strategic equality plan, which is an overarching plan under which all of the pillars of equality and protected characteristics as well as the socioeconomic duty rest to be co-ordinated. Because also, it's very intersectional now, and I think we've got to take that into account as we look at the impact on black, Asian and minority ethnic women, disabled women, LGBTQ+ women. We've got to look at it intersectionally as well. But I hope you will be pleased to hear and read about the new unit that we're setting up in Welsh Government to look at equality data; it does include race and disability and, obviously, gender equality as well to help inform us. But we are—. The gender equality review is clearly, in terms of taking forward, a key part of that bigger equality plan.

Thank you. If I may ask about two other quick issues as well, Minister. In the report, and in other reports, the issue around childcare, and the link with women experiencing poverty, and experiencing debt, has been really prominent. And I just really wondered what position the Welsh Government was taking in looking at, in terms of their recommendation, which is around seamless, universal free childcare provision for children from nine months up to school age. I just really wondered what perspectives there were around childcare.

Well, this is again where the sorts of powers and responsibilities of other Ministers are so crucial in terms of tackling poverty, the cross-government tackling poverty responsibilities. And one of the first meetings, the bilaterals I had, was with Julie Morgan, because it was very clear to us, as you can imagine from years of working around these issues, that we need to ensure that we are tackling the barrier particularly for women, parents and women in work, returning to work, and therefore looking at the way in which—and in the programme for government—looking at the ways in which we can support childcare and the childcare offer; it's been crucially important as well. It is very important that we're looking at women returning to work through training and education, but also, obviously looking at ways in which we can support childcare, like extending the business rates exemption for childcare settings. It was really important that we were the only country at one stage providing free childcare for key workers, many of whom, of course, were for women in terms of their childcare needs.

But also, I think, I'd like to make the connection between not just tackling provision of childcare and tackling childcare in terms of equalities and opportunities for women, but it is crucially important in terms of tackling poverty and inequality. If we can't reach out—. And you all know the great impact of Flying Start. If you reach out to the most disadvantaged communities, families and children, you can really make an impact with investment in the early years. So, I think childcare is obviously a key passionate, for me, policy, and we have to pursue ways in which we can improve the availability of childcare, and also that support for the early years. And I think that's where, again, committees have looked at this in the past, and we need to understand how we can address this, because it's crucial, and thank you for the question.

Thank you. Just one very last point. It won't be very often that I will say this, but I was really pleasantly surprised at the Scottish National Party and their programme for government putting forward a women's budget, which obviously is going to be designed and aimed at tackling poverty in women. And I just really wondered whether there had been thought within the Welsh Government to a women's budget. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

We've had a gender budgeting pilot with personal learning accounts. This was one of the recommendations that came out of the gender equality review, and, in fact, it's the responsibility of the finance Minister to take that forward and assess its outcomes. I think women's budgeting is a part of the ways in which we need to look at budgeting more creatively in relation to tackling inequalities, and particularly in relation to women. I think I could come back to you perhaps, Chair, on the outcomes or the progress with the gender budgeting, because, in a sense, that was the starting point of saying, 'Well, can we progress this?' I would say also, though, that this comes back to how we can be intersectional as well, because obviously we revealed so much disproportional impact not just of coronavirus, but of entrenched inequalities anyway. So, it's a good opportunity to bring it into the strategic equality plan.

Thank you very much. If we can move on, Altaf Hussain wanted to ask a question here. Altaf.

Thank you very much. I have two small questions, about, first, what works in tackling poverty, if you may allow me, Chair—is that all right?

Yes, go ahead.

Okay. Minister, thank you very much. Could you kindly tell me what specific steps are you taking to ensure that economic renewal focuses first and foremost on those communities that are struggling the most? And the second question is: what economic measures will you call for to boost job prospects in those communities where there has been little economic improvement? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Altaf Hussain. These are key questions, which very much link to our employability and skills programmes, and so, again, a very early meeting I had bilaterally with the Minister for Economy, Vaughan Gething, was about the employability programme and what the impact of that was going to be in terms of skills development and opportunities. But it's very much also linked to the foundational economy objectives and with Better Jobs Closer to Home. I'd like to bring in Hannah, if Hannah would like to say anything at this point in terms of opportunities for fair work and social partnership. Because what's great about having social partnership and fair work in the social justice ministry is that we can look at these issues and then influence not just the whole of the Welsh Government in the economic aspects, but also look at it from the perspective of social partnership, the real living wage, fair work, et cetera. But, Hannah, did you want to say anything?

Thanks, Jane, just briefly, if I may, and, Altaf, thanks for the questions. Just to say more broadly that this position I have now within this portfolio is a new position, and what it does enable us—as you know, I'm the Deputy Minister for Social Partnership, leading on social partnership, fair work, living wage—and what it does give us is that impetus to work across Government, so to work closely, particularly with my colleague the Minister for Economy, to ensure that fair work and the things that you raise are central to our economic recovery and our plans as part of that, and actually to do that by working in partnership. Much of that was set out in the social partnership Bill, about actually how we continue our work to realising the Fair Work Commission's recommendations in a range of areas.

That's fine. Altaf, can we come back to your other question? We've sort of entered into the whole issue of fair work, so I suggest we deal with that, and then I'll come back to you on your other question. Is that all right?

All right .Yes.

Vikki, I know you had some questions on this, and as Hannah's already started laying out her stall, can I suggest to you that you pick that one up now?

Thank you very much, Chair, and good afternoon, Minister and Deputy Minister. I've got a range of questions around fair work, social partnership and also the voluntary sector, so parts will be relevant to each of you. So, firstly, focusing on the Welsh Government's priorities for making workplaces fairer, safer and better for all, I'd like to understand what progress the Welsh Government has made in implementing the recommendations of the previous Senedd's Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee in relation to parenting and employment.

Maybe I need to come in on that one, before we go on to—[Inaudible.]. I probably have begun to answer some of those points, in terms of those recommendations, but, of course, there were recommendations that related to childcare, particularly in terms of that particular committee report. And I think that what was important—. Many times—for new Members—the Welsh Government responds to reports and accepts things in principle; sometimes they aren't accepted. Hopefully, you always want them to be accepted in full. But I think the important thing is—. I've made some comments already about how we have responded to those issues that particularly came up about parenting and childcare.

I think that what's important is how the childcare offer, I just want to say, has been evaluated, and I think you have seen those evaluations—the committee has certainly seen them; the last one, I think, was in March of this year—and how the childcare offer supported working parents particularly and work-life balance issues. But I think it's also about income levels for parents and linking that to the issues and ways in which we can look at our wider support, and the sector itself, in terms of out-of-school care, has been so badly affected by the pandemic. So, I think, also, what's going to happen is that local authorities have got responsibility here. Over the summer there were a lot of play schemes and play opportunities, as well as out-of-school childcare. But it is the childcare sector, I think, is what's come through as crucially important as well—employing nearly 17,000 people, as well as actually supporting parents with the costs of childcare.

Thank you, Minister. My next question is about the Fair Work Commission's recommendations, and I'd like to explore which of those the Welsh Government will prioritise when implementing at the start of this Senedd and which ones would be delivered over the longer term.

Thanks, Vikki. And, I think, Chair, if I pick that point up around the Fair Work Commission's recommendations, a key priority at the outset of this term is going to be the social partnership and public procurement Bill, and one of the six key priority recommendations of the Fair Work Commission was to use those commission findings to inform the Bill, which we have done throughout the consultation, and continue to do so. I think, more broadly, we're going to actually, alongside that, look at how we refine and actually maximise our social partnership approach in Wales, and also how we we maximise those levers we do have at our devolved disposal, so actually how we use potentially the public purse. We already do that through things like our economic contract, but how we can perhaps look at more that we can do in that space, and also how we improve, perhaps, well-being and working practice in areas that are non-devolved, so some of the work we've done previously in the previous Senedd term around our rights and responsibilities campaign, and promoting the rights for workers and the responsibilities for businesses and employers, but also around things like—. We've formally established the health and safety forums—so, actually, areas that are non-devolved but actually have an impact on workplaces in Wales, how we extend our influence in those areas to make a difference within workplaces in Wales.

I think one of the things that's important to point out around those recommendations is that we're very much still committed to realising those recommendations in the Fair Work Commission's report, but I'm sure Members would agree that work has changed significantly in ways we perhaps didn't foresee prior to the pandemic, whether that's through the rise of remote working, and obviously there are challenges there in terms of balances and making it work for people, but those are opportunities we didn't know were there before and that we realised a bit more. So, I think, as we look forward beyond those initial priorities, we need to do a piece of work looking actually at what the future of fair work looks like now post pandemic and actually how we can be more agile and responsive to that.

So, I think I mentioned it in my statement last week in the Senedd, but we've already set up the work of the social care fair work forum, which is the key driver to how we implement that commitment to a living wage for care workers. There are other sectors we've spoken about prior to the pandemic, but the pandemic brought that into an even stronger focus, such as retail and hospitality. We are setting up a retail forum in the first instance, which is due to meet imminently, to actually see how we can work cross-sector to look not just around fair work and those sorts of opportunities, but at the sustainability of these sectors as a whole.

Thank you, Deputy Minister. That’s really interesting and useful. The social partnership and public procurement Bill is, obviously, going to be a key piece of legislation this Senedd term. Would you be able to give us any idea of when the Welsh Government intends to introduce that Bill, and whether you’re planning to make any changes to the draft Bill as well?

Thanks, Vikki. So, the First Minister’s already announced that the social partnership and public procurement (Wales) Bill would be a first-year Bill in this Senedd term, so we are currently planning to introduce the Bill during spring 2022. As I said, I did update the Senedd with an oral statement around the progress of the development of the Bill following on from a consultation and the publication of the summary responses in July.

The Bill at the moment is broadly consistent with the case for change and the proposals outlined in the draft Bill as part of the consultation during the summer period and before, and we will continue to do that. We’ve been working with those key social partners and also wider stakeholders to continue to take forward the Bill in partnership. I think the one point I would perhaps make at this point to committee is that there were a couple of open questions in that consultation itself, predominantly around fair work and the definition of fair work and, as I said in the statement, we made clear it’s our intention to adopt the Fair Work Commission’s definition of fair work on the face of the Bill.

Thank you very much. My final question is about the voluntary sector. So, clearly, the previous Senedd’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee did a really important piece of work on the voluntary sector. I’d just like to understand, Minister, what progress the Welsh Government has made in implementing the recommendations made.

Thank you very much, Vikki. This is crucial because of the role that the voluntary sector played during the pandemic, and that inquiry that was undertaken by the committee was so important. I think what has been great, in terms of the response, is that we have got the third sector partnership council—they got stuck in straight away—and we were able to quickly move, in terms of giving funding out to the Third Sector Support Wales team. In 2021-22 we’ve already been able to increase the support for Third Sector Support Wales by £1.6 million. We’ve got a new round of the third sector resilience fund as well. We’ve got quite a lot of interest in that.

But also we’ve appointed the Wales Council for Voluntary Action to establish a community asset loan fund, and that’s going to have financial support. We’ve put a lot more money into the community facilities programme, which I’m sure some in your constituencies will have benefited from—51 community projects have benefited. Some of those we’ve helped have looked at not just the impact of COVID-19, but flooding as well, in terms of criteria for the community facilities programme. We’ve got a very strong third sector partnership council recovery group, who’ve been advising us on what they need, as well as responding to the report of the committee, and that’s where they’ve been working very closely with Wales co-op, lots of looking at digital issues, looking at volunteering, particularly. So, we’ve got an extra £1 million to support volunteering under the volunteering Wales grant as well. So, quite a few of those responses that we’ve been able to deliver come from the former committee’s report recommendations.

That’s great. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Minister. I wonder if I could now go back to Altaf Hussain, because I know you had a question about a pilot of a universal basic income.

Thank you very much, Chair. Minister your paper says we’re developing options for a basic income pilot involving people leaving care, focused on how the pilot could be designed to support those in greatest need. The paper also states that

'We have actively engaged with countries that have piloted approaches to basic income, in order to learn lessons and embed this learning into the proposed pilot.'

Now, my question is: the Minister has now dropped the term 'universal', because this is a very different pilot to the one you originally wanted. Can the Minister confirm that any measurement of this pilot will only be relevant to those people leaving care and will have little value in demonstrating whether a universal basic income scheme would work? Minister.

Thank you very much, Altaf. And, of course, we set out with a commitment to look at and pilot a basic income scheme. And very, very early on, I think, in terms of making a statement, I made a ministerial statement and answered questions about it, and said that we had a lot of complex work to undertake to design the pilot, to look at what would be the most effective way of undertaking it, and looking at timelines, and also looking at what's happened in other countries, as you've said, Altaf, looking with, particularly, colleagues, officials, from Scotland, who'd already undertaken work in this area. So, right from the word 'go', we were looking at ways in which we could support a particular cohort, and that cohort was targeting the pilot on care leavers in Wales. So, we are looking now at how we take this forward, and I think what's very important is that this next phase is moving into actually engaging with those who might most be affected by this pilot.

Now, we do actually have a senior official here, Claire Bennett, who's been our key official taking forward the work to get this pilot under way. So, I think it might be helpful to have just a word from Claire rather than a Minister, Chair, on this point, because she's leading this team.

Thank you, Minister, and, yes, the work on scoping the pilot is developing. We have spoken with a range, as you said, of different countries who've piloted different approaches. I think one of the things we learnt really quickly and is captured in a number of the pieces of work that have been done, for example, by Public Health Wales and others, and the future generations commissioner, is there are lots of different models. There's no single best approach to undertaking basic income, and some of it depends on your purpose. We've had some really interesting conversations with colleagues in California who've developed a scheme focused on care leavers there and had some really interesting learning from their experience that we're building into developing the pilot. And I think whilst the focus is on care leavers and that will give us, I suppose, a lot of really useful learning about improving circumstances for care leavers, I think it will still give us lessons for basic income as a concept in testing out how it will operate and doing so within the constraints of the devolution settlement. At the end of the day, the Welsh Government isn't in control of the welfare system or the taxation system, and understanding those interactions and being able to actually deliver something rather than have a theoretical thing that we're not able to deliver, I think is one of the things that we're, I suppose, balancing in undertaking the design work.

Altaf, I know that your question has provoked interest from several Members. Had you—?

I've a few questions more and I can give you the chance to ask those questions.

Well, why don't we bring in other Members first? Jack actually indicated initially to me, and then Jane and then Sioned.

Okay.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Minister, and Claire as well. I'm proud to have brought this to the Senedd Chamber in the last Senedd to discuss a pilot, and I'm pleased that it went through. And I welcome the Government's ambition to do the pilot it talks about for care leavers. I think it's a step forward, isn't it, and I think we should recognise that progress and put that progress on the record. I do, however, still think there's room and scope for looking how further we can take any proposed pilot. I agree with Claire that it has to be deliverable in our current devolution settlement, but I'm just interested, really, as part of the work you're doing, are you looking further—? The options on the table—will it be solely for a care leavers pilot? Is there room for looking beyond that under the remit of the Welsh Government as well? Because I think the Minister will be aware there is a current petition going through the process, and I'll say as Chair of the Petitions Committee that the team are relatively interested in that particular petition. So, I'm just wondering: are there options being explored further than just, currently, a care leavers pilot? Are we going through that, and when is it possible that you might be able to tell the Senedd further details? Because I believe, in your paper, Minister, you say that you and your officials will meet with and brief the First Minister, who I know is extremely keen on these ideas. Do you have an indication of a timescale for that?

Thank you very much, Jack; I remember the debate well and how you brought this to the Senedd. I just wanted to go back to, in a sense, Altaf's question about the pilot, because this is about how we do alleviate poverty—is this one of the levers, one of the routes to alleviating poverty—to look to test a pilot that is basic income, and that's what it is: basic income as a concept for tackling poverty. But it's also—. And part of that way in which you're tackling poverty is about giving people more control over their lives and having a positive impact on their mental health and well-being and their whole view of themselves and their circumstances. So, it's a basic—. It's a guaranteed basic income. Obviously, therefore, we have to look at how we can manage this—as you said, Jack, and in response to Claire earlier on—financially, in terms of legislation and powers. So, it's about testing a version of basic income in Wales.

I just want to quickly say that I'm due to give a—. I have met with the First Minister at only just the end of last week about this. We updated, with Claire and other officials, and I will be making a statement—I don't know, Claire, whether we can say when, but—very shortly, because I know people and stakeholders and Senedd Members want to know where we are on this, so it is planned for me to make a statement in the very near future.

Claire. Sorry, I beg your—. I'll come back to you, Claire. Jane.

Well, thank you very much; thank you so much for a second opportunity. When somebody mentions universal basic income, I can't help myself, I'm afraid. It's tied in with what Jack said, which is trying, if we may, to pin you down a little bit more on the timescales. It might be that protocol doesn't allow you to say what's in your ministerial statement, but I just wondered if that was part of the ministerial statement coming up—that is, the timescales. Because it seems we've been talking about it quite a lot, and it is really a badge of pride for, I feel, Welsh Labour, and it would be great to move it on.

I think my second point is that there is an absolute sea—a morass—of evidence out there around how it does tackle poverty, including the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration project in California, and so I'm just wondering what other evidence you may be looking for. And, again, that may be within your ministerial statements next week. Thank you so much—diolch yn fawr iawn.

Diolch yn fawr, Jane. It will give—. The statement will give as much detail as possible in terms of timescales and scoping of this pilot, and costings. We're obviously looking at every bit of evidence we can get. We've talked about it, Jane, as well, haven't we, just on a one to one. We know your commitment to this, and you've made that so clear from day one in the Senedd. But, clearly, we are also—. There's a lot of interest in what we might be doing in Wales, so lots of people are already giving us evidence. Actually, Claire mentioned the report from Public Health Wales that came out before the summer; I thought that was an incredibly useful document. Maybe the Clerk or Chair, you could make sure that's circulated to Members, because it covered the whole range of purpose, objectives, experience worldwide et cetera. I thought it was very valuable. As quickly as possible and as much as possible, Jane—soon.

Very good. Sioned, you wanted to come in.

Diolch. Jest eisiau holi roeddwn i, efallai mewn termau mwy eang: oes gan y Llywodraeth—ac roedd Claire wedi cyfeirio fanna at y gwaith sy'n mynd rhagddo yn yr Alban—a oes gan y Llywodraeth unrhyw ymateb i'r syniad o greu targed, er enghraifft erbyn 2030 neu rywbeth tebyg, o ran cael llawr incwm Cymreig, er mwyn bod yn rhyw fath o ffocws ar gyfer ail gam, neu ffocws ar gyfer rhaglen waith fydd yn deillio o'r peilot presennol yma? Ac yn yr un modd ag y cyfeiriodd Claire ynglŷn â'r hyn sy'n rhwystro peth o gwmpas y peilot yma ar hyn o bryd, a ydy'r Llywodraeth yn ceisio datganoli lles?

Well, that ended up with a very big question, Sioned, but because we've certainly engaged with Scottish colleagues at official level, I know Claire and officials have been looking—. Of course, they've moved on to looking at the minimum income guarantee, and so we're working very much hand in glove with Scotland to see where they're going and where they've come from in terms of the work that they undertook. There's a huge issue here about what the UK Government—even with our little pilot, what we can achieve with our UK Government, with the Department for Work and Pensions. So, I hope that, Altaf, you will at least help us in terms of opening the doors, because, just to move it at all, we need to have some co-operation from the UK Government to make progress on this.

Obviously, this does open it up—you've opened up a much bigger question about devolution of welfare, which we touched on last week in the debate on universal credit. I think I could say—not much more, of course, briefly, today than I said in answer to the debate before—that we are, obviously, looking now—. I welcomed the report from the predecessor committee on benefits in Wales and options for better delivery. We're looking at the recommendations, continuing to explore how further devolution of the administration of the benefits system would improve outcomes for people in Wales. So, this is going to be for much debate as we move forward. That's it at this stage, Jenny, or we could go on for a long time on this.

No, I think we haven't got time to go on, but, Altaf, did you want to just come back?

Oh, yes. Thank you very much. Great. Now, just two short questions: how many care leavers will be involved in this pilot and how much will the Government seek to spend in providing a basic income? I can come to the second question later, after this one.

Well, I think, Altaf, you will get a lot more information when I make my statement covering those points.

Right. Okay. Now, the second point, then, is that the Minister's paper says that the Government has

'actively engaged with countries that have piloted approaches to basic income'.

So, can the Minister explain which countries have been engaged and have any of them piloted a limited basic income on one population group, or were they all countries whose schemes were universal?

Thank you very much, Altaf. Well, I know Claire mentioned—and indeed, Jane—California; there's the Finnish project. There are projects all over the world, actually, and, again, we would want to give that context, I think, in my statement. Rather than going into all the detail, I think, probably—. Unless Claire feels she desperately wants to say anything, I think, probably at this stage, it's very much that in due course you will get much more information. And then with a statement you can scrutinise me much more fully than you can when you've got a lot of topics this afternoon to cover.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Claire, can you just clarify that the statement's going to be made next week, so that we're all preparing for that, or—?

It won't be next week, or at least it's not scheduled yet to be next week—soonish.

And Santa Clara in California is a cohort-specific pilot, focused actually on the equivalent of care leavers in the States. So, it has been, and the team met directly with the team delivering that. So, we have been able to speak with people who are delivering programmes that are targeted as well as universal, universal projects, also.

Okay. Thank you for that. And further questions we can pick up when the Minister makes her statement in the Senedd.

We've got 10 minutes left, and I just want to briefly cover I think three more topics. First of all, Minister, a subject close to both our hearts, which is the long-awaited residential women's centre in Wales so that we're not having to send female offenders to England. Obviously, the pandemic has disrupted a lot of activities, but I understand UK Government has yet to secure a site for this residential women's centre. Could you confirm whether that's the case, and what could we do to assist them?

Thank you very much, Chair. Well, this has been my question ever since May, since the election: how are we going to progress with securing the women's residential centre? What has been good is that the people who are responsible for actually working with local authorities, because obviously we've got to work with our partners—Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are working directly now with all the local authorities. They were meeting every local authority in the south Wales area where the pilot's going to be over the summer months. Also, there's a public estate property lead director in the Welsh Government; registered social landlords, who have a lot of property, they're always having a search. So, everybody is now looking at appropriate property and estate for the women's residential centre. So, it's helpful you've asked this question today, because it will become public and I will then seek an update on the progress with securing this women's residential centre.

I think what's really important, as Jenny has said, is that we have a situation when I have been to the prisons outside Wales—and some of the new Members may wish to visit—where women are imprisoned, often, for very minor offences, linked to poverty, linked to what's happened to their lives, and it is totally inappropriate. A women's residential centre will be a place where women would be able to, through a very pioneering female offending blueprint that we're taking forward, and we're doing it in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, where women can have a chance to recover, look forward and actually make progress in their lives, often with their families. So, we just do want this to happen and to work, and thank you for asking the question.

Okay. Thank you, we'll come back to that another day. Jack wanted to ask a question.

Thank you, Chair. Minister, there have been some quite serious concerns around women's public safety. And I'll state for the record, Chair, as I'm wearing my ribbon, I'm a White Ribbon ambassador, and I think more men should certainly do that. But I just wanted to know, Minister, whether you think the Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (Wales) Act 2015 is sufficient enough in our current time to protect women in public places. And perhaps you could give a few examples of what the Welsh Government is doing to address these serious concerns people have.

Well, thank you very much, Jack, for the question and for the White Ribbon; it reminds us that it's only a few weeks until the day when we all are together with our White Ribbons, the elimination of violence international day where we unite. And to our new Members, again, this is really important, across parties, and led by the men and the male ambassadors, like Jack. And what we have done, in terms of our legislation, the violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence legislation is that we've said that it's got to extend now to protect women in public places. We can do that, because we have to have a national strategy. And we're actually now into the next—it's five years old, that Act—term of five years of VAWDASV. It's in our programme for government that we say that we're tackling VAWDASV in the workplace and in the street as well as the home to make Wales the safest place in Europe to be a woman.

So, we've now got a working group of those wider organisations. They are going to be meeting throughout the year to protect women in public places. I would say that includes transport, and also of course with the work that is being undertaken with Jeremy Miles, the school learning settings. This has now got to be influencing every aspect of life for women and girls. So, actually, I was having a meeting last week—we had that campaign, do you remember: 'Home shouldn't be a place of fear', which is still hugely relevant to women's lives in the home and domestic abuse. But we're actually going to expand the campaign to include safety in public, in the workplace and on the street.

Thank you for that, Minister. I think this committee will want to look at that, but I'll certainly be looking at that outside the committee as well. I look forward to working with you.

Thanks. Sioned, do you want to come in quickly, because I know Altaf's got another question?

Yn gyflym iawn, jest eisiau ategu yn fanna, rôn i'n falch i glywed bod hyn yn mynd i fynd i sffêr addysg, oherwydd dwi wedi cael gwaith achos yn sgil rhaglen ysgolion yr unfed ganrif ar hugain lle mae yna nifer dda o ysgolion newydd yn cael eu hadeiladu ar gyrion trefi, nid bellach yng nghanol trefi, oherwydd angen tir ac yn y blaen. Mae yna achosion lle mae angen, efallai, adolygu'r fframwaith cludiant ysgol drwy ddefnyddio'r lens yma achos, yn amlwg, mae cerdded i'r ysgol drwy stad ddiwydiannol yn y tywyllwch yn y gaeaf i rywun 14, 15 oed, i ferch, yn wahanol iawn i'r hyn oedd y fframwaith yma yn arfer delio gyda fe, felly buaswn i jest yn annog y Gweinidog i sicrhau bod y fframwaith cludiant, nid yn unig o ran lleoliadau addysgol, ond sut mae pobl yn cyrraedd i'r sefydliadau hynny, yn cael ei ystyried hefyd.

Thank you. I will certainly take that back to my next meeting with the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language. Absolutely critical, and I think many of us have got daughters who are either on school buses or walking, and still are. This is crucially important.

Thank you. Altaf, you wanted to come in on something else.

Thank you very much, Chair. Minister, a few questions, really. Number one is about the resettlement of Afghans here in the UK and in Wales, particularly. Are you going to bring and discuss Afghan resettlement in the Senedd? That is one question. Number two is: you have stated that you are working to identify accommodation for those who can settle here. Can you update us on the number of people needing homes, and what mix of accommodation you have been able to secure? Because they're all linked, if you could also update us, please, on what support services will be needed to provide at least in the short term ongoing advice to help people to settle. It won't be good enough to house people and then walk away. Thank you, Minister.

Thank you very much, Altaf. You know I made a statement on Tuesday in the Senedd and you responded to it as did other colleagues here today. I'm getting daily updates on this, and I think my next step will be a written statement, probably over the next few days. It's still very much dependent on how the Home Office works with us and also the department for community, housing and local government, so it's where inter-governmental relations are critically important, and local authorities in Wales are responding—they're looking for property. But I'll give you an update, Chair, and I'll write to you before a written statement, if that's appropriate, if that would be helpful.

And I wonder, Chair, if I could possibly apologise; earlier on, I didn't realise that actually, I've just been informed that I am making a statement on 5 October, an oral statement on the Welsh Government's response to the Public Accounts Committee report on the well-being of future generations Act. So, apologies I didn't have that at my fingertips earlier on, but I thought I'd just get that in before the end of the meeting.

Thank you, that's extremely helpful. That neatly brings us to the end of this session, and I thank you and Hannah Blythyn for your contributions, and also those of your officials. You will obviously be sent a transcript of this discussion, and obviously it's really important that you read it to make sure that people haven't misheard or misinterpreted what you've said. So, thank you very much indeed for covering such a wide-ranging brief, but I think very useful as a scene-setting for our work going forward. So, thank you very much indeed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So, I think I just want to move us into private session briefly, and I just wondered if the person who's managing the broadcasting can tell us when we're no longer in public session.