Eluned Morgan’s thirty-fourth session as first minister comes to a close.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

"Delivery absolutely needs to speed up, and we’re on it", the first minister tells Conservative Sam Rowlands about the north Wales growth deal, acknowledging the "very disappointing... pace" so far.

Sam Rowlands says that at the start of the growth deal "there was a promise of a total of around £1 billion-worth of investment, both from public and private sector investments, and a promise of up to 4,000 jobs in the region. You'll also be aware, first minister, that just in recent weeks, the Senedd's Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee highlighted the fact that only 35 jobs have been created in over five years of the growth deal being in place. Now, that is a very, very poor record, to say the least, of how the growth deal is going."

Eluned Morgan explains that at the outset "the Trawsfynydd nuclear project was going to make up about 40 per cent of the original portfolio value. So, once that went, obviously there was a major hole there".

In January, an agreement was reached between the UK government, Welsh government and local authority regional partnerships on the principles for using funding for city and regional growth deals, external.

There are currently four city and regional growth deals in Wales, Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) City Deal; Swansea Bay City Region City Deal; North Wales Growth Deal and Mid Wales Growth Deal.

In total, the UK government has committed to invest £791 million in the four deals over 10 to 15 years. The Welsh government has committed to invest over £795 million over 15 to 20 years.

Image source, Getty Images

"Too many children in the Rhondda are living in poverty" says Labour MS Buffy Williams, with some "families in desperate need of support".

Eluned Morgan says "the Welsh Labour government is taking action, not making excuses, on child poverty. Since 2022, we’ve invested over £7 billion to support families, including in the Rhondda. We’re the first nation in the UK to roll out universal free primary school meals. We’ve expanded Flying Start childcare to cover more two-year-olds. We’re investing £100 million a year in high-quality childcare, helping parents into work and boosting children’s life chances. In Rhondda Cynon Taf alone, more than £330,000 has been awarded through our child poverty innovation fund this year, and we’ve delivered over £33 million in extra income to those who need it most, thanks to our advice services."

Last week, the UK Labour government won a vote on its benefits bill by 75 votes, but only after offering last-minute concessions to Labour rebels.

Ministers had already watered down their plans once by reversing some cuts to universal credit and protecting current claimants of personal independence payment (Pip) from stricter eligibility rules.

However, some Labour MPs were still concerned the new criteria for claiming Pip would come into force before the recommendations of a review could be implemented.

Fearing a humiliating defeat, the government announced a further U-turn, saying it would not change Pip rules until it had time to consider the review's conclusions.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Plaid Cymru MS Adam Price seeks an "update on the Welsh government’s commitment to ensure that automatic voter registration arrangements are implemented in time for the next Senedd election".

Eluned Morgan replies that she is "proud that Wales will become the first devolved nation in the UK to trial registering voters automatically".

She says four local authorities across Wales will be taking part in automatic voter registration pilots.

However, she concludes "the regulations passed by the Senedd mean that the pilots run until the end of September, and after that the Electoral Commission is going to be evaluating them by December. I think we've got to be realistic and practical about what that means in practice, because there will be quite a lot of work to be done before there's an ability to roll them out nationally. So, I think it is important to manage expectations around the ability to roll out those automatic registrations in time for the next election."

The first minister reiterates her call for scrapping the two-child benefit cap - "we've been clear, in relation to the two-child benefit cap, that we would like to see a change there, but this is an area that is the responsibility of the UK government".

Before its retreat on benefits, the UK Labour government was considering lifting the two-child benefit cap, a policy that restricts means-tested benefits to a maximum of two children per family for those born after April 2017.

About 1.6 million children live in households affected by the cap, according to the Department for Work and Pensions, external.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, external think tank estimates that axing the policy would cost the UK government about £3.4bn a year and would lift 500,000 children out of relative poverty.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says "it's disappointing to learn from the Open University's 2025 business barometer that well over half of Welsh organisations polled are experiencing a skills shortage. That's the highest level in the UK."

He calls for "a national skills audit so that we can set about equipping young people with the skills that they need to secure high-paying, high-skilled jobs in the green economy".

Eluned Morgan replies "I think that it is important that we upskill our workers. Lifelong learning is something that we all need to undertake and take seriously. One of the initiatives that I was proud to introduce was the individual learning account, where what we did was to identify the very things that you're talking about: where are the skills gaps; where are the opportunities for people to learn while they're in current jobs that look like they may be ending soon? We've got to recognise that the world of work is changing and that we need to adapt to it. And people can't afford to go and take three years off to do a degree to retrain. You have to allow people the flexibility to learn while they're in another job."

Rhun ap Iorwerth also refers to employment figures for young people in Wales which "are going in the wrong direction under Labour's watch".

He says, "figures published last Friday show the youth employment rate in Wales in the year ending March 2025 was 52.5 per cent. That's five and a half percentage points lower than in the previous year. And it's also worrying to learn that only 31 per cent of the companies questioned as part of that business barometer I mentioned said that they have schemes in place to recruit, retain or train workers under 25."

He asks, "does the first minister think that the real-terms cut in this year’s skills budget will make things better or worse?"

Eluned Morgan replies, "what we have got is a youth guarantee, external, and that is something that has made a difference. It’s been interesting to go and look at people who have undertaken support in relation to that, and that has made a difference. You compare our youth unemployment figures to those of England and they’re in a better place, and I think that is because of that youth guarantee programme. You’ve got to recognise that, actually, everybody starts from different places and there are people, particularly young people who’ve been through Covid, some of them had a tough time and some of them need a lot of support to get anywhere near the jobs market. So, before you get into the really intense technical skills, sometimes, you have to rebuild people’s confidence and make sure that they’re getting mental health support and make sure that we stand by them through that difficult period in order to get them ready for the workplace."

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, says Cardiff airport has been a "dismal failure" under the ownership of the Welsh government.

He says "over the weekend, over 300 flights set off from Bristol airport. Yet, here in Wales, just 57 flights departed from Cardiff... with passenger numbers down by 150,000 to just 880,000 last year, while, in Bristol, its nearest competitor, the numbers are soaring high. They increased by over 80 per cent over the same period, and are now almost 11 million. Bristol now flies more passengers every single month than Cardiff airport does in a whole year."

He asks, "do you accept that your Welsh government is no better at running an airport than you are this country, that it's time to stop wasting taxpayers' money on this pet project, and that Cardiff airport should be sold to somebody who knows how to run airports?"

Eluned Morgan replies "I'm not going to be advocating for Wales to be one of the only countries in Europe without an airport. I think it's really important for us to have an airport... The subsidy, as you say, is not insignificant, but if you look at what we get as a nation, as a result of being able to host things like European football cups, those in themselves bring in around £200 million. Without an airport, we wouldn't be able to host those kinds of things."

The Welsh government bought the airport in 2013 for £52m and has spent £181m on it in total.

Passenger numbers in 2024 increased 5%, external on the previous year.

Darren Millar also refers to Welsh government-owned Transport for Wales, which he says "has one of the worst passenger satisfaction ratings in the UK. It has a higher level of cancellations and complaints than other operators, and the worst punctuality record in Britain...These are facts, and things don't look set to get much better either. You recently celebrated an announcement by the UK Labour government of £445 million for rail infrastructure, here in Wales, over the next 10 years, even though that sum is less than half that which was invested by the previous UK Conservative government over the previous 10 years."

Eluned Morgan says "we have invested £800 million in our rail services, and it has transformed the service. You look at the number of new trains that are on our services, everybody can see them all over the country; they are coming on. And they have led to an increase of a fifth in passenger numbers, just in the past year. When it comes to reliability, Transport for Wales has the most reliable service, compared to any of the other services within Wales."

Image source, Cardiff Airport

The first minister insists that the intergovernmental relationship between the Welsh and UK governments since Labour came to power at Westminster last year is like a "breath of fresh air".

She says, "we’ve gone from Tory ministers not even engaging with us to more than 30 formal inter-governmental meetings since September, including two top-tier summits. We’ve secured £6 billion more for Wales than we’d have had under the previous Conservative government. That money has gone into coal tip safety, green energy and rail investment. We've seen £500 million for Tata Steel, £445 million for rail, £80 million to back offshore wind in Port Talbot. These are real wins for Wales, on top of the miners' pension fund. I think that's what grown-up government looks like, co-operation over confrontation and delivery over division."

Conservative Peter Fox says "since Labour took office in Westminster, we have seen nothing but disastrous policies launched, and, even when UK Labour ministers listen to reason and u-turn, they seem to make things worse."

He refers to the "family farm tax" - "this is one u-turn that our rural communities are crying out for. It's long past time that you listened to the Welsh farmers and stood up and called for UK Labour to ditch the family farm tax once and for all."

Eluned Morgan does not answer that directly.

The plans to tax inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m at a rate of 20% were announced in Rachel Reeves' first Labour Budget.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Llywydd Elin Jones conducts a ballot to determine the names of members who may table questions to the first minister.

Independent MS Rhys ab Owen has the first question for the second successive week, asking "how is the Welsh government protecting the democratic right to protest in Wales?"

First Minister Eluned Morgan replies "Wales is a nation proud of its democratic values, and this Labour government in Wales fiercely defends the right to protest peacefully. From climate justice to equality and human rights, we stand with those who stand up for what they believe in. Peaceful protest is part of our political tradition, and that tradition will always be protected. But let me be clear: there is no place in our democracy for hate, intimidation or incitement to violence. We will always draw the line where harm begins."

Rhys ab Owen refers to Caerdydd Students for Palestine which set up an encampment calling for peace in Palestine outside the main Cardiff university building in May 2024. They returned in May this year but were forced to leave after an eviction notice was served by the university.

He says "Cardiff University hired a law firm that secured a civil injunction that is currently plastered across the university campus, warning, amongst other things, that no-one may enter, occupy or remain on the campus for the purpose of protest. A UN watchdog has described this as a flagrant violation of international human rights. The injunction threatens prison, seizure of assets and fines for violating the injunction. We have reached the point where those peacefully protesting, calling for peace, may fear being arrested and defend themselves in court. If peaceful protest, as students, led to prison, then most people here in the Siambr would have lengthy prison convictions themselves. Does the first minister agree with me that imprisonment is not an appropriate response to peaceful protest?"

Eluned Morgan replies, "you certainly won’t get any kind of objection from me in terms of the hawl [right] to protest. And, in particular, on issues that I think lots of us are seeing on our screens daily, in terms of what’s happening in Gaza, I think it's important that people are able to express their views on things like that. Obviously, there has to be a line in terms of breaking the law, and on stirring up racial hatred. So, we’ve just got to be very clear on that, but, as far as I’m concerned, the right to protest is a sacred right in relation to how we do it in Wales, and these are actually within articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which assures people of the right to be able to express themselves in Wales."

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Eluned Morgan’s thirty-fourth session of First Minister's Questions.

The Siambr (Senedd chamber) has closed for renovations until March 2026, as work is underway on altering it to accommodate the 96 Members who will be chosen in the next Senedd election in May 2026.

So the 60 MSs are meeting in Siambr Hywel, the original debating chamber that housed the then National Assembly for Wales from 1999 to 2006.

The meeting is held in a hybrid format, with some members in Siambr Hywel and others joining by video-conference.

You can click on the play button above to watch the proceedings from 1.30pm.