Steve Duffy
BBC Wales

Future generations is a big thing among Welsh ministers but how is the Wales of tomorrow doing in school?

Classroom assessments of 14-year-olds in Wales in core subjects such as English or Welsh, maths and science saw an increase in pupils achieving the expected level for every year between 2007 and 2018.

But there’s been a fall since then and the disruption from Covid is seen as a partial reason.

Fewer boys have consistently met the mark, compared to girls. And the gap between pupils from more deprived backgrounds and those from least deprived households was smaller before Covid.

Meanwhile, for most of the devolution era, the Pisa international tests for 15-year-olds have been running – and the 2022 results were the worst so far in Wales.

The performance was blamed by ministers on the pandemic “derailing” some improvements in literacy and numeracy.

The entry rate for 18 and 19-year-olds from Wales going into higher education has been fairly consistent over the period and stands at around 30%, dropping to a low of around 25% between 2006 and 2010.

Steffan Messenger
BBC Wales Environment Correspondent

If we can just stay on the topic of sustainability, when it comes to helping Wales move towards a greener future in energy generation - governments at both ends of the M4 have a role.

Developers keen on getting a new windfarm or solar park off the drawing board often complain that it can get quite complicated.

Welsh ministers' powers were beefed up in 2016 - meaning they can now give the go-ahead from Cardiff Bay to schemes up to 350MW - that's most renewable energy projects up to a pretty hefty windfarm.

But control over the national grid infrastructure, subsidy schemes and consent for the largest projects is with Westminster.

For anyone wanting to build offshore there's the Crown Estate too - which controls access to the seabed.

Industry leaders say all involved need to get better at working together if Wales and the UK's green energy goals are to be met.

The Welsh government wants 100% of the country's electricity needs to come from renewable sources by 2035, but trade body Renewable UK Cymru recently described progress here as "sluggish".

Steffan Messenger
BBC Wales Environment Correspondent

Wales' very good recycling record was mentioned by the first minister in the Senedd earlier.

In truth, since devolution Wales has become a global leader in getting all of us to sort out our waste so that much less of it ends up in landfill.

The country's recycling rate was just 5% in 1999 but we're now on track to meet a 70% target by 2025.

Check out recycling league tables (yes they are a thing) and Wales comes first in the UK, second in Europe and third in the world.

Waste experts put this down to strict recycling targets for local authorities, targeted funding for things like food waste collections and promotional campaigns focused on making people feel proud that recycling has become Wales' thing.

Keeping the crown may prove trickier as other countries catch-up but Wales is aiming to become a "zero-waste nation" by 2050.

Owain Clarke
BBC Wales Health Correspondent

Some distinct choices have been made by the Welsh government over the past 25 years in health.

In the decade after devolution, there was a focus on patient choice and competition in England, but Wales set about dismantling the NHS's internal market, mirroring decisions made in Scotland.

It culminated in the formation of seven Welsh health boards in 2009 which are responsible for pretty much all aspects of health care in their localities.

There were flagship policies too, like scrapping prescription charges, phasing out hospital car parkingcharges, establishing an Older People's Commissioner and Wales becoming the first UK nation to introduce an opt-out system for organ donation.

The Welsh government also introduced a new law to make it a duty for all public bodies to put well-being of futuregenerations at the heart of what they do - a world-first according to the United Nations.

Now, it wants to push ahead more quickly than other UK nations on plans to restrict meal deals on food that are high in fat, salt and sugar.

But it was during the Covid pandemic that it became most clear to most people that devolution meant Welsh Ministers could make different choices - even on decisions as momentous as limiting our freedoms to move, meet and mix.

Steve Duffy
BBC Wales

One thing to note is survival from cancer has been improving in Wales.

Five-year survival has increased from 51.7% in 2002 to 63% in 2017, the most recent year figures are available from the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit.

It also now produces 10-year survival estimates, which is just under 59% for all cancers in 2012-2016, compared to just over 50% in 2002-2006.

It did however find a fall in one-year survival rates recently, which it says is likely to be partly due to delays in diagnosis and people staying at home during Covid.

Survival rates fall the later cancer is diagnosed. Five-year survival for lung cancer diagnosed at stage one is 55% but drops to only 4% at stage four, at which more than half of patients are currently diagnosed.

There is also concern of a widening survival gap for people with rectal cancers, between those living in deprived areas and those in least deprived parts of Wales.

Owain Clarke
BBC Wales Health Correspondent

While we're on the subject of health, of all the devolved policy areas this arguably has the most intense scrutiny.

Arguments about the 'state of the Welsh NHS' have been frequent feature of the last 25 years - especially during elections.

It's undeniable that, on some measures, the NHS here is performing worse than across the border.

Take, for example, the numbers waiting more than two years for planned treatments - there are 22,980 cases where somebody has been waiting that long in Wales. In England, which has a much larger population, there are only 252.

The Welsh Tories say these figures are "abysmal" and Plaid Cymru claim the NHS in Wales is "going backwards".

But experts point out simple comparisons don't take into account that Wales's population, on the whole, is older, sicker and poorer.

It's also worth remembering that long NHS waits were a problem before devolution.

On other performance measures the Welsh government argues its NHS holds its own. Performance against the four-hour target in big A&Es has been better here than in England in 15 of the last 18 months.

Spending on the NHS will also increase by 4% this year in Wales but by less than 1% in England.

So what's the truth? Is one NHS that much better than the other?

Perhaps the most definitive analysis came in 2016 when the OECD concluded that "no consistent picture emerges of one of the United Kingdom's four health system performing better than another". it argued all could learn from each other and make big improvements.

But some experts warn those lessons are harder to learn - when the NHS is used as a 'political football'.

Steve Duffy
BBC Wales

What has fallen in Wales is the number of people smoking.

One of the landmark policies of the devolution era was the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces, which was introduced in Wales in April 2007.

This followed a change in the law in Scotland – and ahead of a similar move in England.

In 2000, more than a quarter of adults in Wales said they smoked. The latest figures suggest that has dropped considerably to just over 14%.

That’s now in single figures in counties like Monmouthshire, Powys and Vale of Glamorgan. While it’s highest in Merthyr – where around one in five people still smoke.

Meanwhile, 12% of 18 to 24-year-olds say they use e-cigarettes daily – a jump on the previous year.

Wales became the first UK nation to ban smoking at hospitals, playgrounds, on school sites or outdoor areas of day-care and child-minding settings in Wales. If caught, you face a £100 fine.

Steve Duffy
BBC Wales

Since devolution, the population of Wales has grown by about 8%.

There’s been a drop in the number of children in that time, but the population of those over 65 has jumped by 34%. Numbers of the very old – those over 85 – have risen by 49%.

This has implications for how Wales provides its public and community services - and chiefly demands on the NHS and social care.

With projections going forward for the next 20 years, it is estimated that the over 65 population will continue to rise, by nearly a quarter again, peaking at more than 842,750 by 2039 – that’s 25% of the Welsh population.

By 2044, we could have more than 1,700 people over the age of 100.

Felicity Evans
BBC Wales money editor

Referring to Andrew RT Davies' comment about high rates of child poverty, poverty among the youngest in society has been a persistent problem in Wales for decades and one which successive Welsh governments have failed to have a lasting impact upon.

Ministers in Wales say that their ability to tackle the problem is limited because they don’t have powers over things like welfare benefits.

Nevertheless in 2006, with child poverty rates having fallen from 35% to 27%, then First Minister Rhodri Morgan set a target to eradicate it by 2020.

That target was scrapped in 2016. Last year a Senedd committee accused the Welsh Government’s child poverty strategy of “lacking ambition”.

Currently nearly three out of 10 Welsh children are estimated to be in poverty.

Andrew RT Davies tells the Senedd that the Welsh Labour government has failed in tackling child poverty in the quarter of a century it has been in power.

"When it comes to poverty, deep seated poverty, child poverty, the Welsh government has failed by its own targets and actually dropped those targets to eliminate child poverty by 2020,” says the Senedd Tory leader.

“I know what the response will come back as, ‘it was all the UK government’s fault’, but the reality is, you have had to powers, the levers, and ability to make improvements in those deep seated problems and as a government you have failed to do that.”

The Welsh Senedd Conservative leader adds that he disagrees with those that say that devolution is an inevitable route to Welsh independence.

“Actually, the parliament and the government should focus relentlessly on the powers it has and the way that it can improve people’s lives,” says Andrew RT Davies.

Image source, Senedd TV

The Senedd leader of the Welsh conservatives says he will "argue every time" against those, even within his own party, that want to abolish the Senedd.

"I take aim at some of the people in my own party and on the right of Welsh politics, when they argue that the Welsh parliament should be done away with," Andrew RT Davies says.

"Are people seriously saying that Wales is seriously a country, in the 21st Century, in the United Kingdon – where you have a Scottish Parliament and Northern Irish assembly, mayoral elections across all of England – that Wales should do away with its parliament?"

"I don’t agree with that."

Vaughan Gething marks 25 years of Welsh devolution by warning that it is still “fragile”.

Wales first minister said a report looking at how the country might be ruled in future highlights the “opportunity costs of doing nothing to actively improve democracy and civic engagement”.

The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales said three options were all viable: independence, transferring further powers from Westminster, and creating a federal UK.

The first minister told the Senedd the report was “a wake-up call of the fragility of devolution as we know it”.

“We have real challenges before us and we cannot ever be complacent about our ability to achieve more for Wales,” he said.

“A better future for Wales needs us to take action and continue the devolution journey.”

However, Gething was certain the Senedd would endure.

He said that when he campaigned for devolution in 1997 he did not believe he would one day be first minister.

“I have no idea who may be standing in this place as first minister in another 25 years," he told the Senedd. "But I know for certain that someone will be.”

The first minister highlights what he claims are the successes of devolution in Wales.

"The Senedd has led the way on sustainability," says Vaughan Gething, noting that Wales "led the UK in charging for carrier bags" and is a "world-leader in recycling".

He says the government has prioritised children, by abolishing the right to hurt children to discipline them, "making the roads safer" by lowering speed limits and establishing a new curriculum for Wales.

He adds that devolution has allowed Wales to take "radical steps" to help the health of citizens, "including universal free prescriptions, the Human Transplantation Act and legislation to secure minimum staffing levels for nurses".

"On jobs, we have invested with ambition... from the explosion of the TV and Film industry to becoming a world leader in semi conductors and renewables."

The first minister tells his Welsh Parliament colleagues that the success of the Senedd "was not inevitable" following the referendum of 1997 and subsequent election in 1999.

"It's been a process of growth and change, gradually shaping the Senedd into the body it is today," he says.

He says the institution has been "shaped by the challenges" it has faced, such as the 2008 financial crash and "long years of recession and austerity that followed".

"We faced Brexit, the pandemic, and the growing climate and nature emergencies," he adds.

"But that is government. We are not here to take the easy way. We are here to make Wales a better place in the face of every challenge that it faces."

Image source, Senedd TV

The first minister pays tribute to those that have held the role before him in the 25 years since devolution.

He says he values the council and support of Alun Michael, Carwyn Jones and Mark Drakeford and specifically highlights the late Rhodri Morgan.

"His thoughtful, calm and considered leadership was crucial in those early years. It changed how people felt abut devo and Wales," says Gething.

"It meant a great deal to me that Rhodri took the time to call me immediately after my election to this place in 2011.

"A small act that reflected his style of leadership and commitment to lifting up others and his optimism for the future of devolution.

"This institution owes an unpayable debt of gratitude to him and I know many of us are thinking of him today."

Speaking in the Senedd, First Minister Vaughan Gething says Wales has been on a "historic devolution journey" over the past 25 years.

"It’s one that we’re proud of but its not something that we could ever take for granted," he tells members in the chamber.

"Far from the talking shop that many feared, devolution has delivered progressive politics and helped to nurture a confident, modern and outward-looking Wales."

He says the "path to a full lawmaking parliament" has not been a smooth one, but that "in times of crisis, the people of Wales have looked to us here in this chamber to lead and to serve".

Speaking of first ministers, here's Wales' current leader speaking in the Senedd as the nation marks the 25th anniversary of first electing politicians to the Welsh Assembly.

To watch the stream of Gethin's speech, click play above.

Wales' current first minister is due to address to Senedd very shortly and we'll give you updates here - and in the stream above.

While we're waiting for Vaughan Gething, here's a load of words you won't here from the Senedd chamber this or any afternoon.

You can be forgiven for thinking that any insult goes goes in politics these days but, believe it or not, you can't insult or question another AM's honesty in the Senedd chamber.

Politicians have been reprimanded for swearing in the chamber while abusive insults such as "bumbling idiot", "rent-a-gob", "hypocrites", "pathetic" and "political vermin" are among more than 50 words or phrases that are unacceptable.

Describing the late Queen Elizabeth as a "parasite" and "Mrs Windsor" is also "unparliamentary" - as former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood found out in 2004.

Wales saw its fifth first minister - or Weinidog Cymru in Welsh - earlier this year. The first minister chairs the Welsh cabinet and is in charge of Welsh government policy - but who have they been?

• Vaughan Gething (2024 - ): The 50-year-old former economy and health minister won a Welsh Labour leadership contest in March. The father-of-one and lawyer became Europe's first black leader and wants "a modern Wales".

• Mark Drakeford (2018 - 2024): This 69-year-old cricket fan and lover of his allotment became quite a divisive leader as his government imposed stricter Covid rules on the people of Wales than England during the pandemic. That shone a light on Wales having its own powers perhaps more than anything else since devolution. That's before you even mention 20mph...

• Carwyn Jones (2009 - 2018): Jones saw a change in party at UK government level from his Labour colleagues to the Conservatives, a Brexit vote he campaigned against and a steel jobs crisis. But he quit in the "darkest of times" after Carl Sargeant was found dead days after Jones had sacked him as a minister.

• Rhodri Morgan (2000 - 2009): Described as a father figure to Welsh devolution and the most popular politician of his generation, Morgan was credited with bringing stability to the fledgling assembly after a turbulent start in his own idiosyncratic style.

• Alun Michael (1999 - 2000): Wales' first first minister was supposed to be "architect of devolution" Ron Davies, but he quit as Welsh secretary after a scandal and Michael was voted in despite Labour's grassroots overwhelmingly backing Rhodri Morgan. Prime Minister Tony Blair is accused of parachuting Michael into Wales' new top job. Nine months into the first assembly, Michael quit after opposition parties proposed a no-confidence motion.