That concludes First Minister's Questions, in which Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies stood in for Eluned Morgan.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Plaid Cymru MS Cefin Campbell expresses concerns about the number of Welsh-speaking students leaving Wales to attend universities in England.

Half of the pupils from Welsh-medium schools who started at university this academic year have left Wales. 49% went to England and 1% to Scotland, while 50% stayed in Wales.

Huw Irranca-Davies says he wants Welsh students to study wherever they choose, and he refers to the Cadw Cyswllt (keeping in touch) scheme run by Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol.

Cadw Cyswllt is a network of students who speak Welsh and studying outside Wales, to inform them about a variety of opportunities like training, events, resources, jobs, work experience and research.

Cefin Campbell calls for reform of the Seren scheme. Seren (Welsh for star) was originally established in 2015 to increase the number of Welsh pupils who go to Russell Group universities including Oxford and Cambridge.

Cefin Campbell says "at a time when we are facing challenges in sustaining and maintaining bilingual public services, there is a great need for us to try to retain as many young Welsh-speakers here in Wales as possible. We know that a number of them do not return, and when they have left Wales, they lose confidence in their ability to speak the Welsh language. At the same time, of course, our universities are facing huge financial losses."

Huw Irranca-Davies adds, "we have a point of difference - we believe, in this Welsh government, in enabling all our students to be those proud Welsh citizens, wherever they study, and we hope then that they will come back to Wales and bring all those talents with them."

Conservative Tom Giffard says "what an awful lack of ambition Plaid Cymru have for young people in Wales. They seem to think that it is a bad thing that Welsh people want to leave to go to study in Oxford, Cambridge or other universities across the United Kingdom. The Welsh Conservatives don't see that as a bad thing. We think that that's a good thing."

However, Tom Giffard adds, "we need to do more than hope then that those students return. We need to create the conditions so that they return. The only way to do that is by growing the economy in Wales."

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Labour's John Griffiths calls for the "timely" implementation of the report of the Commission on the UK's Future.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown's 2022 report recommended a future UK Labour government shift powers over youth justice and probation from Westminster to Cardiff, but did not back the devolution of policing, prisons and adult courts to Wales.

Huw Irranca-Davies says the recommendations of the report are "raised consistently with our UK government counterparts".

John Griffiths highlights the recommendations in relation to the economy - "it proposes large-scale investment in clusters - such as semiconductors and cybersecurity in Newport and south-east Wales, for example; further redistribution of UK civil service and agency jobs out of London and the home counties to Wales - and we have good examples in Newport of where that has been a great success; and significant funding for our infrastructure - rail and renewable energy, for example... Commissioned by our UK Labour colleagues when in opposition, now in government, it must be implemented if those communities which feel left behind are to see the transformative change they need to provide them with the standards of living and life chances that we would all want to see."

Huw Irranca-Davies adds, "the Gordon Brown report put forward some very striking proposals, supporting industrial clusters, as you've described, including in things like semiconductors, decentralising public sector jobs, rebalancing economic opportunity to deal with the inequalities, so that targeted approach, indeed. And we're not waiting for others to do this job for us; we're already working on it. So, as you will know, in your area and in the region, we supported the growth of the compound semiconductor cluster in Wales; it's predominantly around Newport."

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth chooses the topic of his party's win in the Caerphilly by-election.

He says, "Plaid Cymru's positive vision saw off the divisive politics of Reform in that by-election and, if I might say, the people of Caerphilly saw through Labour's clearly misleading claim that it was a two-horse race between Labour and Reform. I've read the opinion pieces where Labour members now fall over themselves to say that they had known for weeks that they weren't even in the race, but they were happy to go along with a disingenuous campaign which could have opened the door to the populist right, and I think they should reflect on that."

He asks, "in the aftermath of that result, Labour say they are listening to the public, but they've had 26 years to listen. It's action that people want, and now they are tired of waiting. So, with the first minister saying that she thinks there are, 'serious lessons for us to learn here at all levels of government', will the deputy first minister tell us what now, in policy terms, will change?"

Labour came third in Caerphilly, behind Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, with just 11% of the vote in a seat they'd held at every Senedd and Westminster election for a century.

Huw Irranca-Davies replies, "I can happily respond to what will change, but also what has changed over the last year. We've had an extra £1.5 billion, Rhun, in Welsh public services in the 2025-26 budget. We've brought down NHS waits significantly, but there's more to do... The investment that we do in the business community has safeguarded more than 7,000 jobs over the last year. We are taking forward the plans on women's health hubs, so that there will be a women's health hub in every constituency by March 2026. We've secured £125 million to fix the potholes in our roads, which people said, 'Will you listen please and do this?', and we've done that. So, from bread-and-butter issues to significant issues, such as building 4,500 more homes for people to live in, we are delivering, and, if we have support for the budget going forward, we'll be able to do so much more."

Image source, PA Media

Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, accuses the Labour Welsh government of breaking its promise to eliminate all two-year waits for NHS treatment by March 2023.

Huw Irranca-Davies replies, "the overall waiting lists fell again in August by around 2,500 from July. There was a small rise in the number of people waiting more than two years for treatment in August. I have to say, this is not unexpected. We often see this over the summer months. The provisional data, let me tell you, for September, shows a significant further fall in the size of the overall waiting lists, and a reduction in long waits. So, the average waiting time for treatment is 21.7 weeks."

He acknowledges "we've got more to do" but adds that "a two-thirds fall in 12 months is not to be sniffed at. We're going in the right direction."

Darren Millar adds, "8,500 are still waiting more than two years or more for treatment. Now, in England, with a population 18 times the size, that figure is just 168. It is totally unacceptable that patients in Wales are 500 times more likely to wait for two years for treatment than over the border."

He says "the Welsh NHS is broken" and he calls on the government to declare a "health emergency... so that we can get to grips with these things once and for all".

Huw Irranca-Davies responds, "there we have it, the quote of this session from the leader of the opposition, 'The Welsh NHS is broken'. From the party that never wanted to see the establishment of the NHS, they are now telling us the NHS is broken, from the party that would be happy to dismember the NHS, the Welsh NHS he says is broken. It is not broken. It is under immense pressure."

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Conservative Janet Finch-Saunders raises concerns about the future of Ysgol Betws-y-Coed and Ysgol Ysbyty Ifan.

Huw Irranca-Davies says that under the Welsh government’s school organisation code there is a procedure to follow when considering the future of rural schools, and this starts with a formal consultation.

The code also includes a presumption against closure and requires the council to demonstrate strong justification, having considered all viable alternatives.

Janet Finch-Saunders says "the code states that all viable alternatives to closure must have been conscientiously considered - and they haven't been."

Conwy council's cabinet will consider reports about the future of Ysgol Betws-y-Coed and Ysgol Ysbyty Ifan.

The council has said that pupil numbers at both schools have been gradually reducing over the past six years and are predicted to remain at the current level for the next five years.

Ysgol Betws-y-Coed has the capacity to accommodate 100 pupils and currently has 14 registered pupils.

Ysgol Ysbyty Ifan has the capacity to accommodate 40 pupils and currently has 14 registered pupils.

If given the green light, the consultations are expected to start in the next month or so, and responses will be presented to councillors for consideration next year.

Llywydd Elin Jones begins by welcoming newly-elected MS for Caerphilly Lindsay Whittle to his first Senedd plenary since Plaid Cymru's victory in the by-election.

Lindsay Whittle says, "it's a great pleasure to be welcomed back into the Senedd of Wales. I was here before [he was was a member of the National Assembly for Wales between May 2011 and April 2016] and I am immensely proud to have been elected to serve all of the people of the Caerphilly constituency. However, clouded in the euphoria of elections, we must never, ever forget - and I can assure you, I will never forget - the worthy contributions of my friend, Hefin David, who was a deep loss to his family, and to the political life of Wales."

The by-election was called after the sudden death of Labour MS Hefin David in August.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of First Minister's Questions.

Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies stands in for the first time for Eluned Morgan who is away for family reasons.

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.