The question of whether a new motorway south of Newport would be built to ease congestion has again taken centre stage at First Minister's Questions.

Reform Wales leader Helen Jenner said Welsh government plans to close junctions, announced a week ago, "simply moves the problem elsewhere".

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said his government was taking a "multi-phase approach" and seeking to find an "engineering solution".

Today's session also saw Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar criticise the pay packets of senior officials in the Welsh public sector, saying "the worse their organisations seem to perform, the better the pay packet seems to be".

Ap Iorwerth said it is important to "have the right people in the right place" and that means paying "the right sums of money".

And Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates and the first minister both praised Labour and Plaid's deal announced earlier today on the Welsh government's mini-budget.

Our live coverage is now ending. You can read more on Welsh politics by clicking here.

Conservative Peter Fox asks the first minister if he will "finally reconsider a relief road on the M4 to relieve congestion at Newport".

Last week plans were announced that could involve closing junctions on the M4 and an 18-month project looking at a range of "roads-based" options for the motorway, that could include a new road or expanding the Brynglas Tunnels.

Rhun ap Iorwerth says the decision was previously taken to cancel what was known as the black route, meaning "it is no longer a protected route", and as a result "that option was essentially taken off the table, or at least for a very, very, very long time".

He says "road relief is a part of the solution" and "careful planning and engineering work" was needed to "understand what is the best solution to pursue".

Reform Senedd member Steve Bayliss presses ap Iorwerth to resolve a health visitor pay and grading dispute at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.

"This dispute began before you took office, but it has continued under your government, affecting vulnerable children and families in my constituency," he says.

Ap Iorwerth says this can only be achieved "between the employer and the employee, between the health board and the health workers".

"What we can do in government is ensure that there is real clarity on roles and bands and pay structures nationally, and that is exactly what the review instigated by the cabinet, minister for health is setting out to do," he adds.

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates and the first minister both give their approvals over Labour and Plaid's deal announced today on the Welsh government's mini-budget.

"Welsh Labour will never fold, we will stand firm," says Skates, and praises his party's approach to negotiations - to laughter from other parties in the chamber.

Skates then calls for a "sensible" cross-party approach to improving home to school transport, which he says was started under the previous Welsh Labour government.

Ap Iorwerth says he is "always interested in looking at how we can cooperate" in the Senedd "in finding ways to spend public money well".

Millar goes on to criticise the chief executive of Transport for Wales for receiving nearly £250,000 every year.

"Last year it was one of the worst performing rail companies across the whole of the United Kingdom," he says.

Ap Iorwerth replies that "across the public sector we need to make sure that we have the right people in the right place - that does absolutely involve paying them the right sums of money".

Millar then adds: "We all know why you are not in favour of performance related pay, and that's because you'd all be skint, wouldn't you? Frankly, if it was based on the performance of your government so far."

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar targets the pay packets of senior officials in the Welsh public sector, including in Cardiff Airport and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

"People across Wales are facing a cost of living crisis, yet senior managers in the public sector and in publicly funded organisations are enjoying pay packets that people in our country could only dream of.

"The worse their organisations seem to perform, the better the pay packet seems to be."

Jenner's question about the M4 relates to the full or partial closure of up to three junctions in Newport that were proposed by the Welsh government last week.

It is part of a series of measures to try to tackle congestion along the busy corridor.

Governments have tried for decades to find a solution to the Brynglas Tunnels bottleneck - a proposal for a new motorway south of Newport was last-ditched in May 2019.

The government is to look again at whether it might build a new road, as part of an 18 month scheme, but may also close junctions in Newport to help traffic flow.

You can read more here

Jenner's last question attacks the deal between Plaid and Labour, and she accuses Labour of "nodding along as your government sends millions of pounds abroad while our NHS suffers".

"When you said you'd deliver change, people expected you to change more than just the seating plan in the chamber. And I know a few things about seating plans," Jenner says.

That opens up ap Iorwerth to fire back.

"The seating plan on that side of the chamber seems to be changing," he says to delight from his backbenchers, referring to the defection of ex-Reform MS Sarah Cooper-Lessad to Plaid.

"And I would suggest she maybe she doesn't make herself too comfortable where she is either."

Helen Jenner demands an answer from Rhun ap Iorwerth as to whether he would build a new motorway south of Newport.

She criticises proposals to close junctions, and says it would not "make the traffic disappear, it simply moves the problem elsewhere".

Jenner demands a "long-term solution" for Newport.

Ap Iorwerth says his government was taking a "multi-phase approach" and is "embarking right away" on a piece of work to find an "engineering solution".

Jenner then accuses ap Iorwerth of continuing "Mark Drakeford's war on motorists".

Image source, Senedd Cymru

Reform's Welsh leader Helen Jenner asks the first minister about news reports relating to a man who she says has been convicted sexual offences against two young girls in Cardiff, having arrived in Britain on a small boat from France in March.

"Those two young girls should have been safe in their own home," Jenner says, before asking ap Iorwerth what discussion he has had with the Home Office about the case.

The first minister says he is not familiar with the case, and refers the Reform leader to the government's safeguarding work.

"Reform seeks only, to comment on those elements of criminality that, that, that emerge from, from people who have come in to the UK," he says.

Plaid Cymru MS Sarah Rees tells the first minister she supports a "grassroots campaign" to stop the proposed small modular nuclear reactor project in the Llynfi valley.

"We're exploring alternative energy options within the constituency, rather than accepting private organisations coming in to extract the profits from our communities," she says.

Rhun ap Iorwerth says "energy projects in Wales must show, I think, how they improve matters for people in Wales, it's an important issue that will be at the heart of the National Energy Strategy".

But Labour's Huw Thomas says "Wales has got an opportunity to be an energy superpower", calling Rees' comments "disappointing".

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier today the Welsh government said it had reached a deal with Labour on its mini-budget, which had failed to pass in the summer.

The deal will see the government commit to an extra £60m for the education of children with additional learning needs (ALN).

Welsh Labour had rejected a £40m a year deal across three years in angry scenes at the Welsh Parliament in the last week of term in July.

Its leader Ken Skates had previously demanded £100m when the supplementary budget was last discussed before accepting the Plaid Cymru-led administration's latest offer.

You can read more here

Rhun ap Iorwerth is set to face Senedd members just hours after his Plaid Cymru government announced it had struck a deal with Labour over its mini-budget.

His weekly First Minister's Questions session will see opposition leaders get a chance to scrutinise ap Iorwerth on whatever subject they like.

Plaid ministers had spectacularly failed to get their mini-budget through the Senedd in July, after tabling a vote on the matter despite failing to do agree a deal with anyone.

It is also a week after the government announced it would look into a possible new Menai crossing and work to tackle congestion along the M4, with the possibility access to the motorway in Newport may be reduced.

We'll bring you the highlights from today's FMQs, which you can also watch live by clicking play at the top of the page from 13:30 BST.