It’s almost seven years since the Conservatives formed a Government in Westminster—seven years since they introduced their destructive austerity programme; seven years since the budgets of public services in Wales have been cut to the bone as a result of that. It was disappointing to see Labour Members of Parliament supporting the austerity charter before the general election of 2015.

The reductions in public services are truly having an impact on our communities. In light of the attention given to Brexit at the moment and the way in which the European Union was blamed for many of the problems in our society that arise as a result of austerity, we are at risk of forgetting that it’s ideology that drives austerity. It is ideology that leads to the dismantling of public services—the safety net that is so important to support our most vulnerable people—and it’s an ideology that I and Plaid Cymru reject entirely.

Following years of cuts to local authority budgets in Wales—a cut of 1.4 per cent in 2016-17 and 3.4 per cent in 2015-16—as part of the agreement on the budget recently reached, my party has ensured that an additional £25 million will be available to fund local authorities. As a result of this agreement, in 2017-18, some Welsh local authorities will see the first increase in their budgets for some years. But of course, in real terms, and taking into account factors such as inflation and the inevitable pressure for more services in areas such as social care, additional taxation and the apprenticeship levy, in real terms, this represents a cut to some local authorities. Although the settlement is an improvement on previous settlements, it is no cause for celebration, particularly bearing in mind that all other Government departments apart from central services have seen a far bigger increase in their budgets.

One issue I should highlight is the annual request that the Welsh Government should publish indicative figures for ensuing years with the settlement. In a post-election year, the local authorities would have expected Government to express their intent for 2018-19 and 2019-20 along with the 2017-18 settlement. The public purse is shrinking and we are all aware that more cuts are in the pipeline. And although local authorities in Wales have made savings of £700 million since the inception of austerity, a deficit of some £900 million is anticipated by 2019-20.

Austerity doesn’t work. Plaid Cymru has consistently argued since 2010 that we need to invest in infrastructure—roads, railways and broadband—in order to secure a strong economy that can lead to quality public services, which is what the people of Wales deserve.