I was very tempted to get up and say that I agree with what Sian Gwenllian said and that I disagree with everything that Janet Finch-Saunders said, but unfortunately for everybody else, it’s not going to be quite as short as that.

This has been a much better settlement for local government than expected. Whilst generally welcomed by councils, it is still—let’s get the reality in there—a real-terms cut. The relative share of Welsh Government expenditure in health and local government continues to move in favour of health. I intend to do three things. First, I intend to again discuss the pressures on social care. I make no apology for that, as I strongly believe that social care is under greater pressure than any other service supported by the Welsh Government. Secondly, I intend to raise the importance of a range of council services, and finally I intend to link council services with health and well-being.

Social services departments in Wales are under more financial pressure than any other service area in the public sector, and I include the health service in that. We know that the population is ageing and that people are living longer—and many of us are very pleased about that—but we also know that, as people get older, they have greater care. We also know that people generally have their major health problems, having to go into hospital, in the last 12 months to two years of their lives.