Thank you. It’s a pleasure for me, on behalf of Plaid Cymru, to focus all our attention this afternoon on the importance of maintaining and developing strong local government in Wales. By strengthening our communities, we will also strengthen our nation.

With the announcement made by the UK Prime Minister of an election on 8 June taking all of the attention of the press and politicians of all hues, I am pleased that there’s an opportunity for us to pause for a moment in the Senedd this afternoon to discuss the importance of our public services. Of course, the local government elections are an opportunity for people to express their views tomorrow.

Plaid Cymru believes that local public services of quality are crucial to the prosperity and well-being of our nation, but these public services are under threat. Funding has been reduced and cuts are being made as a result of that. The Conservatives are on an ideological crusade to dismantle our public services. Unfortunately, there is worse to come over the next few years. We need strong councils in all corners of our nation, councils that act responsibly to protect our most vulnerable and the weakest in our society; to protect those people who are most affected by these cuts. Gwynedd Council was praised by the auditor general for its financial planning, which was effective and robust despite the cuts.

We need strong councils to safeguard our public services, to be a shield against the worst of these cuts and the austerity policies imposed by the Tories. For far too long, we have made do with a second-class service for many of our councils. Plaid Cymru wants to build a new Wales, and, in our view, the best starting place is at our feet. Where Plaid Cymru leads councils—in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy and Gwynedd—we are providing excellent services, despite the financial limitations that we face. These councils are in the vanguard in Wales, in areas as varied as social housing, education, clean streets and recycling. With education, Ceredigion County Council is leading the way as the only council judged by Estyn to be performing excellently in Wales in the last full cycle of inspections.

Very often in this Chamber, we discuss the shortage of social housing in Wales. In order to tackle this problem, Carmarthenshire County Council, which is Plaid Cymru led, has taken action, committing to building 60 additional council houses over the next two years, as part of a commitment to a broader affordable housing programme, which pledges to provide over 1,000 affordable houses over the next five years. This is the first council in Wales to build new council houses since the 1980s. We need housing for our people, but new estates must be in the right place, and they must be supported by the necessary infrastructure—roads, schools, hospitals. Unfortunately, the Cardiff council local development plan is an example of a scheme that won’t work for the benefit of the people, with a focus on building homes without taking into account the repercussions of that.

Annually, our councils spend millions of pounds on purchasing goods and services, but, far too often, this money flows out of Wales. Small local suppliers aren’t always in a position to compete with the larger competitors for council contracts. Since 2012, the total procurement expenditure of local government in Wales has remained static at just 58 per cent. During a period of austerity, when funding is short, it’s increasingly important that local authorities, and the public sector more broadly, do secure the best local value for money in terms of public expenditure. Gwynedd Council has already started to tackle this problem, establishing a new procurement system to keep the benefits locally. Not only has this contributed millions to the local economy, but it’s also saved £2.3 million for the council over five years.

Maintaining public services of a high quality does require the highest quality staff to run those services. People deserve fair pay for their work, but there shouldn’t be a huge gap between the salaries of those at the top and the salaries of the front-line workers, who are so crucial to success. We want to close this gap, and we believe in working towards a fair deal for all council employees, including those on zero-hours contracts. I very much hope that the Government today can commit to the principle of scrapping zero-hours contracts in the social care sector by supporting clause 8 of our motion. Otherwise, your party will be accused of hypocrisy, with your leaders at the UK level saying one thing, whilst you choose not to take action here when you have the opportunity to do so in Wales. But, more importantly, supporting clause 8 would be a clear sign that you are on the side of some of our most valuable but least respected workers in Wales at the moment.

To conclude, public services of quality are central to the prosperity of our nation. They are the glue that holds our society together, and the safety net that supports the most vulnerable in our society. Plaid Cymru councillors will be champions for their communities, and will use all of the powers available to them to improve the lives of people, to strengthen Welsh communities, and to put power back in the hands of the people.