2. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on how the Welsh Government’s budget will benefit the people of Wales? OAQ(5)0141(FLG)

I thank the Member for the question. The Welsh Government budget funds public services, supports our economy and invests in essential infrastructure. It has defended the people of Wales from the failed and foolish policies of austerity pursued by successive Conservative Chancellors at Westminster.

Well, thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Despite local government revenue expenditure per capita in Wales being 75 per cent higher than over the border in England, council tax payers here have a right to ask why their services have been cut, meals on wheels services discontinued, one in five public conveniences closed, a 23 per cent reduction in school crossing patrols, bin collections reduced to once monthly, fly-tipping incidents up by 14 per cent, and 142 schools closed since 2007. What plans do you have in place, moving forward with local government reform, to ensure that our local authorities have a process of careful and responsible spending so to sustain the much valued services our communities rely on?

Well, Llywydd, when constituents ask themselves those questions, they will undoubtedly find the answer in knowing that the reason that local public services are under pressure is because of the sustained actions of the UK Government in reducing the amount of money available for essential public services passed to the National Assembly for Wales and then inevitably having an impact on local authorities as well. This Government has provided Welsh local government, as a result of our budget and our agreement with Plaid Cymru as part of that, with the best settlement that it has had for a number of years. As I’ve said many times in this Chamber—I’ll say it again—it provides them with a period in which they have to plan for more difficult decisions that lie ahead, and those more difficult decisions flow directly from the decisions that have been made by her party in power at Westminster.

Will the Cabinet Secretary comment on recent forecasts by the Construction Industry Training Board that the Welsh Government's groundbreaking £1.4 billion twenty-first century schools programme will play a pivotal part in the positive area of growth, as evidenced in my constituency with the opening of the new Islwyn High School? So, will the Cabinet Secretary join with me and welcome this positive news for Wales and positive news for the Welsh economy and positive news for Welsh jobs?

I thank Rhianon Passmore, of course, for that question and, indeed, I have seen the report of the Construction Industry Training Board for Wales, and it says that construction output in Wales is expected to be stronger than in any other part of the United Kingdom over the four years to 2021. The reason why construction output will be that strong in Wales is, in part at least, due to the nearly £7 billion-worth of capital expenditure set out in our budget for the next four years, investing in schools, investing in housing, investing in transport. All those things bring work to the construction industry and it is why the Construction Industry Training Board for Wales is able to predict that very strong period of output over the next four years.