Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I propose the Welsh Government's final budget proposals for 2018-19 onwards, as tabled before the National Assembly for Wales on 19 December. I would like to pay particular thanks to members of the Finance Committee and the Chair, Simon Thomas, for their careful work in scrutinising this budget. This is the first time for many centuries that we in Wales have taken responsibility for raising a proportion of the funds that we spend on public services. I was very pleased to be able to respond yesterday to the committee's report on the draft budget and to be able to accept virtually all of their recommendations in full.

Despite the challenges that arose as a result of the conflict between the timetable for our budget and the budget of the UK Government, I do believe that the new processes agreed and followed this year have been successful and have been appropriate for scrutinising our use of our financial responsibilities. I look forward to working with the committee to see how these processes can be further improved in the future.

I should also thank the other committees who have published scrutiny reports on the budget in their own areas of responsibility. I would like to officially thank Steffan Lewis for giving his time to meet and to consider the final budget, and Adam Price for continuing with those negotiations more recently.

Deputy Presiding Officer, the wider context for the budget is well known. As the economies of the eurozone and the United States move back towards historic growth levels, the economy of the UK continues to be damaged by foolish austerity policies—policies that have failed. As others grow, the most recent forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility here demonstrates an economy that is slowing down, not only next year and the following year, but also beyond then, into the future: less growth in production, less development in business, less growth in gross domestic product, less growth in employment and less in tax receipts. The Chancellor, Philip Hammond himself, stated that in his budget speech on 22 November.