Diolch, Llywydd. While we in this Chamber debate policies and law making, it's our Welsh local authorities, our councils across the country, rather than the Welsh Government, that are actually at the coalface delivering many of the public services that our constituents rely on each and every day. Many of these public-facing services have a key role in reducing inequality, protecting the vulnerable and building a fairer and more prosperous society. Our councils are huge players in the local economy, employing 10 per cent of the Welsh workforce, including 26,000 teachers. And our motion today recognises not only the challenges facing local authorities, but it also urges the Welsh Government to consider further improvements to next year's damaging settlement, and to commission an independent review into the outdated funding formula that it uses to distribute cash to local government. 

Since 2009, local authorities in Wales have had their funding cut by £1 billion in real terms, equivalent to 22 per cent, and if you exclude money for schools, the core funding to councils has actually been reduced by some 35 per cent. Now, this is at a time when councils are facing many funding pressures, including pension funding shortfalls, public sector pay awards and increasing demand for services like adult social care, due to an ageing population. On top of the cuts that have been inflicted upon our councils, the Welsh Government has also cut funding to other funding streams via grants that are provided, for example post-16 funding, which has been cut by a fifth in the past six years, in spite of promises to protect education spending, and the education improvement grant, which was cut by £13 million in the current financial year. Now, these pressures have had huge implications for local authority services, including libraries, refuse sites, leisure centres, bus routes and even the frequency of bin collections. And, of course, budget reductions have forced our councils to pass on a greater burden in terms of the taxation that is paid by hard-pressed families across the country. The average band D council tax in Wales has trebled—trebled—since Welsh Labour came to power here in Wales back in 1999. Many fees and charges, which are levied by councils, have also had to go up. New ones have also emerged. Many of our local authorities now charge for the childcare element of the Welsh Government's supposedly free breakfast clubs, while collection of garden waste incurs a fee also in many areas. Just a few days ago, we dug out some of the figures regarding local authority parking charges: £10 million-worth of them in the last year alone. And who can doubt that that is not making a contribution to meeting the funding gap that has been exposed as a result of the very poor settlements that many of our local authorities have had? And, of course, charges like that are deterring people from shopping on our high streets. Now, I recognise that councils have to make some difficult choices, but they're having to make these difficult choices because of the pressure that you, as a Government, are putting them under.

And, of course, it's not just Welsh Conservatives who have been warning the Welsh Government of the potential damage of its funding decisions. The future generations commissioner, Sophie Howe, was very clear in her statement last month that the Welsh Government is spending too much of its budget treating ill health, and not enough of its budget on preventative services provided by councils, which help to keep people well and to maintain their independence. All 22 council leaders wrote to the First Minister—such was the situation with the draft budget—a few weeks ago, warning that the draft settlement that had been issued at the time for 2019-20 would lead to, and I quote, huge service cuts and significant council tax rises that would be, and I quote, damaging to our communities. Even a Welsh Government Minister has protested about the Welsh Government's council funding cuts by co-signing a letter with other Labour politicians, including Members of this Assembly, calling for a review of the way in which councils are funded. So, I'm very hopeful of her support in this motion today.