In Swansea, where the council is a major player in the Swansea bay city region, the leader has also pointed to teachers’ pay, saying he's only had £606,000 of the £7 million he needs via Welsh Government. And, as he too announced that no services can be protected, he snapped that, and I quote:

'Sometimes it feels that we don’t have a Cabinet Secretary for Local Government. He should hang his head in shame.'

And, in response to the infamous Oliver Twist jibe, this Labour council leader was prepared to meet Mr Bumble with, quote, 'the biggest begging bowl', because that’s what they’ve been reduced to: begging.

Neath Port Talbot has announced that they are—quote again—

'getting very close to not being able to run services safely'.

And they’re not just talking about the revenue support grant. A thousand vulnerable Gypsy and Traveller children in the county borough area will lose their support as the grant is slashed from £250,000 to £85,000—and that is just £85 per child. And that's despite the finance Minister saying that there would be millions for Gypsy/Traveller children in his statement announcing the draft budget. This, of course, has a knock-on effect to the RSG in Neath Port Talbot and that funding for inclusion, health and education. And, as Neath Port Talbot loses out, the merger by stealth being planned by Welsh Government, giving Gypsy/Traveller support to just four councils to operate regionally—well, that is being treated with deep suspicion that this route of funding itself will not be sustained.

Ultimately, it’s Neath Port Talbot that says it as it is, and I'm quoting again:

'Welsh Government cannot continue to use austerity as an excuse for not allowing Local Government to deliver vital services to all constituents.'

And even Labour councils are getting fed up of the budgie hitting that same old bell, particularly when we are getting 20 per cent more per head in Wales than England in terms of funding. And, while some councils must explain why they are not using those useable reserves, and others must explain how poor management has led to drops in earned income, they are, as the Labour leader of Bridgend says, at the end of the road.

Five of the seven constituency Assembly Members from South Wales West are members of Welsh Government and my constituents will want an explanation from them. [Interruption.] You're saved. Will they say publicly that these councils have been apparently protected from the worst of the cuts because they're being protected by Labour representation—the political message that their supporters will want to hear? Or will they claim that, of course, there’s no such partisan protection—it’s all based on need? In which case, can they explain why the need remains so high in their own council areas when they have been in Government for two years? Or will they have to admit that, despite making up over a third of the Government, they've had no leverage to meaningfully improve this local government settlement?

Now, Welsh Conservatives want to get rid of the duct tape and sticking plaster over this clapped out old formula, as do the WLGA. But I say to my South Wales West Government colleagues—. I'm not talking to you, Cabinet Secretary; it is my colleagues in South Wales West. It’s not about councils being at the front of the queue for last-minute UK consequentials—it’s about you being at the front of the queue to reform the funding formula from within Government. Thank you.