I'm pleased to publish the third in a series of annual updates on our programme of work to reform local government finance in Wales. It sets out the reforms the Welsh Government is undertaking to improve local taxes and the wider local government finance framework to ensure it responds to the future needs of local services in challenging times.

Local services are vital in giving children the best start in life, helping to lift households out of poverty, helping us to live greener and more responsible lives, and ensuring that older and vulnerable people are cared for. These services, plus many more, could not exist without a stable and effective local government funding system—one which meets our policy aspirations and strives for fairness.

Our phased programme of short, medium and long-term reform is wide-ranging, and it's been in place since early 2017. It's delivered, and is contributing to delivering, several of the commitments and aims in 'Taking Wales Forward' and in our national strategy, 'Prosperity for All'. In 'Taking Wales Forward, the Welsh Government made a series of commitments to make council tax fairer, to support small businesses with their non-domestic rates bills and to deliver city and growth deals for regions across Wales.

The update I've published today outlines the progress we've made over the past year in working towards our aims. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank local government colleagues for their continued assistance in delivering significant improvements. Local authority officers and elected members across Wales have taken an active part in this work and have co-produced many of the improvements we see today. I'd also like to thank Citizens Advice Cymru, Money Saving Expert and other advisory services for providing much-needed practical input on the ground.

This year's report sets out the steps we have taken to make council tax fairer. On 1 April this year, we removed the threat of imprisonment for the non-payment of council tax in Wales, marking a step change in our approach to the treatment of local taxpayers. For the first time, all local authorities in Wales have adopted a common council tax protocol that captures new standards for how vulnerable and struggling households will be treated.

We continue to work with local authorities to deliver improvements to council tax collection and debt management, and to reduce bailiff action. The level of arrears has stabilised in Wales over the period since before council tax support was localised in 2013-14, whereas the total amount outstanding in England has increased by 36 per cent.

In partnership with others, we have also delivered a national campaign to raise awareness of council tax support, and I'm pleased to relaunch this campaign today. The next phase will be targeted at low-income households and households on universal credit to ensure that we highlight the full range of support that could be available to people in meeting their council tax obligations. Our campaign so far has seen over 60,000 people benefit from access to the information on our website.

Through our council tax reduction scheme, we've continued to maintain entitlements to reductions for vulnerable and low-income households across Wales. We'll shortly be bringing forward the regulations to update the scheme for next year, and we will be again investing £244 million into the scheme.

One in five households in Wales receives help with their council tax bills through this scheme, and around 220,000 households pay no council tax at all. This scheme operates in addition to the range of other discounts and exemptions available. Together, they mean that well over 0.5 million households in Wales receive some form of reduction to their council tax bill. Our awareness campaign is helping ensure that everyone understands their entitlements.

We've focused on making council tax fairer for vulnerable groups. In April, we delivered new exemptions for care leavers. Working with local government, we've also launched a standardised application process for discounts and exemptions for people with a severe mental impairment. Both of these groups can now expect to be treated consistently throughout Wales, no matter where they live.

In 'Taking Wales Forward', we committed to supporting small businesses with their non-domestic rates bills. We legislated in 2017 to make our temporary small business rate relief scheme permanent. In 2018 we delivered an improved scheme that provides enhanced rate relief for childcare providers, demonstrating how we're using all of our policy levers in a joined-up way to create the most generous childcare offer anywhere in the UK.

We're responding to the struggles of our high streets and town centres through continued investment in targeted regeneration. We have supported this by extending our high street and retail rates relief scheme into a third year and making it more generous. We want to help businesses sustain the facilities people want and need, to drive prosperity, tackle poverty and reduce inequality. In total, we are providing over £230 million of relief this year to support businesses with their rates.

A key part of our programme is an ambition to explore more fundamental reforms for the next term and beyond. I'm pleased to have joined forces with expert institutions, including Bangor University and the Institute for Fiscal Studies, to delve deeper into ideas such as local taxes based on land value, more progressive council tax, or local taxes based on income. I intend to explore these openly, and in an applied and practical way for Wales. I'll ensure that all research reports are made available to Assembly Members as they are published. Much of the report I've published today highlights changes we have made to the local taxes—council tax and non-domestic rates—which fall within my portfolio. These changes are set within a broader context, though, of local government reform.

The Minister for Housing and Local Government will shortly introduce the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill to this Assembly. It will provide a new framework for collaboration between authorities, recognising the regional arrangements that already exist for some local services in some parts of Wales, and reflecting other emerging developments, such as city and growth deals. The Welsh Government has always strived to give local government the best financial settlement it can, through more than a decade of UK Government austerity. We have also worked to provide local government with the tools it needs to tackle the challenges of rising and more complex demands.

I know that many colleagues in this Chamber have their own views and ideas on how local services should be funded in the future. Each of the challenges in the programme has been, or will be, consulted upon in detail. I welcome all contributions to the thinking on this important matter, from anyone at any time. In relation to alternative approaches, it remains the aim of this Government to publish our evidence in autumn 2020 to inform the debate ahead of the next Assembly term.

Local government must be enabled to deliver better public services for everyone. This programme of work makes a contribution to the strategic aims of this Government, and we are using every lever we have to make Wales a more equal, prosperous and greener society.