Like others in this debate this afternoon, I want to give a welcome to the budget and the commitment that's running through the budget to providing the funding that is available to public services. I want to particularly welcome the £8 million additional funding for additional learning needs. It's something that I've spoken about on a number of occasions. The £20 million we allocated to additional learning needs in delivering the reform agenda, the transformational agenda, is not sufficient at present, given the time taken to deliver this reform. So, it is right and proper that there is money provided for additional learning needs education and it is right and proper that that money is ring-fenced for additional learning needs. And I welcome that very much. 

I also welcome the more general support for funding for education. We had an excellent debate, I felt, here some weeks ago, some months ago, on how we fund our schools and I'm glad that the Government and the Minister have ensured that there is additional support for education as part of this budget.

I also welcome the funding for climate policy. We've seen dramatically and tragically recently the impact of climate on people and our planet. I think it's right and proper that we do ensure that we do provide for climate policy within the budget.

Can I say, I regret very much the tone of Conservative interventions in this debate on the funding for local government? It's right and proper that we debate and discuss funding for local government and it is right and proper that we have a debate about whether the formula is sufficient and actually delivers the funding that it requires. It's right and proper that we have that debate. But both in the opening Conservative contribution and the more recent one, there was an allegation or an insinuation that funding is somehow fixed to go to one part of the country rather than another part of the country, that people in north Wales are pitted against people in south Wales or elsewhere. I regret that very greatly.