Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd dros dro. For a minute, I thought the Minister was rowing back a little bit from what I had understood the position to be, but I think—. I'm presuming that being open to continuing with this discussion is actually saying that you are happy to and that you will engage, and I'm sure your successor in the next Senedd will hopefully be amenable to that. 

Just in response to the contributions—and can I thank everybody who has participated—this may not be the talk of pubs and clubs, Nick, but the implications of budgets certainly are the talk of pubs and clubs, particularly when we're talking about tax varying powers and taxes potentially going up or down, increased funding levels, decreased funding levels. Certainly, those are the things that people are talking about and the level of scrutiny that this place affords that process, I think, needs to be as robust as possible. And you're right: it is about devolution growing up because as responsibilities and fiscal powers here grow and evolve, so should the way that we scrutinise, influence and arrive at those decisions. You and other Members talked about striking the balance, the right balance, and there is a balance to be struck—I think committee recognises this—between the Government's ownership of its budget and its ability to bring its own budget forward, but also this legislature's ability to influence and change it where we feel that's appropriate and necessary.

Now, whether it's a budget Bill or a finance Bill or a hybrid or some other model is something that we can discuss, but certainly that is a discussion that I'm particularly keen—and the committee is particularly keen—will happen in the next Senedd. The current set-up is a hangover of administrative devolution, as Alun Davies said, and whilst that is being tweaked and modestly refined—and the Minister referred, of course, to the additional debate that we can now have pre recess—I would contrast that to the process that's in Scotland, where there's strategic year-round consideration of the budget. Committees publish pre-budget reports in October, before the Government tables a budget, and the Government then needs to respond to those reports as it publishes a budget. And prior to Stage 1 of a budget, conveners or committee chairs hold a Plenary debate, and then, of course, that influence isn't so much brought forward in amendments, because if the Government is in listening mode, then much of that is dealt with before we get to a point where changes and amendments need to be brought forward. So, there is a lot that we can learn from Scotland, and the Minister is right: flexibility is important. We've learnt that in the last few years, haven't we? Certainly, having that agility within the system is important. Yes, the system that we have now is comparatively agile and is probably serving us pretty well in that respect, but, of course, that doesn't mean that it can't be done utilising a legislative approach as well, and that's exactly what I hope is going to be explored as we move, hopefully, to the next stage in this discussion with, hopefully, the creation of a group to consider this further.

We have come a long way, of course, since the start of devolution in 1999, with more powers for the Government and the Senedd, the powers to set tax rates here in Wales, et cetera, and it is important that the way we pass a budget reflects those changes. In any modern democracy, it's key for a Parliament to properly hold a Government to account, especially on its spending plans and tax levels. These are decisions that affect people's lives every day and we want to make sure that the process is fit for the future and to ensure that the process is simple, is transparent, and that the Government is truly accountable to Members of the Senedd and consequently to the people of Wales. Taking work forward on a legislative budget process will be a matter, as I said, for the next Senedd and the next Welsh Government, but I very much hope that this report from the Finance Committee will serve as a foundation for the continuation of this work. Diolch.