But I will return now to responding to the comments regarding the budget for next year. There was some interest particularly in the COVID funding and why we have only allocated £77 million at this point. Now, colleagues will be aware that we've had £776 million of COVID-related funding. The funding that we have allocated has been really important in terms of those areas where service continuity is so important. So, we've added additional funding, for example, of £10 million to sustain our work in terms of the contact-tracing workforce to ensure that we're able to keep those people working and to ensure that they make their important contribution to our COVID response. We've also kept in place that £4 million for the homelessness prevention grant in relation to COVID as well, because you'll have seen across the border the impact that the Conservatives' decision to turn their back on homeless people over the course of this summer has had, whereas of course, in Wales, the situation is very different and we've maintained our support and will continue to do so into next year as well. You'll also see COVID funding related to the bus industry of £18.6 million, and that's to ensure that they have some financial stability at the start of the next financial year, and £6 million for Communities for Work Plus, and that is important in terms of providing that specialist employment advisory support and the intensive mentoring that people will need at this very difficult time. It is my intention to make some further allocations, potentially in respect of the NHS and local government between the draft budget and the final budget, and as some colleagues have recognised, it's important to retain that flexibility, because even since we published the draft budget the situation has moved on so much and so fast in respect of the latest variant of the virus. So, that kind of flexibility is important. 

I'd like to move on and just mention also that another area where there might be some further funding allocated is in respect of Brexit, now that we've come to the end of the transition period. Again, at the draft budget, I wasn't in a position to make any allocations because we didn't know the way in which things would end in terms of the end of the transition period. We know now, we know about the deal, so I might be in a position to make some further allocations in that respect as well. 

I really do want to mention climate change, because our response to the climate emergency has very much been at the heart of our draft budget. Just to reassure colleagues, there have been no cuts in terms of the core funding for Natural Resources Wales; that's been maintained. And our funding for flooding has actually increased by £3.4 million in respect particularly there of the coastal risk management programme. What you will see is a movement from one main expenditure group to another. So, I think that will provide the clarity that's needed and the confirmation that's needed there. Last year, in our budget, we were really pleased to be able to announce the biggest ever package in terms of support to address the climate emergency and to support biodiversity. The vast majority of that funding has been maintained across into the budget for next year, but in addition, we're allocating nearly £80 million of capital funding and £17 million of revenue to support new interventions. And those include, for example, the work to support the decarbonisation strategic delivery plan for the NHS, which the Carbon Trust is working on and will be completing early this year. So, the budget provides £6 million of additional capital to support the delivery of those energy-efficiency opportunities on the NHS estate.

Some colleagues have mentioned the additional funding of £20 million to support active travel, for example, and that takes our investment to over £50 million in 2021-22. Compare that to where we were at the start of this Senedd, when funding was only in the region of £16 million. I think that this shows not only the way in which this agenda has grown, but the increased and improved support that Welsh Government is giving year on year to active travel.

And I'm really quite excited by the £5 million of capital funding that we've allocated to take forward the delivery of a carbon-zero pilot project to decarbonise schools and colleges in Wales. I think that it is important that we engage with young people on this particular agenda. We all know how passionate many people are about climate change, and the fact that we can support their learning environments to become much more environment friendly, I think, is really important as well.

And again, another big area that hasn't gone away, of course, is poverty, and, if anything, the pandemic has shone an even more stark light on it and we know that the people who were already struggling before the pandemic are the ones who've been hardest hit by it, and that's where you'll see some important allocations within this draft budget to help us continue to address those issues, allocating, for example, £9 million of capital funding to the Valleys taskforce. That's an absolutely key part of our response to support communities in the south Wales Valleys to become more prosperous and resilient, and I think that that commitment is an important allocation.

And also, as I've mentioned previously in my opening remarks, the additional funding for the housing support grant, and we're also providing £20 million additional funding for our Warm Homes Arbed and Warm Homes Nest schemes so that we can maximise the benefit of both our efforts to tackle fuel poverty and also our renewable energy programmes as well. And you'll see additional funding in the budget for advice services, because we know that they will be facing increased pressure as we move forward into the next year as well.

And again, alongside the work that we're doing to ensure that our free school meals go on through the summer, we're not just leaving it at that; we're actually allocating additionally £2.2 million for the school holiday enrichment programme, and that's about providing much more than food to young people through the holidays; it's about providing them with opportunities to develop friendships, to eat healthily, become more active and continue learning, and not fall behind in any way during those summer holidays as well.

So, I hope that I've been able to address some of those key issues, and again, my colleagues and I look forward to getting into detail in more depth in committees, but I would finish by saying that despite the most challenging circumstances that we've ever faced, this budget does deliver on our values and provides some sound foundations for the next administration to build on. Our priorities, as you'll see, remain protecting public health and public services, especially when so many sacrifices have been made this year, but always not losing sight of our ambition to build for a greener future and drive forward the change that we want to see for a fairer and more equal Wales.

So, just in closing, Llywydd, I'm really proud that this budget steps up to the challenges that we face whilst also protecting our ambitions and our values to protect, build and change for a more equal, more prosperous and greener Wales. Diolch.