May I welcome this debate, and thank the Minister for bringing forward this debate in the absence of the fact that the Finance Committee wasn't established in time to do so?

The first thing I want to say and what I want to do is to echo what I said in the previous debate: now is the time for the Welsh Government to be more creative and more ambitious in terms of its budget for next year. The circumstances in terms of responding to the climate emergency, emerging from the pandemic and continuing to respond to Brexit mean that the Government must do everything possible to innovate with its expenditure plans.

Now, we as a party set out options in our manifesto for the election, but a major part of this, of course, is to do everything we can to avoid just implementing more austerity on behalf of the UK Government in Wales, and to use the powers that we have, but also to insist on further powers to invest in the recovery that we all want to see.

Now, I referred to borrowing earlier, and I'll make that point again: borrowing is limited—I know that—but, over the past five years, only £59 million of the £0.75 billion has the Welsh Government borrowed. I think circumstances would require us to move from that point, because now, more than ever, we need a budget to transform the lives of the people of Wales that is focused on the long term, that is focused on the preventative agenda and not business as usual.

Now, that was the radical culture change that many of us hoped would be brought about by the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, but, essentially, of course, that fundamental change hasn't happened. Generally speaking, the budgetary allocations of the Welsh Government are the same today as they were 10 years ago. I want to see a clearer shift and a clearer focus next year on delivering against the goals of the well-being of future generations Act. I also want to see a relentless focus on transitioning to a green economy, which will help to mitigate the risks of economic shock in future, and will create a more resilient Wales for future generations. 

Now, the delay and review of road projects announced by the Government is a signal to me that the Government does want to move in that direction, but the litmus test for me every time is the budget. If I don't see that message being clearly highlighted in the budget for next year—not just in the context of roads, but across the whole of the Government's budget—then that won't lead to the very real change that I want to see, and the circumstances now do insist that business as usual is no longer an option. 

Now, some of my fellow Members on these benches will outline certain issues in the debate; I just want to touch on one or two in the time remaining to me. We all, of course, want to ensure better pay and conditions for NHS staff in Wales, and Plaid Cymru supports the demand for an increase in the salaries of nursing staff that recognises the value of their work. I very much hope that we will see the Welsh Government's response being closer to what's been agreed in Scotland—that 4 per cent—rather than the suggestion of 1 per cent made by the UK Government, because, without giving a deserved pay increase to our nurses, we will have an increased recruitment and retention problem within the health service. So, we need to invest now in order to ensure an adequate workforce to secure a more resilient and sustainable service for the future. Anything less than that would be counterproductive.

The same is true of carers' salaries. As a society, we have delegated care to those on the lowest salaries and with the least support, and in face of the ongoing cuts to the budgets of local authorities over the years—down almost 25 per cent in real terms since 2010—the Government does have to take action on that agenda.

Housing, of course, is an important area. We've heard reference to that already—not just the housing crisis and the need to take action in the budgetary context when it comes to tackling some of the issues related to the housing market, but also, of course, the need to develop the ambition in terms of house building. The pandemic has shown that we can bring homelessness to an end if the political will is there; we need to maintain that momentum now. And, of course, research has shown that preventative spend to prevent homelessness would generate savings, and that's certainly something that we would want to see the Government intensifying its focus on.

The climate emergency permeates all parts of the budget—or hopefully it does—for next year, but NRW will drive a very important element or elements of that work, and we know about the unsustainable trajectory in terms of the funding, which is shrinking year on year, while responsibilities increase year on year. We need to resolve that once and for all.

So, my plea to Government is: if your next budget is a business-as-usual budget, then there is no desire to facilitate that on these benches; but if you are brave, radical and ambitious, then we will walk that road with you.