Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you, Minister, for your statement today on these important funds. As you referenced, back in June, we had the Government debate on this topic, and as you'd expect, I focused my attention and time in that debate on the role of local authorities and how they can play their part in drawing down this important money for our communities. And as we've seen, despite perhaps the more dour assessment you put on this, the vast majority of councils have submitted bids through the levelling-up fund, and the community renewal fund has seen bids in the hundreds for that money, which shows the engagement of local communities and local authorities in this process. Many local authorities have also welcomed the opportunity to apply for this funding directly.

One of the things you mentioned in a previous response was the introduction of corporate joint committees as a part of the future structure of delivery here in Wales, but this, of course, does carry the risk of skills and capacity being taken away from local authorities into these more regional structures—