Absolutely right, and a further example through the course of the pandemic would be the fact that we took very great care and diligence in the support we were providing to businesses and, as a result, again, you don't see these big write-offs of fraud that you see across the border. So, we take care of people's money, and I think that you can see that in the budget that we've published today.

I will say that some references have been made to the funding available to Welsh Government. It's a Barnett share if we're lucky. Part of the problem is that we don't get our full share from the UK Government. Reference has been made to the HS2 project. Even the UK Government's own analysis suggests that that project will harm Wales, and yet they consider it to be an England-and-Wales project and we do not get a single penny as a result of it.

There have been requests for further funding to be injected into the NHS for capital spend. Well, it's a fact that, over the three years of the budget period that we're looking ahead to, in every single year, our capital funding falls. It will be less every year than it is this year, so it's impossible for us to provide additional funding when we have less. Our budget in 2024-25 will nearly be £3 billion lower than if it had increased in line with the economy since 2010-11. Imagine the budget we would be debating if we'd had that additional funding available to us. So, you know, we are still operating in a very, very complex and challenging period.

Reference to European funding has been made this afternoon, and, again, this is an area where we are absolutely desperately shortchanged. Under the UK Government's community renewal fund, we will receive only £46 million this year, compared to £375 million at least that we would have received from EU structural funds from January 2021. No-one can be okay with that, not even on the Conservative benches. This is just really ripping off Wales, and it shouldn't be something that any of us can be comfortable or okay with.

I was really pleased to see Mike Hedges make his annual call for an alternative Conservative budget. I am really looking forward to seeing that next year and scrutinising that. But I will say that I do recall a time, perhaps it was 2014, when the Conservatives last laid their alternative budget and they had their fingers so burned they haven't done it since, and that was because they showed that they were going to make massive cuts to education. I think it was 2014 when the Conservatives did provide an alternative budget. [Interruption.] It was 2010—okay, I've been corrected. So, it's a long time since the Conservative opposition put its plans on the table for people to take a view of.

But even if you won't do that, at least make some suggestions between the draft budget and the final budget as to where you will fund your calls for additional investment. So, we've heard lots of calls for additional investment right across the budget this afternoon from the Conservatives but not one idea between the publication of the draft and final budgets as to changes that they would make. So, perhaps we can see some of that next year, and I'm really keen to engage with those kind of ideas because I think that kind of challenge is helpful, but you do need proper plans to scrutinise. And on the challenge for us to go further, of course we want to go further, but, of course, that does rely on funding from the UK Government to help us to do that.

I don't want to be too negative, because there's so much in this budget to be celebrating, particularly, I think, our support for children and young people, because we've been really keen to ensure that we invest in the futures of those young people who have been hit hardest by the pandemic. And you'll see, particularly exciting, I think, continued investment in our apprenticeship programme, and continued investment in delivering on our young person's guarantee. Both of those things are going to be absolutely crucial if we are to ensure that no young person is left behind as a result of the pandemic. And, of course, the joint work that we're doing with Plaid Cymru is really important on free school meals, and the discussions we had with Jane Dodds in respect of supporting leaving care and in care, of course, will make a huge difference to those young people. I think that these progressive discussions that we have can only be for the good.

I'll just go on now, I suppose, to start to conclude by thanking all of those who set out representations, and those who have participated and co-operated through the process of setting the budget. Once again, we've delivered a budget in really trying circumstances, highlighting the strong working partnership that we do have in the Senedd and, of course, across wider Welsh society. And I wouldn't want to finish my contribution today without putting on record my sincere thanks to all of our Welsh Government officials whose skill, care and professionalism, and their attention to detail, is really evident in this final budget. And, I have to say, they have gone above and beyond to produce work of the highest quality, solve complex problems and think creatively, and I'm very, very grateful to them for that.

So, to conclude, this budget reflects what we can achieve in Wales through working together to use every lever available to us. We are responding to the pandemic and the emerging cost-of-living crisis, taking the vital actions necessary to address the climate and nature emergency, and we are taking steps to ensure that we are supporting not only the Wales of today, but fundamentally shaping the Wales that we hand on to future generations.