Thank you very much, acting Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you to the committee chair for giving us an opportunity to discuss this issue. I also want to thank the co-operation agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government because it will hopefully ensure that we can look forward to an exciting and transformational programme in the next financial year.

The first obvious thing I would ask for is to ensure that the expenditure in 2023-24 responds to the commitments of that co-operation agreement to make sure that the policies that will, of course, improve the lives of the people of Wales are given the financial support to succeed and to flourish in order to ensure, as the Government reminds us, that we are delivering a fairer, greener and stronger Wales. But I would say that, as a result of the co-operation agreement, Wales will be even fairer, even greener and even stronger. So, that's it—that's the first point I wanted to make.

The Government, of course, tells us that the focus is on using or moving towards preventative methods of governance, and that's something that we support, but in order to deliver that effectively, you do have to go through that transition period of investing in preventative areas on the one hand, whilst, of course, we are still paying to deal with the outcomes of not having invested in that sufficiently in the past. That transition is going to create tensions and pressures when it comes to budgeting. But the budget has to follow the intention. Although redirecting funds and focus is difficult, we all know that that would ultimately pay off. So, I do hope that we will see further progress, and significant progress in that transition, in terms of the focus of expenditure in the coming financial year. Some of my fellow Members on these benches will outline some of the specific issues that we want to highlight in this debate, but I will just touch on a few in the time that I have remaining this afternoon.

We, of course, are eager to see better pay and conditions for staff in the public sector—something I know that many of us share across the Chamber. And despite a Conservative Government not addressing this issue, which of course means that many workers here face pay cuts in real terms and that it makes it more difficult for them to make ends meet, the reality facing us now is a summer of discontent, possible strikes and so on. I would, therefore, be keen to hear from the Minister what her intentions are in terms of planning for salary increases in the public sector in next year's budget. Some would argue that, if we could move more quickly, we'd be eager to do so this year. But whilst looking at the focus of the debate, I think, certainly, there is now an opportunity to tackle this and show clear intent for the next year. 

Another obvious thing is the broader response to the cost-of-living crisis. We know that we need to safeguard homes from debts and increasing costs. Inflation, as it is, will continue to increase; the staggering cost of energy. We already know that 71 per cent of the people of Wales say that they have deliberately reduced the quality of the food that they buy in order to respond to this crisis. And that makes the process of preventative governance even more difficult, because we are moving in the wrong direction before we've even begun. We've mentioned the cap on energy prices. Now, I think in the next budget, we need to look at expanding the qualification for the winter fuel payment so that more vulnerable people do qualify, such as those eligible for pension credits. 

Just to conclude, so that I keep this brief at the request of the temporary Presiding Officer, I'll refer to the point made about the timetable of the budget in terms of scrutiny in the Senedd here. It is something that we face on an annual basis. I think this is the fourth year where scrutiny has been restricted in one way or another because of our reliance on the timetables of fiscal events in Westminster. I do think that it's fair now to look at the protocol again, because whilst exceptional circumstances in Westminster are one thing, I would argue that following the protocol in Wales is an exceptional circumstance because it never happens. I think that it's timely that we should look at that anew. Thank you.