I will be speaking in my capacity as Chair of the Local Government and Housing Committee. Appropriate housing has long been a key concern for our committee, and we would like to urge Welsh Government to prioritise funding to ensure that as many as possible in Wales have a safe place to live, working towards everyone in Wales having a safe place to live.

When I spoke to you in the draft budget debate earlier this year, I emphasised the committee's concern at the high number of people living in temporary accommodation. It's crucial for people to be moved into long-term, permanent accommodation if homelessness is to be rare, brief and unrepeated, as Welsh Government has pledged in its strategy. Since that time, we've seen an increase in the number of people in temporary accommodation, including people from Ukraine, who have been placed temporarily into Welsh Government's welcome centres. We believe that securing long-term accommodation in safe surroundings should be a key priority. Local authorities and registered social landlords have a key role to play here. They face substantial pressures in securing suitable accommodation for those in need. We recognise Welsh Government's commitment to reforming homelessness services and to work with public services to provide appropriate housing. We therefore urge the Welsh Government to reflect that commitment in the draft budget by making adequate provision in next year's budget, and prioritising funds for those purposes. 

Another key area of concern to the committee is building safety and undertaking the remedial work needed to make buildings safe, and we would also like to see this prioritised in next year's budget. In fact, members of the committee met earlier today with representatives from the Welsh Cladiators group, who continue to raise their many concerns and emphasise their frustration at the rate and pace of progress being made. 

On the local government side, we welcomed the settlement for local authorities last year and hoped that it would enable them to undertake longer term planning, rather than simply reacting to immediate pressures. Since then, we've seen prices continue to rise across the board, which is clearly adding to the pressure on local services. We urge the Welsh Government to consider the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on local authorities, and provide a settlement that enables them to delivers services sustainably. Diolch yn fawr.