But what we need to see from the Welsh Government is a budget of delivery, because the current difficulties cannot be used as an excuse for not addressing the structural issues that we face here in Wales. What people's priorities are, and what my priorities are, include unblocking the social care system, tackling waiting times within the Welsh NHS, investing in councils and public services and boosting our economy, supporting our schools and young people, and, importantly, helping families with the cost-of-living crisis. I'm not for a moment suggesting that any of these challenges are easy; they are all things that we need to tackle over the longer term. But many of them existed before the current economic issues, and prior to the pandemic as well. They've just been exacerbated by the challenges that we've faced in recent years. 

Presiding Officer, I would now like to turn my attention to some of those priorities that I mentioned earlier. The package of support for businesses announced in the budget is much needed, and comes at a time of significant pressure as a result of things like inflation and energy costs. I particularly welcome the increase in the relief scheme for eligible businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors to 75 per cent. This now matches the support offered to such businesses in England, which was announced in the recent autumn statement. But whilst I welcome these announcements, they must also not detract from the debate that we need to be having, and that is how we more effectively balance the need for business taxation to help fund public services whilst providing an environment that encourages growth.  

Minister, are you confident that your planned reform of non-domestic rates, as previously announced, will actually encourage business creation and growth, or is there a risk of it just tinkering with the edges? And should we not be looking at more fundamental reforms whilst the NDR freeze is in place, such as reducing the multiplier for small businesses in the longer term, or taking a tapered approach to NDR for start-ups, so that we can encourage innovation and entrepreneurship as a way to stimulate the Welsh economy further?

Turning to local government and public services, the increased funding for councils over the next two years is much needed, but what is important is that we don't see additional moneys finding their way into council reserves, but that they use them to support services and residents, as well as unlocking the useable reserves they currently do have to help those most in need. We know that councils are facing cost pressures. Now is the time for them to use all of the levers at their disposal, because what is clear is that taxpayers do not have the capacity to pay more in council tax than they currently do. Yet, you already have, for example, Newport City Council suggesting that they may increase council tax by 9.5 per cent next year. And I'm sure others are looking at similar figures, which is completely unfair given the current financial climate. 

Minister, what assessment have you made of the adequacy of the funding in meeting the pressures faced by councils? And what discussions have you had with our local government colleagues about the importance of supporting families by keeping council tax as low as possible? Also, your statement made no reference to budgetary pressures as a result of public sector pay increases. So, could you outline whether councils will be expected to pay for this through the money that you have announced today, meaning less support will be available for public services?

Turning to social care, I think we all welcome the uplifting of funding to ensure that social care workers continue to receive the increased real living wage, but I note that workers will not receive this until June 2023. So, in light of the current cost-of-living pressures, as well as recruitment and retention issues within the sector, I wonder whether this could be brought forward to fill vacancies more quickly, as well as ensuring that social care staff and members receive the support that they deserve.

However, despite welcoming this announcement, it does seem as if it will be funded through the local government settlement and existing health and social care budgets. So, it's all still a little bit of smoke and mirrors. Despite the headline £70 million figure, it's not actually new money, meaning less will be available for front-line services. And, so, I would be interested to know how this will actually be funded. Will the local government and health portfolios share the burden equally, or will one portfolio fund a larger proportion?

On the subject of healthcare, the NHS in Wales is clearly facing a number of challenges at the current time. It is imperative that it receives the support that it needs. So, whilst the additional £165 million for front-line services is a positive step, there is a disappointing level of detail about how this will be allocated. For example, what transformational changes would you expect to see so that more people can be moved from much-needed hospital beds and into more appropriate care facilities, and how will staff shortages in our hospitals be met to ensure that hospitals meet safe staffing levels, so that we can better spend the millions of pounds that are currently spent on agency staff? And so, Minister, I think we would all appreciate more information in your response about the Welsh Government plans for the NHS and social care sectors.

The Welsh Government also allocates £3 million to the UK COVID-19 inquiry. Does the Minister not think that this funding would have been better spent on a Wales-specific inquiry instead, so that we can learn more about what we did well here in Wales, and what we could do better?

Finally, Presiding Officer, I would like to mention the cost-of-living crisis. I appreciate that more money has been allocated to the discretionary assistance fund, but I would like to ask whether this means that the eligibility criteria will be expanded, so that more people can access the scheme, particularly those who are not in receipt of benefits but find themselves in difficulties. And in these difficult times, many people across Wales will wonder whether the £800,000 allocated to Senedd reform could be better spent on providing additional cost-of-living help. And around that point, there needs to be some clarity, because there seems to be a commitment in the budget expenditure line table of £2.2 million, which is different to what's said in this narrative of £800,000.

In summary, I welcome the opportunity to debate the budget statement today, and I reaffirm what I said earlier: this has to be and it needs to be a budget of delivery. The Welsh Government needs to show that it has a plan to spend the money in a way that financially tackles the long-standing issues that we face in Wales, as well as responding to the issues we currently face. Thank you.