Can I also thank the Welsh Government Minister for bringing forward today’s debate on the 2023-24 draft budget? Of course, it has a really important impact on our communities, on everyone in Wales, and it’s something that, I’m sure, everyone’s been eagerly anticipating. It’s clear from our side of the benches and throughout contributions so far, along with our amendment to today’s budget debate, that this Welsh Government budget does not go far enough in delivering for the priorities of the people of Wales. And one of these priorities is the services delivered by our fantastic councils and councillors up and down Wales. It’ll be no surprise to us here that I’ll be starting my contribution in this regard.

As has already been outlined, the local government settlement is proposing a 7.9 per cent increase, which is around £227 million being provided to local government, which, of course, those councils have welcomed cautiously. But it’s clearly not enough for them to deliver the services that are required. It’s really difficult to see how this increase in the settlement will actually lead to local communities receiving better services. We know that councils are currently having to grapple with budgets and difficult decisions just to survive and deliver business as usual, let alone see additional services delivered.

But we are living with and dealing with a bit of a paradox on this issue, because in light of this funding settlement of 7.9 per cent, many councils up and down Wales are planning huge council tax rises to deal with it, but this is despite them sitting on massive reserves, which my colleague Peter Fox pointed out. In my view, it’s simply not right that residents across Wales are likely to face significant council tax rises, especially during a time when their pockets are already being hit, when some councils are sitting on hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of reserves. The moral position on this is difficult to justify, and I hope the Minister will consider the thoughts that Peter Fox presented in respect of this as well.

Secondly, other Members have mentioned this point, and it is in relation to the housing issues and challenges that our councils are facing. I’ve received significant correspondence on this, and I’m sure that other Members have as well, and it’s in relation to the housing support grant, which we know funds the vast majority of support for our homeless and housing support in Wales, with around 60,000 people every year being supported. Really important support was provided throughout the pandemic, but it’s currently under more pressure than ever. We know that, over the past decade, the housing support grant has reduced in real terms from where it was at £139 million around 10 years ago, which should equate to about £181 million today. But in actual fact, it is £167 million, so it’s about a £14 million real-terms cut to an area that has seen a significant increase in demand. And this real-terms cut is having a significant effect on the housing support grant workforce, and it’s clear that the absence of any increase to this budget means that service delivery is at risk, and ultimately it will cost the taxpayer more in the long run, because this preventative service is not being properly supported.

In addition to this, we’re seeing a huge challenge in recruiting and retaining staff in these services, and we’re told that 29 per cent of staff working in housing support will be getting paid less than the new real living wage. It can’t be right that the Welsh Government’s own budget for housing support services is not enabling them to pay the real living wage, despite the Welsh Government’s own commitment to pay the real living wage. There’s a real hypocrisy there in the budget setting for housing support services from the Welsh Government.