I'm really happy to be supporting this motion, along with my Welsh Conservative colleagues. In England, local authorities, fire authorities, police and crime commissioners are required to determine whether the amount of council tax they plan to raise is excessive. Our Secretary of State sets thresholds of excessiveness, known as 'referendum principles' for different classes of authority. Should the same rule be applied in Wales, a referendum would certainly have been triggered in Conwy. This would have allowed people their say on the 9.9 per cent increase brought in by Conwy First Independent Group, Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru. And we have north Wales Members here from Plaid and Labour actually supporting this.

We all know the power of referendums to make a difference. This is also true when it comes to council tax. For example, a referendum was held by the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner, who proposed a rise in council tax of 15.8 per cent in 2015-16. A poll was held on 7 May 2015, where 30 per cent of voters supported the proposal, whilst 69.5 per cent opposed it. The Welsh Government does not currently provide Welsh residents with the same democratic levers to hold councils like Conwy and this Welsh Government to account, when it talks about excessive council tax increases. It's not that long ago when I held the portfolio for local government, Sam, and I tell you now: there was a cap. I always remember there was a cap that was—[Interruption.] We have used the cap previously. So, I would also endorse the referendum idea and say that we should reintroduce the cap here.

As a consequence of this, the decision by Conwy council to raise council tax by 9.9 per cent, the steepest increase of anywhere in Wales, is now representing a worrying burden on many hard-pressed—