, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
I thank the Minister for that response. Lifestyle and health are closely related, and the choices made about diet, activity, sleep and smoking can affect health and well-being. A healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of many diseases, improve quality of life…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
2. What action is the Welsh Government taking to prevent disease through the promotion of healthy living? OQ60995
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
When Cumbria and north Lancashire create a mayoral system, the whole of the north of England will then be covered, won't it? And we're making our way down through the midlands. The difficulty for the south of England, I don't underestimate, but I think that…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
We've got a couple of minutes, Chair—
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
I'm fiddling here; I was paying attention. But, just looking, over half of England after tomorrow will actually have regional mayors. I didn't add it up, but it comes to about 28 million, 30 million people, including the Greater London area. How is that going…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
So, we did get some money from the London Olympics, except it was substantially less than we thought we should.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
No. Michael Gove has spoken to us—well, not this committee, another committee. The Treasury Ministers are the real problem; they won't talk to anybody.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
We've had the Secretary of State for Wales, but nobody—
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
Well, we have.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
Okay. Thank you.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
Carrying on with IGR structures, are there any other countries, do you think, that we can learn from?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
Not only have we asymmetry, but Northern Ireland has been treated differently. I'd describe it as 'Barnett plus', where they had the 2017 money, they had money last year, and they've also had money previously for the Presbyterian lending bank. There's a whole…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
Thank you. It comes back to the power imbalance between the Treasury and the devolved Governments. I think you mentioned earlier, that—I might be putting words in your mouth, and I hope I'm not—'We have long discussions and then the Treasury decides.' And…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 4
Moving on from that, but coming back to a part of it in a few seconds' time, what do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of the Finance: Interministerial Standing Committee, and is there an improvement on the previous Joint Ministerial Committee?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
And Catalonia.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
And the islands.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
Finally from me, as it were, the other place that has devolution similar to Britain is Spain, isn't it, where it has different powers in different places, different means of balancing money up. I know that Italy had certain things, where you had a Sicilian…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
If Westminster increased health spending by 5 per cent and we got our Barnett consequential of it, whilst we'd have the power to spend that on anything else, the political pressure would be to copy it. And I think that's one of the problems we've had, in…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
We have Ed Poole in fairly regularly.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
My final one: just talking about your article 'Reforming Intergovernmental Relations in the United Kingdom', looking at international case studies, we often think of the uniqueness of Britain, and that's one of our great problems, but having states, having…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
Isn't that when an independent element to the arbitration process should come in? That—
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
Professor McEwen, you highlight in your article, 'Worth the wait? Reforming Intergovernmental Relations', that the IGR review's report reinforced that 'policy decisions on funding are strictly reserved to Treasury ministers'. We've had three examples of that…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
I'm going to start at 14, actually, Chair.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
Thank you.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 3
Wales is the same.
