5 March 2024 , Committee of the Whole Senedd
Group 5: Disqualification from being a Member of the Senedd or a candidate: persons not registered in electoral register at an address in Wales (Amendments 57, 38, 39, 40)
They do now. Every Member of the Senedd has the right to have an electoral register.
5 March 2024 , Plenary
Debate: The Local Government Settlement 2024-25
Denbighshire had the fourth highest increase.
5 March 2024 , Plenary
Debate: The Local Government Settlement 2024-25
The local government settlement is just one of the parts of local government income, albeit the major part. Prior to the centralisation of business rates, local authorities used to raise a much higher proportion of their income locally, and I would like to…
5 March 2024 , Plenary
Debate: The Final Budget 2024-25
Vanity schemes—would you like to add them all up, because, so far, you've mentioned one, which is going to cost £1 million next year?
5 March 2024 , Plenary
Debate: The Final Budget 2024-25
No, and I'm going to explain why later. So far, the Conservatives have only suggested a saving of £1 million on Senedd reform next year. They have also suggested that Cardiff Airport is sold, which would raise a considerable sum of money if sold for housing…
5 March 2024 , Plenary
Debate: The Final Budget 2024-25
Please.
5 March 2024 , Plenary
Debate: The Final Budget 2024-25
For former MPs and former councillors, treating the budget as an ordinary debate must seem extraordinary. One hour to discuss the final Welsh budget for next year. I have attended council budget meetings significantly longer than this. Today the budget is not…
5 March 2024 , Plenary
Debate: Welsh Rates of Income Tax 2024-25
I support the Welsh Government's decision not to change the 10p income tax rate, keeping us in line with England. The amount of money people can earn in Wales before they start paying tax is the same as it is in the rest of the UK. There are three tax bands…
29 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
As you know, Chair, we were told that the average subsidy per passenger on trains in Wales was £13 to £14. Do you recognise that number, and do you think it's an acceptable number?
29 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
I'm done.
29 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
I could have guessed two of those. Everybody else in this room could have guessed two of those. Aneurin Bevan is unusual, because it normally is the best financially performing health board, so, that is strange. But on the other two, I think everybody in this…
29 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
You say, in the budget documentation, that four local health boards forecast that they will hit their target control totals in 2023-24, meaning that, obviously, out of seven health boards, three will not hit that total. Does the deficit in the MEG cover those…
29 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Does the health Minister tell you why we have overspends in different health boards? They have the money allocated; most of their staff are permanent staff. Is it being caused by bringing in external staff and paying agency staff? Is it caused by unplanned…
29 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Thank you very much. Moving on, the second supplementary budget includes an additional £59 million to protect the forecast deficit of the health and social services department, but how much are local health boards expected to overspend over and above the £123…
29 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Diolch, Cadeirydd. You've drawn all the funds from the Wales reserve; what are your plans to allocate these during the remainder—the very short remainder—of this financial year?
29 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2023-24
Diolch, Cadeirydd. I'll start off with this: we have previously discussed how communication between yourself and the Treasury has caused challenges in terms of budget planning due to a lack of funding certainty and flexibility. And we saw the Treasury making…
28 February 2024 , Plenary
Short Debate: The Spot Leukaemia campaign and access to blood tests
Can I thank Mark Isherwood for giving me a minute in this debate? I support the Spot Leukaemia campaign. We know with cancer that early diagnosis saves lives. Currently, patients with leukaemia have a significantly higher rate of emergency diagnosis than…
27 February 2024 , Plenary
Debate: Budget flexibilities and the operation of the UK funding framework
The Welsh Government is calling for the indexing of the Welsh Government's borrowing and overall reserve limits to inflation. On the use of reserves and adding underspend to reserves, can I follow on from where Peter Fox left off? There's no fiscal reason to…
27 February 2024 , Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
Can I ask for statement on the building of new council houses? I believe in the importance of council house building to meet the serious demand we have for housing. Can the statement include those already built or being built, and the number planned for…
22 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Financial Implications of the Residential Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Okay, thank you. Diolch, Cadeirydd.
22 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Financial Implications of the Residential Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
I thought you were about to intervene then, sorry, Cadeirydd. You've talked about the data, et cetera. As you know, when demand goes up and supply stays static or fairly static, prices go up. Have you looked at that as a possibility, that the prices may…
22 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Financial Implications of the Residential Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Is it back to me, sorry?
22 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Financial Implications of the Residential Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Diolch, Cadeirydd. You've included a range of costs in the regulatory impact assessment. Can you explain why and what level of uncertainty there is around these figures? And can I just say that Welsh Government, as I said earlier, don't come in with a range…
22 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Financial Implications of the Residential Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Thank you very much. Moving on—
22 February 2024 , Finance Committee
Financial Implications of the Residential Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
So, you wouldn't put it out through the block grant, which would mean that it would go out by formula, which means that there will be some winners and some losers.
