, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
You publish the final results, you don't publish the calculations, but that's for another place and another time. The question I've got, very quickly: an official told the health and social care committee the Welsh Government had provided the cash local…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
Two questions, one following one Peter raised. Why will you not publish the standard spending assessment calculation and the AEF calculation for each local authority? Peter said they're wrong; you say they're right. Publish them for each authority, the…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
I've done everything else.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
One I've got to do.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
I was going to say, as long as tax rates stay the same, and there's no financial advantage to being either English or Welsh, then it will only be genuine mistakes. Would you agree that that should actually equate, when you net it off, to somewhere near nil?…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
Whether that should be a supermajority or not is a matter that we could perhaps debate, but I think the point is, collectively, Welsh local government have substantially more in reserves than the Welsh Government, and they will pull down next year…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
I also have very strong views on that. I'll start off with: would the Minister agree that the Welsh Government should have the same power as local councils in putting money into reserves and drawing it down?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
That's something we'll be discussing in the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee tomorrow, but the point I'm trying to make is that you are confident that we will not be paying any money back this year.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
We're not looking at last year, but we're looking to not make the error of last year. Last year, we were told on the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee that £150 million or so was paid back to the Treasury because it had not been spent. Are…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
So, just to clarify, the schools programme will take slightly longer—you'll do less each year, so it will take slightly longer to complete.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Second Supplementary Budget 2022-23
Sorry, it was taking time to come on then. Diolch, Cadeirydd. Capital schemes: I mean, the great strength of capital schemes is that you can drift them. Is there any suggesting of drifting capital schemes expenditure into the next financial year, in order…
, Finance Committee
Papers to note
We'll come back during—
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: The Welsh language
I had no intention of speaking in this debate until I heard the beginning of it, and my Welsh is nowhere near good enough to write a speech in Welsh from the start in 10 minutes or a quarter of an hour, so I hope people will accept that. Where are we with the…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: The Welsh language
Apologies—I'll speak in English.
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Social Justice: Wales: A community of communities
Can I just thank the Minister for her statement? Like the Minister, seeing communities come together at a time of need fills me with hope for the future. As we mark one year since the illegal invasion of Ukraine by the Russians, which caused displacement of…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: The Innovation Strategy
I very much welcome this statement. If you study successful nations and regions, you find three common themes—the three legs of a successful economy. Innovation, research and development is leg 1, entrepreneurship is leg 2, and high-quality education and…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Can I thank the First Minister for that response? All chemical pesticides are potentially harmful to people and the environment. Of course, some are worse than others, but none are completely safe. Whilst all pesticides are designated to kill targeted pests…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
3. What action is the Welsh Government taking to reduce the use of harmful pesticides? OQ59154
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Motion to elect a temporary Chair for today's meeting in accordance with Standing Order 17.22
Can I nominate Jayne Bryant?
, Plenary
Short Debate: The structure of public services in Wales: Have we got it right?
Are mergers always right? From the above, it can be seen that the direction of travel is to larger and fewer organisations. Those who look at it simply are calculating the savings. Mergers, however, are expensive; you've got redundancy costs, re-badging…
, Plenary
Short Debate: The structure of public services in Wales: Have we got it right?
Thank you, Presiding Officer. It's always interesting when you've got the short debate on the Wednesday before half term or the end of term. Alun Davies has been given a minute in this debate. The structure of public services in Wales: have we got it right?…
, Plenary
Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Education Maintenance Allowance
I was very pleased to take the opportunity to co-sign this when Luke asked me to. In fact, he had it back by return of e-mail because I believe this is incredibly important. I want to make two points—firstly the importance of EMA and secondly the importance…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you, Presiding Officer. As you know, I wasn’t going to speak in this debate, but I think there are three issues that have come up now that I feel I've got to make. To many of my constituents—in fact, most of my constituents—public transport is buses…
, Plenary
Statement by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change: The Roads Review and National Transport Delivery Plan
There's a long debate to be had over public transport and transport in Wales, but I don't think today is the right time to do it, and I'm sure you don't think that today is the right time to do it. I've got two questions for the Minister. What is the Welsh…
, Plenary
Business Statement and Announcement
Going back to the Silk report on the devolution of taxation, that recommended that aggregates levy should be devolved to Wales. It could not be devolved due to European Union intervention. In November 2022, Liz Saville Roberts asked the Chancellor of the…
