, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Sorry, am I right in saying then that you look at the SPI data, but then you use the more up-to-date data to adjust that so that it becomes a more relevant and more up-to-date figure?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Thank you very much. I'll bring Rhianon in with her questions.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
So, my final question—. Thanks for that, because one of the things that this committee is quite interested in is the mechanics of how it's working as well, and when you're predicting forecasts, then, obviously, as Mike said, there's uncertainty. But it's when…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
It's the average—up by an average of £231 million relative to your March forecast.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
I want to bring Mike in on this just for a short supplementary.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Okay, thank you very much. I've got a couple of hopefully quick questions. You mentioned that WRIT forecasts are up an average of £231 million relative to your March forecasts. Can you elaborate a bit more on the reasons for this? I don't know—Tom, do you…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Has the freezing of the thresholds had some of that stabilising effect, and that's why we're probably catching up, if you like, or stabilised?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Okay, thank you. Tom, did you want to suggest—?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
And have you seen that now turning a corner so that it's actually ticking up the long way, or is it just maintaining that parity, if you like?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Not necessarily yourself—whoever is best placed to answer that, really.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
So, you've noticed that the income tax liabilities per person in Wales compared to the UK has been declining, though, in relative terms, so how concerning is that decline and what factors would need to be addressed to reverse that trend? And maybe you could…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Okay. Maybe with our demographic being older, generally, in Wales, is that taken into account when you're doing that? David, I don't know if you want to reflect a little bit on that as well.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Okay, thank you. Tom.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Fantastic. Well, thank you very much, and welcome, and a happy new year to the three of you. We appreciate you coming in, and your insight is always interesting for us as a Finance Committee. I'd like to look to start with the impact of the cuts in national…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Fantastic. And Tom—Tom Josephs.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
Good morning. And Professor David Miles.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 2
And then we'll move on to our first substantive item here this morning, which is part of the scrutiny of the Welsh Government draft budget for 2024-25. For you to be aware, this meeting is being broadcast live on Senedd.tv, and the Record of Proceedings will…
, Finance Committee
Papers to note
There's one paper to note under item 2. If we could note that paper, if everybody's content with that.
, Finance Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Good morning. Happy new year and a warm welcome to the first Finance Committee meeting of 2024. A warm welcome to the Members, and we have some witnesses joining us today as well—it's good to see you. We've received no apologies, but we've had a note that one…
, Plenary
Debate on a Statement: The Draft Budget 2024-25
This draft budget brings into sharp focus an uncomfortable reality that has been apparent for some time. Local government in Wales is in a state of existential crisis, with councils facing an estimated funding gap of £354 million through the next financial…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: The compound semiconductor industry
I'll make my contribution brief, because I want to highlight the importance of the semiconductor industry in my region of South Wales East. It's important because of the Newport Wafer Fab. This site has, unfortunately, suffered a turbulent couple of years…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Over the Christmas period, the Trussell Trust released figures that showed that Wales has the highest foodbank use of any UK nation; in fact, when the figures are broken down, you'll see that Wales has a higher foodbank use than any part of England. The…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you for that answer.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
7. What is the Government doing to address poverty in South Wales East? OQ60491
, Finance Committee
Motion under Standing Order 17.42(ix) to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of this meeting
Merry Christmas.
