, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Thank you very much for raising this issue. We remain really proud in Wales of the work that we've done to retain the EMA, and also very proud of the work that we're doing jointly with Plaid Cymru in respect of many items in the co-operation agreement…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Our 2022-23 draft budget has provided over £400 million to the social justice portfolio up to 2024-25, including an additional £16.5 million in a range of targeted interventions to tackle inequality, to advance and strengthen equality and human rights…
, Plenary
The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
Diolch. The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 relate to setting the 2022-23 tax rates for landfill disposals tax. They were made using the made affirmative procedure. These regulations set the standard, lower and…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
Thank you to Alun for reinforcing the points made by the previous speaker. I know that Alun Davies has also expressed his views directly to the economy Minister as well. We will make sure that we have the opportunity to discuss in greater detail both of these…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
Yes, thank you for raising that. And I know that you have written to the Minister for Economy, setting out your concerns particularly in regard to Elite Clothing, and I have had the opportunity to look at that, and I know that the Minister is preparing a…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
Thank you for raising that, and it gives me a really good chance to highlight a new approach that we've detailed in another one of our Wales public procurement notices, which is 'Decarbonisation through procurement—Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans'…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
Thank you, and I'm smiling at the 'bite-sized chunks'; I thought that was a great way to describe making lots for food contracts smaller. So, that was lovely. Yes, I just want to reassure you that we are very much working with a range of stakeholders to…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
Yes, thank you for raising that question, and, absolutely, I've talked about the importance of capacity and capability within the procurement sector, but there is a great deal to do in terms of ensuring that people have the opportunity to find employment…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
Great, thank you for those questions. You're right that this is significant spend within Wales. It's around £7 billion that's spent through the Welsh public sector every year on procurement, and in Wales we have 267,000 businesses, of which 99.4 per cent are…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
I thank Mike Hedges for those particular questions, many of which will be part of the detailed policy discussions that will be had as the public procurement Bill here in Wales starts to develop. And I know that my colleague the Minister for Social Justice…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
I thank Llyr Gruffydd for those important questions, and I'll begin by referencing the agreement that we have with Plaid Cymru in our co-operation agreement, which is to explore how to set those meaningful targets to increase the Welsh public sector…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
Thank you very much to Peter Fox for those important questions and for giving me the opportunity to say a little bit more about the Welsh Government's response to the challenge of procurement reform now that we have left the European Union. Procurement is…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Procurement Update
Diolch, Llywydd. Procurement is one of the most important and powerful levers the Welsh Government can use to help achieve its programme for government aspiration of a more prosperous, more equal and greener Wales. Sustainable economic growth, fair work…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
It was an interesting one. I'll be thinking about that all day now, Chair.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
That's an interesting question. Let me just have a think. This is my third committee scrutiny on the budget so far. Let me see: what would be the most difficult? That's a great question. I suppose some of the more difficult ones are in areas that aren't my…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
We've discussed this with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in a meeting, I think it was last week—the weeks fly by—but it was very recently. And we've requested another meeting to specifically discuss the EU funding and the post-Brexit issue. It'll be…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
Thank you. I might ask Andrew to come in in relation to some of the discussions that have been had at official level to try and impress the importance of this on the UK Government. But the reason why we've previously talked about funding in respect of farm…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
I couldn't agree with you more. I know that partners in various guises do make representations to the UK Government on this. I met with the Wales TUC earlier this week, and again, they shared concerns about the impact of these decisions on the workers in…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
We've had lots of discussions in lots of different forums. The group that Huw Irranca-Davies chaired for some time on future regional investment had organisations—including business, farming and the voluntary sector—that all expressed concerns about the level…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
This is a really serious issue, which is going to have serious impacts for Welsh communities, because far from the rhetoric of levelling up and protecting the union, the loss of EU funding is going to have a big impact. It's partly, or in the main now, due to…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
Shall I ask Andrew to start on that? We do recognise those figures.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
We're already exploring the use of distributional analysis as part of our budget improvement plan, and we've looked to refine and extend our distributional impact model for analysing public spending in Wales. So far, the analysis has focused on those largest…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
I'll make a point of any of the concerns or issues that are brought up in committee that aren't directly in my gift to have in the portfolio. I'll take it up with colleagues, definitely.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
So, I was going to take the opportunity to discuss this with my colleague the Minister for Social Justice, in whose portfolio lots of our interventions to support individuals and families who need that extra help sit. But I'll explore really what more we…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
So, the draft budget does include more than £66 million over three years for Business Wales activity, including supporting businesses with their digital skills needs. That will enable the service overall to engage with over 60,000 businesses, but, in respect…
