, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office
Borrowing is considered as part of the budget process to determine overall capital spending as opposed to funding specific projects. Over £1.4 billion has been allocated to develop social housing this term and over £132 million of loans were issued to the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 13: Review on use of powers (Amendments 37 and 40)
So, as Peter Fox says, amendment 37 would require the Welsh Ministers to undertake a review of the use of the regulation-making powers introduced by the Bill. In response to the Stage 1 recommendation from the committee, which I accepted in principle, I…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 12: Revaluation preparedness (Amendment 36)
Amendment 36 would require Welsh Ministers to publish a statement on their assessment of the arrangements to monitor the capacity of the VOA and VTW in respect of NDR and council tax revaluations and supporting measures. I would say that this amendment isn't…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 11: Council tax reform (Amendment 45)
Just to say that I fully understand and respect Luke Fletcher's position and the sincere desire, I think, of many colleagues who would want to go as far and as fast as we can on the journey of council tax reform, because as Luke Fletcher set out, it is a…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 10: Council tax increases (Amendments 35 and 43)
Amendment 35 would place a new duty on Welsh Ministers to make regulations requiring billing authorities in Wales to hold local referendums about council tax increases that exceed 5 per cent. I regard this amendment as a significant deviation from the Welsh…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 9: Council tax revaluation (Amendments 2, 3 and 34)
Just to say that the Government amendments in this group would enable five-yearly council tax revaluations to take place from 2028, and that was the view of the citizens and stakeholders—certainly the majority view—in our recent consultation. Amending the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 9: Council tax revaluation (Amendments 2, 3 and 34)
Thank you. I'll speak first to the Government's amendments 2 and 3. Both of these amendments would enable the introduction into law of regular revaluation cycles for council tax every five years, starting from 2028. Members of the committee will know that…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 8: Publication of notices (Amendment 33)
Thank you. So, as we've heard, amendment 33 would remove the provision to replace the current requirement for local authorities to publish council tax notices in local newspapers, with a requirement to publish the information electronically. I set out the…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 7: Council tax discounts (Amendments 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32)
Thank you. Amendment 25 would remove the power for Welsh Ministers to make council tax discount arrangements for Wales in regulations. I set out the rationale for these powers during Stage 1. The amendment would prevent Welsh Ministers from introducing new…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 6: Information to be provided to the valuation officer (Amendments 6, 7, 4 and 42)
Just to confirm that the Government amendments in the group are designed to enable consistency for ratepayers in relation to appeals against penalties within the NDR system, as well as a minor technical change. And then, just again on amendment 42, really, to…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 6: Information to be provided to the valuation officer (Amendments 6, 7, 4 and 42)
Thank you. I'll speak first to the Government amendments 4, 6 and 7. Amendments 4 and 6 would ensure that regulations may provide for rights of appeal to the upper tribunal, where ratepayers are subject to a penalty for failure to comply with requirements to…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 5: Artificial avoidance arrangements (Amendments 20, 23 and 8)
Thank you. I'll first speak to the Government's amendment, amendment 8. This amendment would ensure that regulations may provide for rights of appeal to the upper tribunal, where ratepayers are subject to liability notices to counteract artificial avoidance…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 4: Non-domestic rating multipliers (Amendments 18, 19, 44 and 22)
Turning first to the amendments tabled by Peter Fox, amendment 18 would require a consultation before exercising the power for Welsh Ministers to set differential NDR multipliers. And, as I set out, the development of any regulations will take place in…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 3: Powers to confer or withdraw exemptions (Amendments 16, 17 and 21)
Thank you. Amendment 16 would remove the power for the Welsh Ministers to confer, vary or withdraw NDR exemptions by regulations, and I set out the rationale for this power during Stage 1. There are a variety of ways in which a ratepayer’s liability might be…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 2: Non-domestic rating reliefs (Amendments 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 1, 24, 5, 38, 39 and 41)
I'll speak first to the Government’s amendments, amendments 1 and 5, which make minor technical changes. Amendment 1 would ensure that the affirmative procedure continues to apply to an existing regulation-making power, and amendment 5 would omit a previous…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 1: Antecedent valuation date (Amendment 9)
Thank you. I'd just like to begin, Chair, by thanking the committee for all of its work so far in terms of scrutiny of the Bill. It's been incredibly helpful, and I'm just really grateful to all Members of the committee here, and those who have also not…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office: Context for and approach to the next Spending Review period
I'm very grateful for that, and Cefin Campbell and I were both at an event this afternoon at lunch time, talking to representatives from the University and College Union, hearing about challenges facing the higher education sector as well, and so we're aware…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office: Context for and approach to the next Spending Review period
So, in terms of the strategic integrated impact assessment, we have commissioned—. Or this year we are undertaking a review of the strategic integrated impact assessment, so that we can reflect on the views of the committee but also the views more widely that…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office: Context for and approach to the next Spending Review period
I'm very grateful for the comments this afternoon, and I'd like to welcome Helen Fychan to her new spokesperson role. I look forward to what I know will be plenty of challenge and scrutiny, but also just to say I'm really keen to find those areas of common…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office: Context for and approach to the next Spending Review period
I'm very grateful to Peter Fox for his comments this afternoon. I do understand, of course, that we're in a general election period, but I think my opening remarks, when I set out the economic and fiscal context within which we're undertaking this spending…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office: Context for and approach to the next Spending Review period
Thank you. I am pleased today to outline the Welsh Government's preparations for the next spending review period and to reflect on the challenging economic and fiscal context, as we try to set our plans for the next few years. We cannot underestimate these…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: HS2 funding
Up to the end of 2024-25, Wales will have missed out on around £350 million as a result of the incorrect classification of HS2 as an England-and-Wales project. That amount is likely to increase considerably in future years. The Welsh Government has been…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: HS2 funding
Thank you. So, the facts of this matter are very simple. HS2 is a railway line between London and Birmingham, and not an inch of track will be built on Welsh soil. It doesn't benefit Wales and it should be reclassified as an England-only project.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office
I'm always interested in finding out what’s happening in other countries. I think that the way in which we can operate in a collaborative and co-operative way here in Wales is demonstrated through the co-operation agreement that we have with Plaid Cymru. I…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office
I'm continuing to work with the Finance Committee to agree improvements to our budget processes. Further discussions are planned over the summer with a view to agreeing an updated budget business protocol.
