, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
I think that is partly because things change so often. The fact that the UK Government has legislated on our behalf 13 times in recent years shows how frequently things do change, and we do need to have the opportunity to be agile in response. I'll give you…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Yes, I do think it strikes the right balance, and that's partly because the local government finance field is one that is constantly evolving, and I think that we need to be agile in being able to respond to things, but then also to ensure that, where…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
On this occasion, things have been better in relation to our discussions with the UK Government, and perhaps Debra can reflect on discussions at official level. But I think the level of sharing of information has been very good, so, in developing our own…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
We have consulted comprehensively, I think, on the Bill. There's been the consultation on reforming non-domestic rates in Wales, which was carried out last year, and stakeholders were generally supportive of our proposals. Actually, the proposals didn't just…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
I think in many ways it will give the Senedd more power over decisions that are taken here in Wales in respect of non-domestic rates and council tax. And that's because over recent years we've asked the UK Government on 13 different occasions to legislate on…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Alongside that, it provides more flexibility in the space of reliefs and exemptions. And again, that's a complex area, where, for some of these exemptions and reliefs, you would have to introduce primary legislation—for example, charitable rates relief. And…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
No. I think that you do need primary legislation in order to introduce or change the date of a valuation. We've previously asked the UK Government to do that on our behalf. We delayed it after the pandemic, for example, and required the UK Government to…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
You're absolutely right that much of what we're intending to do in the space of local government finance reform, particularly so around the modernisation and work around making council tax fairer, doesn't need legislation to underpin that—for example, the…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Yes, we do believe that the Bill is within the legislative competence, and also we know that's the Llywydd's verdict as well. And then, in relation to human rights, obviously we've considered all of the relevant articles of the European convention on human…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Thank you. Good afternoon to the committee. And just to say, Chair, that I'm happy to deal with anything through correspondence, but also to come and do a repeat—. I was going to say 'performance', but that's not quite the right word. I can do a repeat…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Yes, of course. Debra, do you want to start?
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I think that message is really important, that the challenges that we're feeling in Wales aren't unique to us here in Wales, but local authorities across the border in England have been stressing these exact same challenges to the UK Government. And…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Public services in Wales are already making incredibly difficult decisions and local authorities are reporting acute challenges. The UK Government failed to recognise these pressures in the autumn statement. We will continue to prioritise front-line public…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I think that difficult times are the times at which perhaps we can see some of that innovation come most to the fore. And one of the things that I'm doing at the moment is organising an event for public services boards, and doing that in partnership with the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 put in place a new sector-led performance regime to drive improvement in local authorities across Wales. To support implementation, I have agreed £800,000 of funding for the Welsh Local Government…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Well, section 20 of the Bill does, as you say, remove the statutory requirement for billing authorities to publish council tax notices in at least one newspaper circulating in their area. It is replaced by a requirement to publish notices electronically on…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I've regularly discussed the Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill with local authorities across Wales. The matters covered in the Bill draw on extensive research work and have been the subject of consultations with which local authorities in South Wales East…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
We're working very closely with local government to understand the significant pressures that they're facing, but we're also investing in our performance support as well. You'll recall that the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 put in place a…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The Welsh Government will continue to prioritise front-line public services, including local government, as far as possible in our forthcoming budget decisions. While the outlook is challenging, I welcome the pragmatic way that we are working together with…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
So, I have been briefed by the Minister's officials in advance of questions today in relation to the flooding in Flintshire and the applications that are expected. But just to be really clear, this is a matter for the Minister for Climate Change. Any funding…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I'm very grateful for the question. I'm afraid that I personally wouldn't be involved in those funding bids, in the sense that it would be something that the department for climate change deals with. So, I haven't been involved with any of those discussions…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The Welsh Government is investing £75 million as part of our flood programme for 2023-24, with £5.25 million revenue funding available to local authorities. We've also made £12 million capital funding available to support the development and delivery of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Well, there's no penalising developers within a vacant land tax; the whole point is that developers should be developing the land, so there's no penalising. What this tax would intend to do would be to bring forward those developments on land that is often a…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Absolutely, and I think that, actually, there is a significant role for the Senedd and for Senedd Members in terms of impressing upon the UK Government that, actually, it's for the Senedd to be concerned about how the Welsh Government uses any powers that are…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Six years ago, we began the process to devolve new powers for a vacant land tax, and we have still not been able to secure these powers. It is clear that the process is not fit for purpose.
