, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
So, ahead of the publication of the draft budget, one of the pieces of work that we did was to reprioritise funding from some parts of Government towards public services, specifically local government and health and, obviously, we had some interventions that…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Do you want to come in on this one as well?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Pending the results of the reclassification.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
It's about £100 million, isn't it?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Yes, housing is one of our big areas for the use of FTs.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
So, I might, again, ask Emma or Andrew to come in on this point, but, at the moment, we're still working through those issues relating to the reclassification of the Development Bank of Wales and trying to understand what exactly that means for the FT…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Yes. I would be very happy to do that. I can see Peter sitting next to you, so perhaps some kind of less formal political discussions to tee up that debate would be useful.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
I couldn't agree more, and I know that the Institute for Fiscal Studies has agreed with the points that you're making there, in terms of highlighting the case for having those enhanced powers, just to use the money that we are already have in the reserve, let…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
I think that we wouldn't want to consider the future of taxes on that kind of piecemeal basis; we'd have to consider it in the round in terms of our overall approach to tax, through our tax policy framework and our overall strategy for devolved taxes. And…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Definitely. The first thing to say, really, is that council tax collection rates are very high, which is a good thing. And also to say that, as part of our work, we're undertaking a review of our council tax premiums, exemptions and discounts. And that will…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Income tax is a more progressive tax than council tax, and we are concerned that council tax is a regressive tax, and that's why we've got the piece of work that we're undertaking at the moment looking at reforming council tax for the future, to make it…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
There is a danger. If tax rates are higher for people who are on that additional rate who do have another property in England, then they could make changes whereby they make their home in England their permanent home, and then we would lose out, obviously, on…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Absolutely, so that the public could understand the potential benefits and risks. I might as well ask Andrew to come in on this point around the potential risks because of the nature of the tax base.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
It would certainly give us more options, and there could be benefits to that. But we also have to look at that alongside the potential risks that there might be as well. Given the nature of our tax base here in Wales, and the fact that we do have more earners…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
This is something that we thought about long and hard in terms of how we would use Welsh rates of income tax for the draft budget. I know the First Minister was taking some questions on this in First Minister's questions just this week. If you do raise the…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Thank you, Chair. I'll ask Andrew to come in on this question as well. You can find the detail of the block grant adjustments for the years covered by the draft budget in chapter 3 of the narrative, and that covers both the adjustments in relation to the…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2023-24: Evidence session 8
Diolch. Rebecca Evans, Minister for Finance and Local Government.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The Welsh Government's culture division does support the delivery of local cultural services, including museums, which are non-statutory services, as you say. Funding is available to enable museums to meet and maintain the museum accreditation, including…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I meet regularly with all local authorities to discuss key issues that affect us all, including the current financial challenges. It is the responsibility of each local authority to determine how they deliver their non-statutory services based on local…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Thank you very much for that question. I can say that Welsh Treasury officials are part of the working group that has been established to take forward the review of the unit rate. Obviously, it's not straightforward, and they will be looking at the impacts of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Two hundred and sixty million pounds has been committed to implement the universal free school meal provision programme over the next three years. I anticipate that this funding will be sufficient for the majority of local authorities, but have committed that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I will commit to reflecting the concerns that you raised this afternoon to the Minister for Health and Social Services. Obviously, this is a matter for her to decide within the confines of the MEG that she has, but I will be more than happy to make her aware…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Building on our previous budget, the 2023-24 draft budget continues to focus on preventing harm to the most disadvantaged. Alongside the £165 million to protect our NHS, actions include protecting the £90 million funding for free school meals, investing a…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I'll make the point again that the Welsh Government has provided the absolute best possible settlement to local government, and I know that was recognised by local government leaders and members of local government across Wales. As I've mentioned, we're…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I meet regularly with all local authority leaders to discuss key issues that affect us all, including the current financial challenges. It's the responsibility of each local authority to determine how they deliver their non-statutory services, based on local…
