, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Response to the UK Government Autumn Statement and Economic and Fiscal Forecasts
I’m very grateful for those questions and would certainly associate myself with your comments at the start of the contribution, which set out that we are seeing what is, essentially, a new wave of austerity. We’ve barely managed to catch a breath since the…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Response to the UK Government Autumn Statement and Economic and Fiscal Forecasts
Thank you very much to the opposition spokesperson for the questions this afternoon. I will just begin by reflecting again that it does seem to be the approach of the Conservative Party to entirely blame the financial situation that we're in at the moment on…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Response to the UK Government Autumn Statement and Economic and Fiscal Forecasts
Last week, the Chancellor was keen to blame global events for the UK's dire financial outlook, including the pandemic and Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine. While there is no denying that these have had a severe impact on our economy, the situation has been…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Response to the UK Government Autumn Statement and Economic and Fiscal Forecasts
Diolch. Last week, the UK Government published its long-awaited autumn statement and the Office for Budget Responsibility published its forecasts indicating that we are facing the biggest fall in living standards since records began. This was a bleak…
, Plenary
The Land Transaction Tax (Tax Bands and Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Thank you. I'm grateful to both Peter Fox and Llyr Gruffydd for their comments this afternoon. And in terms of the first contribution, the changes to LTT do mean now that the starting rate is increased to £225,000, and as I say, that's equivalent to a 25 per…
, Plenary
The Land Transaction Tax (Tax Bands and Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022
Diolch, Llywydd. I'm grateful to the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee and the Finance Committee for their reports. The regulations the Senedd is considering today are subject to the made affirmative procedure. In this case they came into force…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Yes, I do agree with those points, because in my view the impact of Brexit has been very much camouflaged by the pandemic and now by the cost-of-living crisis. I think that the example that you've given, which compares our position with Germany, really does…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The UK Government has bypassed the Welsh Government and this Senedd with post-EU funding. The impact of their flawed schemes and a £1.1 billion funding cut is seriously impacting on a range of sectors, and jobs and growth. I have repeatedly raised this with…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Yes, I absolutely agree with Jack Sargeant, and I agree with his analysis as well, because we have a new administration in Westminster, but we absolutely don't have a clean slate, because the Prime Minister and the Chancellor's fingerprints are all over the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Despite the reversals made on many elements of the mini budget, the damage has been done. Households and businesses in Alyn and Deeside and elsewhere are facing higher borrowing costs and greater economic uncertainty. We now face the prospect of more…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Well, Llywydd, we do have the Welsh rates of income tax ready reckoner, which was published in 2021, so it's there for all colleagues to be looking at and using. It's available on the Welsh Government's website, and that does show the effects of changes to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Well, it is the case that we have a different system, and, of course, our system was only agreed in 2016. We've only been collecting Welsh rates of income tax for a couple of years, so it is important, I think, at least in this first instance, to let the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The Welsh Government is committed to supporting the most vulnerable through this cost-of-living crisis using our fiscal and policy levers. As part of the budget process, I will consider how we can continue to support our most vulnerable people through the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Thank you very much for the question, and I do recognise that similarity in terms of the crisis of the pandemic and the crisis of the cost-of-living crisis. What's different, of course, is that the pandemic attracted significant additional funding in terms of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I will continue to prioritise funding for all local authorities in Wales through a transparent, equitable and jointly produced distribution formula for the local government settlement with our local government partners.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Okay. So, to answer the question on reserves: I think it is a positive thing that local government has significant reserves when we move into a cost-of-living crisis. And let's remember, when we were discussing the budget last year, we were talking about that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
—so I think we're okay.
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Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I did. I understood 90 per cent—
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Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I heard the—
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I know that the Minister for social services was at the recent meeting regarding budget pressures that local authority leaders were at, and they were able to have at least some starting of the discussions in terms of the specific concerns and pressures around…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
This year, the Welsh Government is providing unhypothecated revenue funding of over £5.1 billion, and over £1 billion in specific grant funding in support of local authority statutory and non-statutory services.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Well, of course, the best thing that could happen to keep schools warm would be for the UK Government to step into this space. [Interruption.] I hear the Conservatives groaning out loud, but that is going to be the real answer in terms of ensuring that there…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I join you in also thanking Mike Hedges for facilitating the discussion. I can tell that it was a very impactful discussion, based not only on the order paper for questions today; I see that those discussions that you've had with local government have really…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Rising energy costs are significantly worrying for local communities and we call for the UK Government to take action to stem the increases. Welsh Government delivers support across the public sector through investing in skills, energy efficiency, research…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I can see that the Plaid Cymru spokesperson and I have been having the same conversations with local government leaders in recent times, and that you're hearing very much the same message as I am, which I think is a positive thing. Again, that's one of the…
