, Plenary
The Council Tax (Long-term Empty Dwellings and Dwellings Occupied Periodically) (Wales) Regulations 2022
Diolch, Llywydd, and I'm grateful to those Members who have participated in today's debate. I'll just begin by responding to the points made on behalf of the LJC committee, and it is of course the case that the report identified two merits scrutiny points…
, Plenary
The Council Tax (Long-term Empty Dwellings and Dwellings Occupied Periodically) (Wales) Regulations 2022
Diolch. I welcome the opportunity to bring forward these regulations today. The Council Tax (Long-term Empty Dwellings and Dwellings Occupied Periodically) (Wales) Regulations 2022 increase the maximum level at which local authorities can set council tax…
, Plenary
The Corporate Joint Committees (General) (Wales) Regulations 2022 and The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (Additional Authority) (Wales) Order 2022
Diolch, Llywydd. I thank Llyr Huws Gruffydd for raising this particular issue this afternoon. That is our assessment, based on our understanding of the likely workload and the likely impact of including CJCs within the auspices of the local government family…
, Plenary
The Corporate Joint Committees (General) (Wales) Regulations 2022 and The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (Additional Authority) (Wales) Order 2022
Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motions. The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 provided for the creation of corporate joint committees to further drive collaboration across local government. In March 2021, the Senedd approved regulations…
, Plenary
Debate: Amendment to the 2021-22 Local Government Settlement
Thank you very much to Peter Fox for his contribution and also for confirming the Welsh Conservative support for this motion today. So, I'm just happy to respond to those specific questions. So, yes, the amended local government finance report does reflect…
, Plenary
Debate: Amendment to the 2021-22 Local Government Settlement
Thank you. Today, I'm presenting to the Senedd for its approval an amendment to the current year's local government settlement. Following consultation with local government, through the Welsh Local Government Association, I'm proposing to further increase…
, Plenary
Debate: The Second Supplementary Budget 2021-22
I am grateful for the support that we've had this afternoon in respect of flexibility. The Chair of the Finance Committee repeated the Finance Committee's support for our request to have a full calendar year to deal with late allocations, and that's something…
, Plenary
Debate: The Second Supplementary Budget 2021-22
Diolch yn fawr, and thank you to everybody who's contributed in the debate this afternoon. I would agree with what colleagues have said in that good budget management can only happen when we get accurate information from the Treasury, and I know that was…
, Plenary
Debate: The Second Supplementary Budget 2021-22
Diolch. This supplementary budget presents the Welsh Government's final spending plans for the current financial year. It increases the overall Welsh resources by over £1.1 billion, a further 4.4 per cent increase on the position set out in the first…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
So, as I said in response to the previous speaker, we have undertaken our own piece of research that didn't point to the need for a legislative solution. But we are looking with interest at the IWA report as well as the work that the Wales Co-operative Centre…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Thank you for raising this question. Obviously, I would associate myself with what the First Minister said in response to the issue yesterday. We have looked at the situation in England and I know that when the registers were introduced, there was actually…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Yes. Community assets such as green spaces and community buildings are vital to the health and well-being of our communities. We support the community ownership of these assets, which is why we are working with partners to deliver the recommendations from our…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I hope the Member sees some of the irony there in the way in which the Conservatives have opposed our efforts to take action on the second homes situation, when, as the Member says, people are struggling just to buy one, and, for many, it will always be…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
We're currently consulting on possible local variation of land transaction tax rates for second homes, and that consultation closes on 28 March.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
So, in my response to Huw Irranca-Davies, I set out some of the ways in which we've been pressing UK Government to use the levers at its disposal to help families and households here in Wales. But the UK Government does have a real opportunity now on 23…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I do think it is imperative for all Governments in the UK to be working together to solve these issues, and we have excellent meetings with colleagues in Northern Ireland and in Scotland who share many of our concerns about the way in which the UK Government…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
I have raised the cost-of-living crisis with the UK Treasury on a number of occasions. Despite the difficult position we have been presented with, due to the UK Government support not going far enough, the Welsh Government will continue to assist people…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Yes. We do evaluate the projects that are funded through the scheme, and that helps us understand where we go in future. Of course, not every scheme is a great success; that's part, I suppose, of the point of these kinds of projects, that we test out what…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Yes, as Mike Hedges says, he has long been a champion of invest-to-save and also innovate-to-save, and has been actually very challenging in terms of how are we demonstrating that this good practice travels. So, as a result of that, we did commission Cardiff…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Yes. The invest-to-save scheme budget over the next three years stands at £7 million. This budget is a result of repayments being made in respect of previous investments. So, the budget from 2022-23 to 2024-25 is approximately £25 million, which includes £4…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The criteria of spend for flood-risk schemes is slightly outside my area of responsibility and expertise, so I'd better ask my colleague to write to Janet Finch-Saunders so that she gets an accurate answer.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Yes, thank you for raising this, and, of course, as a result of the co-operation agreement that we do have with Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Government is investing an additional £24 million revenue over the next three years and a total of £102 million capital up…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Welsh Government has an emergency financial assistance scheme to provide special financial assistance to local authorities affected by serious emergencies like flooding. We have not yet received any requests to open the scheme following the recent storms.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Well, I'm slightly in a difficult position now, having committed not to comment on individual authorities' decisions, but the Member does make an excellent point.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Well, Natasha Asghar will be very pleased to hear that we've more than met what the UK Government has provided to its council tax payers in England, and gone much further by being able to provide a package of support that is worth almost double what's…
