Mark Drakeford: We are engaging local authorities, businesses and representative groups across a range of design options for a tourism tax, alongside the potential benefits and impacts. A consultation will take place later this year to ensure consideration of all views in the development of this levy.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that question. I notice, Llywydd, how, whenever anything goes wrong on the Conservative benches, this is treated like it was somehow an act of God over which they have no responsibility whatsoever. The fact that they've been in power for more than a decade, a decade of austerity, Llywydd, in which every time—every time—[Interruption.] I hear them shouting—
Mark Drakeford: I hear them shouting, Llywydd, because they've got nothing else that they can do but to make a noise to try to cover up the truth of their own record—a decade of austerity, supported week in, week out on the floor of this Senedd by Members of the Conservative group here. That's what lies behind the cost-of-living crisis—a decade in which benefits were held down, in which wages were held...
Mark Drakeford: The cost-of-living crisis will affect families and communities across Wales, including those in the Member's own constituency. Recent analysis by organisations such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Bevan Foundation and the Resolution Foundation have each concluded that the coming year will be particularly challenging for those households on low incomes.
Mark Drakeford: I'm very glad to be able to offer that positive news to the Member this afternoon, because it will mean that in the five-case business model that we follow, according to the Treasury Green Book, the process will now move to the next stage. I understand how frustrating it can be for people locally to see the way the system unfolds gradually, but this is an important milestone in this project....
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that question. The overarching business case that sets out the aims and objectives for the north Powys well-being development has completed the scrutiny process of the Welsh Government. I'm pleased to confirm that, as of yesterday, the agreement of all relevant Ministers has been secured to the proposals, which can now move to the next stage.
Mark Drakeford: I agree very much with what Luke Fletcher said about the importance of learning from young people and people who find themselves in these incredibly testing situations, so thank you to those young people for the question. The Welsh Government is entirely committed to ending youth homelessness. Many unforeseen events have happened since the commitment was originally made, including the...
Mark Drakeford: Amongst the ways in which our policies to tackle youth homelessness are being taken forward are practical actions to implement the recommendations from the homelessness action group, as set out in the co-operation agreement between our two parties.
Mark Drakeford: I agree entirely with the Member on the importance of the work done by the Urdd in the Afghan context, and of course, they've learnt a great deal that will assist us now when we respond to the needs of the people coming from Ukraine. The Urdd will be part of the discussions that are to take place during this week. We will need to think about a number of different approaches in providing...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, all of that sounds very encouraging in terms of the actions that Mark Isherwood set out that are already happening in north Wales. I said in an earlier answer that at the meeting of the Welsh cabinet yesterday afternoon we were joined by the leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, but also by the chief executive of the WVCA, the Wales Council for Voluntary Action. We heard...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Sarah Murphy for that, Llywydd. I imagine that there are Members right around the Senedd who have taken part in local events and local vigils, spontaneously organised by faith groups and others in their own community. They are practical demonstrations of the generosity that we know is on display across our nation. On the specific point as to how public services will be mobilised, in...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, we are urgently preparing to support refugees from Ukraine and are doing that in close dialogue with Welsh local government and others to understand what will be possible within the parameters of the overall UK Government schemes.
Mark Drakeford: Well, thank you very much to Paul Davies for that important question. Vikki Howells referred to the importance of net zero in the original question that she asked. We acknowledge, as a Government, that over the coming decades, in order to have the skills that are required to do what we want to do here in Wales with regard to climate change, well, that is at the heart of that scheme. The...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Vikki Howells for that supplementary question, Llywydd. It's very good to hear a reference to Cardiff and Vale College on the day when we hope the Senedd will give its consent for the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill to move into its second stage of scrutiny here in the Senedd. And I take the two priorities that emerged from that discussion with their vice-principal very...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, on 8 March we launched our plan for employability and skills. It outlines our priorities to help more people into work and deliver on this Government's commitment of a young person's guarantee, based on the skills that will be needed in the future.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, well I do not simply understand, I share a great number of those concerns with the UK Government's scheme, which is why we have worked with them to be able to put in place in Wales different arrangements that I think would give us a better chance of being able to welcome people here from Ukraine with the best prospect of responding to those needs and mitigating the risks of people...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I'm responsible for the policy of the Welsh Government, and I've been as clear as I can about it. I believe that people fleeing from the war in Ukraine should be allowed to come to the United Kingdom and then the necessary checks should be carried out after they have arrived: in other words, that a visa regime does not need to be implemented prior to people's arrival. That's...
Mark Drakeford: I want to respond particularly to the final point that the Member made, about swapping dependence upon one volatile regime for dependence on another of the same sort. I tried to make that point in my answer to Jayne Bryant earlier, Llywydd, that the solution to energy security in the United Kingdom is to have a really rapid and dedicated focus on the development of renewable energy, in which...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I agreed with something the leader of the opposition said earlier in his questions, that the improvement in mental health services in north Wales has not been as fast as it needs to be, and there are clearly further actions that need to be taken to make sure that, in all aspects of mental health services, people in north Wales get the service that they deserve. Whether a further...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, just to be clear, mixed cohorting is a factor in only one of the two cases, it's not a factor in—[Interruption.] I think you said 'at least one'. I'm just clarifying that it is 'one' not 'at least one'. It was not a factor in the other case. And I am pleased to—. I am pleased to be able to say to the Member that the information I have is that mixed cohorting no longer takes place...
