Mark Drakeford: Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, I regularly agree with what Mark Isherwood says about the need for all public services to regard their users as assets, to make sure that, when people are involved with public services, they are not regarded as problems to be solved, but as joint participants in the business of bringing about improvement. That sense of co-production is particularly important in...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much for that question. The five principles underpinning Welsh tax policy, as set out in the tax policy framework, underpin our approach to the consideration of new taxes.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Deputy Presiding Officer, just to say that one of the new taxes that we already have, namely landfill disposals tax, is an example of a tax that tries to influence people’s behaviour more than actually raising revenue. So, I acknowledge the principle that Simon Thomas has alluded to. The new taxes, when we consider them and when we make the case for them that we will have to present...
Mark Drakeford: The Member, as ever, so wildly exaggerates his case that it loses any impact that it might have made. I’m interested to hear about his meeting last night. I do hope that he wasn’t encouraging other Members—[Interruption.]
Mark Drakeford: I’m simply saying, Dirprwy Lywydd, that I do hope that he wasn’t encouraging other Members of his party to attend that meeting and ask questions. Otherwise, the Member behind him—he will be in great trouble with her as a result. As the Member knows perfectly well, what we have done is to propose four potential ideas—all of them utterly mainstream ideas, all of them ideas that have...
Mark Drakeford: I think that all evidence from anywhere around the world is worth considering as part of the debate we need to have about which of these taxes is worth taking forward. There are many examples from elsewhere of tourism taxes. We need to look at what their advantages are and where there have been disadvantages identified. The evidence that the Member has pointed to this afternoon can be taken...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for that. Three of the four different possibilities on our list have now been mentioned this afternoon. I think that’s a really good sign of our ability to have a proper debate about the different ways in which powers that have come to Wales might be used. The work of Gerry Holtham and Tegid Roberts is very serious. They met recently, I know, with my colleague...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Angela Burns for that question. As she knows, I have announced four potential tax proposals, to be considered during this autumn. We will continue to seek opinions and evidence to inform the decision about which one of those four possibilities should be progressed to the next stage.
Mark Drakeford: Well, I take a different view than the Member does about the fact that 300 responses were received to a statement made here in the Assembly. It wasn’t even an official consultation exercise. I remember saying here during that statement that, uniquely in my experience, I was receiving e-mails in the Chamber from members of the public as part of that debate. I think the fact that 300 people...
Mark Drakeford: Formally.
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Diprwy Lywydd. I just wanted to begin by reminding Members why it is that we are having this debate at all. We are having it because the Wales Act 2014 provides the National Assembly with a power for the first time to propose new Wales-only taxes. The process is untried and untested, but I have always believed, since becoming finance Minister, that it’s a possibility that we...
Mark Drakeford: In saying, Dirprwy Lywydd, that a tourism tax was an idea worth serious consideration, of course we looked at evidence from other parts of the world, and we saw then that tourism taxes operate in different ways and at different levels. We saw that they are almost always opposed by the industry itself, and indeed that the predictions of dire consequences regularly fail to materialise. I looked...
Mark Drakeford: The whole basis of your economic policy throughout the 1980s was that Wales would have to earn its place in the world by being the cheapest place that you could possibly employ somebody, and they want our tourist industry to be the same. At least when Mr Hamilton gets up he treats us to his normal, weekly dystopian view of Wales as the new Singapore, somewhere where we’ll all be able to...
Mark Drakeford: We plan to continue to support businesses in their growth, invest in high-quality infrastructure and improve economic development conditions.
Mark Drakeford: National health service organisations are statutory bodies that are accountable to their boards, Welsh Government and of course to the public they serve, to deliver on their duties. They are subject to regular assessment and review as part of the tripartite arrangements involving Wales Audit Office, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and Welsh Government that are in place.
Mark Drakeford: The national transport finance plan contains a commitment to consider opportunities to bring disused railways back into the transport network where there is a viable business case. We are investigating whether there is a case for the reopening of a railway station at Llangefni in the event of funding becoming available.
Mark Drakeford: We continue to urge the UK Government to take a more realistic approach to the issue of problem gambling. As a Government, we are working across portfolios to identify the actions we can take to reduce the prevalence of problem gambling and limit the impact it has in Wales.
Mark Drakeford: The Gwent missing children hub successfully brings together the police, social services, health and education when children go missing or run away from home. The hub works together to share information and assess the risks that these young people may face, to improve their lives and make children safer.
Mark Drakeford: We have committed to revising 'Planning Policy Wales' to strengthen policy in relation to the extraction of all forms of onshore unconventional oil and gas. This will help to ensure we move away from continued fossil fuel extraction and decarbonise our energy supply.
Mark Drakeford: We recognise the importance of skills in a high performing economy and are therefore committed to improving skills levels through a range of interventions. We will continue our focus on raising youth engagement, supporting more employers to invest in training, providing technical training opportunities and improving routes into higher learning.
