Mark Drakeford: I have not had recent discussions with UK Ministers on the devolution of policing. This will now be for the Commission on Justice in Wales to consider as part of its remit.
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Last Friday, I agreed with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury that enough preparatory work had been done to enable the UK Government to arrange that stamp duty land tax and landfill tax will no longer be operational in Wales at the end of next March. That will allow us to introduce the first Welsh devolved taxes for centuries. The Treasury will...
Mark Drakeford: Both sets of regulations, Dirprwy Lywydd, are essentially technical in nature in this group. Firstly, the land transaction tax transitional provisions regulations, and these are made under section 78(1) of the Act, ensure that land transactions that take place on or after 1 April this year receive the required treatment during the transition from stamp duty land tax to land transaction tax....
Mark Drakeford: Can I thank Jane Hutt for those remarks, and Nick Ramsay for his earlier drawing attention to the presence of the Welsh Revenue Authority here? He was the champion of the charter during the passage of the Bill, and it's good to see copies of it in the Chamber this afternoon. Much of the work that we are talking about this afternoon had its origins in the Act, which Jane Hutt took through this...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I will move the motion under item 8, which relates to landfill disposals tax. This first set of regulations sets the standard, lower and unauthorised disposals rates for landfill disposals tax, which, subject to today’s debate, will apply to taxable disposals made on or after 1 April here in Wales. The second set of regulations specify the tax bands and...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. As we are debating the three sets of regulations separately, with your permission, I'll reply to the general points that have been raised in the debate and then I'll say something specifically on this set of regulations.
Mark Drakeford: So, may I start by saying a word of thanks to Simon Thomas? When we're doing something for the first time, it's great to have the historical context for that, and I'm grateful for what he said about Plaid Cymru's support in the vote this afternoon.
Mark Drakeford: Mick Antoniw raised the reporting point that the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee has raised. Dirprwy Lywydd, can I say that I absolutely understand and share the committee's desire to make our legislation as clear and accessible as possible? But I didn't feel I could simply depart from the established approach of the Welsh Government on a one-off occasion. What we are doing,...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. This final set of regulations specifies the amount of relevant rent under Schedule 6 to the LTTA Act. These regulations will be used to activate an anti-avoidance rule in that Schedule. It is intended to increase fairness by preventing taxpayers from being able to benefit from two nil-rate thresholds that would otherwise be applicable to the rent and premium in...
Mark Drakeford: No, thank you.
Mark Drakeford: Formally.
Mark Drakeford: Thank you, Llywydd. We have published analyses on the general impact of leaving the EU, and also in areas such as regional investment and migration. Our trade paper will be published soon, based on independent analysis. We haven’t seen the document by the Department for Exiting the European Union that was leaked unofficially. We’re calling on that department to publish its analysis.
Mark Drakeford: Well, I completely agree with the Member that the information that is in the hands of the UK Government should be publicly available, should be made publicly available and easily available, not, as Anna Soubry, Conservative MP, said in the House of Commons today, in the farcical way that the UK Government now appears to be willing to make this information available to Members of the House of...
Mark Drakeford: Well, I certainly do agree. Of course it would be helpful to the committee to have that information. As I understand it, from reading newspaper reports of the work that the UK Government has commissioned, it does include some element of regional analysis. So, that would be immensely helpful to the committee in knowing where the different scenarios encompassed in that work see the impact on...
Mark Drakeford: I have no objection whatsoever to UK Ministers commissioning analysis that looks at a range of scenarios, whichever of those scenarios they think might be useful. It is a sensible thing for them to do. But I'm afraid that Mr Isherwood was reading out yesterday's circular from central office and not today's, because today, the UK Government has agreed to make all of this public. So, I'm...
Mark Drakeford: Of course, the further away we go in time from today, the more imprecise attempts of this sort to predict the future become. However, if this particular chicken had been suggesting that the UK economy would be growing by 8 per cent as a result of leaving the European Union, I'm sure the Member would have been a lot more kindly disposed towards it.
Mark Drakeford: The UK Government has not spoken with me about a shared prosperity fund. As we said in our papers 'Securing Wales’ Future' and 'Regional Investment after Brexit', EU funding to Wales should be replaced in full with no constraints.
Mark Drakeford: The views and input of families are crucial in achieving a fair and equitable system for all learners with additional learning needs. To support this, the ALN Act places a requirement on local authorities to make arrangements to provide families with advice and information in an impartial manner.
Mark Drakeford: 'Education in Wales: Our national mission' is clear on our commitment to ensure all learners in Wales are fully supported to reach their full potential. Working with partners, we are determined to overcome the particular challenges that face some groups of learners, including some Gypsy, Roma and Traveller learners.
Mark Drakeford: The Welsh Government has regular discussions with the Ministry of Justice regarding the devolved services that support the rehabilitation of offenders.
