Rebecca Evans: Thank you to Lynne Neagle for raising both of those important issues, and I know that she has been a strong voice, really, in terms of ensuring that supermarkets play their important role in terms of helping to keep people safe. I can provide reassurance that, during the regular meetings that the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs has with the food industry and the...
Rebecca Evans: Well, with respect, Llywydd, this is the business statement, and neither Neil McEvoy nor myself are scientists. So, I would respectfully suggest that he writes to the Minister on that particular issue, although I do understand that the Petitions Committee is also taking an interest and, in due course, there will be the opportunity for the Minister to respond to a committee report on this.
Rebecca Evans: I thank Jack Sargeant for raising that and the potentially really exciting news in terms of the future of aviation, and I completely agree with him that Wales has to play its part in any future. He's right that this does require the UK Government to work with Welsh Government in terms of providing support to these strategically important sectors—the aerospace, steel and automotive...
Rebecca Evans: Throughout the crisis, I have had regular discussions with the Chief Secretary about additional funding to help public services respond to the crisis, including support for local government.
Rebecca Evans: I have regular discussions with the Minister for Housing & Local Government, other cabinet colleagues, and local government Leaders about funding for local government services
Rebecca Evans: The purpose of land transaction tax is to raise revenue to fund Welsh public services. In line with our tax policy principles, the aim is to do this as fairly, clearly and simply as possible, to deliver Welsh Government policy objectives and to create a more equal Wales.
Rebecca Evans: Throughout the crisis I have had regular discussions with the Minister for Health and Social Services about the fiscal challenges facing the NHS as a result of the pandemic. In total, we have provided additional funding amounting to more than £1.3bn to help the NHS respond to coronavirus.
Rebecca Evans: The National Procurement Service is a vital component of Welsh public sector procurement. Its pipeline of 32 national agreements, co-designed with stakeholders, will continue to support delivery of our wellbeing goals and also feeds into a wider pipeline, developed by local government partners, that encompasses regional and local procurement plans.
Rebecca Evans: No fines are recorded as being paid by the Welsh Government in the last 18 months.
Rebecca Evans: Since the outbreak of the pandemic, there have been seven meetings of the finance Ministers' quadrilateral, where we have discussed a range of issues, including the fiscal response to the crisis, the UK Government's autumn budget and the forthcoming comprehensive spending review.
Rebecca Evans: I thank Joyce Watson for this question and for her ongoing and evident concern for small and medium-sized enterprises, particularly, I have to say, in the more rural parts of Wales. And Joyce is absolutely right to point to the fact that businesses in Wales have access to the most generous package of support anywhere in the United Kingdom. So, the Office for National Statistics have recently...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, I'm very happy to be extremely transparent in terms of the data on consequentials that we receive from the UK Government. So, very recently I wrote to the Finance Committee giving the latest detail of the consequentials that Welsh Government has received, and in relation to what UK Government spend. Although I will make the point that, of course, the Welsh Government isn't an...
Rebecca Evans: I'm really grateful to Caroline for highlighting the fact that, even though we've been dealing with a pandemic, which has been all-consuming in so many ways, actually, that huge issue of climate change hasn't gone away, and, absolutely, we must be continuing to address it. So, our mind is very much focused, as we continue to address the acute end of the pandemic, also on looking ahead to the...
Rebecca Evans: Robust appraisal, management and assurance are the core governance principles of the projects funded by the Welsh Government. This includes assessment and management of the risks posed to the project, which is underpinned by an independent review mechanism of the projects performance at key stages in its life-cycle.
Rebecca Evans: Llyr Gruffydd is right to point to what was a critical report from the Wales Audit Office. But it is important at the same time to recognise that the Welsh Government had already taken steps to improve its arrangements for approving business cases before the funding problems at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd came to light. And further improvements in Welsh Government processes have been embedded,...
Rebecca Evans: I'm really grateful for this opportunity to highlight some of the work within the COVID context that we've been doing to ensure value for money and affordability in every proposal that has been brought forward through the COVID-19 reserve, which, of course, is the funding that is behind everything that we've done to respond to the crisis. So, every single day, at the start of the crisis, I...
Rebecca Evans: I absolutely do share those concerns and it is really difficult to imagine how just two clauses in a Bill could be more damaging to Wales from a devolved public spending perspective. It puts huge powers in the hands of UK Government Ministers to spend in Wales in areas that are currently devolved and have been devolved for 20 years. We have the networks here in Wales; we understand where the...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for raising that issue, and I think that a key thing in our armoury in terms of procurement is the Wales procurement policy statement. Now, that was last fully updated in 2015, and that provides the strategy and the framework for the Welsh public sector to undertake public procurement. And the effective application of that has delivered positive impacts, but I know that we...
Rebecca Evans: I'm happy to provide that update. So, my colleague Lee Waters has been leading on some really important work in terms of the foundational economy, and, as part of that work, we commissioned the Centre for Local Economic Strategies to work with us to ensure that we can identify public services boards clusters across Wales and work with them to consider new ways of working and how they can...
Rebecca Evans: Yes. Oh my gosh, I find myself in agreement with the Conservative spokesperson on that issue. Absolutely, procurement can play a huge role in terms of building back better in ensuring that spend is kept in our local communities. You'll be familiar with the foundational economy challenge fund. That's been really important in terms of identifying local areas where improvement can be made. So,...
