Mark Drakeford: May I say thank you to Adam Price for his comments in introducing his questions? Af yn syth at y cwestiynau penodol a gododd Adam Price. Mae e'n hollol iawn i dynnu sylw at y ffaith ein bod yn gorfod cyflwyno ein cyllideb gerbron y Cynulliad cyn datganiad yr hydref, pan mae’r Canghellor yn addo ailosodiad ariannol, a phan fo’n rhaid i ni wneud ein penderfyniadau heb wybod yn union sut y...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Mark Reckless for those parts of the budget that he recognised as being welcome. I’ll try and address his specific questions. In relation to the mental health funding that is part of the £240 million, the £15 million for diagnostics is part of the capital programme provided to the health main expenditure group, and, of course, as a result of that investment, waiting times for...
Mark Drakeford: As ever, it is possible to do the maths in many different ways. As Mike Hedges said, the responsibilities of my colleague Vaughan Gething now include sport as well as the health service. The best estimate I have of the proportion that health spending takes in next year’s budget is that it remains below 50 per cent of this Assembly’s budget. Of course, I recognise the pressures that there...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Simon Thomas, for those questions. I look forward to the process of scrutiny. I acknowledge that Members won’t yet have had an opportunity to look through the budget narrative that I published this afternoon, but I hope that more details about the things that Simon Thomas has raised will be available there. I can say this afternoon that Supporting People will not face...
Mark Drakeford: Can I thank Lynne Neagle for her opening remarks? All the key commitments of this Government are reflected in this budget. That’s why it is an ambitious budget, because it sets us on the road to delivering all those key things that we put before people in Wales earlier this year. I agree with her entirely that the only sensible course of action, from the point of view of the citizen, is to...
Mark Drakeford: The Welsh Government is committed to transforming the expectations, experiences and outcomes for all learners, including those with additional learning needs. The forthcoming introduction of the additional learning needs and education tribunal (Wales) Bill will be a key milestone in the transformation journey that is already under way.
Mark Drakeford: The BBC has recently reported that we have the fastest-growing digital economy outside of London. The wider ICT sector is worth £8.5 billion in turnover to the Welsh economy. With Welsh Government support, the sector has created 7,500 high-value jobs in Wales over the last five years.
Mark Drakeford: Since 2008 the autistic spectrum disorder strategic action plan has supported the development of services for people with autism, supported by over £14 million additional funding. We are rolling out a new autism plan, to provide extra support for children, adults and families, including those not eligible for other services.
Mark Drakeford: I made clear the need for Wales to develop its own fisheries policy when the UK leaves the EU, to safeguard the future prosperity of Wales’s fishing industry and our coastal communities. The Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs will discuss this with stakeholders at the next round-table meeting.
Mark Drakeford: We know that the attitudes of others can prevent people with mental health problems from getting the support they need. Our ‘Together for Mental Health’ delivery plan sets out the actions we are taking to challenge mental health discrimination and improve knowledge and understanding associated with mental health problems.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that question. After adjusting for the one-off capital expenditure associated with the buy-out of the housing revenue account subsidy system, capital expenditure by local authorities increased by 7.4 per cent in 2015-16.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for her supplementary question. I think that when accounting adjustments are taken into account, capital expenditure on social services actually fell by 1.1 per cent last year, and that was in line with the estimates that local authorities had provided and takes no account of the £10 million additional capital provided through the intermediate care fund, which is largely...
Mark Drakeford: Certainly, I agree with Vikki Howells in her commendation of RCT council, and indeed councils across Wales for the way in which they have embraced the twenty-first century schools programme. Over 150 schools and colleges across Wales are seeing rebuilding and refurbishment of their premises. But the point that my colleague made in her supplementary towards the end is perhaps the more...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Julie Morgan for that question. I think Cardiff’s record in using capital spending on environmental purposes of this sort is admirable. The latest intention to use capital spending for street lighting in the city is part of a wider pattern in which they’ve used money, made available through the Welsh Government in part, for street lighting energy efficiency, council building...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Eluned Morgan for the question. The protection of our economic interests in the Brexit context is vital to Wales. Together with finance Ministers from Scotland and Northern Ireland, I will meet with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury next week ahead of the autumn statement. The impact of EU transition is at the very top of our agenda.
Mark Drakeford: Eluned Morgan draws attention to the long-term impact that leaving the European Union on the wrong terms would have for Wales. The budget I laid yesterday grapples with the immediate consequences of losing potentially European funds that otherwise would have come to Wales. But the long-term impact of lower growth in the UK economy, with everything that that would mean in terms of tax receipts...
Mark Drakeford: The Welsh Government will be represented at that JMC by the First Minister and I will accompany him to that meeting. We will go into those negotiations in exactly the same way as you would expect Ministers in Scotland and Northern Ireland to approach those discussions, making sure that the interests of Wales are firmly and inescapably drawn to the attention of the Prime Minister and other UK...
Mark Drakeford: The promotion of the Welsh offer remains a very important part of the work that the Government does as a whole, and it’s led by my colleague Ken Skates. I think it’s fair to point out to the leader of the Conservative Party that we’re yet to leave the European Union, and the impact of that on our economy remains very much still to be seen. What is absolutely clear, from those businesses...
Mark Drakeford: Well, the £66 billion figure comes from a leaked document, as the Member agreed. Nevertheless, the Treasury produced a series of far more formal briefings in advance of the referendum on 23 June. All of those demonstrated the adverse effect that leaving the European Union would have on the United Kingdom’s economic prospects. I see that the Treasury has not disassociated itself from any of...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Sian Gwenllian for her initial comments on funding for local authorities in the next financial year. Of course, I recognise the fact that there is £25 million in that budget following the agreement made between the Government and Plaid Cymru. O ran y fformiwla, rwyf wedi dilyn y confensiwn a ddilynwyd gan Weinidogion llywodraeth leol ers llawer iawn o flynyddoedd yn y Cynulliad hwn....
