Rebecca Evans: Well, I think you're wrong in the sense that we're not introducing a tourism levy imminently. I think this is something that I do regret that the Conservatives have been portraying to people in the tourism industry as if this is something that the Welsh Government is going to be introducing overnight and imminently. It's absolutely not. We're introducing a consultation today to hear people's...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. Last week, the Chancellor published his financial statement—a significant package of measures that, in total, represents one of the most consequential, divisive and regressive sets of fiscal changes ever set out by any UK Government. The package was deeply unfair and morally indefensible. It completely failed to target urgent and meaningful support to vulnerable households...
Rebecca Evans: Through his statement, the Chancellor ignored all of this and instead prioritised tax cuts for the rich, unlimited bonuses for bankers, and protected the profits of big energy companies. It will have significant economic and social consequences and will cost individuals and families in Wales dearly. The UK Government should have taken the opportunity to offer more support through welfare...
Rebecca Evans: The opposition spokesperson said that the UK Government hadn't perhaps explained its plans properly and they could have explained it better. Well, the Conservatives will have plenty of time over the autumn and winter to explain themselves and explain their party's policies to people who will be struggling as a direct result of their party's mismanagement of the economy and its wrong...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you to the Member for those questions. I can confirm that I have had no direct engagement thus far with the Chancellor. I did have a meeting with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, but, unfortunately, it was after the Chancellor had made his statement. It's normal practice and courtesy, I think, for the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to make a call to finance Ministers across the...
Rebecca Evans: I would absolutely recognise everything that Mike Hedges has said in terms of the economic impact of the statement. I think that it’s been well reported now that the view generally is that the Chancellor has just taken a huge gamble on the nation's finances, and I think a good piece of advice for everyone, really, is never gamble more than you can afford to lose. But, unfortunately, the...
Rebecca Evans: Again, I agree with everything that Alun Davies has said about this being a budget for the very richest, which will benefit very, very few people here in Wales. It is absolutely an extraordinary economic failure, and I agree that it is another approach by the Conservatives that sits right alongside Brexit in terms of ways in which it can cause long-term economic harm to Wales, and, obviously,...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, Deputy Presiding Officer, I would.
Rebecca Evans: I agree that it is absolutely a punitive budget from the UK Government, and it speaks volumes that only the Conservative spokesperson this afternoon has got up to defend the Conservative budget this week. I'd be very interested to see what the other Conservative Members make of it, and those who don't feel like they have to stand up and defend it, because it's indefensible—that's why. And I...
Rebecca Evans: So, we've got a really well tried-and-tested approach to Welsh rates of income tax, so, it's normal practice for us to announce those rates alongside the final budget debate. And, obviously, we will be having discussions with colleagues ahead of that, because we have a vote in this Senedd on our Welsh rates of income tax. You'll have heard what the First Minister said to the Senedd last week...
Rebecca Evans: Well, you get the impression from the tone of the contribution that the Member doesn't much like Welsh people and their efforts here in Wales. No, I'm sorry, I don't recognise what the Member is saying. We're talking here about a budget that is just so completely regressive. How on earth Members can try and defend something that just takes money away from poorer people—let's remember,...
Rebecca Evans: I've finished now, Dirprwy Lywydd.
Rebecca Evans: Through our established partnership arrangements, I've involved local government at every stage in developing plans to create a fairer council tax. I met with all 22 leaders in June, ahead of launching our phase 1 consultation, and I will convene regular discussions as we move forward.
Rebecca Evans: The first thing to say about our proposals in respect of the reform of council tax is that they are not going to happen immediately or require a revaluation of all of our properties across Wales in order to give us the building blocks for the revaluation. We have had some work done by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which has looked at the potential implications, and we think that there...
Rebecca Evans: I do recognise as well that this is an important area of joint working between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government. I'm very grateful to Cefin Campbell in particular for the work that he's done in helping shape the ideas for a council tax that will rebalance the tax burden on households and fund the services that everybody benefits from, and that connects people to their communities and also...
Rebecca Evans: Huw Irranca-Davies is entirely right that reform is long overdue. It's something that the IFS also noted in its report. It said that council tax is out of date, regressive and distortionary, and we recognise all of that. The IFS did recognise that we are the only part of the United Kingdom that has ever revalued its council tax base, but, nonetheless, we are still very out of date. And the...
Rebecca Evans: The UK Government has bypassed the Welsh Government and the Senedd on this fund, which fails to address persistent regional inequalities across the UK. I have repeatedly raised with a succession of Chancellors and Treasury Ministers the disruption and the substantial loss of overall funding impacting communities, businesses and charities in Wales.
Rebecca Evans: I'd be more than happy to continue to make these arguments in regard to both the levelling-up fund and the shared prosperity fund to the UK Government. We do have our next meeting of the inter-ministerial standing committee, which is what the quadrilaterals used to be, where all the Ministers for finance from the UK get together, and we've asked specifically for a discussion on replacement...
Rebecca Evans: Well, I was wondering where to even start with that contribution, because we know that the methodology alone results in the fact that Wales will receive £1 billion less in replacement funding from the United Kingdom as compared to what we would have had from the European Union. So, Wales is being absolutely ripped off on this point. And if you think that £20 million in one area of Wales is...
Rebecca Evans: Well, we are very sceptical about the benefits that investment zones could bring, precisely because we disagree with your analysis in the sense that we believe that investment zones do have the propensity to draw investment away from some areas, and so displacing economic activity from the areas that it's most needed in. And that was one of our concerns over the free ports as well. We are...
