Rebecca Evans: Well, just to, I suppose, finish the picture on the last question, because you did mention free ports, I should have added as well that any discussions and any agreement that we might come to, of course, would be in the same vein as our approach to free ports, where we were not willing to accept any dilution in our environmental standards or our approach to fair work. So, those things will be...
Rebecca Evans: So, on the issue of non-domestic rates, I'm pleased that the consultation that we recently published has been warmly welcomed, and I'm looking forward to reading the responses to that consultation. In regard to what we might be planning now for our budget, which we will be publishing in the middle of December, of course you'll have heard the statement from the Chancellor on Monday that...
Rebecca Evans: Llyr Gruffydd is right that I didn't answer his question yesterday, and I realised it immediately after I finished speaking. But I was pleased to be able to answer the same question, which was raised by his colleague the Chair of the Finance Committee during the same session. And I can only repeat what I said yesterday, in the sense that Welsh Government has an established process for dealing...
Rebecca Evans: Well, we consider all of our tax levers at all points across the rates and bands that we're able to set in Welsh rates of income tax, land transaction tax and landfill disposals tax, whilst also looking at the local taxes that we have here in Wales as well. So, all of these things are constantly under review. Of course we do the modelling to understand what the impact would be of different...
Rebecca Evans: Yes. The provision of adequate childcare support is one of our key policies to support families. The most recent final budget included increases of £100 million to cover the capital and revenue programmes for both childcare and Flying Start for the current three-year budget period.
Rebecca Evans: Llywydd, I'll ask my colleague, the Minister with responsibility for childcare and the provision of childcare, to perhaps provide a written answer to that, because those are not discussions I've had directly with the Minister, and I think that would be a policy choice for her to make. So, apologies that I can't give a more detailed answer.
Rebecca Evans: My priorities are set out in our programme for government and our 2022-23 budget; preparations for the 2023-24 budget are currently under way. Despite the challenging fiscal context, we will ensure our spending priorities have the greatest possible impact for a stronger, fairer and greener Wales.
Rebecca Evans: I'm grateful for the question and I'll certainly discuss the specific case that you raise with the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, but pedestrian safety and Safe Routes in Communities schemes are clearly important to us, as are our active travel schemes, which, of course, support pedestrians and cyclists and other users as well. So, you'll have seen our investment in active travel in...
Rebecca Evans: The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 put in place a new performance regime to drive improvement in local authorities across Wales. Alongside this I have agreed £800,000 funding for the Welsh Local Government Association improvement programme to support corporate improvement within councils.
Rebecca Evans: One of the commitments in our programme for government is to reduce the administrative burden on local authorities, so we've already started that piece of work by approaching all local authorities, both leaders, chief executives and those within the Society of Welsh Treasurers and others in order to understand what they see as the particular administrative burden. So, we'll be looking forward...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for raising that and, of course, the statement last Friday, I think that one of the biggest impacts of it will be the fact that there was absolutely nothing there to support public services. You’ll have heard me say yesterday that our Welsh Government budget is now, across these three years, worth up to £4 billion less than it was when we set our spending plans, and...
Rebecca Evans: Corporate joint committees have a duty to develop regional transport plans. These will drive how local authorities in each region collaboratively deliver safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport services, including in Denbighshire.
Rebecca Evans: Perhaps if the Member would like to share that correspondence with me, I'll be able to take a look at it in some more greater detail and then respond to you in writing once we've had a chance to explore the concerns further.
Rebecca Evans: I have written to the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury setting out that cost of living and the energy crisis must be the foremost priority. There was nothing for cost-of-living support for local authorities in last week’s mini budget.
Rebecca Evans: Absolutely. [Inaudible.]—the WLGA also does an excellent job in terms of trying to impress upon the UK Government the significant and very real challenges that local authorities are facing, and those challenges of course then feed into their communities and the real-world everyday lives of the people who they serve in those communities. The budget was absolutely devastating for ordinary...
Rebecca Evans: I'm not sure where the Conservative leader thinks that this money is coming from. There's not £50 billion being handed down by the UK Government to anyone. It's £50 billion that the UK Government is offsetting in terms of providing additional funding to the energy companies, which don't need it, which is going to be borrowed and it's going to be low-income workers who are going to be paying...
Rebecca Evans: The panel was established by the partnership council for Wales to steer local government work on climate change. Our relationship is one of partnership.
Rebecca Evans: I'm very grateful for the question, and I've really been pleased with the work of the panel, which actually continued right the way through the pandemic and was able to keep on delivering, because we obviously have a commitment for public sector organisations to meet the net-zero 2030 ambition, and we're doing that through the panel by providing technical and financial support for renewable...
Rebecca Evans: I prioritised funding for local government in the Welsh budget so that every authority in Wales received an increase in funding of more than 8.2 per cent. Our cost-of-living measures, over £1.5 billion this year alone, support people in every part of Wales directly and through local authorities and other partners.
Rebecca Evans: I’m grateful for that question. I do think that the £1 million that has been announced is really important in terms of helping to support some of these warm banks, with things that local authorities will seek to do, but also other organisations—churches, third sector organisations, other faith venues and so on. Obviously, we will monitor the application of that fund to understand...
