Rebecca Evans: Well, it is the case that we have a different system, and, of course, our system was only agreed in 2016. We've only been collecting Welsh rates of income tax for a couple of years, so it is important, I think, at least in this first instance, to let the system bed in, but also, I think, to understand what the implications would be of us having a more progressive, as you say, banding system....
Rebecca Evans: Well, Llywydd, we do have the Welsh rates of income tax ready reckoner, which was published in 2021, so it's there for all colleagues to be looking at and using. It's available on the Welsh Government's website, and that does show the effects of changes to the Welsh rates of devolved income tax revenue. So, you're able to play around with it and look at different things. But, just for...
Rebecca Evans: Despite the reversals made on many elements of the mini budget, the damage has been done. Households and businesses in Alyn and Deeside and elsewhere are facing higher borrowing costs and greater economic uncertainty. We now face the prospect of more austerity in our already hard-pressed public services.
Rebecca Evans: Yes, I absolutely agree with Jack Sargeant, and I agree with his analysis as well, because we have a new administration in Westminster, but we absolutely don't have a clean slate, because the Prime Minister and the Chancellor's fingerprints are all over the economic crisis that we're all facing at the moment. And Jack Sargeant is right again; it's his constituents who are feeling the pain....
Rebecca Evans: The UK Government has bypassed the Welsh Government and this Senedd with post-EU funding. The impact of their flawed schemes and a £1.1 billion funding cut is seriously impacting on a range of sectors, and jobs and growth. I have repeatedly raised this with UK Ministers and I'll continue to do so.
Rebecca Evans: Yes, I do agree with those points, because in my view the impact of Brexit has been very much camouflaged by the pandemic and now by the cost-of-living crisis. I think that the example that you've given, which compares our position with Germany, really does spell out the damage that has been done by Brexit and that will continue to be done unless the UK Government takes a different approach...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm grateful to the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee and the Finance Committee for their reports. The regulations the Senedd is considering today are subject to the made affirmative procedure. In this case they came into force on 10 October, but, to have permanent effect, they must receive the Senedd's approval today. On 27 September I set out the changes I'd...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I'm grateful to both Peter Fox and Llyr Gruffydd for their comments this afternoon. And in terms of the first contribution, the changes to LTT do mean now that the starting rate is increased to £225,000, and as I say, that's equivalent to a 25 per cent uplift on the previous level, and that does more than make up for the increase in property prices that we've seen since we last...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch. Last week, the UK Government published its long-awaited autumn statement and the Office for Budget Responsibility published its forecasts indicating that we are facing the biggest fall in living standards since records began. This was a bleak statement from the Chancellor after 12 years of Conservative Government, published in the wake of the disastrous mini-budget, alongside an even...
Rebecca Evans: Last week, the Chancellor was keen to blame global events for the UK's dire financial outlook, including the pandemic and Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine. While there is no denying that these have had a severe impact on our economy, the situation has been made worse by the ongoing mismanagement of the economy and public finances by the UK Government. The UK enters recession in a worse...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much to the opposition spokesperson for the questions this afternoon. I will just begin by reflecting again that it does seem to be the approach of the Conservative Party to entirely blame the financial situation that we're in at the moment on the pandemic and on Putin's war in Ukraine. But that's not the full picture, of course, because £30 billion of the hole that the UK...
Rebecca Evans: I’m very grateful for those questions and would certainly associate myself with your comments at the start of the contribution, which set out that we are seeing what is, essentially, a new wave of austerity. We’ve barely managed to catch a breath since the last one, and it will have impacts in terms of squeezes on living standards, on increasing poverty, on increasing the number of...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for raising those particular points, and I absolutely agree that it is the case that we should be looking to use the money wisely, and to be thinking particularly about what the outcomes are in terms of the decisions that we make, which is why it's important now to take this amount of time that we need to get under the figures that were provided to us after the statement...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, I'm really grateful for those points, and Carolyn Thomas always makes a strong defence and a strong case for local government. I had the opportunity to meet with local government leaders and chief executives yesterday morning, to talk through the implications of the budget, and again, they were making those very, very strong cases in terms particularly of social care, education and all...
Rebecca Evans: I agree with Joyce Watson on that particular point. But, yes, I think that it's all very well quoting some selective facts, but, no, it is an absolute fact that the mini-budget cost this country, cost all of us, everybody in Wales, billions of pounds, and that is an absolute fact. That was just a direct result of the absolute arrogance of the people who were making those decisions at the...
Rebecca Evans: I'm very grateful for the chance to conclude the statement this afternoon by setting out some of the things that the Welsh Government will do to support the most vulnerable and to protect citizens here in Wales, because that really is the job that's ahead of us now as we start to finalise and formalise our budget for laying on 13 December. It is the chance that we have to take to do our very...
Rebecca Evans: I have discussed local authority reserves with leaders as part of our ongoing discussions on pressures and funding. All leaders have stressed that they are already using reserves to manage their current pressures and expect to have to continue to do so next year.
Rebecca Evans: I'll just refer the Member to my original answer, which does reassure colleagues in the Senedd that I do discuss local authority reserves with them regularly as part of our general discussions in relation to finance. But I just want to be really clear as well that the position that is reported in the annual reporting mechanism is only the situation on one day of the year—the end of the...
Rebecca Evans: Absolutely. I think local authorities have been incredibly transparent in terms of the financial challenges that they're facing, and I'm pleased that they have been able to offer, on a regional basis, opportunities for all Members of the Senedd to better understand those pressures at a very local level. I know they'd be more than happy to engage again with any colleagues who have not managed...
Rebecca Evans: Ahead of the autumn statement, I called on the Chancellor to invest in people and public services. While there was some additional funding in the UK Government announcements, it failed to address the significant gaps in funding for public services.
