Rebecca Evans: I had a meeting just last week with the Deputy Minister for Climate Change and the Minister for Climate Change to discuss this issue and other issues in relation to pressures within the overall transport system. I was pleased that there were some conversations with the traffic commissioner to give the result that the deregistration window has now been temporarily reduced to 28 days. I think...
Rebecca Evans: I'm very grateful for the question and also, as Cefin Campbell has done, for recognising the important role that buses play in terms of serving our rural communities in particular. I will ask the Deputy Minister to provide a greater update as those discussions continue because, as I say, he is leading on those discussions, but I think that one thing he would probably want to highlight is the...
Rebecca Evans: Well, I share your hope that the members of the unions will now accept the enhanced offer that has been made, which, just to be clear, is over and above the offer that was previously made when we accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies. Our offer is, of course, an additional 3 per cent in this year and 1.5 per cent of that will be consolidated into next year. So, in...
Rebecca Evans: Well, if my colleague, the economy Minister—sorry, the transport Minister—within whose portfolio this sits was answering the question, I'm sure he would refer you to the fact that the airport does have a particular plan to put itself on a sustainable footing for the future. I think it is important that the airport does have a sustainable plan in terms of becoming profitable, but I think...
Rebecca Evans: Well, I think what's really clear from the auditor general’s report is that our acquisition of Gilestone Farm, to allow Green Man to develop its plans, was value for money, properly aligned to our economic ambitions, and followed the appropriate processes and approvals. And, to be clear, the report by Audit Wales underscores that the procedural integrity of the acquisition of the farm is...
Rebecca Evans: So, I was surprised by the response of the leader of Plaid Cymru to my response to his debate last week, because I thought that I was very fair and measured in setting out that it is important for the Welsh Government to understand the proper implications of any particular policy before we hitch our horse to that particular cart. And I did say that the constitutional commission is going to be...
Rebecca Evans: So, in respect of the evidence base that we currently use, we already take into account behavioural impacts in our Welsh rates of income tax ready reckoner, which you'll find on the Welsh Government's website. That shows that, for example, were we to raise the additional rate of Welsh rates of income tax, we would probably bring in around £7 million, but actually, the net impact would only...
Rebecca Evans: As part of the 2022-25 spending review, an additional £9 million revenue and close to £90 million capital has been allocated to enhance green spaces. This includes funding for a new national park. Spending decisions in relation to national parks are, of course, a matter for the Minister for Climate Change.
Rebecca Evans: Well, there was a 10 per cent uplift to the national park authorities' core grants, taking it to just over £10 million in 2021-22, and that has been maintained into 2022-23. And the aim of that was to provide greater resilience following the pandemic and also increase the impact of their activities around biodiversity, decarbonisation and sustainable tourism. Now, I do understand the...
Rebecca Evans: Well, it is frustrating to have these questions from the Conservative benches when our own budget hasn't been uplifted in line with inflation but yet we're asked to uplift the budgets of other organisations in line with inflation, which is just impossible, really, for us to do across the board. We only had £1.2 billion additional funding over the next two financial years; that doesn't even...
Rebecca Evans: Local authorities are responsible for the provision of a library service. The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient service. The Welsh Government supports local library provision through a capital grant fund and by investing in developing innovative services for local communities.
Rebecca Evans: It was lovely to hear those examples of the ways in which libraries in Islwyn are innovating, and I’m aware of some other examples as well locally in your area, including a knit and natter group, toddler time, a Lego club, and Blind Date With A Book, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, and they have that in my own library as well, and I thought that was a particularly lovely idea....
Rebecca Evans: So, the majority of the Welsh Government’s financial support for public libraries is distributed through the local government core settlement, which colleagues will remember is uplifted by 7.9 per cent in our budget for next year. No authority will see an increase of less than 6.5 per cent. There are other sources of funding that are important, however, including the capital transformation...
Rebecca Evans: The Welsh Government is supportive of local authorities working in collaboration to improve services and provide value for money, including via shared services. Corporate joint committees provide an important new vehicle to support strategic regional collaboration between authorities.
Rebecca Evans: In prioritising public services, including local government, in our budget settlement, we've always been clear at every step that it still will mean a difficult set of decisions for local government to take. I know that local government leaders have been consulting on a whole range of things that they wouldn't normally want to be consulting their local areas on in terms of service provision...
Rebecca Evans: The Government is providing unhypothecated revenue funding of over £5.5 billion and £180 million of capital funding in 2023-24 in support of local authority services. While this is a significantly better settlement than authorities had anticipated, authorities will need to take some difficult decisions given the high levels of inflation.
Rebecca Evans: I think the Welsh Government has a responsibility to be honest to people in Wales that it is a fact that our budget is not rising in line with inflation, and I think that's a fact. Nonetheless, Welsh Government is doing absolutely everything that it can in order to prioritise and protect public services, which is why we undertook a very painful exercise across Government to try and...
Rebecca Evans: In 2023-24, the council will receive £123.7 million through the local government settlement—an increase of 7.9 per cent. While the council will still have to make some difficult decisions in the face of the current rates of inflation, this is a better settlement than authorities had expected.
Rebecca Evans: Well, I can confirm that officials have met with the chief executive officer of 2 Sisters and are continuing the dialogue to pull all possible levers to offer support to people affected by the recent developments. And, of course, our officials are working very closely with the local authority. I know that the Minister for Economy has been speaking to the leader as well. Obviously, it is...
Rebecca Evans: The Welsh Government has committed an extra £36 million over the next two years, with the goal of delivering 125,000 apprenticeships by 2027. Apprenticeship policy is the responsibility of the Minister for Economy.
