Mark Drakeford: We are proud of our rich industrial heritage in Wales. The new Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2016 supports the sustainable management of our nation’s heritage including the 1,000 industrial structures in Wales which have statutory protection.
Mark Drakeford: The new treatment fund will enable the people of Wales to have equitable access to approved new medicines. The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport will make a statement on the new treatment fund next month, which will improve the availability of new medicines.
Mark Drakeford: Ministers are actively investigating ways in which we might support the project and will keep Members updated.
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I move the Welsh Government’s draft budget before the National Assembly. We live in the most sustained adverse economic conditions faced for many generations, but even in this age of austerity, this has been a budget created under peculiarly testing circumstances. I’m grateful to the Finance Committee for the recognition in its report on the draft budget,...
Mark Drakeford: The Finance Committee says in its report, that it found too little evidence of this planning taking place. Maybe in the first weeks after the budget was laid, this was understandable, but I am clear that in the months ahead this challenge really must be grasped. As to the specific recommendations made in the committee’s report, I look forward to responding to them formally and fully in...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. It’s been a wide-ranging debate and, until the last five minutes, a debate that was well worth listening to. I hope you’ll forgive me, Llywydd, that I’m not going to be able to reply to all Members by name, but what I’m going to try to do is to respond to what I think have been the essential themes of the debate. Let me begin with what seems to me to be, at...
Mark Drakeford: Yes, of course.
Mark Drakeford: Well, I can assure the Member that what we are recovering from today is something very different from what would’ve been in place in other circumstances. The only recipe that George Osborne had was to be a practitioner of medieval medicine. As the patient weakened in front of him, his only response was to go on bleeding it further and further and further. And that’s why we’re in the...
Mark Drakeford: Based on the latest available information, all schools in Islwyn meet the current bandwidth targets of 10 Mbps to primary schools and 100 Mbps to secondary schools, set under the Learning in Digital Wales grant programme.
Mark Drakeford: Embedding the Act’s ways of working is integral to improvement in all aspects, from policy making to process. Early transition work from October 2015 has improved processes, built capacity and started the behaviour-change journey. In terms of integrated policy making, embedding the Act is the responsibility of all departments across Government.
Mark Drakeford: The provision of tax services in Wales has been a regular feature of discussions and exchanges with HMRC, particularly in the context of tax devolution.
Mark Drakeford: The changes to our revenue budget are negligible, while the additional capital does not make up for the cuts we have seen to our capital budget since the start of the decade.
Mark Drakeford: We are taking wide-ranging actions to support growth, including direct support through Business Wales and investing in road and ICT infrastructure. We have also had discussions with the Growing Mid Wales partnership about their framework for action for achieving economic growth and prosperity across the region.
Mark Drakeford: The Welsh Government takes a range of actions to support the development of local supply chains across all parts of Wales. For example, we have progressed a series of initiatives on procurement as part of our co-ordinated package of support for the Welsh and UK steel industry.
Mark Drakeford: Formally, Llywydd.
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Could I start by thanking the committee and to Simon Thomas for the work that they’ve done to scrutinise this LCM and just to say thank you to all the other Members who have contributed to this debate? We agree with what Simon Thomas said. The Government’s position is clear. Ein barn glir ni yw bod gan y Cynulliad hwn fuddiant yn y drosedd ddomestig...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. The Non-Domestic Rating (Chargeable Amounts) (Wales) Regulations of 2016, which Members are being asked to approve today, will provide for transitional rate relief for small businesses affected by the 2017 non-domestic rates revaluation. These regulations are needed to ensure that the £10 million announced for this purpose on 30 September reaches its intended...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Llywydd. May I start by recognising the fact that Adam Price had welcomed what is in the proposal before the Assembly today, and to say that I am still listening to everything that those in this Assembly tell me? I’ve heard Nick Ramsay’s comments in the past, and what he said this afternoon too. The point that Simon Thomas raised is a new issue, but, of course, we...
Mark Drakeford: Last year, I announced a six-year, £115 million EU funded suite of support for innovation in industry. SMART Expertise helps fund market-led collaboration between Welsh businesses and academia, while SMART Cymru supports businesses to introduce new products, processes or services to the market and SMART Innovation provides advice.
Mark Drakeford: We are investing almost £50 million a year in our substance misuse agenda, which includes taking a range of actions to reduce the harms associated with alcohol misuse. Details are set out in our latest substance misuse delivery plan for 2016-18.
