Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Adam Price, for those detailed questions. May I thank him for what he said at the outset in welcoming a number of elements of the framework? I will now turn to his questions. Cyn belled ag y mae Barnett yn y cwestiwn, mae’r ffigur o 115 y cant o fewn amrediad 114-117 y cant Holtham; hwn yw’r ffigur y mae Holtham ei hun yn ei ddefnyddio fwyaf aml wrth ddisgrifio i ba...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I thank Nick Ramsay for his questions. I’ve said regularly in this Chamber, during the period that we were negotiating the fiscal framework, and Mr Ramsay would ask me questions about it here, that I would refer to his interest and to the interest of other Members during my discussions with the Chief Secretary. And it’s always been a useful tool for me that the...
Mark Drakeford: Well, I well remember the discussions with the Treasury over the Olympics. And it’s a perfect example of where, in that case, the Treasury was the judge and the jury and the enforcer of the result of it, and no matter how strong the arguments were on the other side, they weren’t prepared to take any account of them. This agreement means that that position would not be the case in the...
Mark Drakeford: Dirprwy Lywydd, let me deal with the first question first—[Interruption.]
Mark Drakeford: [Inaudible.]—that he does in relation to the potential asymmetry of impact of increasing Welsh rates of income tax, this is a point already made by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, but any Welsh Government making such decisions at some point in the future will be wanting to weigh up the impact in the round. It will be looking to look at what impact changing Welsh rates of income tax in the...
Mark Drakeford: Well, thank you very much to Simon Thomas for what he said about the framework and about the agreement. Of course I agree; Gerry Holtham’s work was part of that agreement between Plaid Cymru and Labour during the third Assembly—work that we could return to time and time again, and the Treasury couldn’t say anything against the work within the report. It has taken a decade, as Simon...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Julie Morgan for what she said and for drawing attention to those important aspects of the framework. We have looked to see how systems work elsewhere where independent advice makes its contribution to decision making. We have looked particularly at Scotland, because, as I said, it is fair to recognise that we were treading in their footsteps in securing that level of independent...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. The regulations the National Assembly has been asked to approve today will amend the 2013 council tax reduction scheme regulations. The amendments are needed to ensure the orderly continuation of the scheme for 2017-18 and to be sure that the figures used to calculate a person’s entitlement to a reduction in their council tax are increased to take account of rises in...
Mark Drakeford: From April 2016, the UK Government introduced new restrictions in respect of entitlements to housing benefit by removing the family premium for new births and new claims. These changes will not be implemented in respect of council tax reductions in Wales. As with the decisions to continue uprating working-age entitlements, this Welsh Government aims to protect applicants who have been...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am pleased to lay before the Assembly for approval the local government settlement for 2017-18 for the 22 county councils and county borough councils in Wales. Next year, after taking everything into consideration, local authorities in Wales will receive over £4.15 billion in general capital funding. This is an increase of 0.2 per cent as compared to...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. Thanks to all those who’ve taken part in the discussion. And thank you to those parties who’ve indicated their support for the motion this afternoon. I’ll take the four contributors in reverse order, if I could. Gareth Bennett is quite right to say that, in these very difficult times, no local authorities can afford to do anything other than in the most efficient...
Mark Drakeford: We are developing four cross-cutting strategies to underpin the themes in ‘Taking Wales Forward’. The ‘prosperous and secure’ strategy will encompass our approach to sustainable growth, ensuring better jobs closer to home and reducing employment barriers.
Mark Drakeford: All of us—and others—have a responsibility to try and improve the knowledge of politics amongst Welsh people. It is not a specific responsibility of the Welsh Government.
Mark Drakeford: Our priorities are to support businesses in their growth, to invest in high quality infrastructure, and to improve conditions for business.
Mark Drakeford: I met with the Prime Minister at the plenary meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee on 24 October. During the meeting, we discussed the UK’s exit from the European Union. I made a statement about the meeting on 1 November.
Mark Drakeford: Credit unions have received almost £1.9 million from Welsh Government over the last three years to support those who are most financially excluded access affordable financial services. A further £422,334 has been awarded to credit unions in 2017-18 to help deliver commitments set out in our financial inclusion strategy.
Mark Drakeford: ‘Informed Health and Care’ is our strategy for implementing new ways of delivering care by exploiting IT. This approach, based upon a ‘once for Wales’ principle, underpinned by major national systems and architecture across health and social care, is improving outcomes for people in Wales.
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd. Thank you for the opportunity to make a statement in relation to the Trade Union (Wales) Bill, introduced on Monday. The Bill seeks to disapply sections 3, 13, 14 and 15 of the UK Trade Union Act 2016 as they apply to public services in Wales. There will be many Members here who recall the background to this Bill. The UK Conservative Government, following the General...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Sian Gwenllian, for those comments. I acknowledge, of course, that Plaid Cymru was part of the opposition to the original Bill in Westminster and here on the floor of the Assembly too. And the things that Plaid Cymru said at that point focused on partnership and the way in which we try to approach things here in Wales. I fully remember standing outside Ferodo in...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr. A bit difficult to know quite where to make a start on that rehearsal of clichés, ancient and modern. I think the Tory position was very well captured in the very first sentence of Janet Finch-Saunders’s contribution when she sought to do what the Tories do all the time, which is to pit one group of people against another, when she referred to workers, not taxpayers, as...
