Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I met Robert Chote, the head of the OBR, in Cardiff just before Christmas to discuss the work of the OBR and how it can capture data that are important to us in Wales. But, as Nick Ramsay will know, one of the key things that we secured in the fiscal framework was an independent stream of advice—independent of the OBR—that would come particularly from a Welsh perspective...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, let me begin by agreeing with the general points that Nick Ramsay is making—the importance of having good, independent oversight of the process and accurate data that give us the best possible and reliable outcomes. Economic forecasting is an art, not a science, and the OBR—with its resources that we will never be able to match—you will know that, in a six-month period, its...
Mark Drakeford: Well, there are figures of that sort available for Wales, of course, but matters for Scotland, Llywydd, are a matter for the Scottish Parliament and then for the Scottish people to weigh up and come to a decision.
Mark Drakeford: I’m sure the First Minister was right to point to the fact that there are many ways in which Scotland can be a model for Wales, just as there are many things that we do here that Scotland regards as a model that they can learn from as well. So, there are no points to be made of a sensible nature from that remark. What there is, as the Member says—and, from this Government’s point of...
Mark Drakeford: Bilateral contacts with UK Government are important. On the Brexit front, I met with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union the week before last, and the First Minister met bilaterally with him last week. But these things are not, in the end, a substitute for the JMC process and, indeed, for a better, improved and substantially stepped up JMC process. The Scottish Minister for...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Julie Morgan for the question. The Welsh Government will always aim to make best use of any new funding available to us. The consequentials that arise from the spring budget do nothing to reverse the UK Government’s pursuit of the damaging policy of austerity.
Mark Drakeford: And you’ve been able to agree that, Llywydd?
Mark Drakeford: Thank you.
Mark Drakeford: I thank Julie Morgan for that question. Wales’s share of that £5 million fund is £294,000. That’s the consequential of it. The Welsh Cabinet will meet on Tuesday of next week to consider how we will use budget consequentials, and that will be part of our consideration.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, it’s because of the priority that we have always attached to social services that social services in Wales have not suffered from the cuts that have been experienced across our border. Our social services do face very considerable pressures from demography and other factors—I absolutely acknowledge that—but they are in a better place to face those pressures than other...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Chair, I welcome any extra money that comes to Wales. The £50 million additional capital is over a four-year period. When you take it into account with the autumn statement money, it means that our capital budgets will only be 21 per cent, now, less in 2019-20, compared to what they were in 2009-10. So, the Chancellor has gone some way—some small way—to filling the hole that his...
Mark Drakeford: Well, the Member can be sure that we are eagle-eyed in looking for exactly those sorts of manoeuvres, and my officials have been looking very closely at the detail of what was said by the Chancellor last week. As you know, the budget turns out to be a very moving feast indeed, and moved again only within the last hour with a further retreat from the proposals that were made only a week ago....
Mark Drakeford: Well, as I think I’ve said this afternoon already, Llywydd, Members can be assured that social care will be properly considered when the Cabinet meets to look at ways in which we are able to deploy any of the additional resources that have come to Wales as a result of last week’s budget.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, we were very disappointed that the Chancellor failed to take an opportunity last week to grasp that issue and to respond to the points that are very properly made by that campaign. We take the opportunities that are available to us to continue to raise matters of that sort with the Chief Secretary and with the UK Government more generally, and had hoped that the budget would have...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Angela Burns for the question. The Welsh Government continues to encourage local government to conduct its business in an open and transparent manner. The current White Paper on reforming local government proposes a range of ways to further increase transparency.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I absolutely agree that it is an obligation on any elected councillor to remain in a continuous relationship with those people who have elected them. What the White Paper does is to set up a menu of ways in which a local councillor can demonstrate that they have done that. They will have to demonstrate that they have done it. But if you are a local councillor, for example, who...
Mark Drakeford: Well, I agree that transparency is very important in relation to pay. It’s why, in December 2015, the Welsh Government published ‘Transparency of Senior Remuneration in the Devolved Welsh Public Sector’, a set of principles and guidance. It’s why the Public Services Staff Commission was asked to develop guidance on this, which they published in December of last year. That guidance was...
Mark Drakeford: The budget of 2017-18, approved by the Assembly, reflects our agreement with Plaid Cymru to provide £3 million for pilot schemes to support free town-centre car parking.
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, local authorities don’t have to apply to receive the funding because they receive it through the RSG. So, they will all receive their share of the funding. Let me say that I do expect that every local authority in Wales will participate in the new scheme. I understand that my colleague Carl Sargeant met with Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson on this matter earlier today. The...
Mark Drakeford: Well, I understand, Chair, that whenever anybody has a particular scheme that they are committed to, they would like to see it in a special grant because it’s more visible in that way. That’s always in a bit of a conflict with the principle that local authorities of all parties prefer that money should go into the RSG to allow greater flexibility for people on the ground. In this case, I...
