Rebecca Evans: Within the economy and transport portfolio, the Minister is prioritising investment to support economic development in the Valleys through a variety of measures, such as the Valleys taskforce priorities, Tech Valleys and a number of transport projects.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising that. Of course, the 2019-20 budget includes spending of £25 million over two years to develop the seven strategic hubs in the Valleys taskforce area—which of course you announced, so you'll be very, very familiar with—to create employment and investment opportunities. We've also allocated £7 million of capital over two years, so £3.5 million in each of the...
Rebecca Evans: I'll certainly ask my colleague who is best placed to provide you with a fuller update on the work that he's undertaking there. I know that the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport is extremely ambitious for the Tech Valleys and is pursuing a number of ideas that could bring together some very exciting approaches to technology and to the digital agenda within that area. I'm also very...
Rebecca Evans: The Welsh Government's 2017 tax policy framework established the principles that define our strategic approach to Welsh taxes. My 2019 tax policy work plan, published in February, sets out what we're doing in three key areas: tax development, tax administration, and engagement and capacity building.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising this. We're certainly working with the tourism sector and with local government to begin to explore the nature and possible impact of a tourism tax and the merits that have been brought forward for it, but also the concerns that the tourism sector has expressed about this idea. The consideration of a tourism tax has identified a number of policy issues that we need to...
Rebecca Evans: The chief economist’s report, published alongside the draft budget 2019-20, provides an analysis of Wales’s medium-term fiscal prospects. Both economic and fiscal prospects depend crucially on the form of exiting the EU.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. It is my intention to bring forward before the end of the summer term a statement on the outlook for public spending, and that will certainly be informed by the form that Brexit takes, but you're absolutely right to say that there is no Brexit that isn't harmful to the Welsh economy, and we set that out very clearly in the 'Securing Wales's Future' policy paper, but also in terms...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I very much welcome today's debate, and I'd like to put on record my thanks to the Finance Committee for their report and for providing us with the opportunity to have this discussion today, and for the very constructive way in which the committee has engaged with this agenda throughout. I'll be responding formally to the committee's report, but I can say today that I'm pleased the...
Rebecca Evans: ‘Managing Welsh Public Money’ sets the framework for how we manage and deploy funding to deliver outcomes for the people of Wales.
Rebecca Evans: We fully recognise the importance of the wider environment for health and well-being. In 2018-19, the Minister for Health and Social Services allocated £3.2 million to local authorities for play opportunities for children, and £510,000 to Play Wales bringing our total investment in play activities in 2018-19 to £3.7 million.
Rebecca Evans: The Welsh Government is using its tax powers to support the delivery of strategic priorities. I have no current plans to use taxes to recover costs of asbestos-related diseases. Landfill disposals tax rates have been set to encourage responsible disposal of asbestos. We have committed to reviewing rates by 2023.
Rebecca Evans: As part of my forthcoming budget bilaterals, I will discuss a range of financial matters across all portfolios, including funding for research and development in Wales.
Rebecca Evans: We are allocating in full the consequential of £38 million for 2019-20 as a result of funding allocated to the Department for Education in England, plus allocating nearly £10 million additional from reserves, to provide £47.7 million this year for maintained schools, including sixth forms and FE collages, to meet these costs.
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. There's one change to today's business: the Counsel General and Brexit Minister will make a statement shortly to update the Assembly on Brexit negotiations. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising this important issue. Of course, residential rehabilitation and in-patient detoxification play a really important role in helping service users secure a long-term recovery. The Welsh Government remains committed to ensuring that such services are available and will remain an important element of the Welsh Government's substance misuse strategy in terms of its ongoing...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising this issue. Of course, the issue of unadopted roads is one of concern to a great many of us in this Chamber. The work that's going on through that task and finish group really complements the work that is going on in terms of our leasehold reform agenda more widely in ensuring that there is good management of estates across Wales. I'll certainly ask the Minister with...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you again for raising both of these issues. And as Mike Hedges will know, Dawnus directly employed 705 people across Wales and the UK, and 430 of those employees were based here in Wales. As he will know, the Welsh Government established a taskforce to support those individuals who were directly affected as a result of the business entering into administration. The Welsh Government's...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising this. And, of course, the Minister for health will be answering questions in the Chamber tomorrow, and I see that you've tabled precisely this question for him, which will be question 4. So I know that he'll be pleased to answer that tomorrow. But I can say, with regard to the Countess of Chester, that the Minister has been very clear that the action taken by the trust...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. In relation to your first concern, I think that the most opportune moment to raise that with the education Minister would be during the debate this afternoon on support for disadvantaged and vulnerable learners. And, in regards to the apprenticeship levy, there were several detailed questions there, and I'll ensure that you are furnished with a response.
Rebecca Evans: I thank Joyce Watson very much for raising two extremely important issues this afternoon. The first issue related to agricultural pollution incidents and the incident that Joyce described is subject to ongoing investigation. But, as we set out in our water strategy, agriculture is a major cause of water pollution, which is why the Minister is so keen to work with farming unions to develop...
