Mark Drakeford: The White Paper ‘Reforming Local Government: Resilient and Renewed’ issued on 31 January set out priorities for local government in Wales. Consultation on the White Paper ended on 11 April. A statement will be made once consideration of all responses is completed.
Mark Drakeford: Working within the constraints of the law we aim to maximise the benefits to be secured through public procurement contracts in Wales for both suppliers and the Welsh public purse.
Mark Drakeford: Councils in Wales are still not representative of the people they serve. It is a key responsibility of political parties and groups, in being serious about promoting diversity, to encourage people from different backgrounds to stand as candidates.
Mark Drakeford: I welcomed Michael Russell, Scottish Minister for UK Negotiations on Scotland’s Place in Europe, at the 25 May European advisory group meeting. This allowed for a wide-ranging and informative discussion on areas of common interest, including economic, financial and constitutional issues.
Mark Drakeford: ‘Taking Wales Forward’ sets out the Welsh Government’s ambitious programme that focuses on delivering real improvements in the every-day lives of people in Wales, driving improvement in the Welsh economy and public services.
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. The onset of tax devolution has inevitably taken a great deal of the time of the National Assembly. In 2015, responsibility for non-domestic rates was transferred to Wales. In March 2016, the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016 reached the statute book. In December of last year, a new fiscal framework was agreed with the Treasury. Last...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I thank Nick Ramsay for his broad welcome of the publication of the framework and its work programme. I did have a hand in the writing of the foreword to it. I think Mario Cuomo said that politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose, and, generally, I think the job of a working politician is closer to limericks than sonnets. But I’m glad that he enjoyed reading...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Simon Thomas, as Chair of the Finance Committee, for your words this afternoon. Of course, I welcome working with the committee and we are collaborating on more than one piece of work. There are different methods of working as well, and I acknowledge that sometimes the committee will scrutinise the work of the Government, but I think that we can demonstrate that over the...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Mike Hedges’s opening remarks about perceived fairness of the tax system is very important to us in this framework. We put a lot of emphasis on conducting taxation in Wales in a way that Welsh citizens will regard as fair. Part of the reason that things happened in the way they did last week, I think, was a sense, on behalf of lots of people in Wales and beyond, that the way that the...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Neil Hamilton for the initial broad welcome he gave to the framework. I'll just try and respond to, I think, three different points that he made. The disaggregation work of HMRC in the table to which he referred—I think I’d draw a couple of different conclusions from it than he does. The reason that it shows declining income tax receipts from Wales is essentially because of rising...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I thank Adam Price too for what he said about the work programme? Mae'r rhaglen waith yn gyhoeddiad pwysig iawn ochr yn ochr â'r fframwaith. Rwy’n gobeithio y bydd Aelodau o bleidiau eraill yma’n gweld, lle mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi gwneud rhai ymrwymiadau penodol i gynnwys eitemau yn y rhaglen waith, y gallwch eu gweld yno. Mae hynny'n...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch, Llywydd. I do not wish to move the motion this afternoon. Unfortunately, an error in the motion has been identified, which, if agreed, would lead to technical problems organising the Stage 3 amendments. I apologise, of course, to Members for the late identification of these technical problems. The motion is therefore not moved this afternoon.
Mark Drakeford: Our education priorities are set out in ‘Taking Wales Forward’ as it is a devolved matter.
Mark Drakeford: We are committed to safeguarding our rural communities and by working with stakeholders we want to ensure we get the best possible outcome for our farming, land management, food and environment sectors from the process of exiting the EU.
Mark Drakeford: The national transport finance plan, published in July 2015, sets out investment for transport and infrastructure and services for 2015-20 across all parts of Wales.
Mark Drakeford: Given the nature of innovation, inevitably the strategy is constantly evolving and has been designed to be flexible to the fast-changing world in which we live.
Mark Drakeford: Dwelling fires have fallen by almost a third since responsibility for fire and rescue services was devolved in 2005. Casualties in such fires have more than halved. We will continue to support our fire services to sustain this improvement.
Mark Drakeford: I would expect Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board assess the health needs in its area and plan services that meet the needs of the local population, including people living in rural areas.
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd. Since this is my first contribution to today’s proceedings, I’d like to make a few general remarks. Our aim in this Bill has been to build on the administrative framework that was established by the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016. We do that by setting out the operational framework for introducing landfill disposal tax in Wales, which...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thanks to those Members who’ve spoken of their indications of support for the Government amendments in this group. Nick Ramsay described his amendment 52 as a controversial amendment, and I just want to be clear again that it is not the content of the amendment that is controversial. Nid ydw i ddim yn erbyn yr egwyddorion y tu ôl i’r gwelliannau o gwbl. Y...
