Mark Drakeford: My vision is a strong Wales within a reformed United Kingdom. The governance of the union must reflect the reality that it is a voluntary union of four parts working together for mutual benefit. It must be a union of equals underpinned by fair funding.
Mark Drakeford: As I have already announced, we are delighted to host a homecoming event for Welsh competitors and medallists who took part in the Rio Olympic and Paralympic games. A free public event will take place outside the Senedd on Thursday 29 September between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Mark Drakeford: We are tackling air pollution in a number of ways, including through local air quality management, industry regulation, the planning regime and the promotion of active travel. Addressing air pollution requires a collaborative approach and we recently launched a public consultation seeking views on what more we can do.
Mark Drakeford: We welcome the current investment in rail infrastructure in Wales. However, we continue to press for confirmation of the timetable for electrification to Swansea.
Mark Drakeford: A political structure, including a directly elected mayor, is an option available to all principal councils in Wales, either as a result of the council deciding to pursue it, or in response to a public petition. In both cases, a local referendum is required.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I don’t regret the 10 per cent level in Wales. I don’t regard it as absurdly high. I think, given that we have some relatively small electorates in some councils in Wales, a 10 per cent threshold of the electorate to trigger a referendum meets our needs and circumstances.
Mark Drakeford: No.
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, it’s important for me to get my position clear. I’m in favour of local authorities and local populations having the right to choose their own political structure. That means that the choice is available for those authorities and for those populations where they choose to support a local mayor. Where they don’t choose to support it, in answer to the Member’s question, I have...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that question. In response to the economic downturn, our focus on growth and jobs, including supporting the business sector, has underpinned the budget allocations to the economy and infrastructure portfolio over this period.
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that. He’ll be familiar, I’m sure, with the view of the Roman historian, Tacitus, that victory has many fathers—defeat is in orphan, but victory has many fathers. So, the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure has made an announcement in relation to the investment bank. It will be supported by finance that I will make available through my portfolio. It...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that question. He’ll be aware that discussions continue with Tata itself, involving the Welsh Government and the UK Government. Only in recent days, I see that the Minister has asked for any further applications that wish to be put forward for business rate relief in the enterprise zone that’s been created in the Member’s constituency. I can say this to him: that...
Mark Drakeford: Well, I think there are a number of answers to that question, Llywydd. First of all, there is more than one way in which we are able to address the funding gap. This is one, but there are others, and we’re taking other actions in this area. And, secondly, in these very hard times, we have to act within the means that we have available to us. We have made a significant investment in the new...
Mark Drakeford: It most certainly is a tax cut, Llywydd. The current scheme is due to lapse at the end of this financial year. Had it not been extended, £98 million-worth of tax relief would not be available to small businesses. They would have been paying that tax. Now they will not be paying that tax. The tax that they would have had to pay, had we not made this announcement, has been cut. It is a tax...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, what I announced is this: we will extend the scheme. If the Member knew that he had a bill to pay next year of £100 and I came along with a scheme that told him he wouldn’t need to pay that £100 after all, I think he’d regard it as a cut in the liability that he would otherwise have had to meet, and that is exactly what we have done. What I have also announced is that,...
Mark Drakeford: Well, the Member will have to wait until 30 September, like everybody else, to see what the VOA’s revaluation of non-domestic rates will actually say rather than what people speculate on what it might say. Members here will be aware that what revaluation does is not to increase at all the amount of money taken from businesses, but it simply makes sure that the distribution of those rates...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you for the question. The way I intend to approach the development of council tax is in two different phases. I think there are some immediate actions that we can take to improve the operation of the scheme that we currently have and to make it fairer to individuals. But I do want us to think more widely than that. I think there are a number of ways in which local taxation could be...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I don’t think what the First Minister said yesterday will come as a surprise to many who’ve been following the developing discussions about the future of local government here in Wales over recent months. I have been grateful to the Member for her willingness to take part in those discussions. I visited all 22 local authorities in Wales over those months and an emerging set...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, the funding formula is reviewed every year. A group of people with expertise in this field, including representation from local government look, every single year, at the formula. They look at all the component parts of it: demography, geography, economy and social factors and, every year, they bring forward proposals, and governments, in my experience, accept the advice that they...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I think it is very important for us to get our relationship with local authorities right. The Welsh Government sets out key priorities and key ambitions that we expect local authorities to work towards and to achieve. It’s then for local authorities themselves, who are democratically elected and have democratic responsibilities of their own, to make decisions that they think best...
Mark Drakeford: I’m heartened to hear the Member’s recognition of the excellent work that the EU did in this area in leading some of the environmental improvements that we’ve seen across the United Kingdom. The European Union was responsible for dragging the United Kingdom into some of those actions that have done so much to improve our local environment. Without the European Union—of course, he...
