Rebecca Evans: Our council tax reduction scheme maintains entitlements to support for vulnerable and low-income households in Wales. The scheme is uprated each year to take account of cost-of-living increases, and targets support where it is needed most.
Rebecca Evans: For 2022-23, Rhondda Cynon Taf will receive an 8.4 per cent increase in its core settlement allocation and Bridgend will receive a 9.2 per cent increase. In addition, these authorities will also receive a share of the £1.1 billion of specific revenue grants..
Rebecca Evans: Our programme for government and the co-operation agreement commit to making council tax fairer and more progressive, as we strive for a fairer Wales. I made a statement in plenary on 7 December, outlining our ambitions for this work.
Rebecca Evans: Diolch. The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 relate to setting the 2022-23 tax rates for landfill disposals tax. They were made using the made affirmative procedure. These regulations set the standard, lower and unauthorised disposal rates for landfill disposals tax that, subject to the outcome of today's debate, will apply to taxable disposals made on...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you to Alun for reinforcing the points made by the previous speaker. I know that Alun Davies has also expressed his views directly to the economy Minister as well. We will make sure that we have the opportunity to discuss in greater detail both of these particular cases, but then also the overarching point that you make about not losing these new ways of working, and the goodwill,...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, thank you for raising that. And I know that you have written to the Minister for Economy, setting out your concerns particularly in regard to Elite Clothing, and I have had the opportunity to look at that, and I know that the Minister is preparing a response to that. I know the commercial procurement delivery team has established a dynamic purchasing system for PPE and work wear, and...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising that, and it gives me a really good chance to highlight a new approach that we've detailed in another one of our Wales public procurement notices, which is 'Decarbonisation through procurement—Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans'. So, essentially, Welsh Government has decided to mandate the use of carbon reduction plans for Welsh Government contracts valued at £5...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, and I'm smiling at the 'bite-sized chunks'; I thought that was a great way to describe making lots for food contracts smaller. So, that was lovely. Yes, I just want to reassure you that we are very much working with a range of stakeholders to understand the requirements and the opportunities, now, which have been provided by the co-operation agreement measure in respect of free...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, thank you for raising that question, and, absolutely, I've talked about the importance of capacity and capability within the procurement sector, but there is a great deal to do in terms of ensuring that people have the opportunity to find employment within our public sector. One of the things that I'm quite excited about is our personal learning accounts. So, we introduced these about 18...
Rebecca Evans: Great, thank you for those questions. You're right that this is significant spend within Wales. It's around £7 billion that's spent through the Welsh public sector every year on procurement, and in Wales we have 267,000 businesses, of which 99.4 per cent are small and medium-sized enterprises. So, huge opportunities for us to be supporting these businesses. Our business support agencies in...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Mike Hedges for those particular questions, many of which will be part of the detailed policy discussions that will be had as the public procurement Bill here in Wales starts to develop. And I know that my colleague the Minister for Social Justice will have heard those particular queries in relation to what the Bill will aim to achieve and what legislation will put in place. I'm...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Llyr Gruffydd for those important questions, and I'll begin by referencing the agreement that we have with Plaid Cymru in our co-operation agreement, which is to explore how to set those meaningful targets to increase the Welsh public sector procurement from its current level. As a first step, we will carry out a detailed analysis of the public sector supply chains and promote the...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much to Peter Fox for those important questions and for giving me the opportunity to say a little bit more about the Welsh Government's response to the challenge of procurement reform now that we have left the European Union. Procurement is very much a complex landscape and one that is now changing, and there are opportunities for us to use the UK Government's Bill in one...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. Procurement is one of the most important and powerful levers the Welsh Government can use to help achieve its programme for government aspiration of a more prosperous, more equal and greener Wales. Sustainable economic growth, fair work, decarbonisation and delivering effective public services are just some of the priorities that can be supported through clear, smart and...
Rebecca Evans: I welcome the opportunity to bring forward these amending regulations today. The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 amend the 2013 council tax reduction scheme regulations. The scheme provides direct help to households across Wales by reducing their council tax bills, and these amendments ensure entitlements are...
Rebecca Evans: Finally, on local government, I'm really pleased that we were able to provide local government with a positive settlement. As Sam Rowlands says, like-for-like, it will increase by 9.4 per cent compared to the current year and no authority will receive less than an 8.4 per cent increase. I think this does reflect the importance that Welsh Government puts on local government as absolute key...
Rebecca Evans: Mental health has been referred to, and, again, this is a really important pillar of our budget, and I know that there was particular concern expressed during the debate about children and young people's mental health, and we absolutely recognise the impact that the pandemic has had in this area. So, as part of our overall £100 million investment, we're allocating an additional £10.5...
Rebecca Evans: The UK Government has also announced that £0.4 billion will be available UK-wide on the shared prosperity fund in 2022-23, £0.7 billion in 2023-24, and £1.5 billion in 2024-25. So, clearly, by anyone's reckoning, we are absolutely being short-changed of the £375 million that we would have had annually through the EU had we remained in it and had the UK Government kept its promise that we...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much. Thank you to all colleagues for what has been a really, really useful debate. There have been so many points raised. So, I will try and respond to at least some of the key themes, but I know that my colleagues will have been listening carefully, and I look forward to responding to some of the more detailed points in the committee scrutiny sessions that will be taking...
Rebecca Evans: We'll build a stronger, greener economy, including over £110 million in additional non-domestic rates relief to businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors. We cannot and will not ignore the devastating and unequal impacts the pandemic has had on the people of Wales. We will continue to celebrate diversity and move to eliminate inequality in all of its forms, including by...
