Rebecca Evans: Well, we fund education differently here in Wales, because we trust local government here in Wales to do the right thing by their schools, and, as I've said, local government is passing that money on to schools and then some, so I think that the characterisation that we're seeing on the Conservative benches is inaccurate and unfair. We've also provided an additional £165 million for NHS...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, and thank you to colleagues for their contributions in the debate this afternoon. I'll begin by just responding to some of the comments made by the Chair of the Finance Committee in his remarks, which opened the debate this afternoon. One was, really, around how the Welsh Government engages with the committee in terms of providing information and so on, and I'm very happy to continue...
Rebecca Evans: Despite this context, I remain proud that our approach remains grounded in ensuring that every pound invested makes the greatest positive impact. We have delivered a budget that recognises the need to balance the short-term impacts of the cost-of-living crisis, whilst also doing all that we can to drive forward the longer term change and deliver on our programme for government ambitions. This...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. I am pleased to open the debate on our 2023-24 final budget. As I outlined when publishing our draft budget, this is undoubtedly a budget made in hard times for hard times. It reflects the constraints of our funding settlement, but despite this, we remain ambitious for Wales. Despite the challenges that we've faced, this budget has been forged with a spirit of collaboration...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, and thank you to all Members for their contributions to the debate today. Of course, as we move further into Senedd term, we'll continue to keep under review the vital role that WRIT plays as a partially devolved tax here in Wales. I think Llyr opened his comments this afternoon by saying we've discussed Welsh rates of income tax many times in the past few weeks, and I think that's...
Rebecca Evans: Llywydd, thank you for the opportunity to open this debate on the Welsh rates of income tax resolution for the 2023-24. Welsh rates of income tax were introduced in April 2019 and apply to non-savings, non-dividend income tax payers resident in Wales. Welsh rates of income tax raise well over £2.5 billion each year towards the funding of the Welsh Government's budget. The Welsh rates for the...
Rebecca Evans: Shall I respond to the debate, Llywydd?
Rebecca Evans: Yes, please. I am disappointed that the Conservatives are not supporting the freeze to the multiplier, because, of course, the alternative is that the multiplier rises in line with the consumer prices index, which would obviously be very bad news for businesses right across Wales, and we have to remember as well that the multiplier is only one factor that determines the ratepayer's bill, and...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch. I move the motion to approve the Non-Domestic Rating (Multiplier) (Wales) Regulations 2023. The regulations set the non-domestic rating multiplier for 2023-24. On 12 December, I announced the decision to freeze the multiplier for 2023-24. It will remain at the same level set since 2020-21, which is 0.535. This means that all the rates bills paid in 2023-24 will be substantially lower...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you, and thank you very much to Mike Hedges for bringing forward this interesting debate today and, of course, to Alun Davies for his thought-provoking comments as well. How we work together across our public services is what makes us different here in Wales and it's the passion, determination and the care that we see from our public servants in Wales across local government, health,...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, I'm very grateful for the question. I think that, perhaps, it would be better directed at the Minister with responsibility for this area, but I will do my best and point the Member towards the important work that we have been doing through the young person's guarantee, which you will have seen from the recent announcement has helped thousands of young people into work or training or...
Rebecca Evans: The Welsh Government has committed an extra £36 million over the next two years, with the goal of delivering 125,000 apprenticeships by 2027. Apprenticeship policy is the responsibility of the Minister for Economy.
Rebecca Evans: Well, I can confirm that officials have met with the chief executive officer of 2 Sisters and are continuing the dialogue to pull all possible levers to offer support to people affected by the recent developments. And, of course, our officials are working very closely with the local authority. I know that the Minister for Economy has been speaking to the leader as well. Obviously, it is...
Rebecca Evans: In 2023-24, the council will receive £123.7 million through the local government settlement—an increase of 7.9 per cent. While the council will still have to make some difficult decisions in the face of the current rates of inflation, this is a better settlement than authorities had expected.
Rebecca Evans: I think the Welsh Government has a responsibility to be honest to people in Wales that it is a fact that our budget is not rising in line with inflation, and I think that's a fact. Nonetheless, Welsh Government is doing absolutely everything that it can in order to prioritise and protect public services, which is why we undertook a very painful exercise across Government to try and...
Rebecca Evans: The Government is providing unhypothecated revenue funding of over £5.5 billion and £180 million of capital funding in 2023-24 in support of local authority services. While this is a significantly better settlement than authorities had anticipated, authorities will need to take some difficult decisions given the high levels of inflation.
Rebecca Evans: In prioritising public services, including local government, in our budget settlement, we've always been clear at every step that it still will mean a difficult set of decisions for local government to take. I know that local government leaders have been consulting on a whole range of things that they wouldn't normally want to be consulting their local areas on in terms of service provision...
Rebecca Evans: The Welsh Government is supportive of local authorities working in collaboration to improve services and provide value for money, including via shared services. Corporate joint committees provide an important new vehicle to support strategic regional collaboration between authorities.
Rebecca Evans: So, the majority of the Welsh Government’s financial support for public libraries is distributed through the local government core settlement, which colleagues will remember is uplifted by 7.9 per cent in our budget for next year. No authority will see an increase of less than 6.5 per cent. There are other sources of funding that are important, however, including the capital transformation...
Rebecca Evans: It was lovely to hear those examples of the ways in which libraries in Islwyn are innovating, and I’m aware of some other examples as well locally in your area, including a knit and natter group, toddler time, a Lego club, and Blind Date With A Book, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, and they have that in my own library as well, and I thought that was a particularly lovely idea....
