Rebecca Evans: Yes. The land transaction tax temporary reduction period has been extended to 30 June to help those taxpayers who may have encountered delays in completing their home purchases before 1 April. From 1 July, the standard rates of land transaction tax will apply.
Rebecca Evans: Well, Welsh Government receives consequentials from the UK Government on all areas of spend that fall within the devolved context, and I'll give you, as an example, the fact that the Welsh Government has distributed more funding to business than we've received as a result of consequential funding from the UK Government.
Rebecca Evans: I'm demonstrating to Mark Isherwood that we are not a post box for consequential funding from the UK Government. The consequential funding comes in a block of funding that we are then able to allocate as per the needs here in Wales. Now, the funding that we allocated to hospices here in Wales was on the basis that we had discussions with the hospice sector to understand the financial need...
Rebecca Evans: The whole point of the discretionary fund is that it puts discretion in the hands of local authorities to be able to allocate grants to those businesses that haven't been able to access funding through the NDR business grant scheme. And it does give local authorities wide discretion to make those allocations to businesses that they think are important to the local community and that they feel...
Rebecca Evans: I can explain that very easily, because the funding available to us next year includes both the funding that was announced in the UK Government's budget on 3 March and also the more than £600 million that we're able to carry forward into the next financial year from this year, because of the good budget management decisions that we have taken. So, across the border, you'll have seen the...
Rebecca Evans: Well, I set out in my first answer some of the steps that we have undertaken in order to make council tax fairer, and they are significant steps. The protocol, which we agreed with local authorities, has been very significant in ensuring that people get the support that they need should they be unable to pay their council tax or struggling with it. We worked with MoneySavingExpert.com to...
Rebecca Evans: Well, the question that Rhun ap Iorwerth posed in his first question was, 'Is council tax fairer than it was when I came into post?' and the answer to that is, undeniably, yes, it is. The question he didn't ask me was, 'Is council tax fair?', because I would have answered that council tax is actually a regressive tax, and that's why we've been working very hard over the past couple of years...
Rebecca Evans: Council tax is fairer than it's been across the period of devolution because of the sheer work that we've put into making the agenda more fair. I'll give some examples as to how we've achieved that. For example, we've ensured that young people leaving care are now exempt from paying council tax to the age of 25. We've ensured that the sanction of imprisonment has been removed for people who...
Rebecca Evans: I very much share Jayne Bryant's enthusiasm for the announcement today, and also pay tribute to the work that she and John Griffiths have done jointly to ensure that this particular project stays very much at the top of the agenda. And it's great that we've been able to bring things across the line, because I think that the transporter bridge really does provide an opportunity to act as a...
Rebecca Evans: Newport City Council will see an increase of £12.8 million in its settlement, the largest increase in funding of any local authority, at 5.6 per cent. I've also announced today £1.5 million to drive forward an £11.9 million joint investment for the major renovation of the Newport transporter bridge. [Laughter.] I'm very excited about that, as you can see, Llywydd. Sorry, I was struggling...
Rebecca Evans: I absolutely couldn't agree more with David Melding on that point, because, of course, when we're investing in our school estate and our college estate, we're investing in the futures of those young people, which is absolutely the priority. But there are so many more benefits that we enjoy as well—for example, the investment that we're making in decarbonisation, in terms of supporting...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, I will absolutely provide that reassurance and confidence to Mick Antoniw this afternoon. And just listing the investment that's gone into Rhondda Cynon Taf, I think, really shows the scale of the ambition that we've shown so far, but also gives an indication of the kind of investment that we would want to make in future. So, Welsh Government will continue to invest in the school estate...
Rebecca Evans: We are providing an additional £70 million to support delivery of the band B programme next year. This money will bring the total invested over the life of the twenty-first century schools programme to £3.7 billion, of which nearly £400 million will be invested in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising that issue, and we've said previously that it's really important that that investigation was undertaken very quickly and came to its conclusions quickly, given the real sensitivities that there are and the hurt that's been felt within the community. So, the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip has our main role in terms of liaison with the police and I know that she'll be...
Rebecca Evans: Well, we've all received the same correspondence and I know that I've asked for a copy of the response that the Welsh Government issued in the first instance regarding outdoor education, because of course we recognise the important role that outdoor education plays both in children and young people's learning experience but also in terms of building their self-esteem, their confidence and...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising both of those really important issues, and I'm pleased that you highlighted the statement that the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip has issued just today, reflecting on the recent tragic events that have, I think, reminded us how often women feel unsafe. I think it's really, really positive that businesses such as the Angel Hotel in Cardiff, but also hotels and shops...
Rebecca Evans: I will speak to the Minister for Education about the issue of breakfast clubs to understand how widespread the issue of capacity is, with a view to exploring what more a future Welsh Government can do in this area, but, if you could send me some more information about the level of the additional demand that you're aware of, that would be very useful. I know that we'll also want to pick it up...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising both those issues, and I'll ensure that the correspondence to which I referred in my answer to Darren Millar is also sent to you as well. In terms of the first question, regarding the speed at which graffiti should be removed, could I ask you to write to the Minister on that issue, and I'm sure that they will be able to provide some more information and point you to any...
Rebecca Evans: Yes, thank you to Mike Hedges for raising the budget. Of course, we do have four opportunities to debate the budget on the floor of the Senedd: we have the early budget debate, which, over the last two years, has been brought forward and led by the Finance Committee, so that we can reflect on the work that the Finance Committee has done in terms of its engagement work; then we have the...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising the issue. As you were talking, I was looking at the questions for the Minister for Education tomorrow, and there is an opportunity specifically to address young people's and children's well-being there. But I know that you'd be keen to have a wider statement, and the Minister will have heard everything that you've had to say. I've been pleased, in the budget for next...
