Rebecca Evans: Thank you. The first issue that was raised by David Rees was the coal tips taskforce, and the extension of that work now into mine works, and that's following the recent flooding incidents. Welsh Government is really keen to see a joint programme of work between the Welsh Government and the UK Government on this, recognising that Wales does have 40 per cent of the coal tips of the whole of...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you to Huw Irranca-Davies for raising these issues, and the first one was in relation to the Wales Union Learning Fund, and of course that gives me an ideal opportunity to remind colleagues that it is HeartUnions Week, and, were it not for unions, we wouldn't have all of the workplace protections that we enjoy and which are so easy to take for granted. So, we're very proud of the work...
Rebecca Evans: I will ask the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales to provide Darren Millar with that update on the north Wales metro.FootnoteLink With respect to the clean air proposals, I would certainly encourage all colleagues to take the opportunity to seek to engage constructively with the White Paper and to come forward with their own suggestions as to how we can potentially ensure that,...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I know the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip will have been listening very carefully to that contribution. We do understand that Flintshire County Council is conducting its own inquiry at the moment into the events at the Riverside site, and we'll be keen to learn from their findings. I would mention, though, that the Welsh Government has been very keen to provide good advice to local...
Rebecca Evans: Welsh Government has put in place the £500 payment for those individuals who are required to self-isolate as a result of the conditions of the pandemic, but I will ask the health Minister to review your comments this afternoon in specific regard to those care home staff who are now being asked to take annual leave, given the specific role that those care home workers play in the...
Rebecca Evans: Well, the regulations determine whether a business or premise must remain close at the different levels of alert, and guidance on what is or isn't allowed and what is allowed to open or has to remain closed is provided in the Welsh Government's control plan. At alert level 4, restrictions require all sports and leisure facilities to remain closed, and at alert level 3, sport and leisure...
Rebecca Evans: I'm grateful to Paul Davies for raising both of these important issues, and Welsh Government absolutely understands the importance of the tourism sector to huge swathes of Wales, and we're very keen to support the sector in as best a way as we possibly can. I know the Deputy Minister will be listening and considering the request for a specific statement on support, but I would like to reflect...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch. There are no changes to this week's business. Draft business for the next three weeks is set out on the business statement and announcement, which can be found amongst the meeting papers available to Members electronically.
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you to all colleagues for their contributions, and particularly to the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee and Finance Committee for the work that they've done in terms of scrutinising the regulations. I'll just respond to what I think are the two most substantial points raised during the debate, the first being the timing of the announcement. We do...
Rebecca Evans: In the draft budget, published in December, I set out details of our plans for how Welsh devolved and partially devolved taxes are supporting our spending priorities and delivering a fairer and more progressive tax system in Wales. To bring the changes in the draft budget into permanent effect, Senedd approval is needed for three sets of regulations. Two are subject to the made affirmative...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much to John Griffiths for raising that issue. It gives me the chance just to provide examples of how the Welsh Government takes different decisions to the UK Government where we do have the responsibility for taxes. One is, of course, the land transaction tax. We have the most progressive system here in Wales. Our reliefs aren't just limited to first-time buyers—although the...
Rebecca Evans: I'll begin by welcoming Mark Reckless's kind words about the Welsh Revenue Authority; I think that is has performed exceptionally well, and it does take a completely different approach to the collection of taxes as compared to HMRC or other revenue authorities. The fact that it has been able to build something completely new and fresh has enabled it to perform very well. Over 98 per cent of...
Rebecca Evans: I absolutely agree with Alun Davies that there are two sides to the coin, if you like, in terms of raising taxation here in Wales. One is about raising revenue, but the other, of course, is about behaviour change. Our landfill disposals tax speaks very strongly to that, because we want to see those figures actually going down. I'm keen to explore, in future, what more we can do with landfill...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. So, building on the comments that I made in response to Rhun ap Iorwerth's questions relating to a plastics tax, I can confirm that the Welsh Government has been facilitating engagement events with key stakeholders in Wales in relation to the work I described that we are undertaking with the UK Government. In May of last year, for example, stakeholders were encouraged to attend an...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch. Rhun ap Iorwerth began by talking about the importance of taxation and accountability and transparency. I'm really proud that the Welsh Government is the only Government across the United Kingdom that will have tabled three supplementary budgets over the course of this financial year. And, of course, our budgets are so closely linked to the revenue that is raised here in Wales. I...
Rebecca Evans: I'm grateful to Mark Isherwood for those questions this afternoon, and I welcome him to his new portfolio. So, Mark Isherwood began by talking about the Welsh Government's general approach to taxation, and we have a very firm foundation for our Welsh tax policy, which is set out on the basis of five principles. That is that taxation should raise revenue to support public services as fairly as...
Rebecca Evans: We have also established Wales's first non-ministerial department, the Welsh Revenue Authority, on time and on budget. It has now been successfully collecting and administering the fully devolved Welsh taxes for three years. The WRA's distinctive approach to supporting the process for delivering a fair tax system means it works in partnership with taxpayers to ensure that tax is paid on time,...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Introducing the first Welsh taxes in nearly 800 years has been an important milestone in our devolution story. During the past five years, the successful implementation of three Welsh taxes—the land transaction tax and the landfill disposals tax in 2018, and Welsh rates of income tax in 2019—has widened the responsibilities of the Welsh Government and the Senedd,...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising this specific issue on behalf of that care home. The Minister will be making a statement on vaccinations and vaccines as the next item of business today, so there could be an opportunity to raise that then. But, if not, if you write to the health Minister or myself with the specific details of the care home to which you refer, we can look into this in further detail and...
Rebecca Evans: We do have the statement on vaccination as the next item of business this afternoon, so this might be a further opportunity to hear from the Minister in this regard. But it's been very much the case that the Welsh Government has been following the advice of the JCVI in terms of schedule that it has set out, in order to maintain the approach that we've taken throughout the pandemic of...
