Rebecca Evans: Thank you to Mike Hedges for raising the concerns of supply teachers. I do know that this is a concern for several Members, so we'll explore what might be possible in terms of providing an update that is wider than the one that I've described this afternoon to Huw Irranca-Davies. In Wales, of course, we do have the national supply agency framework in place, and that does aim to ensure fair...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for those issues this afternoon. On the role of community pharmacists, they absolutely will play a very important role in terms of our roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine. You'll be aware, of course, that the first community pharmacy pilot has been undertaken in north Wales already, so we'll be looking to learn from that and build from that. Community pharmacists themselves will...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising both of those issues this afternoon. It is the case that the JCVI guidance issued on 2 December states that front-line funeral operatives and mortuary technicians or embalmers are both at risk of exposure. It has been agreed now that those in the funeral sector who would require PPE to undertake their role would come under cohort 2 and, therefore, should be vaccinated....
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising those two issues. In respect of perinatal mental health support, I know that the health Minister would be really interested in the findings of your survey that you've undertaken. You say you've had more than 300 responses, so I'm sure that that will provide a really useful evidence base for the Welsh Government. So, if you could share that with the health Minister, I...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you to Mark Isherwood for raising that issue this afternoon, and of course I very much understand everybody's anxiousness in terms of being able to access the vaccine as soon as humanly possible. There are several questions to the health Minister on the order paper tomorrow afternoon in relation to the COVID-19 vaccines, so there may be opportunities there to raise this directly with...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. There is one change to this week's business. The statement on the Welsh Government's response to the recommendations of the South East Wales Transport Commission will be made by the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport. 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...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Jack Sargeant very much for raising this issue, and for the work that he does representing businesses, large and small, from his constituency; some of the largest that we have, in fact, are in his constituency. I know that he's been particularly concerned about the aerospace industry, which he's mentioned. And I'm very much looking forward to that meeting that I will be having with...
Rebecca Evans: We continue to do all we can to support businesses across Wales through these incredibly difficult times, and have provided the most generous support package anywhere in the UK. To date, the COVID business rates grant scheme has made 2,616 awards to businesses across Flintshire, which total more than £31.3 million.
Rebecca Evans: I think, over the course of this last year, and certainly since I published the first budget improvement plan, we really have taken great strides, both in terms of transparency but also engagement. I think the fact that we've been able to still progress the work in terms of the gender budgeting, the carbon assessments, and the distributional impact assessments has been a real testimony to the...
Rebecca Evans: Llywydd, as yet, I haven't had the opportunity to have a discussion with the Minister on this particular issue, but I clearly will intend to do so and will reflect, within the third supplementary budget, the outcome of those discussions. And, of course, I'd be happy to share that information with Llyr before that point.FootnoteLink
Rebecca Evans: I have taken additional steps this year to provide full transparency about the fiscal implications of the pandemic to support robust scrutiny of spending decisions. Measures include publishing two supplementary budgets, writing to the Finance Committee with details of consequentials, and providing regular updates to the Senedd in the Chamber.
Rebecca Evans: The third supplementary budget is planned for publication on 9 February 2021. Any allocations in the current financial year for the environment, energy, and rural affairs portfolio will be included in that budget.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much for the question. The education resource and capital budget now stands at £1.9 billion for 2021-22, and that is an increase, as I say, of £102 million, or 5.8 per cent from our revised baseline. So, there's significant additional funding going into the education MEG. But, of course, the position within local authorities is also extremely important in terms of funding for...
Rebecca Evans: In recognition of the impact the pandemic has had on our children and young people, we are boosting the budget for education in 2021-22 by an extra £102 million. This is in addition to the uplift of £176 million for local government, which will support front-line services, including schools.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you to Mike Hedges for raising this. On the issue of local authorities, we do provide statutory guidance for local authorities when they make their borrowing and investment decisions in a way that is appropriate to their statutory responsibilities. On the second part of the question, I also agree with Mike Hedges that we do need to grow the economy here in Wales and ensure that we do...
Rebecca Evans: I'm more than happy to provide those assurances. SMEs are absolutely the backbone of the economy here in Wales. I think that our approach to the pandemic has demonstrated particularly our support for small and medium-sized enterprises. You will recall that there was quite a bit of a furore about the Welsh Government's early decision not to allocate rate relief, in terms of non-domestic rates,...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising the question, and happy new year to you too. I have looked into this, because I was interested in the question that you raised with the First Minister previously. At present, there is only one deal—and that's of the entire £122 million that has been invested—where the repayment of the loan is reliant on the sale of a commercial development within a project. So, I...
Rebecca Evans: I am retaining a fiscal resource reserve of more than £800 million in the draft budget for 2021-22 to deal with the uncertain future path and impact of the pandemic. The fiscal framework protects the budget from the impact on devolved revenues of UK-wide economic shocks that have been caused by the pandemic.
Rebecca Evans: I'm very much an admirer of the work of the Urdd, and I have had discussions with both the Minister for Education and also the Minister with responsibility for the Welsh language, when she was in her previous portfolio, although she does maintain responsibility for the Welsh language now, about the future of the Urdd and what support it might need, both in the short term but then, also, as a...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Suzy Davies for raising that. I did respond referring specifically to Cardiff because, of course, Jenny Rathbone was the Member who tabled the question and represents Cardiff, so I was sure to have those figures to hand to respond to that. We do support our youth services, as I say, through that £10 million funding for youth services, which is administered to both local authorities...
