Rebecca Evans: Well, Llywydd, I won't be making any manifesto announcements in the Chamber this afternoon, but I think that there is a great deal to consider in terms of the tourism tax. It's certainly something that is very popular with local authorities, especially in tourist areas, who want to improve their offer in terms of tourism. And although the policy hasn't yet been fully developed, it hasn't been...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Siân Gwenllian for the question, and also for having the meeting with the First Minister earlier on today, and I look forward to catching up with him later this afternoon on that particular meeting as well. In theory, of course, we can make changes in-year to our land transaction tax. I'm very keen that—. We have the land transaction tax rates and thresholds that were announced...
Rebecca Evans: Yes. There are no plans to create new taxes before the end of this Senedd.
Rebecca Evans: Well, as Rhun ap Iorwerth says, any bonds would count towards our Welsh Government borrowing, and of course we have that aggregate limit of £1 billion and a maximum borrowing of £150 million in any one year, which is a relatively small amount of money in the greater scheme of things. He'll also be aware of the discussions that we've had previously, that Welsh Government will always look to...
Rebecca Evans: As I said to Rhun ap Iorwerth last week, I'm afraid, as the contract contains commercially sensitive information, we wouldn't be looking to publish it. But, there is always an element of profit when we procure infrastructure. In this case, however, the precise amount of that profit will be determined by the performance of the company over the life of the contract, and that's one of the...
Rebecca Evans: Well, as Rhun ap Iorwerth knows, our journey into tax raising in Wales is very much in its infancy. However, we have been able to use the tools at our disposal during the pandemic, and an example would be the way in which we treated the recent announcement on the part of the Chancellor regarding land transaction tax, or stamp duty land tax as it's referred to across the border. By taking a...
Rebecca Evans: It's my understanding that that won't be the case next year, and a line has been drawn, if you like, under this particular episode. But I agree that some good discussions between officials and Audit Wales need to take place, and have taken place, in order to clarify the situation and ensure that we both have the same understanding of the rules and the technicalities within which we operate.
Rebecca Evans: I haven't personally had discussions with Audit Wales on this issue. As you say, it is a technical matter and, I think, most appropriately dealt with, in this instance, through officials. But I know officials have had some significant and lengthy discussions on this matter, and obviously we'd be keen to avoid it happening again in future.
Rebecca Evans: Well, as Nick Ramsay will know, through the briefing he's had as part of the Public Accounts Committee's work, this is a technical disagreement between the Welsh Government and the auditor in terms of how funding should be classified for this year, in the sense that funding was announced and when it went out the door was potentially across years. So, it is a disagreement in terms of how...
Rebecca Evans: It's really important, as I was saying to Russell George, that the Welsh Government has the results of that reconciliation exercise, so that we can understand exactly what the consequentials that we have received thus far pertain to, and then we can get a better understanding as to whether there'll be further funding coming forward before the end of the financial year. I know that there are...
Rebecca Evans: Huw Irranca-Davies is absolutely right, in the sense that the allocations and the decisions made by the UK Government are very much a reflection of the values of the UK Government and the things that it holds most dear. For my part, ahead of the Chancellor's spending review today, I wrote to the Chancellor urging him to rule out the public sector pay freeze and to deliver the funding that we...
Rebecca Evans: I was very pleased to be able to negotiate that guarantee with the UK Government in respect of additional funding for COVID-19. But what we have yet to receive from the UK Government is that reconciliation exercise, which will help us understand exactly what that guarantee relates to. Because, let's remember, all of this funding is just in relation to spend on tackling COVID-19 across the...
Rebecca Evans: So far this financial year, I have allocated more than £4 billion as part of our response to COVID-19. I'll continue to make further prudent funding decisions and allocate further resources when they are needed to support vital public services, the economy and individuals.
Rebecca Evans: We have provided local authorities with more than £500 million to meet the additional financial pressures they are facing to maintain services associated with the pandemic. This includes £200,000 to Swansea Council to support the Wales National Pool with loss of income for quarter 1 via the local authority emergency hardship fund.
Rebecca Evans: The Treasury has not engaged meaningfully with us on this issue. I wrote to the Chancellor last month and have reiterated our positions again this week ahead of today’s spending review. It’s vital they respect devolution and honour long-standing commitments that Wales will not receive ‘a penny less’ of funding.
Rebecca Evans: Regular and robust assessment of value for money was undertaken throughout the procurement process, and the benefit-cost ratio of the project remains positive. The project will also deliver against several important policy objectives, including supporting those of the Valleys taskforce.
Rebecca Evans: Again, thank you to Rhianon Passmore for raising this issue this afternoon. I know that she's had the opportunity to make those strong representations on behalf of smaller venues in particular directly to the Minister for Welsh Language, Well-being and Mental Health earlier on today. It is the case, certainly in terms of the test events—and I appreciate that these are probably larger events...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you to Rhun ap Iorwerth for raising what are serious and significant concerns. I will make a point of speaking to the Minister for Economy and Transport about your request for that urgent statement. If that's not able to be accommodated in the very near future, I will certainly ask him to write to you on those issues in the meantime.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you to Laura Anne Jones for raising that important issue. The Minister for Education does have questions in the Chamber tomorrow, so that might be an opportunity to explore some of this in more detail, but, alongside that, I will ask her to write to you with some further information about the plan for testing children in school, and also the advice that is being provided to schools...
Rebecca Evans: Llywydd, can I take this opportunity to thank Joyce Watson for the incredible work that she does, year after year, in terms of the White Ribbon campaign and in terms of being a voice for women and girls who are experiencing or are in danger of experiencing violence? I think that she's an inspiration to all of us, and I'm really grateful to Joyce for the vigil that she organised yesterday. It...
