Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising those two issues. I know the Minister with responsibility for social care is here in the Chamber to hear your request for a statement and a view on the proposals for a summit. I know that she'll give that due consideration. With regard to the Rhondda tunnel, I think it's a tremendously exciting proposal. Clearly, there are issues in terms of the ownership and how any...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Darren Millar for raising this issue this afternoon. As he recognises, the work that is being carried out on the A55 is very much being done in order to ensure the safety of that stretch of road, but clearly any disruption to people's lives is concerning. So, I will ask in the first instance Welsh Government officials to investigate the situation with a view to providing some advice...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Llywydd. There are three changes to this week's business. Later this afternoon, I will make a statement on implications for Wales of the UK Government's 2019 spending round, and the Counsel General and Brexit Minister will make a statement on Brexit. To accommodate this, the statement on Designed to Smile—10 years of improving children's oral health in Wales will be issued as a...
Rebecca Evans: We wouldn't expect to see changes at this point in the year, because obviously, as you say, we don't have the level of detail that we have, and we've set our Welsh rates of income tax at the same level as they have in England. We've been really clear, and I'll reiterate it in the Chamber today, that we would have no intention of changing those Welsh rates of income tax between now and the...
Rebecca Evans: Welsh Government has an agreement with the OBR and we have a memorandum of understanding kind of agreement, which sets out what Welsh Government will require of them. Obviously, we do pay for their services, so we expect and receive a good quality service. They use the same mechanisms for undertaking their forecasting work and analysis as they do for other parts of the UK. I think it's...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you very much, and I thank Mark Reckless for bringing forward this last debate of term. It’s never the short straw to be talking about tax—I think we both enjoy it equally. Tax devolution has been one of the key enhancements to the Welsh Government and the National Assembly’s powers over the past two decades, and, in just a few years, new arrangements for fiscal devolution and the...
Rebecca Evans: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I very much welcome today's debate, and I thank the Children, Young People and Education Committee, the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee and the Finance Committee for their joint report assessing the impact of budget decisions. I also thank all Members for I think what has been a really constructive debate, and certainly plenty of challenge and lots...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I welcome this opportunity to explain the background to this legislative consent motion. I'm grateful to the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee for considering the LCM and for the report it has produced. The committee considers there is no impediment to the Assembly agreeing the LCM. The UK Government introduced the Non-Domestic Rating (Public Lavatories) Bill on 18...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. As the Chair of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee has said, it's not anticipated that either of these areas of amendment would have a significant impact on tax revenue. It is, however, hoped that the amendments would make the administration of landfill disposals tax easier and fairer, and therefore have a positive impact on the tax risk work of the WRA in these...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I'm pleased to present the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Act 2017 (Reliefs) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019. I'd like to put on record my thanks to the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee for its work in considering these regulations. These regulations are made under sections 8(5)(b), 33(1)(b) and 94(1) of the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Act 2017. The...
Rebecca Evans: So, I know that Alun Davies would have read with interest the 'Tax policy work plan 2019' that I published in February this year and will have some detailed questions for me on that. And that set out the programme of work and research that the Welsh Government is pursuing in 2019, building on the findings, of course, of last year's work plan. And that policy sets out our main areas of...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Rhianon Passmore for setting out the challenging circumstances in which we find ourselves, but I want to emphasise that Welsh Government is doing absolutely everything it possibly can to prepare for Brexit, whichever form it takes, and to try and take whatever mitigating action we possibly can. So, you’ll recall I recently announced a capital investment package, which was a first...
Rebecca Evans: I'm not going to pretend there is good news in terms of Welsh Government's budget, which has been going down year on year. Just three facts from Mark Reckless's contribution—well, one from my statement, and two from his contribution. The fact from my statement is that 50 per cent of the Welsh Government's budget goes on pay. Mark Reckless tells us wages are going up year on year; Welsh...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Vikki Howells for raising these points, and particularly the recognition that some of the policies and proposals that have been put forward by both potential new Prime Ministers certainly are not on the progressive end of things, and certainly would benefit those who are richer, and offer nothing for people who are struggling, but then I suppose that is very much where we are in the...
Rebecca Evans: I thank Llyr Gruffydd for those comments. The first point he made was: are we taking the fight to the UK Government? Well, yes, I took the fight to the Prime Minister just last week. I was representing Welsh Government on the EUExTP meeting, which is the European Union exit and trade preparedness committee, which is a sub-committee of the UK Cabinet, which Welsh Government and the devolved...
Rebecca Evans: Thank you. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to respond to those comments. There weren't spending commitments made in this statement today because the purpose of it wasn't to make spending commitments, it was to outline the outlook for future public spending in Wales in advance, then, of coming forward with commitments within the envelope that we will have. I think it's really important to...
Rebecca Evans: The UK Government’s narrative has been that austerity is ending. The reality is very different. Even taking into account announced increases to health spending, real-terms spending on public services per head across the UK will be some 10 per cent lower in 2023-24 than in 2009-10. Make no mistake, the UK remains firmly in the grip of austerity. The Welsh Government has made very clear that...
Rebecca Evans: Dirprwy Lywydd, there is little doubt that Wales and the public services we value so highly face major challenges as we look to the future. It seems the sole focus for the UK Government is the election of a new leader of the Conservative Party and, as a result, a new Prime Minister. We have all heard both candidates make big promises on tax and spending. But, as things stand, we know very...
Rebecca Evans: Well, I can confirm there'll be a debate on 'Designed to Smile: 10 years of improving children's oral health in Wales' on the first day back in September, so that might be an opportunity, at least, for colleagues to raise issues relating specifically to children's oral health, but, obviously, an opportunity to raise their wider interests and concerns.
Rebecca Evans: Thank you for raising those issues. In relation to the first: of course, equine influenza is a non-notifiable and endemic condition in the United Kingdom. The disease is usually mild and self-limiting, but it can also represent a major cause of respiratory disease in the horse population. I can confirm that the chief veterinary officer has been providing advice, and we’re in ongoing...
