6. 5. Statement: Apprenticeships in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:21 pm on 14 June 2016.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 4:21, 14 June 2016

We haven’t got that, yet. Those of us who were present in the previous Assembly will know that we took a legislative consent motion through to allow HMRC to collect data in Wales and to data share it with us. At the moment, HMRC are the only people in possession of those data and we’re in negotiation with them around the costs of releasing those data to us. However, we do know, in conversation with officials from the UK Government, that it’s proved to be as difficult as we thought it might be, and more difficult than they thought it might be, to correctly identify who works and lives in Wales, because, obviously, we have a very porous border, which many Members will be aware of. We are continuing to push the UK Government very heavily on this, but it has to be said that, even in the English scheme, as proposed, they are clearly replacing moneys that used to be funded through general taxation with moneys now funded through this very specific employers tax.