Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:54 pm on 15 February 2017.
Well, I reject almost everything that the Member just said, Llywydd. There’s no contradiction between what the two sources that she quoted have said to you. There will be 40 people working in the Welsh Revenue Authority. A number of those will be recruited from Wales. A number of them will undoubtedly be recruited from beyond Wales. We are establishing a tax profession for Wales for the very first time. There will be skills needed for the Welsh Revenue Authority that are scarce and very particular. I met yesterday with the chair and chief executive of Revenue Scotland. I explored with them very specifically what they told me was the constant challenge of being able to recruit and retain scarce staff. They told me that they recruit for Revenue Scotland beyond Scotland, and, indeed, beyond the United Kingdom. They don’t have people simply within Scotland, when they too are establishing a profession for the first time. We will need people from in Wales, but we will undoubtedly need people who currently work outside Wales, and we will be very glad, on this side, to attract people who are willing to make their future part of our future here in Wales.