Part of 3. 2. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:08 pm on 23 May 2017.
Well, ‘carefully’ I think is the word that I’d use. Firstly, if we look at business rates, if they were to be devolved to local authorities then 17 of the 22 local authorities would lose out. So, we must be careful that we don’t see that situation arise. We will look to devolve powers to appropriate bodies where we can. It’s fair to say that not all local authorities are able to exercise those powers effectively. We want local authorities to work in regional bodies, but we are fully committed to the growth bid and, of course, we will work with the UK Government in order to take that bid forward.