5. Will the First Minister make a statement on the future of devolution in Wales? OAQ(5)0662(FM)

It will continue to be strengthened.

Short and sweet, thank you. First minister, you may be aware that the First Minister of Northern Ireland is in favour of abolishing air passenger duty to help air passengers support growth, jobs and cut costs from businesses. Given the Scottish Government has now used its newly devolved power and brought in its Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Bill, as a replacement for air passenger duty, and has committed to reducing it from 2018, what are you going to do to ensure that air passenger duty is devolved, and once it is devolved, what will you do with it?

The First Minister of Northern Ireland isn’t in place, at the moment—hopefully soon—but he will surely know that this is something that we’ve argued ad nauseam for it to be devolved. There is no reason why it should be devolved in Northern Ireland, devolved in Scotland, but not devolved in Wales. What would we do with it? We would certainly look at reducing or removing it for long haul, because we know that Cardiff Airport is particularly well placed for long-haul passenger flights. But the UK Government has resolutely refused to devolve it to us, despite the fact it’s devolved to Scotland. There is no reason for this, there is no rationale for this, there is no fairness in this, and, certainly, it’s something that the Conservatives in this Chamber have not been particularly vocal about in the last few weeks or months.

And a further positive development, First Minister, of devolution is the right to determine the conduct of our own elections here in Wales. And during the general elections a couple of weeks ago, we witnessed a significant increase in the number of young people both registering to vote and an apparently unprecedented high turn-out amongst that group. And if pundits are to be believed, this did benefit Labour in many parts of the UK, as we saw with the extraordinary results in places like Kensington and Canterbury, and even Cardiff North, with young people taking a stance against hard Brexit and austerity. Do you agree with me, First Minister, that this engagement by young people, in the political process, is to be greatly welcomed and lend support to arguments for extending the voting age to 16 when we get the option to do that here in Wales?

I’m personally in favour of extending the voting age to 16. And I fail to see why, if it’s good for Scotland in one referendum, it can’t therefore apply across every election, put bluntly. There’s no rational for doing it for one vote, but not for others. For many years in this Chamber, politicians of all parties have wrestled with how we get more young people engaged in politics, fearing that they don’t vote. We saw lots of them voting in droves at the general election, at levels I’d not seen before, particularly in the morning. In my local polling station it was very, very noticeable. I certainly want to see that trend continuing, because it’s hugely important that voting isn’t seen as something you do when you get into middle age.

First Minister, I’m happy to be vocal in favour of the devolution of air passenger duty to this Assembly. I’m sorry if you haven’t quite heard our calls on that over the last few weeks and months, but, certainly, that is our position.

Nathan Gill, in his question, was right to refer to tax devolution as the next big development in devolution within Wales—indeed, in the devolved parts of the UK as well. The deadline when the UK stamp duty and landfill disposal tax are to be replaced with Welsh taxes is fast approaching, in April 2018, and then with income tax partially in 2019.

First Minister, one of the key arguments in favour of tax devolution has been increased accountability, but this relies on public awareness of where that responsibility lies. Do you agree with me that there is still a lack of awareness amongst large sections of the Welsh electorate out there, certainly the people who I speak to, and that’s not good in the medium and long term for that accountability? So, would you agree to look at ways that we can have a speedy awareness-raising campaign over the months and years ahead, as taxes are devolved to Wales, so that people in Wales can fully understand what taxes are being raised here, what’s being wa—raised in the UK and how we can move forward together?

I could mischievously say he used the word ‘wasted’ in the UK, but he meant ‘raised’, I know that. He makes a good point. I mean, it’s hugely important that people understand what happens here and there will be a communications plan in place to inform people of what is going to happen next year and indeed the year after. It’s hugely important that’s done, not just via the traditional media either. We saw in the general election that media such as Facebook were probably more powerful than the tabloid newspapers for the first time ever. So, a wide variety of media will be used in order to convey the message.