I just want to express my thanks as Chair of the Finance Committee on behalf of the whole of Finance Committee for the Cabinet Secretary’s willingness to work with us on this Bill. I do think that the Bill is improved by the scrutiny that it went through at committee stages, but I think there is an element of joint legislation in this Bill. As we look at the possibilities for new taxation and innovative taxation, and new ways of using the powers that we have, then I think the precedent underpinning this Bill and, to be fair, the previous Bill that related to land transaction taxes, is a precedent that we hope that not just the current Cabinet Secretary, but Cabinet Secretaries of any Government of any party would wish to take forward jointly with this Assembly, as we develop into a Parliament.

The Cabinet Secretary said that he had accepted all of our recommendations in one way or another. That is true, and it’s good to see that evidence gathering, discussing that evidence and bringing the evidence forward is a means of persuading the Government to look anew at their Bill. Having said that, it wasn’t a particularly poor Bill initially, and we need to be clear about that. We have scrutinised it, and we have noted a few things that were missing and a few things that were erroneous, and in the context, particularly, of these amendments, something that hadn’t been included in the initial phase. But in bringing persuasion to bear on the Cabinet Secretary, there is a specific commitment in the Bill as it is taken forward that there is to be a landfill disposals tax communities scheme, and that’s very positive for those communities affected by landfill sites or waste transfer sites, which can be a blight on certain communities.

As Steffan Lewis has just outlined, we’re not quite willing to accept the amendment in the name of Nick Ramsay as a party at the moment. I think the principles underpinning the amendment are important guidance, and I would want to see the Finance Committee taking those things forward to steer the discussion between ourselves and the Cabinet Secretary.