Leisure Services

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:38 pm on 30 April 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:38, 30 April 2019

Well, Llywydd, can I begin by agreeing with what Vikki Howells has said about the importance of sport and leisure to improving health and well-being? It was a particular pleasure to be with her in March at the opening of Cwmaman Primary School, and one of the really striking things that we saw that day was the multi-use games area available to the school during school hours but open for wider community use during the evening. And, indeed, I want to commend RCT as a local authority for the actions that it is taking to make use of the £15 million that the Welsh Government has set aside to support community-focused schools in Valley areas. 

As for the specific supplementary question on non-domestic rate relief, I think it's fair for me to say, Llywydd, that while local authorities pay in money to the non-domestic rate relief pool, they get every single penny of that back. So, they are paying money in, but every penny that they pay is redistributed through the pool, and redistributed on the basis of need. Nonetheless, the Member has identified an important issue. I'm glad that Rebecca Evans will be meeting with the local authority and others on 15 May, I believe, so that we can explore in more detail with local authorities whether there is a discrepancy here and whether there is action that could be taken to address it.