2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:08 pm on 14 May 2019.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 3:08, 14 May 2019

Thank you for raising those various issues this afternoon. The first matter you raised was the issue of the climate emergency that was declared by the Welsh Government, and then you asked specifically about the legislative programme. Of course, the First Minister brings forward an annual statement on the legislative programme, which I believe takes place in June, so he'll certainly be making that statement as normal. The Minister for environment and rural affairs will also be bringing forward a statement to the Assembly on the low-carbon delivery plan, which includes 100 of those actions and priorities in terms of tackling climate change and carbon emissions. On the matter of the M4 relief road, the process has been clearly set out. I'm not going to be drawn into any further comment on it this afternoon, save to say that the First Minister has set out in his written statement the process and the expected timescale for a decision to be made.

With regard to the C code and the issues that that's had in terms of Welsh taxpayers, it is extremely disappointing that this has happened, but it does, I suppose, vindicate the very cautious approach that we did decide to take in terms of our approach to this issue. I have had discussions with HMRC, and the reason that I was unable to set out in my written statement the extent of the issue is because HMRC don't yet know the extent of the problem, because they have to run a number of tests, which they'll be doing in this month, and then further tests again in September to establish those individuals who have been assigned the wrong code by their employer or the person operating the payroll. But I obviously will commit to updating the Assembly and, particularly, the Finance Committee, as soon as I am able to on all of those issues.

The final issue that you raised was the matter of the Countess of Chester, and of course the agreement has been reached for 2019-20 only. But the health Minister has said that he would be happy to write to the health committee with further details and also, then, to make that letter available to all Assembly Members.