11. Short Debate: Tax Devolution

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:37 pm on 17 July 2019.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mark Reckless Mark Reckless Conservative 6:37, 17 July 2019

We spoke yesterday about the wage numbers that have come out at a UK level—about 3.6 per cent growth, higher than expected. The Minister rightly talks about public sector wages, but does she also recognise that those higher wages are likely to lead through to a higher take from the Welsh rates of income tax? At the supplementary budget, we got six months more of information. We knew what the last year was fully rather than being a projection, and we've got the beginning of this year's numbers. Isn't it surprising that there was no change in the forecast for Welsh rates of income tax, and perhaps does that reflect not yet having systems fully in place in terms of the integration with the OBR and the iteration of the forecasts?