Item 6 on the agenda is the Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020. I call on the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd to move the motion—Rebecca Evans.

Motion NDM7223 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales; in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves that the draft The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 26 November 2019.

Motion moved.

I welcome the opportunity to bring forward these amending regulations today, and I'd like to thank the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee for its report on the regulations. The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 amend the 2013 council tax reduction scheme regulations. The scheme provides direct help to households across Wales by reducing their council tax bills.

The UK Government abolished council tax benefit on 31 March 2013, and passed responsibility for developing new arrangements to the Welsh Government. The decision was accompanied by a 10 per cent cut in the funding for the scheme. The Welsh Government responded by meeting the funding gap to maintain entitlements to support. The scheme currently supports around 280,000 of the poorest households in Wales. Amending legislation is needed each year to ensure that the figures used to calculate each household's entitlement to reduction are increased to take account of the rises in costs of living. The uprating regulations therefore maintain existing entitlement to support.

The financial figures for 2020-1 relating to working-age people, disabled people and carers are increased in line with the consumer price index, 1.7 per cent. Figures relating to pensioner households continue to be increased in line with the UK Government's standard minimum guarantee and mirror the uprating of housing benefit. In light of the postponement of the autumn budget, the Welsh Government has used provisional figures for some of the uprating factors where necessary. This is to ensure that we protect families on low incomes who have been affected by welfare reform from further cuts to their income.

In making these regulations, I have also taken the opportunity to include minor technical changes and to make additional amendments to reflect other changes to related benefits, for example amending the regulations to ensure that people in same-sex civil partnerships have the same entitlements as people in opposite-sex civil partnerships, same-sex marriages, and opposite-sex marriages. The changes will ensure that billing authorities assess entitlement to council tax reductions in a consistent manner.

These regulations maintain entitlements to reductions in council tax bills for households in Wales. As a result of this scheme, around 220,000 of the most hard-pressed households will continue to pay no council tax in 2020-1. I ask the Members to approve these regulations today.

Thank you. I call on the Chair of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, Mick Antoniw.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. We considered these regulations at our meeting on 9 December 2019, and we laid our report on 10 December. Our report identified one merit point for reporting under Standing Order 21.3, which related to a drafting point.

The regulations refer to article 3 of the Immigration (European Economic Area Nationals) (EU Exit) Order 2019, which was made under section 3A of the Immigration Act 1971. We ask why it was necessary in these regulations to cite the enabling power in the Immigration Act 1917 when referring to article 3 of the 2019 Order. The Welsh Government's response cited precedent for the drafting approach that was taken. We did seek further clarification from Government, and we do welcome the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd's recent reply to us, which gave the additional background to the drafting choice that we had requested.

Finally, I would like to note that our report also highlighted implications in the regulations as a result of the UK's exit from the European Union. Diolch, Llywydd.

Thank you. The Minister to reply.

I'm very grateful to the Chair of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee for the work the committee did in scrutinising the regulations. I was pleased to provide that clarity in terms of the drafting choice for the approach that the committee was particularly interested in. These uprating regulations will be required each year to ensure that all eligible households in Wales retain their entitlement to support and, of course, we are committed to bringing forward the regulations on an annual basis.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No. Therefore, the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.