6. Will the Minister make a statement on the impact that the Welsh Government's budget for 2020-21 will have on North Wales? OAQ54887

The budget invests in all parts of Wales to support our public services, businesses and communities. This includes a £20 million boost for the north Wales metro within the Minister for Economy and Transport's portfolio, continuing our investment in an integrated, modern and efficient transport system for the region.

Thank you for that response. You’ll be aware, I’m sure, that I have a number of hydro energy schemes in my constituency, and I’ve raised this with you on a number of occasions in the past. There is grave concern in the sector, of course, about the situation of business rates—non-domestic business rates—and the impact that that will have on the sector. There have been calls and consideration has been given to changing the methodology for calculating the level of taxation, or there’s the grants scheme that’s been available from the Government to assist these hydro schemes with those payments, which will come to an end at the end of this financial year. There’s no assurances as to what the next financial year’s arrangements will be, and that throws a cloud over the sector and creates uncertainty. Having listened to you say how much you’re doing for the environment and tackling the climate emergency, it does raise a question as to why you haven’t been able to give a response and assurance to the sector before now. So, could we hear an update on this and can you give me an assurance that you will do everything that you can to safeguard this sector from the impacts of having to pay this tax in full?

I'm grateful to Llyr for raising this issue. I know that he's got a very strong interest in the hydro energy sector, as do I and the Minister with responsibility for energy. We are currently awaiting a paper from the representative body of the hydro sector, which does refer to those potential changes in methodology that you described, but I'm open to having some further discussions, as I've already indicated to the Minister, in terms of support for the sector next year.

In welcoming the £400 million increase to health and social care, we must note that this is less than the three-year cumulative overspend across the NHS. In north Wales, we have seen Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board record deficits of £20 million in 2015-16; £30 million in 2016-17; £39 million in 2017-18; and £41 million in 2018-19. These failures to break even are despite the health board having received £83 million in special measures funding. Now, as you know, Minister, light is not yet there on the horizon as the board is forecasting a £35 million deficit for 2019-20, missing your own target by £10 million. Since special measures, it cannot be argued that the health Minister has overseen and indeed allowed a poorly performing health board to become a huge financial vacuum. What assurances can you give me that money sent to this health board for 2020-21 will come with a solid strategy in place to clamp down on excessive spending and even more excessive waiting times?

As I mentioned in the statement yesterday, the local health boards across Wales will be coming forward with their plans and their proposals for 2020-21 by the end of the month, and the health Minister and his officials will be robustly scrutinising and challenging those and then the health Minister will accept or not accept the plans as they come forward. Obviously, a focus on improvement and a focus on value for money will be at the heart of those considerations.

Minister, one of the reasons I got into politics was the perception that north Wales just doesn't get its fair share of attention, funding or consideration as compared to the south. We've had a Minister for north Wales for over a year, he is yet to make a statement in that role, and I am frankly none the wiser as to whether that perception is correct. Minister, can you confirm that north Wales does actually get its fair share and how can we tell that?

Well, it isn't the case, of course, that north Wales does not get its fair share of funding. I'm just having a look at the figures on capital spend, which I have in front of me, and they show that the total projected cost of capital spend in the most recent year, for which we have those figures, is £2.5 million, and that is actually the second highest of all the regions. And that's just the first figure that I have in front of me. So, I think that the figures don't bear it out, and as much as it would come to the Member's disappointment, those arguments just aren't valid.