Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:48 pm on 13 May 2020.
Thank you for your statement, Minister, and it's good to see you and good to—. We're seeing you again on 27 May for the supplementary budget. Could I ask in the meantime—? You emphasised, certainly with the £500 million for the economic resilience fund, spending in Wales is over and above what the UK Government is doing for England. We know that about £100 million of that you're able to fund because of exempting the largest retailers from the business rates comeback. Can you give me any idea of what the other £400 million is in terms of what the UK Government is doing in England to deal with this crisis that you're not doing in Wales, for whatever reason we've taken those choices?
Can I also ask you about the furlough scheme? I saw figures earlier saying that 74 per cent of businesses in Wales had taken it up compared to 67 per cent in England, and you mentioned some of the sectoral differences as well. I'm concerned that come now perhaps mid July, given that the UK Chancellor's looking for funds to contribute towards that furlough, perhaps 20 per cent of the cost of the wages from the beginning of August, and there's this need for a consultation if firms are going to make redundancies, do you share my concern that there may be significant job losses and that they may be greater in Wales from mid July onwards, as that's anticipated? And is it inevitable that that happens at some point? I mean, the cost of this scheme is greater than funding the NHS, and even the UK Government will struggle to fund that for very long. I don't know what the Minister's expectation is for how that huge £270 billion-odd deficit is dealt with. Presumably, she doesn't want to see renewed austerity. Does she anticipate substantial tax rises across the UK, or does she think it's more likely that that debt and borrowing will be inflated away as money is printed? That choice will make quite a difference to our finances in Wales.
And, finally, can I ask around land transaction tax in particular? She says that we're protected from UK-wide shocks like this, but surely, if we're choosing in Wales to keep the property market shut down, while it reopens in England today, and there are fiscal consequences of that, is she saying that the UK Government should compensate Wales for that decision, or is she expecting to have to find extra money in her budget to make up for the land transaction tax that we won't be receiving for at least a period?