Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 17 March 2021.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 1:43, 17 March 2021

Well, I set out in my first answer some of the steps that we have undertaken in order to make council tax fairer, and they are significant steps. The protocol, which we agreed with local authorities, has been very significant in ensuring that people get the support that they need should they be unable to pay their council tax or struggling with it. We worked with MoneySavingExpert.com to ensure that people who have conditions, which might include dementia, for example, are able to access support for council tax. So, we've done significant work to make council tax fairer over the course of this Senedd term.

And I know that Rhun ap Iorwerth recognises how significant and huge a task reforming local government finance is. It would take probably, potentially, a whole term in order to completely change the system were we to go down some of those more difficult avenues, which I've described and which we've explored, such as the land value tax, for example. That's a major undertaking. So, clearly, there are options for the future. I'm sure that parties will set out their views on how the future system should look. But none of these things are easy to do and all of them will require significant work over a long period of time.