Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:08 pm on 24 March 2021.
Thank you very much. I'd like to thank everyone who's contributed to the inquiry, and I'd like to thank every Member who's contributed to the debate, too. I want to give particular thanks to the Minister, not only for her response today, but for the way in which she has engaged with the work of the committee over the past few years. It's certainly enhanced our work and our considerations as a committee. As some Members have referred to the Deputy Presiding Officer, I want to echo those best wishes and my thanks to you for the huge contribution that you've made to the work of this Senedd over many years. Certainly, you will be missed.
If I could just pick up on a few points, briefly, given the time constraints. It is clear that the process of seeking competence for new taxes doesn't work. As I said in opening the debate, three years after requesting competence for a vacant land tax, we're still none the wiser; we are no nearer achieving our goals. And if there are political reasons for rejecting those requests, well, make that clear, UK Government, because one occasionally feels like we're going round and round in circles. If there are problems, if there are valid questions to be asked, then ask them, otherwise, just tell us immediately what your intentions are.
Some Members have referred to the fact that the pandemic has highlighted some of the weaknesses in the fiscal arrangements. So, let us therefore put those issues in order. One of the things that's disappointed me most over the past 12 months is that we have one interpretation of what is allocated to Wales from the UK Government and that there is another very different analysis of what they receive from the Welsh Government. And that doesn't reflect particularly well on either Government, never mind the fiscal framework and the devolution settlement. And, in my view, it all highlights just how inadequate the current arrangements are.
Now, the constitutional significance of the debate and the report, for me, get to the very heart of devolution, and it certainly gets to the heart of the working relationship between the UK Government, the Welsh Government and the Welsh Parliament. I can only emphasise that additional steps will have to be taken during the sixth Senedd in order to support the work of engaging with the UK Government, and we as a committee have suggested, in our legacy report, that the next Finance Committee should work with other devolved Governments and with the Welsh Affairs Committee in Westminster to try and encourage the UK Government to engage more effectively on those pieces of work that are relevant to them; we don't expect them to appear before us every time we want to hear from them. But, certainly, when we're addressing the Government of Wales Act 2014 and the fiscal framework, then the role of the UK Government is at the core of our considerations as to how the process and those arrangements work or don't work.
Now, scrutinising fiscal issues is one of our great responsibilities as Senedd Members, and I want to thank every Member who's contributed to the work of the committee over the past five years, and I do that sincerely. It's also been a privilege to chair the Finance Committee. But I keep the last word of thanks and the greatest thanks to those who've worked behind the scenes, those who've worked quietly to support our work as a committee. And the clerking team, the committee's clerking team, led by Bethan Davies, as well as the Senedd research team have given us great support as Members and ensured that the committee's work is of high quality and is always effective. I will conclude, therefore, by telling them, specifically on behalf of all current and former members of the Finance Committee, thank you very much.