Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:44 pm on 15 December 2021.

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Photo of Peter Fox Peter Fox Conservative 1:44, 15 December 2021

Thanks for that, again, Minister. I think the overspend that local authorities are facing with children and adult care is around £50 million at the moment.

Moving on to my last point, Minister, the uncertain times that we again face will only exacerbate the issues that families across Wales are already facing. Now, I know this is an issue that spans across Government, but I would like to focus on what additional support will be in next week's budget that will help to ease the burdens facing families. There were some broadly welcome things in the co-operation agreement, for example, the commitment to expand childcare to two-year-olds, which was also in the Welsh Conservative manifesto. However, the time for words is over, and now we need to see immediate action. Will your budget provide the funding necessary to kick start the expansion of this free childcare to help families over the coming months? However, the agreement was, unfortunately, a little light on detail in places, so we need to see a wider package of support for people and families.

A way to help people's finances is to deliver a council tax freeze, for at least the next two years, putting more money into people's pockets. Will the Welsh Government use some of the substantial expected additional funding to provide local authorities with the capacity to meet cost pressures and to freeze council tax? In addition, house prices in Wales have risen faster than in any other part of the UK. We need to do more to help people onto the housing ladder, as well as building the high-quality social homes we desperately need in Wales, enabling aspiration and providing people with the security that they need. Will you work to cut land transaction tax rates, scrapping it for first-time buyers and raising the threshold to £250,000? And will you provide a longer term funding settlement to the housing support grant to kick start social home building? Finally, can you also commit to ensuring that there will be no rise in Welsh rates of income tax for the duration of the Senedd term, as part of your spending plans? Thank you, Minister.