The next item is the Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022. The Minister to move the motion. Rebecca Evans.

Motion NDM8186 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 laid in the Table Office on 15 December 2022.

Motion moved.

The Landfill Disposals Tax (Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 relate to setting the 2023-24 tax rates for landfill disposals tax. They were made using the made affirmative procedure. These regulations set the standard, lower and unauthorised disposal rates for landfill disposals tax, which, subject to the outcome of today's debate, will apply to taxable disposals made on or after 1 April 2023. 

In accordance with my announcement at the draft budget on 13 December, the standard and lower rates for landfill disposals tax will increase in line with retail price index inflation, as forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility in autumn 2021. This approach ensures that the rate remains consistent with the UK Government landfill tax for the next financial year, providing the stability that businesses have told us that they need. By setting tax rates that are consistent with the UK landfill tax, public services in Wales will continue to benefit from tax revenue while ensuring the risk of the movement of waste across the border is reduced.

Further work will be taken forward this year to consider the longer term agenda for landfill disposals tax rates. I've also commissioned an independent review of the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Act 2017, which will conclude later in the spring. Any findings from the review will feed into future policy development. The standard rate will be increased to £102.10, and the lower rate will be £3.25 per tonne. The unauthorised rate, maintained at 150 per cent of the standard rate to discourage illegal waste activity, will be £153.15 per tonne. I ask Members to approve these regulations. 

The Chair of the Finance Committee, Peredur Owen Griffiths, who seems slightly surprised at being called. You don't have to contribute, of course. So, I will invite the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee—is he expecting to be called? He is, yes. Huw Irranca-Davies.

We considered these regulations on 16 January and our report has been laid to inform Members in this afternoon’s debate.

Our report on these regulations contains three merits points, and I thank the Minister very much for providing a timely response. I'm going to focus on our third merits point, which I'm going to chalk up as a small but very important piece of progress in terms of the Welsh language and actually having Welsh and English legislation and regulations at the same time. Because it noted that the Welsh Government has relied on Standing Order 15.4 to justify the laying of an English-only explanatory memorandum, on the grounds that, in quotes,

'it is not considered appropriate in the circumstances or reasonably practicable to lay it in English and Welsh'.

In our report, we argued that a Welsh language explanatory memorandum would indeed help any Welsh speakers who are interested in these regulations. And so, we asked the Welsh Government to explain why it is not considered appropriate or reasonably practicable to lay the explanatory memorandum in Welsh. This has been something of an ongoing theme for my committee for some time. The response we initially received, again, noted Standing Order 15.4 and stated that the Welsh Government had consulted guidance provided by the office of the Welsh Language Commissioner, and that 

'As the Regulations are of a technical nature and will affect only an extremely small proportion of the population, the Explanatory Memorandum has not been deemed a priority for translation'.

However—hold on—we note that this response has indeed now been superseded by a commitment we have secured from the Permanent Secretary to the Welsh Government, and we really welcome that. I mentioned earlier that the too-often lack of available Welsh language explanatory memoranda for Welsh-made subordinate legislation has been a concern to our committee. So, we wrote to the Permanent Secretary just before Christmas, with the agreement of all the committee members, and stated our belief again that we're not persuaded—we were not persuaded then as we're not now—that Standing Order 15.4 should be used as a means to not produce Welsh language explanatory memoranda, particularly in light of the Welsh Government’s commitment to the accessibility of Welsh law. We also said that explanatory memoranda accompanying any legislation should always be made available in Welsh, and we believe this would follow the spirit of the Welsh language standards.

As a committee, we have been concerned that there may be issues of resourcing in the Welsh Government and we asked for the Permanent Secretary’s assessment of whether Government has sufficient capacity to produce all explanatory memoranda to subordinate legislation in Welsh. We are grateful to the Permanent Secretary for a prompt reply and we very much welcome the commitment that, following a brief bedding-in period, the Welsh Government will produce explanatory memoranda to Welsh subordinate legislation bilingually.  

I draw this to Members' attention this afternoon and I chalk it down to a small success of good collaborative working with the Welsh Government and the committee. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

I understand that Peredur Owen Griffiths has got over his shock at being called now and is ready to contribute.

Chair of the Finance Committee, Peredur Owen Griffiths.

Thank you, Llywydd, and apologies for not being ready there.

I'm pleased to speak in the debate. The committee considered these regulations at our meeting last Thursday after the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee had laid its report. We have no further reporting points to make other than those already covered by that committee and therefore consider it appropriate and proportionate on this occasion not to produce our own separate report. 

However, I'd like to emphasise the importance of the Finance Committee, as the gatekeeper of financial scrutiny in the Senedd, having an opportunity to scrutinise regulations of this nature. Although we have no policy issues to raise in this instance, we fully expect any future tax instruments to be referred to us by the Business Committee.

I'd also like to give assurance to Members that, as a committee, we will continue to keep a close eye on the legal framework governing the operation of devolved taxes in Wales. This includes any subordinate legislation made by Welsh Ministers in this area and the outcome of the independent review of landfill disposals tax, as referenced in the report of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee. Diolch yn fawr.

The Minister to respond. 

I'll just take the opportunity to thank both committees for their work. I think the important points that both Chairs have made this afternoon go certainly well beyond the scope of the narrow regulations that we are discussing this afternoon, but I think the points that were made were really important, and I'm glad that we've been able to come to a good conclusion with the work in terms of the LJC committee demonstrating some good collaborative work between the Welsh Government and committees.

The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? There are no objections. The motion is therefore agreed.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.