Nevertheless, I would like to express some disappointment at the start of my contribution today that very limited changes have been made between the draft and final budgets. Our committee, as well as a number of other committees, made concrete recommendations in a number of key strategic areas and so, it’s a shame that the Government has missed an opportunity to respond positively to these before today’s debate. As a result, my contribution today will be relatively short, given that there’s not much extra to comment on from the draft budget.

Turning first to specific recommendations, we called for the Minister to carry out detailed work to model the behavioural impact of varying Welsh rates of income tax across all bands ahead of future budget rounds. Whilst we are pleased that the Minister has accepted this recommendation, we are less clear on the actual steps that the Minister will take in this area. This was a key recommendation for us, and we expect to see further clarity provided in next year’s budget documentation to demonstrate that serious consideration has been given to changing the rates. I must say that this seems to be a general theme in the response provided by the Minister. That is, although a number of the recommendations have been accepted or accepted in principle, there is a lack of information on the specific actions that will be taken to address them.

As Members will know, we criticised the draft budget for lack of clarity, and I’m afraid that the Government’s response, whilst going some of that way, does not go far enough to allay all those fears or concerns. We value the Minister’s willingness to appear before the committee and to engage with us on key issues, but we need to have a constructive and forthright exchange if we are to get to the heart of the matter. We as a committee can confirm that we are willing to do this, and I hope that the Minister will echo that commitment.

I would now like to focus on other areas. Allocations for financial transactions capital were not included in the draft budget for the second year running. I thank the Minister for her recent letter setting out an update on the allocations prior to the debate. Whilst we note the constraints and complexities of how ring-fenced financial transactions can be used, last year, we were told that the lack of allocations included in the draft budget would not set a precedent. I acknowledge the Minister’s commitment to take steps to ensure that this is not the case for the next financial year, and we hope to see the full allocation at the draft budget stage. 

I turn now to some of our detailed recommendations, which deserve to be mentioned again in the context of today’s debate. On support for the cost of living, a key aspect of our budget scrutiny was the support provided to help with the rising costs of living. We are pleased that the Minister has accepted our recommendation to prioritise the streamlining of financial assistance schemes, under the proposed Welsh benefits charter. It is good to hear that a draft charter has been co-produced with stakeholders, and we look forward to this charter being published by the end of the year. 

It was also encouraging to hear that the Welsh Government is committed to working towards a Welsh benefits system that has a single point of contact where an individual only has to tell their story once. We have been long advocates of a ‘no wrong door’ approach and it's pleasing that progress is being made in this area.

Turning to education maintenance allowance, however, it is difficult to understand why the Government has not been able to increase the value of the education maintenance allowance, which has remained unchanged since the mid 2000s. The Welsh Government claims that one of its three priorities for this budget is to help those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Yet, we found that more could be done to support children and young people, who are disproportionately affected by this crisis. The Welsh Government has accepted a recommendation from the children and young people committee’s report to commission an independent review of EMA, stating that the findings will inform any changes to the scheme. However, we urge the Government to prioritise any further funding received in year from the UK Government to support our most vulnerable learners by raising the value of the EMA and to mitigate the risk of them leaving education in pursuit of employment.