, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
We continue to be in dialogue with the UK Government on these matters, Llywydd. I stand by what I said in the Finance Committee, that if the help for public services is distributed through the Barnett formula, rather than actual expenditure being reimbursed…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Well, the answer to that question is very obvious in the draft budget, Llywydd, because the department in the Welsh Government that gets the largest increase of any is, of course, as you would expect from a Labour Government, the health service. And that will…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
I think that would be a real parody of what has happened in Wales in the period of devolution, Llywydd, because what successive Welsh Governments have done is to act in ways that leaves money in people’s pockets for them to be able to decide how to use it. If…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Well, Llywydd, there are examples in the current very limited tools that we have in Wales where people in Wales do pay less tax than they do elsewhere in the United Kingdom. People in Wales pay less income tax than they would were they to live in Scotland…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
Of course, Llywydd, I'm content to raise the points that have been raised by the Member. Having gaming available through the medium of Welsh is vital for people. As Mabon ap Gwynfor said, when the sector is changing so quickly, it's important for young people…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
I thank Sam for the question, Llywydd. But the first thing for us is to protect the situation that we have at present, where people can view the games on tv. The problem is when we open things up to the market and think that the market is the best way to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
I thank Llyr Gruffydd for that supplementary question, Llywydd. We're very disappointed about the decision by Global to bring Capital Cymru's Welsh programming to an end. The Welsh Government recognises fully how essential Welsh programmes on the radio are to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
I thank Llyr Gruffydd, Llywydd. The media is a big part of the 'Cymraeg 2050' strategy and broadcasting has an important role in ensuring the Welsh language is visible in order to help us achieve our vision. It’s vital that we protect and develop the language…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
I, too, regret the decision that has been made by commercial radio broadcasters to withdraw from the provision of local content, including content through the medium of the Welsh language. Their ability to do that was created in the 2024 Media Act, which…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
I thank Sam Rowlands for the supplementary question.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language
I thank the Member, Llywydd, for the question. The memorandum of understanding between Creative Wales and S4C is just one practical example of the support that the Welsh Government provides to Welsh language media. The result has been the promotion of the…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Well, I think that that is what two major transport investments of the Welsh Government will allow to happen more easily. So, the Heads of the Valleys road, which is a 20-year project, £1 billion, I think that will increase connectivity at the Heads of the…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Well, I can see that changing over time, as franchising becomes a reality in Wales. I do hear this argument from time to time that only posh people go on trains and other people go on buses, and that the Welsh Government's emphasis on train expenditure is…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Not that I'm aware of, on that narrow point, Mike, but I can find out and, if there is anything to report on, make sure that we do that. I share the Bevan Foundation's wish for us to do more and to do more quickly in this field. There is £81 million more…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Emma has been leading on gender budgeting and its impact in this round, so I might ask her to provide the information Mike is looking for.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
I was able to meet the expert group on a number of occasions; their advice was very useful. I’m happy to discuss with Jane Hutt whether she thinks a standing committee would be of continuing benefit in this area. I’m probably reluctant to commit to permanent…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
My understanding of this is that the scope of baby bundles has had to be drawn in. It was originally meant to be for every child; it’s now going to be focused on children born in Flying Start areas. There is some work being done to make sure that the content…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
It’s not quite as simple as 'yes' or 'no', I’m afraid. My ambition is that it will be funded in the final budget. We are still interrogating the returns that we’ve had from local authorities on what it will cost to implement phase 3, but it’s a commitment in…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
My Cabinet colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Education certainly has a clear grasp of the cumulative impact. I have some additional insight into this myself, because I'm also the Cabinet Secretary responsible for the Welsh language, taking the Welsh…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Thank you for that question. As ever, I'm very grateful for the joint work that the Welsh Government has been able to do with our local authority colleagues to avoid the dangers of a section 114 notice. Because that really is last resort territory and…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
There's a series of calculations you have to make as the Cabinet Secretary responsible for finance. I don't think it's illegitimate for somebody in my position, wanting to listen carefully and respond where I can to Senedd scrutiny, to have left myself some…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
I do have those figures, and every decimal point that you increase the funding floor, the amount of money you need rises geometrically. A funding floor of 4.3 per cent is not a funding floor. The conventional sense of a funding floor, in the way I understand…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Well, I think the RSG uplift of 4.3 per cent is probably at the better end of what our local authority colleagues had feared. I don't say that it solves every problem that they face. It understates, actually, the amount of additional investment that local…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Well, expenditure on social care per head in Wales is 37 per cent higher than it is in England, and I think that is a tribute to our local authorities. I think, in very tough times, you will see, across Wales, that local authorities have prioritised their…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
It's been an ambition of successive Welsh Governments to move activity in the health service out of hospital into the community and into primary care. It's a lot harder to do than it is to say, because the system is institutionally driven by secondary care…
