, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: A Fairer Council Tax
Diolch. Our programme for government and co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru commit to making reforms to council tax to make it fairer and more progressive. In December, I announced that I would be consulting this year on an ambitious package of reforms…
, Plenary
Motion to annul the Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment of Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2022
Okay, I'll try to conclude. I'll also be issuing that revised guidance that we've heard of in relation to the additional options that are available if self-catering properties restricted by planning permission conditions don't meet those thresholds. These…
, Plenary
Motion to annul the Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment of Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2022
Well, as I said, average occupancy has exceeded 50 per cent over the three years prior to the pandemic, so many of those businesses are reaching that threshold, and I've already mentioned the point about the regulation system, which will help push tourists…
, Plenary
Motion to annul the Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment of Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2022
I think that the issue that Mabon ap Gwynfor referred to in his contribution, about striking that balance between those in the more casual end of the sector and those that are established businesses, is important and that work on registration will be…
, Plenary
Motion to annul the Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment of Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2022
I think that the fair contribution to communities has to be made within the context of sustainable communities, where we have a balance of businesses and a balance of residents there. We know there are communities in Wales where 40 per cent of properties are…
, Plenary
Motion to annul the Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment of Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2022
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I welcome the opportunity to respond to the motion today. On 2 March, more than 12 months before the changes take practical effect, I announced the outcome of our consultation on local taxes for second homes and self-catering…
, Plenary
Group 4: Expiry of the power under section 1 (Amendments 2, 10)
Thank you to colleagues for their contributions. I'm grateful to Llyr Gruffydd's recognition that this amendment 2 is tabled specifically to address the concerns that he raised at Stage 2 of the passing of the Bill, which I think is a pragmatic response to…
, Plenary
Group 4: Expiry of the power under section 1 (Amendments 2, 10)
Amendment 2 tabled in my name is intended to address a concern that was raised at the Stage 2 proceedings. Currently, the power available to the Welsh Ministers to extend the life of the regulation-making power could mean new regulations may be made under…
, Plenary
Group 3: Review of the Act (Amendments 8, 3, 4, 9)
Amendment 8, tabled by Peter Fox, essentially adds a new review point, two years after the Act comes into force. That's in addition to maintaining the existing commitment to review the Act after four years. As we've heard, amendment 9 is consequential to the…
, Plenary
Group 2: Duty to promote public awareness (Amendment 7)
Diolch. Amendment 7, tabled in the name of Peter Fox, as we've heard, sets out that the Welsh Ministers must take appropriate steps to promote public awareness of the changes to the law made by regulations introduced under section 1. The amendment includes a…
, Plenary
Group 1: Restrictions on use of the power in section 1 (Amendments 1, 5, 6)
I thank colleagues for their contribution in this particular section and, as we've heard, amendment 1 is a consequential amendment, and I'm grateful for the support for that from Plaid Cymru, and I would hope that we will have support from Conservative…
, Plenary
Group 1: Restrictions on use of the power in section 1 (Amendments 1, 5, 6)
Diolch. Before I get into the technical detail, I'd like to take the opportunity to put on record, Llywydd, how much I've appreciated the very constructive discussions I've had with opposition Members and Labour backbenchers through Stage 2 and ahead of Stage…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Progress on Gender Budgeting
I'm very grateful to Joyce Watson for raising this. I know that she has been a champion of this for many years, and the Wales Women's Budget Group is still going strong and providing really, really constructive challenge to Government. They are telling us…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Progress on Gender Budgeting
It is absolutely the case that the social care sector does have that higher proportion of female workers, so the investment that we make in the social care sector does have that direct impact on those workers and their future, and of course on the families…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Progress on Gender Budgeting
Thank you very much for those points and questions, and I share that desire to move very swiftly on this. In the immediate term, we've got four strands of work that we'll be driving forward, and they are cross-cutting across Government to ensure that we make…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Progress on Gender Budgeting
Thank you very much for raising those points and for your recognition, right at the start of your contribution, about the important role that gender budgeting can play in helping us address some of these issues, which have been with us for far too long now. I…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Progress on Gender Budgeting
I want to be clear that this work is long-term systemic culture change, and I call on Members of this Senedd, and our wide range of partners, to support us in this journey. It won’t happen overnight, and we cannot do it alone. Our budget improvement plan…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Finance and Local Government: Progress on Gender Budgeting
Diolch. I would like to update the Senedd on the steps I am taking to help address gender inequality in Wales through our approach to gender budgeting. Gender inequality is still prevalent in 2022, despite the many advances made. The Welsh Government is…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Thank you for raising that really important point, because small and medium-sized enterprises are, of course, the backbone of our economy here in Wales, but also they have a huge role to play in terms of helping us work towards our decarbonisation goals. In…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
The final budget published in March provides £1.8 billion in 2022-23 to support the economy portfolio. This budget includes £35 million to specifically support small and medium-sized businesses. Other support includes £116 million for rates relief and £103…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Thank you for raising this issue. I absolutely recognise the importance of moving quickly to support people with MND. In terms of local government, in considering their general housing responsibilities, they must be mindful of their responsibilities under the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
This year, the Government is providing unhypothecated revenue funding of over £5.1 billion to support local authorities in the delivery of their statutory and non-statutory services, including priorities such as housing.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Welsh Government issues thousands of award letters every year to a wide range of stakeholders, such as local authorities, the third sector and private sector organisations for a really wide range of purposes, and they are intended to help us drive forward our…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Monitoring is a key part of Welsh Government's grant processes. Grant managers have flexibility to tailor monitoring requirements according to the size, value and risk of projects. Monitoring requirements are set out in the grant award letter terms and…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government
Well, I have to say that the cheque must be still in the post if we’re expecting £18 billion additional to our budget this year, because Wales is actually £1 billion worse off as a result of the UK Government’s approach to replacement EU funding. The Finance…
