, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Sorry. Perhaps before Linda comes in as well, I wonder whether you could also just explain how you selected the regions for those case studies that you're referring to and how relevant you think they might be to a Welsh context as well, as part of your…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Okay, that's helpful to understand, because one of the main areas of feedback from the industry is the VAT levels compared to other countries providing a similar service. Just going on to the report, you suggested that the understanding of the impact of the…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Understood. Thank you. On the second point in relation to this, on the VAT side, you've highlighted—and I'll quote from the response—that 'the VAT rate in Wales on accommodation is significantly higher than in the majority of the comparator economies.' And…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Thanks, Chair. I'm just going to come on to the research that you've shared with us here today. I just want to touch briefly on your consultation response in relation to the concerns expressed by industry bodies, and in particular the second concern where the…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Okay, thanks, Chair.
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Thank you, Chair, and thank you, both, for taking the time to be with us this afternoon. It’s really appreciated. I just wanted to put on the record the significant difference in spend as outlined between a day visitor and an overnight stay visitor. I believe…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Thank you for that. Just a final question from me, Cabinet Secretary. You mentioned earlier the big budgets in local authorities around social care and education. You'll be aware of the significant changes that schools and education have had to deal with in…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Thanks for those responses, Cabinet Secretary. Just moving on to potential risks around the long-term resilience and sustainability of local authorities here in Wales, we've heard, in the past, of potential section 114 reports coming through. The WLGA believe…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Thank you for those comments on the funding floor. I think we've heard them clearly here today. I think that will be welcomed by local government.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Thanks, Cabinet Secretary. On a broader issue, then, of local authority funding, you will know, I'm sure, that local authorities will be looking at balancing their books, through a combination of council tax rises and cuts to services. Are you comfortable…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Thanks, Cabinet Secretary. The other significant area of spend within care, of course, is social care. The Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru told us last week, and I quote: 'there is a significant gap between the funding that has been made…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Thanks, Chair. We haven't got time, sorry, but it's just thinking through your previous responses about the way in which capital is then used to create efficiency and productivity. And whilst there may be times when something like capital may be more…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Thanks, Chair. Just a brief question on the capital side we mentioned earlier. Do you think Welsh Government is utilising private or external capital in the most effective way?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Thank you, Chair.
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
I certainly want to lend my support to the Cabinet Secretary’s words there. There seems to be a lack of common sense on this particular issue. I just wonder perhaps—and it goes back to the very first question that the Chair asked around the budget protocol as…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
Could I—?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2025-26: Evidence session 8
It sounds like there's likely to be a bit of a cultural shift amongst departments in the way in which they prepare for budgets in the future. I'm reminded often of the words of my old section 151 officer, who used to always describe things as a process not an…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Cancer services
It's interesting to come off the back of the contribution from Julie Morgan; it does start to sound like the difference between the haves and the have-nots here in Wales. Hearing the words from Julie Morgan there, you'd think that everything's all hunky-dory…
, Plenary
Debate: Natural Resources Wales's 'Case for Change'
I was pleased to co-submit this motion from Mabon ap Gwynfor here today, with Jane Dodds, as a debate, and I'm grateful to the Business Committee for selecting this. As Members have already outlined, NRW is often debated and discussed in this Chamber, and I…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government
I'm grateful to Llyr Gruffydd for raising this important point today. As Llyr rightly pointed out, the impact of the national insurance increase on councils up and down Wales is significant. And whilst you pointed out, Cabinet Secretary, the additional…
, Plenary
The Land Transaction Tax (Tax Bands and Tax Rates) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024
I'll just speak briefly to the proposal in front of us here today. Our Welsh Conservative group will be opposing this amendment to the regulations. As the Cabinet Secretary has outlined, a further increase to the higher rates on residential property…
, Plenary
Statement by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: Water interruption in Conwy
So, the brief question I have, then, Cabinet Secretary, is in relation to the vulnerable list and vulnerable people. There's clearly a deficit there of knowledge, of knowing who would be eligible for this support. I wonder whether you could reflect on how…
, Plenary
Statement by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: Water interruption in Conwy
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I just want to echo the comments made by colleagues on the severity of the issue from last week with the burst mains water pipe. I think Darren Millar pointed out that, whilst it was 40,000 properties affected, it could…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I’m grateful to Siân Gwenllian for raising this important subject in the Chamber here today. First Minister, you’ll know that post services are valued very much by our communities and certainly are an integral part of our high streets. As you’ve outlined…
, Plenary
Debate on the Local Government and Housing Committee Report, 'Private rented sector'
Okay. Thank you for clarifying that, and I apologise if I was a bit antagonistic with my opening comments there. But I think it is really important, though, that we do make sure that the private rental sector is valued not just in word but in deed as well. I…
