, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
Yes, I can confirm that those conversations do take place and it's a real concern for the Welsh Government. You'll see in the draft budget that we published yesterday the reality of how we make the whole budget balance. And the relative value of the Welsh…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
I'm happy to have a discussion with my colleague the Minister for Climate Change around insurance for businesses because I understand, too, the Flood Re, developed in association with the Association of British Insurers, covers domestic properties; it doesn't…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Economy
I have regular meetings with my colleague the Minister for Climate Change. Our funding objectives and strategic priorities to reduce the flood risk to communities and businesses across Wales are set out in our national flood strategy and the programme for…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Young Person’s Guarantee
Yes. We've done some direct work with Engage to Change; I've met them directly myself as well to understand what more we can do. Part of the point is that, when you look at economic access for disabled people in every age sphere, it's significantly less than…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Young Person’s Guarantee
Thank you. On your point about the take-up of opportunities between different genders, I'll look again at that, but I want to be clear about the budget review that we've got and actually starting off the guarantee and understanding where we go, because in…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Young Person’s Guarantee
Thank you for the series of questions and comments. Let me just go to some of the starting points he made. When it comes to how we're actually understanding who the young person's guarantee is reaching, and how we're actually dealing with a diverse range of…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Economy: Young Person’s Guarantee
Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. Last month saw the one-year anniversary of the launch of the young person's guarantee here in Wales. This key programme for government commitment provides under-25s in Wales with the offer of support to gain a place in…
, Plenary
Short Debate: Atomic dreams: Nuclear power and blind faith in an ageing technology
Now, on our net-zero agenda, net zero and energy security are focused on deploying nuclear and renewables together to sustain our low-carbon energy transition, and we all accept the reality that more work is needed to decarbonise power supply in Wales and…
, Plenary
Short Debate: Atomic dreams: Nuclear power and blind faith in an ageing technology
Thank you to Mabon ap Gwynfor for bringing this debate and for the other contributions. I welcome the debate as an opportunity to both note the importance of the nuclear sector in Wales, but also to recognise, from my point of view, the contribution the…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Business rates for self-catering accommodation
Thank you, Llywydd. As Members will know, we have debated this matter before. On 27 April, the Minister for Finance and Local Government responded to a debate on taxes and tourism making all of these similar points, and on 6 July, she responded to a motion to…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Business rates for self-catering accommodation
Formally.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I believe in the future of the union, but a union that needs to be reformed with entrenched devolution. I think you can see there are some choices where, I think, the UK Government and a UK Parliament should make the choices, and there are others where I…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, apart from anything else, I think clarity and respect for our arrangements would really help. If you look at Germany as a really obvious example within Europe, you find that, actually, they've got a federal settlement where there are entrenched powers…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, both the OBR and the Bank of England analysis, and virtually the consensus around economists, is that the next year will be really difficult right across the UK and that we're in a different position to other G7 countries. The forecasts are that we will…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I think I'm being honest about why I'm not going to get into a direct 'yes' or 'no' answer about that.
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, certainly you can expect the finance Minister to set out our immediate approach to business rates in the budget on Tuesday, and I'm sure the finance Minister and myself will be happy to engage in the longer term conversation about the future of business…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, the finance Minister is looking at business rates more generally. I don't think it would be helpful for me to say, 'Definitely yes', or, 'Definitely no', when the finance Minister is reviewing our business rates structure and will have some…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Well, you can expect there—and I'm being very careful—you can expect there to be announcements made about business rates in the budget. There's been lots of lobbying, and I know you've had correspondence from a range of business groups, making an ask around…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Yes. So, one of the real positives of COVID is that a number of people have had to act very quickly to survive, and so there is still a fair amount of that resilience and people who really don't want to give up and can find different ways to do things. That…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
So, there's a range of businesses that are certainly hit. So, as well as what we're looking to do, both to help people to decarbonise and to reduce their energy costs, we are then going to be looking, and there'll be more detail in the budget next week about…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
Okay. I think this is a really positive area, where you can decarbonise the way that businesses operate, but actually it's also really important for their bottom line. So, you can do the right thing and help your business to become more efficient and to save…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
On the one hand, I can understand why there was shorter term initial help for the energy bill relief scheme. We know that, up to that point, there hadn't been a worked-through plan on how to define businesses in need, how to define energy-intensive…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
So, the previous scheme supported over 166,000 households. We've widened the eligibility because we listened to the messaging from partners and individuals. We've taken on board some of the comments, so there's a wider cohort of households now eligible. So…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
So, we start from a position where our own Wales fuel support scheme is helping over 250,000 households in Wales. The Barnett consequentials that come from the autumn statement always have to be balanced, because we always find that there is money given in…
, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee
General Ministerial Scrutiny: Minister for Economy
I think the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that real disposable income will decrease by over 4 per cent, and it’s the biggest fall in living standards and disposable household incomes since the 1950s, so this really is historically significant. I…
