, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
Would you like to say something about the spending review work that you've done?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
Well, before my time, the Government had been doing work on a Welsh spending review—and perhaps officials can talk about that in a bit more detail than I can. As we look at how the budget works in terms of delivering public services and so on, there will be a…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
Yes, we are. The intention is that—. The settlement that we're aware of at the moment allows us to set a resource budget for the next two years, 2027-28 and 2028-29, and then to look at the capital budget, which is a three-year budget. That allows those who…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
Yes, in terms of the mood music, the mood music is as we hear it from a particular party conference we've just been listening to, where the UK Prime Minister and the Chancellor again spoke of difficult financial challenges, and we can expect that to be…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
Can Andrew add?
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
The budget itself—. In terms of—and I've spoken of this previously, possibly in this committee—in terms of this current year's budgetary pressure, the financial pressure within the delivery of public services in this financial year is slightly different and…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
Well, the budget is predicated at this point on a gross domestic product deflator that was announced in March of this year of 1.94 per cent, and that's where the figure of a 0.7 per cent real-terms cut is derived from then. But we're expecting that figure to…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
Perhaps it's worth reflecting as well, in leading the budget process through the Government at the moment, that it is, yes, led by Ministers in their own portfolios, in prioritising their budgets and in marrying the programme for government priorities into…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
Thank you for the invitation this morning, and thank you, as a committee, for putting aside the time to have this discussion on the annual budget. Just to say, perhaps, as some context to start with, how difficult and challenging the financial context has…
, Finance Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2027-28 - Pre-budget scrutiny: Cabinet Minister for Finance
They can do it themselves.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
I don't dispute the Holtham commission. I don't dispute the point you made at the start that wherever you start your analysis of any data, you can assess that. I'm trying to think of how we think about public service delivery now in the post-COVID period…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
The outlook for the Welsh budget remains extremely challenging. The expectation is that resource funding will fall 0.7 per cent in real terms in 2027-28 and that capital budgets will decline over the next three years, in contrast to the average real-terms…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
I represent a rural community, and have done over the years, so I'm very familiar with the fact that there are many factors that are at play in designing and deciding on the future of rural schools. It is not just the availability of public funding. Rural…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Within the Welsh Government, responsibility for local government lies with my colleague the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, but we are aware across the Government that there is financial pressure on local authorities as they…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Thank you. I was nudged by the Deputy Presiding Officer to keep my answers shorter, so I'll make an effort to do that. I won't repeat what I said yesterday in the Senedd when we were discussing this rate reduction of 30 per cent. But I do hope that it…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Yesterday, I was pleased to announce new non-domestic rates support for hospitality and leisure businesses, which are central to our ambition to regenerate town centres. From 1 April 2027 onwards, eligible businesses will benefit from a permanent 30 per cent…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Thank you for that question and thank you for reminding us of those terrible scenes that we saw in Pantside in your own constituency, with the fires affecting that community showing that property and homes are also at risk in scenarios such as this. The…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Yes, I agree, and I'm sure this summer has brought it home to the Minister, just as much as it has to farmers, how we manage land. Farmers knew this already, by the way. They were telling Ministers, I think, over the years about how some of the changes in…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Thank you for the supplementary question, and I'm sure it must have been a terrible summer for those farmers and commoners in your area and elsewhere in Wales where they faced these fires with very real consequences on how they did their farming and livestock…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
I'm aware of the extensive impacts of the wildfires on commoners and farmers. And if appropriate, we will allow exemptions to planning conditions in order to help farmers that have been affected. Further consideration is given to how to support the resilience…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Well, yes, I think those points are valuable for local authorities as they think about funding those programmes and services that they deliver. And it's that lens that we want to apply as to how the local government settlement could work more effectively, but…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
I agree 100 per cent with the need for us to be able to present a budget and to pass a budget in this place in as early as possible a way in order to provide that security and that lead-in time for planning and effective delivery of services by local…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Yes, I can certainly give you the complete confidence that local government is a key partner in the work that we're doing on this review through its existing mechanisms, so that we do look properly at all aspects of work that need to feature in a review of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Thank you. Within the Welsh Government, responsibility for local government lies with my colleague the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning. Working with local government, we have delivered our 100-day commitment to commission a review…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Minister for Finance
Well, it concerns me too that that level of debt was allowed to accrue without the Government being able to monitor it in an effective way, and I'm aware from cases in the past, not particularly this one, that this can happen. Government is always about…
