, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 8
But to pick up the Chair's question, if that were to be done, of course, knowing what we currently know, that many people who are entering poverty status are actually in work and are within that lower tax band, we'd be asking them to contribute to digging us…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 8
And you're more mobile.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 8
It's pennies in the grand scheme of things.
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 8
Yes. Have you worked those scenarios? Ignore manifesto commitments for a moment. What does it look like? Does it just not feel workable?
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 8
Chair, I wonder if I could just briefly follow up. Let me turn that question just a little bit, then. If I take you away from manifesto commitments entirely—and it may be of help to you, Chair, in where you were going as well with this question, I think…
, Finance Committee
Scrutiny of the Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: Evidence session 8
Just a brief supplementary, and I can ask the naive questions, because I’m not normally on the Finance Committee. But am I right in extrapolating from what you’re saying that, on your current calculations, even though we have the powers to adjust, within a…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
—are you saying to Government that, in upland sheep-farming areas, as opposed to plantation areas that you own, that we haven't got the balance right and we should be exploring this and working with farmers on this?
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
But are you advising Government to do that? Sorry for interrupting. In the short time we have—
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
Thank you. Chair, it's to do with this line of questioning, but also it goes to the heart of the strange, different hats that NRW holds, as both an estate manager in tree planting, an advisor to Government, and an environmental safeguarder and protection body…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
Okay. Thank you.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
Okay, and could I ask you—? It's good to hear you're engaged with that. Can I ask you as well for your involvement in the woodland finance working group—this group that's looking at attracting private investment into woodland creation? Are there any pilot…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
Thank you, Chair. I just want to ask for your role in a couple of initiatives under way with tree planting at the moment. The Government has told us that there is a lean review under way to do with improving the woodland creation grant processes, making it…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
Thank you very much, Chair. I just want to push back quickly on whether you have allocated sufficient budget towards the issue of monitoring and enforcement. Because we now have a self-reporting regime for nutrient management, we have higher levels of…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
Thank you, Chair. Sometimes in sessions, particularly when we look at the budget, we do talk in a lot of jargon and terminology about budget decisions, but can you make this real for me, just for a moment? How do you decide, in biodiversity terms, on how you…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
Yes. Thank you very much. Chair, that's fine.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
Thank you, Chair. One of the areas where you can make some cost savings but also drive towards decarbonisation is the work with Adfywio, the renewal programme. So, estate management, people working more from home or working more mobilely and flexibly. So can…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Annual scrutiny of Natural Resources Wales
Thanks very much, Chair. I just want to ask for you to reassure people who are looking in on this that, when you talk about being open and consultative and the pressures on you and how you are going to work going forward, this engagement and so on, and we…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Economy
Chair, I could go on, but I think you've got other questions as well and other areas that you want—.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Economy
And is any of that work that's being done across different portfolios, across different people who can contribute to the same, is it being focused on work that the committee identified, which is on areas of disadvantage, but also individuals who face…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Economy
When you say it's delivering good results, in which way are you measuring those results? Is that through the inputs of everybody chipping a bit in from different budgets, or is it actually in outcomes of widening participation, particularly, as Carolyn…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Economy
Yes, and I'll try and keep it really brief. So, the old sports manager in me gets to ask this question. The evidence that you've submitted to the committee for this session—for the third time running, actually—talks about cross-sector work that needs to be…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Economy
Indeed, but I don't know, Minister, whether you or Jason would expect them, in those conversations that you have in official meetings with the national museum, with the National Library of Wales and so on, to be quite explicit and upfront with you if they…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Economy
Yes. I guess I'm allowed to ask the really naive question. Based on the picture that's been given to this committee, which Llyr alluded to, of people running round, being on call with buckets, do we have any parts of the national museum or national library…
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Economy
Yes.
, Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport, and International Relations Committee
Welsh Government Draft Budget 2024-25: evidence session with the Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Minister for Economy
Yes, I agree with that point, but, listen—my recollection may be incorrect here—I think the UK Government does directly fund some of the major arts institutions, as opposed to museums and galleries, because they've seen the merit of their attention. They tend…
