Draft Government of Wales Act 2006 (Increase of Capital Borrowing Limits) Order 2026

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Mims Davies

Wednesday 1st July 2026 General Committees

[Anna McMorrin]

I thank the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield for her contribution. The draft order delivers the Government’s autumn Budget commitment to increase the Welsh Government’s cumulative borrowing limit by 10%. I mentioned in my opening remarks how we got to that.

To be clear, this order gives the Welsh Government additional flexibility to manage their own budget; it does not change the overall funding settlement or the Barnett formula. It was agreed at the last Budget and announced by the Chancellor then. The Welsh Government are accountable to the Senedd for how they use these borrowing powers. From Westminster, we will be looking to our colleagues in the Senedd to scrutinise how the Welsh Government use the additional powers.

The Welsh Government are accountable for ensuring that this extra borrowing—indeed, the whole borrowing—delivers value for money for the people of Wales and all our constituents. I am very proud to be part of a UK Labour Government who have delivered the biggest settlement in the history of devolution. It will be a game changer, and it will make a difference to people on the ground.

I am aware that many Members are trying to get to the football. If there is anything further that the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield would like to raise, I am very willing to have that conversation, but it is the Senedd that scrutinises the Welsh Government. I am proud of the UK Labour Government’s work in enhancing these powers.

[Mims Davies]

I thank the Minister for giving way; she is being very generous to us all. I just want to reiterate the point about accountability. Between the announcement of this measure in the autumn Budget, and its publication on 2 June and the Minister’s presenting it today, the process, group of people and focus in the Senedd have changed. People’s feelings about the lack of accountability and openness, and about the wanton spending of other people’s money, are very acute when they are finding the cost of living so challenging. I offer to work with her if these powers are granted—we will not divide the Committee today—to make sure that we all keep watch equally that they do change lives on the ground, and we are willing to roll up our sleeves if we see that the money is being used wastefully and lives are not changing.

[Anna McMorrin]

I thank the shadow Minister for her comments. Absolutely; this is about ensuring that all the people of Wales feel the value of these additional spending and borrowing powers. Equally, this Labour Government are proud to ensure that the huge devolution settlement is felt by the people of Wales and in the communities of Wales, not just in one part of the country but across the whole of Wales. As a Wales Office Minister, I am committed to working with my counterparts in the Welsh Government, and with colleagues right across the House, to make sure that happens.

I thank the shadow Minister for her productive approach to the debate, and I am grateful for the way in which the UK and Welsh Governments have worked together very closely to produce the draft order. I commend it to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Mims Davies

Wednesday 17th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)]

Boarded-up windows, derelict buildings and deserted towns are increasingly common on high streets in Wales, as highlighted by North Wales Live and its readers. Our hospitality sector is being hollowed out thanks to Plaid Cymru and the last Welsh Labour Government’s disastrous tourism tax. The Conservative and Unionist party believes that this tax should be urgently scrapped to support the approximately 150,000 people in Wales who are employed in this crucial sector. Does the Minister now regret her party’s decision to impose the tax, and will she join me in calling on the new Welsh Government to scrap it?

[Anna McMorrin]

I will take no lectures from the Conservatives and the hon. Member when her party presided over completely unprecedented wage stagnation and businesses took blow after blow, with—to be specific—the worst wage growth performance of any decade since Napoleonic times. On our side of the House, the Chancellor announced just last week the great summer savings scheme, with a reduction of VAT from 20% to 5% over the summer to help families enjoy the summer and use hospitality venues. This will boost local spend and boost the local economy.

Wales

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Mims Davies

Thursday 20th November 2025 Written Corrections

[Anna McMorrin]

We offer sanctuary for those who desperately need it, and we are proud of that, but we inherited contracts and a broken system from the Conservatives. Hotel use has halved since its peak in the summer of 2023, and we have removed 30,000 people who have no right to be here, ensuring that those who do need to be here have the welcome and support that they need. It is not job done, but work in progress. We can compare that with the 14 years of the Tory Government.

[Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)]

After wantonly scrapping the Rwanda scheme, the Labour Government are now overseeing record-breaking figures of illegal immigrants. It is reported that the scandal is now engulfing north Wales, where more than 200 illegal immigrants have tried to gain entry to the country on ferries from Dublin to Holyhead. Meanwhile, there is talk about Penally military camp in south-west Wales, which was previously condemned by the Welsh Labour Government. It appears that their policy, along with Reform’s, is from boats to barracks, as is happening in Scotland and Sussex, yet Plaid says that there is no such thing as illegal immigration. Does the Minister agree that her Government and Plaid have no idea about and no interest in how to make our borders safe?

[Anna McMorrin]

I fear that the Conservatives forget about the chaos that they created. We inherited a broken system after 14 years of chaos, and contracts that we have to honour, but in the past year we have halved the use of hotels. We have removed 30,000 people who have no right to be here. It is not job done, as I say, but it is a work in progress. We can compare that work in just one year with 14 years of chaos under the hon. Lady’s Government.

[Official Report, 29 October 2025; Vol. 774, c. 299.]

Written correction submitted by the Under-Secretary of State for Wales, the hon. Member for Cardiff North:

Flooding: Monmouthshire

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Mims Davies

Wednesday 19th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)]

(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if she will make a statement on the recent severe flooding impacting Monmouthshire and what support will be made available for those affected.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Anna McMorrin)]

My first thoughts, and those of the Secretary of State, are with all the people and businesses affected by the flooding over the weekend. The impact in Monmouthshire has been devastating for local residents and traders and I know that hon. Members across the House will be thinking of them as they recover from this dreadful storm.

I am answering this urgent question because the Secretary of State is in Monmouthshire to thank first responders and to meet the community and thank them for their efforts. She is there with my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes), who has been supporting her local community since the flooding across the weekend. I also pay tribute to the emergency responders, the local residents who have rallied together, and the mayor of Monmouth, Jackie Atkin, who has raised a substantial sum for the community.

As the House will be aware, flooding is a devolved matter; however, the Prime Minister spoke to the First Minister over the weekend and offered the UK Government’s support for the Welsh Government’s response. My ministerial colleague who is here with me today, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy), has also been in touch with the Deputy First Minister. The Environment Agency has offered support locally, including any mutual aid that may be requested by Natural Resources Wales, which operates in the area. We see the number of these events increasing, which demonstrates why our climate response on flooding is so important.

Today the Floodmobile response sponsored by Flood Re is in Monmouth, a mobile demonstration unit which showcases dozens of property flood resilience measures and techniques that can help keep homes and other buildings safer during a flood. That is reaching out to the community. I also bring hon. Members’ attention to what we are doing to support people to access insurance through our partnership with Flood Re, a joint initiative between the Government and the insurance industry to ensure that households at the highest risk of flooding can access affordable insurance.

In the financial year ’24-’25 alone, Flood Re provided cover for over 345,000 household policies. Government officials have met Monmouthshire county council over the weekend to discuss emergency funding; the Deputy First Minister was also there over the weekend to meet first responders and the community, and opportunities are being made available through the emergency financial assistance scheme. The Welsh Government have been working very closely with the council and all the emergency services, and have committed over £370 million to reduce risks to communities across Wales. The Welsh Government are doing everything they can at this very difficult time for the community and for businesses in Monmouthshire.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mims Davies]

This weekend, tragic and heart-wrenching floods affected families and their loved ones, resulting in evacuation from their properties in Monmouth after the River Monnow burst its banks. That, in turn, has blighted businesses with devastating consequences. This horrific experience also hit hard nearby areas, including Abergavenny and Skenfrith village. There are desperate families and business owners across Monmouthshire who have lost their homes and their livelihoods. They have literally lost everything, with Christmas looming—a key time also for hospitality.

I thank the emergency services and all the volunteers, including many local councillors and Peter Fox, Member of the Senedd. They have done fantastic work around the clock to assist, safeguard and do what they can to help and support those impacted. It is now vital that, without any delay, the necessary support reaches every single person who has been affected by these devastating floods, and that their longer term needs are also met. Local people report that they do not have any clarity, answers or insight on what to expect, beyond initial rescue and community kindness. They have been told that discussions are ongoing.

The First Minister outlined this week in the Senedd some support and the Prime Minister also offered support to Monmouthshire. Will the Minister provide details on what exactly that means, practically, on the ground in the coming weeks? Will the Minister outline a timeframe for when support will reach the people of Monmouthshire and what precisely it will entail? It is reported that some insurance companies will not pay, as they meet only storm damage, not flood damage. Locals want urgent resources, not endless form-filling for the Senedd. They need urgent help now and for it to be fast-tracked, they say, via the council. Finally, does the Minister agree that time is of the essence in answering those vital questions, to ensure that the anxieties of residents and businesses do not worsen?

[Anna McMorrin]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right that time is of the essence. My heart goes out to all those impacted by the storm over the weekend. It must be absolutely dreadful for those people to see their business or home flooded after all the hard work they have put in all their lives; I cannot image the trauma and the difficulty they are going through.

As I said, the First Minister spoke to the Prime Minister: the Prime Minister reached out over the weekend to look at how support can be offered following the flooding. The First Minister has also been looking at how funding can be provided in the least bureaucratic way possible to those impacted. We are a few days after the event and the nature of the support will become clear as the clean-up continues. As the days go on, we will work with emergency services and those impacted. The Welsh Government have emergency financial assistance schemes for just these very scenarios. They have kicked in and are being used. Proposals for support are being prepared. Local government financial officials are there on the ground. The Secretary of State is there on the ground today. We are doing all we can, working hand in hand with the Welsh Government, the council and the mayors, to make sure that those impacted get the support they need as quickly as possible.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Anna McMorrin and Mims Davies

Wednesday 29th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)]

I note that it takes three women to take me on now, but I very much welcome the Ministers to their places. Charles Rees, a fifth-generation Pembrokeshire farmer, has bravely and moving shared his battle with cancer on the BBC’s “Countryfile”, and I know this House will send him and his family our best wishes. His illness is not his only worry; he is also seriously concerned that his son, who is running his farm, could now be facing an unaffordable inheritance tax bill of £1 million, solely due to this Government’s catastrophic family farm tax. Despite Ministers saying differently, Charles and many other farmers across the country are fearing for their livelihoods, their way of life, their futures, and for food security. Will the Government scrap the family farm tax?

[Anna McMorrin]

I reiterate that our reforms mean that the majority of those claiming the relief will not be affected. As confirmed by the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle), there will be no change and no U-turn on inheritance tax. This policy strikes a fair balance and is fixing our public finances, after the chaos that the Tories left, while protecting our rural communities.