Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Gerald Jones and James Davies(1 year, 7 months ago)
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Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)
Private rental costs in Wales increased by 4.2% in the year to February 2023, the highest annual percentage change since the Tories came to power. The Government have accepted the need to uplift benefits in line with inflation, but they have completely failed to accept that the same principles should, at the very least, apply to the local housing allowance. Given that rent is the largest item of a family’s budget, can the Minister explain exactly why this is one area of policy where the Government do not seem to believe that inflation exists?
Dr James Davies
The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the local housing allowance rates were raised to the 30th percentile in 2020 and that there is also support through the discretionary housing payment scheme. There is, in addition, the whole array of support that has been provided through the recent cost of living pressures.
Spring Budget: Wales
Debate between Gerald Jones and James Davies(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Dr Davies
Inevitably, those at the pinnacle or conclusions of their careers often earn a lot more, but they also have a great deal to offer the economy and society in general. It is difficult to be too black and white about those who are of benefit and those whom we need to retain in the workforce. As the hon. Gentleman knows, in some respects the Budget centred on trying to ensure that the workforce are there for the economy that we need.
My hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn referred to childcare. I hope that the Welsh Government will replicate our offer to parents of 30 hours’ free childcare for children between the ages of nine months and four years, and that they will not, as the First Minister appeared to suggest the other day, be different for the sake of it.
The shared prosperity fund has been raised. This is a complicated matter, but the Welsh Government have alleged that Wales is being short-changed. However, I argue that they are making flawed and hypothetical assumptions, and it is my understanding that Welsh Government officials in the Finance Committee in Cardiff Bay have broadly accepted that. It is important to compare like with like. The SPF is intended to replace the European regional development fund and the European social fund, while the remaining funds, covering agriculture and fisheries, are accessed through other means. Different time periods can be looked at as well—it is not just about when the funding is received, but about when it is spent. The funds do ramp up and down in the UK Government’s intentions, as they did with the EU. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has validated the UK Government’s approach. I also emphasise the fact that the local growth funds, including the levelling-up fund and the community ownership fund, are in addition to the shared prosperity fund, so actually Wales has a record level of investment coming from the UK Government.
Gerald Jones
The Minister mentioned the shared prosperity fund, which is significant investment that could transform communities across Wales. He also highlighted the positive joint working of the Welsh and UK Governments on freeports. Why does he think that the UK Government have frozen out the Welsh Government in the case of the shared prosperity fund, when there is an example of good working together? Why can that not apply across the board?
Dr Davies
My understanding is that the Welsh Government have been feeding into the general approach on shared prosperity fund allocation. In my local area, there is a Welsh Government representative on the body that advises on the funding. There are a range of contributors, as there should be. Proper devolution is the key point, in that local authorities are taking a leading role.
Hon. Members are right to raise the issue of universities, because of course universities in Wales have been dependent on European structural funds. My understanding is that Universities Wales has consistently expressed concerns that the Welsh Government do not invest an equal amount in Welsh universities compared with England. It has also highlighted that the lower level of core funding places Welsh universities at a disadvantage compared with their counterparts in England when competing for UK-wide research and development funding opportunities. To be constructive, I emphasise that the Secretary of State for Wales has asked universities to provide details of the economic value of programmes that were previously funded by the EU structural funds. He and I are very interested in trying to assist on that.
25 Years of Devolution in Wales
Debate between Gerald Jones and James Davies(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Dr Davies
My hon. Friend makes a strong argument. In fact, he will be aware that one of the Labour Members in the Senedd called for greater powers and autonomy for north Wales in response to the recent roads review, and today a representative of the business community in north Wales has called for a directly elected mayor for north Wales. It comes back to my point that devolution should be true in nature; it should be led by local people and local representatives, which is not always the case at present.
Under the Welsh Labour Government, the economy in Wales is growing at a slower rate than in the rest of the UK. In education, Wales is, sadly, at the bottom of the PISA rankings compared with other parts of the UK. In the health service, we see abysmal performance and outcomes data, and we also see what I regard as very detrimental policies on road building and tourism. All of that is despite the UK Government providing the Welsh Government with record funding, which is, as we have heard, higher per head of population than in England.
The UK Government have a duty of care towards all British citizens and it is important that UK-wide comparable data is used to justify and learn from different policy approaches across the country. The days of “devolve and forget” have to be over. I am deeply concerned that, despite the challenges the Welsh economy faces and failing devolved public services in Wales, the Welsh Government’s unrelenting focus is often on constitutional matters, including increasing the number of politicians in Cardiff Bay and changing its voting system, which some have suggested would be at a cost of £100 million over five years.
Devolution in Wales means that Wales has two Governments. Both should be fully focused on the issues that really matter: levelling up our economy, creating jobs and supporting people with the cost of living. The UK Government’s investment to address those priorities, through initiatives such as the levelling-up fund and our support with energy costs, highlights the benefits that Wales enjoys from being part of the United Kingdom.
I want to emphasise something that is not always said. A very clear majority in Wales believe in the United Kingdom and are proud to be part of it, and this place—Parliament—will always have a critical role in delivering for Wales and its people. Our approach to devolution is underpinned by our commitment to work collaboratively with the Welsh Government and all the devolved Administrations.
Gerald Jones
On the point about collaboration with the Welsh Government, does the Minister think the way the UK Government clawed back funding from the Welsh Government is unacceptable? My understanding is that issues around switching between revenue and capital have been agreed many times before. The level of underspend is significantly below that of some other UK Departments. Does he agree that was a pretty poor show by the UK Government?
Dr Davies
The hon. Gentleman puts that in an interesting way. The other side of the story is that all who are entrusted with spending public money should do so carefully, and should make efforts to comply with the rules and arrangements around that money. The other way of looking at that is that the Welsh Government failed in their duty to spend wisely the money that was available to them.
Moving on from that, the landmark agreement reached last year between the UK and devolved Governments further strengthens our intergovernmental structures. The new structures provide a firm foundation to deepen our partnership working. Our joint work on city and growth deals in Wales, as well as our announcement last week that we will establish two freeports in Wales, following agreement with the Welsh Government, exemplify our approach to collaboration.
Over the past 25 years, we have seen dramatic changes in the way in which Wales is governed. It is clear that a wide range of views exists over how that might change in future, but I urge all to focus not on the constitutional debate, but on delivering on the real priorities for the people of Wales.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Gerald Jones and James Davies(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Dr Davies
My right hon. and learned Friend is of course right that co-operation is always a good thing, and in fact interconnectors are critical to our energy security. Only last week I met a company proposing to connect mainland Great Britain with the Republic of Ireland through a second interconnector.
Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)
We know that oil and gas producers have been making record profits for more than 18 months, but the Government’s paltry windfall tax began in May last year. How can the Government justify leaving billions of pounds of excess profits untouched while so many people across Wales are struggling with household bills and the rising cost of living crisis?
Dr Davies
Mercifully, energy costs now appear to be on a downward trajectory, but the hon. Gentleman will be aware that up to 70% in tax has been taken from energy producers through the windfall tax, which is bringing a great deal of money into the Treasury to help to fund the support packages that people are relying on.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Gerald Jones and James Davies(1 year, 10 months ago)
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Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)
As my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith) has just reminded the House, the Secretary of State, the Minister and their predecessors repeatedly promised that Wales would receive “not a penny less” to replace EU structural funds to Wales. Not only have they failed to deliver on that promise, but the record inflation that their Government have presided over has resulted in a double whammy to the Welsh Government’s budget. Is the Minister aware that higher education has been shut out of his Government’s flagship levelling-up process and that hundreds of jobs are now at risk, possibly as many as 600? Why are his Government continually letting down people, including young people, across Wales?
Dr Davies
I joined the Secretary of State on a visit to Bangor University last week and it is important that we ensure there are funding mechanisms for higher education. There is an array of schemes through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and it is important that the hon. Gentleman and the Government work on ensuring that the university sector is supported in Wales.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Gerald Jones and James Davies(2 years ago)
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Dr Davies
I certainly will. I look forward to attending the royal Welsh winter fair next week, when I will be meeting the NFU. Wales has a major role in achieving increased exports and, when it comes to lamb, trade deals with the Gulf Co-operation Council, among others, could be key.
Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab)
I too welcome the Minister to his new role. He will know how important lamb exports are to Welsh farmers and the Welsh economy. Exports to the US are a drop in the ocean compared to the damage his Government have done with the Australian and New Zealand trade deals. We know his colleague the right hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice) said:
“I no longer have to put such a positive gloss on what was agreed…the Australia trade deal is not actually a very good deal…We did not need to give Australia or New Zealand full liberalisation in beef and sheep—it was not in our economic interest to do so”.—[Official Report, 14 November 2022; Vol. 722, c. 424.]
Will the Minister now admit his Government have sold out Welsh farmers?
Dr Davies
The hon. Gentleman will recognise that we import more from Ireland than from Australia. In fact, the Australian and New Zealand markets are very much in the rapidly expanding markets of south-east Asia. We need to look at the pros and cons of trade deals, and there are certainly many pros to the trade deals for the British economy.