Draft Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016 and the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-Avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2018

Stephen Doughty Excerpts

Wednesday 14th November 2018 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Nigel Adams)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016 and the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2018.

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard, I think for the first time. It is also a great pleasure, and indeed an honour, to serve in my first debate as a Wales Office Minister. I am of course a proud Yorkshireman, as most people know, but at heart I know that there are many similarities between the great county of Yorkshire and the great country of Wales. Both have historically been centres of heavy industry, before transforming into modern, vibrant economies. Both are home to rich cultures, beautiful countryside and great county cricket clubs.

I assure the Committee that, regardless of where our constituencies might be, Conservative Members want to see a strong Wales within a strong United Kingdom—I am sure that Opposition Members feel exactly the same. I am determined to work with the Secretary of State for Wales to deliver just that.

The draft order makes changes to UK legislation arising from the National Assembly for Wales’s Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016 and its Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017. As the Committee will no doubt recall, the Wales Act 2014 implemented the vast majority of the recommendations of the Silk commission’s first report to devolve tax and borrowing powers to the National Assembly for Wales and to Welsh Ministers. That included powers to replace stamp duty land tax and landfill tax in Wales, as well as the creation of Welsh rates of income tax.

The Wales Act 2014 represented a significant moment in Welsh devolution, enabling the Assembly to legislate to establish the first specifically Welsh taxes in almost 800 years—a land transaction tax and a landfill disposal tax—and the Welsh Revenue Authority to collect and manage the new devolved taxes. I am pleased to note the positive collaboration between the UK and Welsh Governments to manage the transition to the devolved taxes, which came in on 1 April. The Government continue to report annually on that work, and the fourth report on the implementation of the financial provisions of the Wales Act will be presented to Parliament next month.

The 1 April was also significant as the date on which the new reserved powers model of devolution for Wales, put in place by the Wales Act, came into force. The Act further demonstrates the Government’s firm commitment to devolution. Alongside the new model of devolution, the Act devolved further powers that can make a real difference to people’s lives in areas such as elections, transport and natural resources.

[Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Minister is talking about a significant date, 1 April—indeed, it could be—and about the Welsh Revenue Authority. Obviously, the new authority will have to make financial predictions based on a whole series of measures, including the taxes in the draft order. Does he therefore find it extraordinary that the Welsh Government have not been given sight of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, given the impact that it will have on Welsh finances and the Welsh Revenue Authority’s ability to raise revenue?

[Nigel Adams]

The Welsh Government are not the only organisation not to have had sight of that documentation as yet. I am sure that they will be brought into those discussions at the earliest opportunity.

[Stephen Doughty]

The Minister says that, but today we were told that the Chief Minister of Gibraltar has been given sight of the agreement. Is that not extraordinary? The Minister talks about a commitment to devolution, but the Welsh and Scottish Governments have not received a briefing.

[The Chair]

Order. I allow quite a lot of latitude, and obviously these are historic times, but given the shortage of time—90 minutes in total—Members need to keep their remarks within the scope of the legislation, as you well know, Mr Doughty. You have been here long enough.