The Chair of the National Assembly for Wales’s Finance Committee has responded to the Fiscal Framework deal reached between the Welsh and Westminster Governments.
The agreement works out how the Welsh budget, that is the block grant given to the Welsh Government by the Westminster Government, will be adjusted to take account of the transfer of some responsibility over tax raising.
In a written statement today (19 December), Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government, Mark Drakeford AM, says that deal will ensure “fair funding for Wales for the long term” by implementing the “funding floor recommended by the Holtham Commission”.
Simon Thomas AM, the Chair of the National Assembly’s Finance Committee, has welcomed the conclusion of the discussions between the Welsh and Westminster Governments, and the Committee will be looking at the details of the fiscal framework on its return in the New Year. The details of the framework have not yet been published and the Chair has outlined his hope that details are provided by both Governments as a matter of urgency in order to allow for adequate Scrutiny both by the Finance Committee and the Assembly as a whole.
“An agreed framework is vital for the devolution of the two bills that the Committee is currently discussing and for the forthcoming partial devolution of income tax,” said the Committee’s Chair, Simon Thomas AM.
“The Committee will be considering the framework in the New Year and we hope this will enable Members to effectively contribute to the debate and come to a resolution on the Wales Bill and fiscal devolution.”