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First Minister Letter to Ursula Von Der Leyen, File Type
Y Gwir Anrh/Rt Hon Mark Drakeford AS/MS Prif Weinidog Cymru/First Minister of Wales Ursula Von der Leyen President European Commission Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200 1049 Brussels Belgium 20 January 2021 Dear President Firstly may I send you best wishes from Wales for 2021. In particular, I wish you and all your colleagues across the institutions success in your continuing efforts to respond to the challenges of the Covid pandemic. My government, like all national and regional governments across Europe, continues to do its utmost to keep our citizens safe and to support their economic future. I know we share similar objectives in this and will co-operate wherever possible. I am writing to set out a positive vision for a constructive engagement between Wales and the EU in the changed world that is now governed and shaped by the EU-UK Trade and Co- operation Agreement (TCA). Wales has been an outward-looking, European nation since its formation over a thousand years ago. It always will be. Our economic, social and cultural histories are intertwined with Europe’s and predate the creation of the modern United Kingdom by many centuries. Our distinctive identity is founded upon that history. A year ago we launched our International Strategy to support and emphasise our engagement around the world. Wales shares fundamental values with the EU covering human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights. I strongly believe Wales needs a very close working relationship with our European neighbours in the EU. We intend to deepen and build on our established partnerships with Member States, in particular, our close ties to our near neighbours in Ireland. -
1 Explanatory Memorandum to the Land Transaction Tax (Transitional
Explanatory Memorandum to The Land Transaction Tax (Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2018 This Explanatory Memorandum has been prepared by the Office of the First Minister and Cabinet Office of the Welsh Government and is laid before the National Assembly for Wales in conjunction with the above subordinate legislation and in accordance with Standing Order 27.1. Cabinet Secretary’s Declaration In my view, this Explanatory Memorandum gives a fair and reasonable view of the expected impact of the Land Transaction Tax (Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2018. I am satisfied that the benefits justify the likely costs. Mark Drakeford AM – Cabinet Secretary for Finance 8 January 2018 1 1. Description 1.1 These Regulations make transitional provisions in respect of the introduction of land transaction tax (“LTT”) in Wales by the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 (“the LTTA Act”). The provisions ensure that transactions which take place on or after 1 April 2018 receive treatment which is consistent, meaning that transactions are not taxed twice under LTT and Stamp Duty Land Tax (“SDLT”), or not taxed at all. The Regulations also ensure that arrangements commenced prior to 1 April 2018 and for which certain reliefs (which exist in both regimes) were claimed will continue to be relieved under LTT (subject to certain conditions being met). The Regulations will also provide for transitional rules for the purposes of determining whether a transaction completed on or before 26 November 2018 is a higher rates residential property transaction where a person‘s main residence is being replaced. -
Inquiry Into the Implementation of the Wales Act 2014 and Operation of the Fiscal Framework
Welsh Parliament Finance Committee Inquiry into the implementation of the Wales Act 2014 and operation of the Fiscal Framework February 2021 www.senedd.wales The Welsh Parliament is the democratically elected body that represents the interests of Wales and its people. Commonly known as the Senedd, it makes laws for Wales, agrees Welsh taxes and holds the Welsh Government to account. An electronic copy of this document can be found on the Welsh Parliament website: www.senedd.wales/SeneddFinance Copies of this document can also be obtained in accessible formats including Braille, large print, audio or hard copy from: Finance Committee Welsh Parliament Cardiff Bay CF99 1SN Tel: 0300 200 6565 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SeneddFinance © Senedd Commission Copyright 2020 The text of this document may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading or derogatory context. The material must be acknowledged as copyright of the Senedd Commission and the title of the document specified. Welsh Parliament Finance Committee Inquiry into the implementation of the Wales Act 2014 and operation of the Fiscal Framework February 2021 www.senedd.wales About the Committee The Committee was established on 22 June 2016. Its remit can be found at: www.senedd.wales/SeneddFinance Committee Chair: Llyr Gruffydd MS Plaid Cymru Current Committee membership: Alun Davies MS Siân Gwenllian MS Welsh Labour Plaid Cymru Mike Hedges MS Mark Isherwood MS Welsh Labour Welsh Conservatives Mark Reckless MS Rhianon Passmore MS Abolish the Welsh Assembly Welsh Labour Party The following Member attended as a substitute during this inquiry. -
Scotland and the UK Constitution
Scotland and the UK Constitution The 1998 devolution acts brought about the most significant change in the constitution of the United Kingdom since at least the passage of the 1972 European Communities Act. Under those statutes devolved legislatures and administrations were created in Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The documents below have been selected to give an overview of the constitutional settlement established by the devolution acts and by the Courts. Scotland has been chosen as a case study for this examination, both because the Scottish Parliament has been granted the most extensive range of powers and legislative competences of the three devolved areas, but also because the ongoing debate on Scottish independence means that the powers and competencies of the Scottish Parliament are very much live questions. The devolution of certain legislative and political powers to Scotland was effected by the Scotland Act 1998. That statute, enacted by the Westminster Parliament, creates the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive (now the “Scottish Government”), and establishes the limits on the Parliament’s legislative competence. Schedule 5 of the Act, interpolated by Section 30(1), lists those powers which are reserved to the Westminster Parliament, and delegates all other matters to the devolved organs. Thus, while constitutional matters, foreign affairs, and national defence are explicitly reserved to Westminster, all matters not listed— including the education system, the health service, the legal system, environmental -
Coronavirus Timeline: Welsh and UK Government's Response
Welsh Parliament Senedd Research Coronavirus timeline: Welsh and UK Government’s response Research Briefing The table below highlights key developments in Wales and the UK in response to coronavirus (Covid-19). Three-tiered alert system in England 12 October 2020 The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announces a new, three tiered system of local COVID-19 alert levels in England. From 14 October 2020, Liverpool City Region will be placed on the ‘very high’ alert level (the highest). Local restrictions in Bangor 9 October 2020 Local coronavirus restrictions are introduced in response to an outbreak in Bangor. ‘The targeted local health protection area in Bangor is being created in response to a significant cluster of cases, which has developed in the city – the incident rate stands at around 400 cases per 100,000 people. Cases appear to be closely associated with young people and the student population’. New Welsh Minister for Mental Health 8 October 2020 The First Minister appoints Eluned Morgan as Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and the Welsh Language, in recognition of the impact the coronavirus pandemic has on people’s mental health and wellbeing. Eluned Morgan will work alongside the Minister for Health and Social Services, Vaughan Gething, who will continue to lead the Welsh Government’s coronavirus response. Walk-through testing near universities www.senedd.wales/research Coronavirus timeline: Welsh and UK Government’s response 8 October 2020 The Minister for Health and Social Services and Minister for Education confirm that more walk-through Local Testing Sites (LTS) will open this month near universities in Swansea, Cardiff, Bangor and Aberystwyth. -
The Barnett Formula
BRIEFING PAPER Number 7386, 28 May 2021 By Matthew Keep The Barnett formula Inside: 1. The formula 2. Issues 3. Recent fiscal devolution www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | [email protected] | @commonslibrary Number 7386, 28 May 2021 2 Contents Summary 3 1. The formula 4 1.1 Introduction 4 1.2 How does the formula work? 5 Comparability percentage 5 Population proportions 6 Examples 7 1.3 UK Government spending announced outside of a spending review 7 1.4 A block grant floor for Wales 8 1.5 A non-statutory formula 9 1.6 Government transparency 9 1.7 Formula bypass 10 1.8 Origins 10 2. Issues 11 2.1 A needs-based formula 11 2.2 Equity 12 2.3 Barnett squeeze 13 3. Recent fiscal devolution 16 3.1 Block grant adjustment 16 Indexing BGAs in Scotland 17 Indexing BGAs in Wales 18 BGA in Northern Ireland 18 Further information about fiscal devolution 20 3.2 Recent legislation and Barnett 21 Appendix 1. Calculating the Home Office’s comparability percentage 24 Appendix 2. Calculating Scotland’s Barnett consequentials for 2018/19 25 Cover page image copyright: DIL_1336 by Switchology. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 / image cropped. 3 The Barnett formula Summary The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Details of how the receive grants from the UK Government that fund most of their devolved spending. The largest such grant is the ‘block grant’. administrations are funded, including the The Barnett formula calculates the annual change in the block grant. -
Response by the First Minister of Wales to the Regulation 28 Report
Response by the First Minister of Wales to the Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths issued by the Senior Coroner for North Wales (East and Central), John Gittins, on 11 July 2019 1. As outlined in the written and oral evidence which you received as part of your investigation, and in accordance with Section 48 of the Government of Wales Act 2006, it has been the practice in successive Welsh Governments when reshuffles are conducted, or where Ministers are leaving the Cabinet in other circumstances, to follow a similar approach to other governments in the UK. There has been a recognition that the First Minister, with the approval of Her Majesty, has sole authority as to who serves in their Cabinet and that reshuffles are carried out periodically, always at short notice, and are sui generis in nature. The process for appointing and dismissing Ministers has been entirely a matter for the First Minister. I would not wish you to interpret my response here as being critical of the way in which any of my predecessors have conducted their reshuffles, as they were following accepted practice and acting within the established framework. 2. Nevertheless I recognise that the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Carl Sargeant, and the specific concern which you outlined to me in your Report, mean that as First Minister I have had a responsibility to look again at the process for Ministers leaving the Cabinet and to consider what changes should be made. 3. To assist my thinking, I have consulted all current Ministers in my Cabinet as well as those former Ministers who are still Assembly Members. -
Reform UK Wales on May 6Th Is a Vote to Support Our Vision for Unlocking the Potential of the UK Economy and All of the Benefits This Will Bring to Our Four Nations
SENEDD 2021 CONTRACT WITH THE PEOPLE OF WALES CHANGING POLITICS FOR GOOD OUR KEY PLEDGES A REFORM UK GOVERNMENT IN WALES WILL: ENSURE NO MORE LOCKDOWNS such that all people within an area, no matter how big or how small, have restrictions. CLEAR THE NHS BACKLOG CAUSED BY COVID by investing around £1 billion over the next four years to put waiting lists to pre-pandemic levels. GIVE PARENTS THE RIGHT TO TAKE THEIR CHILDREN ON HOLIDAY giving flexibility to take children out of the classroom for up to ten days. BUILD THE M4 RELIEF ROAD and new train stations to improve infrastructure in Wales. REDUCE THE COST OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT by cutting the number of local authorities and pass these savings on to the communities in Wales. 1 OUR BELIEFS Reform UK is not a new political party, rather we are the next phase in the evolution of what started as The Brexit Party. We are here because we see that there is a need to change. If Wales does not move forwards, we will move backwards on the world stage. Many of you put your trust in us in 2019, we are now asking you to do the same. One thing became very apparent between the Brexit Referendum in June 2016 and the UK finally leaving the EU in January 2020. Our political system was not fit for purpose. We have an antiquated electoral system designed to keep the two old parties in power. Millions who do vote have no representation at all, and millions more do not even bother to vote. -
1 European and External Relations Committee
European and External Relations Committee Human Rights Inquiry Clan Childlaw About Clan Childlaw Clan Childlaw offers a unique legal advocacy service to children and young people. We are lawyers delivering free legal advice and representation to children and young people, who would otherwise have found it very difficult or impossible to access the legal help that they require. We help Children & Young People up to the age of 18, or 21 if they have been Looked After Children. We deliver specialist training in child law including the following subjects: Children’s Rights in Scots Law; Children’s Hearings; Child Protection and the Law; Looked After Children; Sexual Offences: Children & Young People; Giving Evidence in Court; and A Journey through Care – the legal perspective. We contribute to policy development in relation to the realisation of rights for children and young people across Scotland through our evidence based Policy Development Unit. With the insight gained from our direct legal representation of children and young people, we can (a) offer a unique perspective and (b) use our legal knowledge, skills and expertise to advance policy and its implementation. (1) What is your general view on the UK Government’s proposal to introduce a British Bill of Rights to replace the Human Rights Act 1998? Do you think changes need to be made to the current human rights regime in the UK? No. From a children’s rights point of view protection under ECHR as implemented by the Human Rights Act 1998 by the United Kingdom Parliament and as interpreted by the UK courts with reference to decisions of the European Court of Human Rights is a far clearer application of accepted Human Rights. -
Rt. Hon. Michael Gove MP Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS
Rt. Hon. Michael Gove MP Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London SW1A 2AS Mike Russell MSP, Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs Jeremy Miles MS, Counsel General and Minister for European Transition Jenny Gilruth MSP, Minister for Europe and International Development 14 June 2020 Dear Mike, Jeremy and Jenny, I have appreciated the close contact between our administrations as we prepare for the opportunities presented by life outside the EU's Single Market and Customs Union. While we have different views on the way forward, I am always grateful for your thoughtful and considered contributions. That is why I was disappointed to read your statement on Friday, including the decision by Scottish and Welsh Government ministers not to join a briefing call with the Paymaster General following Friday’s UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee and ahead of Monday’s High Level Meeting with the Presidents of EU institutions. I was glad that the call could go ahead with the First Minister of Northern Ireland nonetheless, and that officials from the Northern Ireland Executive, Scottish and Welsh Governments were in attendance. In your statement you claimed that “we cannot accept a way of working in which the views of the devolved governments are simply dismissed before we have had a chance to discuss them”. This is inaccurate. The UK Government respects and understands the fact that the SNP and the Labour Party in Wales supported extending the transition period with the EU, and has repeatedly discussed this in both public and private meetings with ministers from the Scottish and Welsh Governments. -
The Future of Devolution After the Scottish Referendum
House of Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee The future of devolution after the Scottish referendum Eleventh Report of Session 2014–15 Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 23 March 2015 HC 700 Published on 29 March 2015 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Political and Constitutional Reform Committee Mr Graham Allen MP (Labour, Nottingham North) (Chair) Mr Christopher Chope MP (Conservative, Christchurch) Tracey Crouch MP (Conservative, Chatham and Aylesford) Mark Durkan MP (Social Democratic & Labour Party, Foyle) Paul Flynn MP (Labour, Newport West) Duncan Hames MP (Liberal Democrat, Chippenham) Fabian Hamilton MP (Labour, Leeds North East) David Morris MP (Conservative, Morecambe and Lunesdale) Robert Neill MP (Conservative, Bromley and Chislehurst) Chris Ruane MP (Labour, Vale of Clwyd) Mr Andrew Turner MP (Conservative, Isle of Wight) The following Members were also members of the Committee during the Parliament: Mr Jeremy Browne MP (Liberal Democrat, Taunton Deane) Sheila Gilmore MP (Labour, Edinburgh East) Andrew Griffiths MP (Conservative, Burton) Simon Hart MP (Conservative, Camarthen West and South Pembrokeshire) Tristram Hunt MP (Labour, Stoke on Trent Central) Mrs Eleanor Laing MP (Conservative, Epping Forest) Yasmin Qureshi MP (Labour, Bolton South East) Stephen Williams MP (Liberal Democrat, Bristol West) Powers The Committee’s powers are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in Temporary Standing Order (Political and Constitutional Reform Committee). These are available on the Internet via www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmstords.htm. Publication Committee reports are published on the Committee’s website at www.parliament.uk/PCRC-publications and by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. -
Sargeant V First Minister of Wales Judgment
Neutral Citation Number: [2019] EWHC 739 (Admin) Case No: CO/3226/2018 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION DIVISIONAL COURT SITTING AT CARDIFF CIVIL JUSTICE CENTRE Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London, WC2A 2LL Date: 27/03/2019 Before : LORD JUSTICE HADDON-CAVE MR JUSTICE SWIFT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Between : THE QUEEN (on the application of BERNADETTE SARGEANT) Claimant - and - (1) FIRST MINISTER OF WALES (2) PERMANENT SECRETARY TO THE WELSH GOVERNMENT Defendants - and - THE INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR Interested Party - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mr Leslie Thomas QC and Ms Sheryn Omeri (instructed by Hudgell Solicitors) for the Claimant Ms Cathryn McGahey QC (instructed by Welsh Government Legal Services Department) for the First and Second Defendants Mr George Peretz QC (instructed by Government Legal Department) for the Interested Party (watching brief) Hearing date: 17th January 2019 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Approved Judgment Judgment Approved by the court for handing down Sargeant v First Minister of Wales and ors (subject to editorial corrections) THE RT HON LORD JUSTICE HADDON-CAVE AND THE HON MR JUSTICE SWIFT: Introduction 1. The Claimant is the widow of the late Carl Sargeant AM, who was a member of the Welsh Assembly and member of the Labour Party. Her challenge by way of judicial review arises in relation to the establishment of the ‘Independent Investigation into the First Minister’s Actions and Decisions in relation to Carl Sargeant’s Departure from his post as Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children and thereafter’ (“the Investigation”). Specifically, the Claimant challenges the terms of the Operational Protocol (“OP”) which governs the procedures by which the Investigation is to be conducted.