Cabinet meeting: 14 June 2021

• Rt. Hon. Mark Drakeford MS
• Rebecca Evans MS
• Vaughan Gething MS
• Lesley Griffiths MS
• Jane Hutt MS
• Julie James MS
• Eluned Morgan MS
• Jeremy Miles MS
• Mick Antoniw MS

• Dawn Bowden MS
• Hannah Blythyn MS
• Julie Morgan MS
• Lynne Neagle MS
• Lee Waters MS

Officials

• Shan Morgan, Permanent Secretary
• Des Clifford, Director General Office of the First Minister
• Will Whiteley, Deputy Director Cabinet Division
• Toby Mason, Head of Strategic Communications
• Jane Runeckles, Special Adviser
• Madeleine Brindley, Special Adviser
• Alex Bevan, Special Adviser
• Daniel Butler, Special Adviser
• Ian Butler, Special Adviser
• Kate Edmunds, Special Adviser
• Sara Faye, Special Adviser
• Clare Jenkins, Special Adviser
• Andrew Johnson, Special Adviser
• Mitch Theaker, Special Adviser
• Tom Woodward, Special Adviser
• Christopher W Morgan, Cabinet Secretariat (minutes)
• Damian Roche, Cabinet Secretariat
• Tracey Burke, Director General, Education and Public Services
• Andrew Goodall, Director General, Health
• Reg Kilpatrick, Director General, COVID-19 Crisis Coordination
• Andrew Jeffreys, Director Welsh Treasury
• Emma Watkins, Deputy Director Strategy Budgeting
• Gawain Evans, Director of Finance
• Matt Denham-Jones Deputy Director Financial Controls
• Piers Bisson, Director European Transition, Constitution and Justice
• Christopher Warner, Deputy Director Constitution and Justice
• Dianne Dunning, Deputy Director Legal Services

1.1 Cymeradwyodd y Cabinet gofnodion y 27 Mai, 3 Mehefin a 7 Mehefin / Cabinet approved the minutes of 27 May, 3 June and 7 June.

2.1 The Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd informed Cabinet that voting time in Plenary that week was scheduled to take place at around 6:35pm on Tuesday and 6:30pm on Wednesday. One Topical Question had been tabled so far, on Cardiff Airport.

3.1 The Minister for Finance and Local Government introduced the paper, which asked Cabinet to approve the proposed content of the First Supplementary Budget of 2021 to 2022.

3.2 This budget provided the first opportunity to take account of changes since the Final Budget of 2021-22, which was published in March. Whilst the response to the pandemic necessitated three supplementary the previous year, there would be a return to 2 in the current financial year, replicating standard practice.

3.3 The focus of the budget was mostly technical in nature. It reflected the restructure of MEGs to align to the new Cabinet portfolio structure announced following the election and outlined the changes to the Welsh Government’s budget as a result of the UK Main Estimates. In addition, a number of previously announced allocations from reserves to continue the government’s response to the COVID-19 had been regularised.

3.4 Almost £1.5 billion would be added to the Welsh budget, primarily as a result of consequentials arising from UK spending plans announced in the UK March Budget and Main Estimates. This included over £700 million of allocations to MEGs, with £627 million relating to allocations from the COVID-19 response reserve. This encompassed:

• £429 million to the Economy portfolio for Business Rates Reliefs, the Economic Resilience Fund, and the Culture Fund
• £100 million to the Health & Social Services portfolio for Health recovery
• £98 million to the Education and Welsh Language portfolio for schools and Further Education catch-up, the children and young people offer and Outdoor Education.

3.5 A further £100 million would be allocated for non COVID-19 related measures, such as the International Learner Exchange, Cardiff airport and allocations relating to transfers from the UK government.

3.6 Cabinet approved the paper.

4.1 The First Minister introduced the paper, which invited Cabinet to consider a number of issues relating to the constitution, devolution and inter-governmental relations.

4.2 With an aggressively unilateral UK government demonstrating outright hostility to devolution, it was important for the Welsh Government to articulate clearly its support for a reformed United Kingdom along with its positive vision for how it should be achieved.

4.3 UK Ministers appeared to be determined to undermine and marginalise the role of both the devolved governments and the legislatures and to put in place UK government functions designed directly to challenge, duplicate and compete with policies of the Welsh Government in certain areas of devolved competence. This was against a backdrop of dealing with the aftermath of Brexit, calls for a second referendum on independence in Scotland and the delicate political situation in Northern Ireland.

4.4 It was proposed that a refresh of ‘Reforming our Union: shared governance in the UK’ should be published. This would be a ‘second edition’ rather than a rewrite and would articulate a positive future for the UK and how the Union can and must be reformed to reflect the entrenched reality of devolution within the overall constitution.

4.5 Alongside this and before the summer recess, the Government would announce the establishment of a Constitutional Commission. This would engage extensively and inclusively with communities and across civic society to seek to build a consensus on reforms to the constitution and to devolution that would have the greatest positive impact on the lives of people of Wales.

4.6 In addition, and to respond to the commitment within the manifesto to implement the recommendations of the Commission on Justice in Wales, ministers were asked to endorse the continuation of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Justice.

4.7 Cabinet welcomed the paper and agreed that it was important to develop a broad consensus to the Government’s proposed approach and ensure engagement with the wider civic society, which included underrepresented groups and Trades Unions.

4.8 Cabinet agreed the recommendations within the paper.