Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language

• The Welsh Treasury
• The Welsh Revenue Authority
• Provision of strategic direction and management of the resources of the Welsh Government
• Taxation policy including Council Tax Reform, non-domestic rates, council tax reduction and the Sponsorship of the Valuation Office Agency services and the Valuation Tribunal for Wales
• Visitor Levy
• Budget monitoring and management
• Strategic Investment
• Invest to Save
• Financial Accounting and audit
• In-year budget monitoring and management
• Value for money and effectiveness
• Operation and development of the devolved funding settlement and the Statement of Funding policy
• Relationship with HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs on all spending and tax matters
• Public Sector pay policy
• The strategic approach to the acquisition, maintenance and disposal of property and other assets
• Commercial and procurement matters for the Welsh public service
• Grants policy
• Official Statistics, including the Census, social research and the national survey for Wales
• Co-ordination of work on the Common Frameworks
• Oversight of audit, inspection and regulation as they relate to public services
• Welsh Language

*The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for setting the budget and the strategic management of the Welsh Government’s resources – however, every minister is responsible for the management of their own MEG, and questions relating to individual funding decisions should be directed to the relevant minister.

Mark Drakeford was born and raised in West Wales before moving to Cardiff more than 40 years ago. Since then he has lived in the Pontcanna area of Cardiff. A former probation officer, youth justice worker and Barnardos project leader in Ely and Caerau, he has been a professor of Social Policy and Applied Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Mark has also taught previously at Swansea University.

In the 1980s and 1990s Mark was a Labour Councillor on South Glamorgan County Council, specialising in education issues, including Welsh medium education. Between 2000 and 2010 Mark worked as the Cabinet’s health and social policy adviser at the Welsh Government, and was latterly head of the First Minister’s political office under Rhodri Morgan. He has a 40 year knowledge of the Cardiff West constituency.

Mark became the Assembly Member for Cardiff West in May 2011. He was Chair of the Assembly’s Health and Social Care Committee from July 2011 - March 2013 and of the All-Wales Programme Monitoring Committee for European funds from July 2011 – March 2013. He was appointed Minister for Health and Social Services in March 2013. Mark was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government in May 2016. Mark was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Finance on 3 November 2017. On 12 December 2018 Mark was appointed First Minister of Wales and became a member of the Privy Council on 13 February 2019. He stood down as First Minister in March 2024.

Mark was subsequently appointed as Minister for Finance and Welsh Language on 11 September 2024 by Eluned Morgan.