That was the message from Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones in a statement to Assembly Members yesterday (June 21).
Mr Jones called for a single and coherent package of fiscal measures to deliver effective public services, help fund investment in Welsh infrastructure and support the economic recovery.
This, he said, should include action on reforming the Barnett Formula the mechanism by which Wales budget is decided.
And, he outlined a range of other powers that could form part of the overall package of fiscal measures. These included landfill tax, stamp duty land tax, aggregates levy and air passenger duty, as useful policy levers to support the delivery of his Government’s priorities.
He said: Two major taxes council tax and business rates are already set in Wales. These generated, in aggregate, over 2.2 billion last year.
There are, conceivably, advantages in handing powers over certain other taxes to Wales, particularly in those areas where policy responsibility is already largely or wholly devolved and the sums raised are relatively small in relation to our total budget.
Landfill tax, stamp duty land tax, aggregates levy and air passenger duty fall into that category. In aggregate, these taxes raise around 200 million per year in Wales and each may b e a useful policy lever to help deliver the Governments priorities.
Risks
However, Mr Jones stressed that there might be some risks involved with devolution and the issue would have to be looked at in detail to make sure it was in the interest of Wales.
Introduced in 1996, the landfill tax is credited with being the biggest single driver for diverting waste away from landfill in the UK. At present, the level of landfill tax across the UK is determined in Westminster. It currently stands at 56 per tonne for active waste.
However, the Scottish Government is currently seeking power over landfill tax and this forms part of the Scotland Bill, which had its third reading in parliament yesterday (June 21) (see letsrecycle.com story).
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