Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:26 pm on 9 July 2024.
Peter Fox
Conservative
5:26,
9 July 2024
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Before I speak to this Amendment, I would really like to acknowledge the Cabinet Secretary for trying to introduce a late amendment to find a way forward on this. I really do thank her for her engagement with this. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be.
Amendment 19 removes section 20 of the Bill. This will ensure that changes of council tax notices will continue to be printed in newspapers. While there has been a move of most things online, it's important to note that these online notices are not always accessible to everyone. There are people who rely on the publication of these notices in newspapers, and maintaining this will help to increase accountability and transparency.
During Stage 2, the Cabinet Secretary commented that technology has moved on, and that there is a wide range of information on council tax changes available, and that people will be notified through their bill. While we accept that the Cabinet Secretary noted that, if a local authority wanted to keep using papers to publish notices, this section will not remove that from them, the Welsh Conservatives believe that it is still important for these notices to continue to be published in local newspapers, as it will ensure that this information will be accessible to everyone.
What we were hoping we could have done was to find a transition period that would enable this to kick in over a five-year period. We weren’t able to do so, so I will be moving forward with the amendment as is.
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The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
The Conservatives are a centre-right political party in the UK, founded in the 1830s. They are also known as the Tory party.
With a lower-case ‘c’, ‘conservative’ is an adjective which implies a dislike of change, and a preference for traditional values.
