Rhun ap Iorwerth will face Senedd members for the first time since his meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Glasgow. The First Minister will take part in the weekly question session from 1.30pm. Questions are submitted by Senedd members and selected by ballot, with these published in advance. Questions from opposition group leaders are not known in advance.
Topics on the Agenda
Topics from backbenchers include the UK Government budget, a Welsh benefits system, mental health services for young people, and sports facilities in rural Wales. Other items on the Senedd agenda today include a Wales Covid-19 review, the media in Wales, and the NHS workforce strategy.
Glasgow Meeting Outcomes
The First Minister met Mr Burnham and Scottish counterpart John Swinney, as well as civil servants from Northern Ireland, in Glasgow last week. After the meeting he said Wales had "won the argument" on getting Scotland-style borrowing and financial flexibility powers, calling it a "common-sense approach". He said he was leaving Scotland having made "a number of really positive and definitive gains" but said there was still work to be done in certain areas, namely rail funding.
Mr ap Iorwerth said he had been assured that getting parity with Scotland on borrowing and financial flexibility was now "a matter of when and how, not if". Following the meeting, Mr Burnham said he wanted to ensure no part of the UK was "left behind" and said it was important for the four nations to move at the same pace together to see improvements in employment and living standards.
Supplementary Budget Vote
At around 7.45pm there is due to be a 30-minute debate, followed by a vote, on the supplementary budget. This is the in-year spending changes that Plaid Cymru put forward in July but failed to get support for. After senior Plaid figures admitted lessons had been learnt, the party has now agreed a deal with Labour and put the changes forward for a second vote, meaning the minority administration will get the support it needs.
